Design Article
How to get smart about wireless backhaul
Shai Yaniv, Ceragon Networks
4/26/2011 8:39 AM EDT
What Makes Wireless Backhaul Smart?
Service Aware Traffic Management
Service aware traffic management refers to the ability to differentiate packets by type. The transmitted data stream may be composed of E1/DS1s, ATM, IP, or Ethernet. These packets may come from multiple sources and may have different quality requirements. Smart backhaul is able to prioritize the different flows and preserve the requirements of contractual service level agreements (SLA).
High System Gain
The overall system gain of a backhaul system greatly affects capital investment and service quality. A sensitive receiver threshold performance will enable superior system gain, regardless of the transmission power. From a business standpoint, high system gain affects the capital investment. For example, high system gain allows operators to reduce the number of links required to cover a given distance. It also allows the usage of smaller, less costly, antennas (this can also reduce rent fees in cases where tower-space is leased from a third party). Last, high system gain provides superior network availability and quality of service in harsh weather conditions.
Power Consumption
With the telecom industry taking its share of social responsibility and striving to conserve energy, power consumption is a key component of a backhaul solution. Obviously, low power consumption is also critical for achieving lower total cost of ownership targets, particularly in private networks.
A smart wireless backhaul will have advanced power consumption scheme, based on real-time usage and environmental conditions. Smart power consumption can provide up to 50% reduction in power consumption.
Minimal Footprint
The common backhaul node integrates equipment from multiple vendors handling various wireless and wireline functionalities. The result is that physical space is scarce, particularly if environmentally hardened outdoor units are required. Equipment with minimal footprint design assists in squeezing the maximum capacity into physical rack space.
Resiliency and Modularity
With network requirements constantly evolving, any microwave backhaul solution implemented today must be modular and inherently capable of supporting the new challenges and requirements of tomorrow. Topology awareness is an important feature as was explain above since a smart wireless backhaul will assure that the traffic will get from point A to Point B even if there is a network failure by recalculating an alternate path.
When High Capacity is simply not enough
Operators today struggle with the ever increasing demand for more data capacity and the need to ensure high quality of service and user experience. Wireless backhaul solutions based on point-to-point microwave can support these requirements, but this will be done by systems that are more than mere “dumb pipes.” Smart microwave solutions, which are network and traffic aware, and which address operators’ needs for efficiency, reliability, low cost and power reduction – will help drive next generation services making them affordable and profitable.
About the Author
Shai Yaniv is Vice President of Product Management at Ceragon, a leading provider of high-capacity LTE-ready wireless backhaul solutions. Mr. Yaniv has over 18 years of experience in the telecom industry in the fields of advanced communication systems, including wireless backhaul networks and broadband wireless access solutions.
Over the years, Mr. Yaniv has been a key contributor to the development of a variety of leading of wireless networks solutions for various applications. Prior to joining Ceragon, Mr. Yaniv served