OPTIMIZING LTE DEPLOYMENTS FOR INC

OPTIMIZING LTE DEPLOYMENTS FOR INCREASED PENETRATION INTO NICHE MARKETS

OPTIMIZING LTE DEPLOYMENTS FOR INCREASED PENETRATION INTO NICHE MARKETS LTE EPC END SOLUTION FOR THE LOW-MID SUBSCRIBER MARKET

connectivity. There are a number of markets that may require a

LTE, the fastest growing technology ever, is especially suited for

deployment architecture, and availability. The following section

deployment in niche markets such as public safety and rural

provides insights into these markets, and explores the dynamics

environments. Heterogeneous networks incorporating small cell

of each.

customized low-footprint LTE core solution for optimal functionality; each market has different needs in terms of scalability,

solutions are an elegant response to enterprise and rural connectivity issues, while technical and regulatory conditions further bolster LTE as a technology of choice for environments like as public safety. LTE incorporates major innovations in the RAN and Core technologies, and 3GPP’s System Architecture Evolution calls for a flat, all-IP architecture with the Evolved

PUBLIC SAFETY MARKET LTE has been chosen as the de facto standard by most government agencies, including Public Safety. Rapid deployment and commissioning, coupled with easy transportation of LTE

Packet Core (EPC) as its main component.

devices and core equipments to remote sites, makes it a highly

Moreover, in niche and isolated scenarios such as public safety,

for public safety personnel to access real-time, remote data from

rural, and enterprise environments, optimum utilization of macro-

centralized locations on the go, particularly during crisis situations

level solutions is not achieved due to the low number of subscribers.

when commercial networks may become dysfunctional. Moreover,

The traffic usage in these scenarios is also very different from

these connections must be highly secure and provide sufficient

macro commercial deployments. Software and hardware must

bandwidth to quickly transfer large amounts of data, such as

be lightweight in terms of processing requirements, but still provide

high-quality images and videos.

effective technology for the public safety market. There is a need

features like multimedia solutions and intelligent traffic and bandwidth management. Maximizing ROI thus requires carriers to deploy low-footprint solution that, while not as complex or expensive as a full-scale product, still delivers complete functionality.

Kinds of Deployment Public safety deployment requires connectivity to also be available in areas that may not have broadband towers. Services may be locally hosted and/or managed from a centralized location, and

NICHE MARKETS FOR CUSTOMIZED LTE CORE SOLUTION – CONSIDERATIONS AND DYNAMICS LTE is optimally suited for niche-market deployments because its superior radio technology, based on OFDM, provides high

personnel should be able to access all services irrespective of the underlying architecture. Networks themselves may be geographically distributed with data collated and processed at a centralized location (e.g., traffic management using CCTV cameras).

bandwidth and low latency, with more robust coverage and

Optimizing LTE Deployments for Increasing Penetration into Niche Markets

1

Depending on requirements, the following deployments are possible:

Central Office

Static eNodeBs

Central Office

Central Office

Back-end Wired Connection

Back-end Connection Over Satellite or Wi-Fi Mesh

Back-end Wired Connection

Static eNodeBs

Mobile eNodeBs

Fixed Surveillance Devices

Mobile Devices Connected to Static Distributed eNodeBs

Adhoc Networks for Public Safety

Fixed Surveillance Devices: In this kind of deployment, the

(e.g., authentication and policy allocation should be possible

core network is available at a centralized location and is always

using local data to prevent total disruption. When services are

connected to the static eNodeBs. Their main requirement is to

hosted locally there should be a mechanism for centralized

store huge amounts of data at centralized locations.

servers to periodically access the data, which occasionally may need to be done in real time.

Mobile Devices Connected to Static Distributed eNodeBs: This is very similar to standard commercial deployments, wherein devices need to be in the vicinity of public safety radio networks to access centralized core networks on the go.

Adhoc Networks for Public Safety: A scenario may arise when no radio network is available due to penetration and interference issues or a heavy load on the existing base stations. In these cases, core network equipments must be mobile and support handovers to other core networks.

Transportation In some scenarios (i.e., on-the-fly, deployable networks), the core devices need to be easily portable on air, land and water, theymust be lightweight and portable for easy handling, but strong enough to handle wear and tear during transportation.

The dimensions and weight of the equipment should be such that it can be carried by a single person. .

Guaranteed QoS and Priority-Based Allocation Many public safety applications require guaranteed bit rates,

Connectivity

while allocation of bandwidth becomes important when priority

eNodeBs and core networks may be co-located or placed remotely,

needs to be implemented based on personnel and applications.

and can be over the ethernet or satellite. Certain deployment

Because the available bandwidth is limited, core network

scenarios require high availability of connectivity with remote

equipment should provide provisions to allocate bandwidth

centralized offices, making redundancy necessary to ensure

based on users, devices, and applications.

no loss of connectivity. Typically, a high number of signaling connections is required even if the throughput to and from the back-end office is impacted.

Multi-department Offering Some core networks can be used by different public safety departments like Defense, Fire, Environmental, Police, etc, Each

Service Hosting and Availability

one of these departments may have its own set of applications,

Public safety services are highly sensitive and require high data

policy rules, priority lists, subscriber lists, devices allowed, etc.

storage. Even in the absence of connectivity to centralized

Vendors should be able to offer solutions for each of these

resources, data collections should continue unabated, and

needs through equipment such that each department has

critical services should remain available and be provided locally

control over its own network and subscriber list.

Optimizing LTE Deployments for Increasing Penetration into Niche Markets

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Regulation Needs

Maintenance Needs

Deployment for public safety has its own regulations that

Hardware and software are not readily accessible, so the

encompass functions such as subscriber identity hiding,

maintenance requirements should be as low as possible. All

source code maintenance, delivery of source code to a central

information to be extracted should be easy to access so that local

repository, source code security, etc. The software must comply

operators are able to collect the logs and send them to deployment

with these regulations, and even the hardware needs to follow

centers. Software upgrades should be easy and require to

regulatory requirements for its availability and fault reporting.

minimal or no subsequent upgrades to existing databases.

Secured Interfaces

MVNO Support

All interfaces should be highly secured and user messages to

While government regulations mandate 100% coverage,

core networks should be ciphered. Because the messages are

operators find it hard to invest the required Capex and Opex

over the air and for special public safety networks, many vendors

to operationalize independent networks in these areas due to

prefer proprietary ciphering algorithms so that it is impossible

lower ARPU and less subscriber density. In such scenarios,

for the messages to be illegally hacked. User identity also needs

support of an MVNO environment over a common network with

to be protected, even from the operators, so it should be fed into

multiple operators/ISPs managing their own set of applications,

the systems in encrypted form and not be sent in deciphered

policy rules, priority lists, subscriber lists, devices allowed, etc.

form over any of the interfaces. Authentication should also be done,

is required. etc. The underlying core network equipment should

preferably using proprietary algorithms. Thus authentication,

be able to support such a scenario.

message integrity protection, ciphering algorithms, etc. should be easily changeable to proprietary algorithms.

Solution Costs The various components of the core solution, including software,

RURAL AREA DEPLOYMENT LTE is the technology of choice for rural deployments because of its high bandwidth availability; flat, all-IP network architecture; and low deployment and maintenance costs through use of innovations like SON. Connectivity in rural areas serves many critical functions such as remote medical assistance, farming applications, remote education, etc. However, deployment in rural areas does have its own challenges and considerations.

Connectivity The coverage area is huge and sparsely populated. There is a huge demand for high bandwidths needed for specialized applications. 24/7 connectivity is a must. Clearly, there is a need for redundancy to plan against network failures.

hardware, and application updates, should be inexpensive and uncomplicated for easy deployment over vast regions.

ENTERPRISE/ON-CAMPUS/PRIVATE NETWORK DEPLOYMENT Small cell LTE RAN solutions such as femtocells help address coverage and connectivity issues for the enterprise, and a dedicated core helps boost the efficiency even further. For small scale deployments, a complete radio and core network solution within the enterprise/campus with connection to a macro network, or part of the network within the core and the remaining part in the local network, can be deployed. Service data is generally accessed through local applications/cache and, optionally, macro network connectivity is used where handovers are required to and from macro networks for seamless functionality. Identity needs to be unique and non-conflicting with macro networks.

Subscriber Capacity

Whenever the same equipment is being deployed for multiple

For subscriber capacity of around 10,000 to 20,000 for each

enterprises, distinction of data should be maintained for each

core network, up to 70% of bandwidth might be utilized by only

enterprise hosted on the same equipment.

5-6% of the UEs. The UEs may not be always attached; data access mostly happens in spurts for short durations; and there

Subscriber Authentication

may be peaks in usage on certain special occasions.

Subscriber authentication should be possible for enterprise/ private subscribers in a proprietary manner, whether they’re

Traffic Requirements

accessing from within their network or while roaming.

Traffic requirements are fewer compared to urban/metro deployments. Guaranteed services are not required and “best

UE IP Address

effort” is usually sufficient for most needs–except in certain

When UE connects to the core network, it is awarded an IP address

critical areas such as healthcare applications, where guaranteed

to enable it to access applications. The IP address given to UE

network bandwidth is required. Due to isolated/far-off

can be of a private network for enterprise users and thus, when

deployments, localized data/voice services may be addressed

UE is trying to access data outside the enterprise, it needs the

by local/distributed EPC.

NATed IP address to access internet services.

Optimizing LTE Deployments for Increasing Penetration into Niche Markets

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Traffic Model

Charging Needs

The percentage of attached users who active at any given time

The solution should be able to do offline and online charging for

is always much higher for enterprise networks than macro

the subscribers through local collection of logs. There should be

networks. For example, when only 10% of the total attached

a provision to set charging and policy rules locally through PCRFs

UEs in a macro network would be active, that ratio would be

on the local core networks. If connectivity to the centralized

40% for enterprise/private networks.

solution is available, then policy and charging rules from core networks can be used.

CUSTOMIZED LTE CORE SOLUTION – FEATURES AND FUNCTIONALITIES

Debugging and Maintenance Support

LTE core network equipment should address the various

Software and hardware solutions should capture faults in the

challenges of low- to mid-subscriber-range deployments. It needs

system and report to local operators for corrective action. The

to satisfy the requirements elaborated in the preceding sections

operator should check the faults, forcefully clear them, and capture

and should be customized for various markets. Some of the

the debugging information to be sent to the back end. Upgrades

attributes of an optimal core solution are listed below:

to the solution should require little to no manual intervention.

Most upgrades should be possible via electronic transfer.

Scalability The solution should be highly scalable for optimally catering to

Subscriber Identity Hiding

low-range deployments, and should be easily easily extended to

Subscriber identities must remain well-hidden so that not even

mid-range by simply adding more blades to the blade architecture

local operators are able to replicate subscriber identity by

(e.g., uTCA/ATCA systems). Initial deployments will have a low

duplicating the UE keys in another SIM. The keys should be

number of subscribers with less throughput capacity, increasing

encrypted in all inputs and should not be exposed unencrypted

as the usage and applications increase. It is also possible to

in any interface. Operators should be able to use proprietary

support a high number of subscribers by increasing distributed

authentication, ciphering, and integrity schemes to hide identity.

core networks that interface with centralized servers.

Hardware and Software Cost Hardware Chosen

Both hardware and software should be inexpensive and be

Hardware should support 1/10GiGE ports. It should have a multi-

suited for multiple small-scale deployments. The initial capital,

slot architecture that can execute with a single blade and be

upgrade, and maintenance costs should be as low as possible

able to add more blades when necessary. It must also support

for low-end solutions.

the data throughput needs for the solution being deployed, not be fragile, and have low maintenance costs.Power consumption should vary according to the usage, with minimize loss. The hardware needs to have good logging capability, and faults and interruptions should be well displayed and collected.

ARICENT LTE CORE SOLUTION FOR NICHE MARKETS Aricent offers a pre-integrated, high-performance LTE core network offering to OEMs and System Integrators providing solutions for niche markets such as public safety, rural and enterprise. The solution termed as ‘EPCLite’ provides all the

Kinds of Network Interfaces

features and functionalities mentioned above and has been

It should support both 1/10GiGE ports and have a console login

specially created to cater to the needs of small subscriber

for controlling the software locally. Ethernet interfaces should

markets. The term ‘lite’ refers to the low number of subscriber

be available through switch card with common backplane

and the low dimensions, weight and power consumption of the

connectivity to the cards.

solution. It provides one of the best ‘performance to price’ ratio in the industry.

Capacity Support

EPC Lite is an all-software implementation of an integrated

The solution should be capable of supporting capacity from as

MME, Serving GW, PDN GW, HSS and PCRF components with

low as 100 subscribers to as high as 100K attached subscribers.

complete flexibility to run all or any of these components in any

Data throughput of 100Mbps to <10Gbps and signaling messages

permutation/combination on the same/different physical node.

of 60K messages/sec have to be supported. It should be able

The integrated solution thus provides comprehensive functionality

to connect to 1 to 1000 eNodeBs and support handover from

for anyone looking for a ready to deploy, highly scalable, LTE core

around 10-20 other core networks simultaneously. It also needs

solution. The solution has been pre-integrated/benchmarked

to provide support for 10-15 separate enterprise or departmental

on varying kinds of COTS hardware platforms (with 32/64-bit

demarcation on a single hardware solution.

little/big-endian processors) of form factors ranging from desktop/ rack-mount servers, uTCA chassis and ATCA chassis coming from our hardware ecosystem partners.

Optimizing LTE Deployments for Increasing Penetration into Niche Markets

4

eNodeB

MME S10

X2

UE

Uu

S1-MME

eNodeB

HSS

AF

S6a EMS

MME

S6a

HSS

Sh

SGW

LOCAL/REMOTE MANAGEMENT

PCRF

S11 S1-U

Rx

S5

PGW Gz

Gx

SGi

Gx

CDF

EPC Solution fits into the box as shown in the diagram above.

• Niche/Public Safety Networks • Rural Networks • In-Building Networks EPCLite Components

S8

PGW

Applicability

PCRF

Addressing Niche Markets For the public safety, rural area and enterprise deployment, macro

Technical Features of EPCLite > IPv4, IPv6, IPv4v6 PDN Type > Default and Dedicated bearers > Static/Dynamic Policy

network solutions do not provide optimal fitment as mentioned in the above sections. The Aricent solution has been specifically designed for this market and is thus easily transportable, addresses the need for public safety by maintaining secrecy of IMSI key values, allows multiple operator departments to use same EPCLite with unique set of subscribers accessible to each operator group, is easily maintainable and provides easy debugging

> Online/Offline Charging

and upgrades options.

> Idle Mode support and reconnect from Idle mode (service request for moving back to connected state) > Tracking Area Update support > UE and Network initiated dedicated bearers > IP address allocation from pool or through DHCP client

Deploy As You Need In small scale deployments, the high capacity is not required from day one. Hence the solution can be deployed with just one packet processing card and one switch card. As and when the capacity increases, more cards can be added. Thus the Capex investment is not high at initial deployment. At the same time,

> eNodeB (S1/X2) handover in connected state

as capacity increases, gradually the cards can be increased,

> Mobility of UE in idle state leading to eNodeB, MME,

Capex expenditure are well controlled.

without any replacement of old systems. This way the Opex and

SGW change > Combined data path for SGW/PGW when session flows through local SGW/PGW > HSS initiated modification > Operator initiated clearing

Better Service Addressing for Specific Needs In niche markets as mentioned in this white paper, the services provided to users should satisfy service requirements of specific deployment. Allowing a large percentage of subscribers to be active and connected will allow many users to use the service with lesser average data throughput as compared to macro

> Ciphering and Integrity for NAS messages > Authentication of UE > Mgmt Interface: Web based GUI for configuration/traps/ monitoring

deployments. Single deployment can support multiple operator groups, where different operator groups can belong to same PLMN or different PLMN. Hence the operators within different groups can have control on different set of subscribers. UE IP addresses can be NATed for enterprise deployment.

Optimizing LTE Deployments for Increasing Penetration into Niche Markets

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The solution can also support centralized HSS, PCRF, PGW or

CONCLUSION

distributed nodes based on requirement. It can also support simultaneous centralized and distributed model. Since PGW can

LTE is being deployed globally at a break neck speed and provides

be in central location or distributed location, the application

tailor made solution for niche markets such as public safety, rural

nodes can also be kept at centralized or distributed locations.

and enterprises. However, macro level core solutions are sub optimal and do not cater to the specific needs of these markets,

Contribution to the Society By providing a tailored solution for the rural markets the offering simplifies LTE deployment in vast rural areas, this helps in making critical services such as health care and education readily

such as solution scalability, cost, public safety demands, and feature compatibility etc. Hence a need arises for a customized LTE core solution that can address these demands efficiently and effectively.

available in these regions. This translates into huge benefits for

The industry leading software offering from Aricent provides a

the rural population especially in developing and under developed

customized solution for these markets. It offers a comprehensive

countries.

set of features and functionalities including scalability, security, low cost, easy maintenance and low power consumption. The solution can thus help companies to reduce risks and accelerate their LTE deployments and also provides them with an opportunity to penetrate into untapped markets.

Optimizing LTE Deployments for Increasing Penetration into Niche Markets

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INNOVATION SERVICES FOR THE CONNECTED WORLD The Aricent Group is a global innovation and technology services company that helps clients imagine, commercialize, and evolve products and services for the connected world. Bringing together the communications technology expertise of Aricent with the creative vision and user experience prowess of frog, the Aricent Group provides a unique portfolio of innovation capabilities that seamlessly combines consumer insights, strategy, design, software engineering, and systems integration. The client base includes communications service providers, equipment manufacturers, independent software vendors, device makers, and many other Fortune 500 brands.

The companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s investors are Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., Sequoia Capital, The Family Office, Delta Partners, and The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.

Aricent is the world’s premier engineering services and software company.

We specialize in inventing, developing and maintaining our clients’ most ambitious initiatives. Combining more than 20 years of engineering expertise with a force of more than 10,000 dedicated product engineers, Aricent is the only company in the world that offers the scale, experience and proven technologies necessary to deliver for a growing list of global companies, bringing the next generation of breakthrough, innovative products to market. frog, the global leader in innovation and design, based in San Francisco is part of Aricent.

The company’s key investors are Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and Sequoia Capital. info@aricent.com

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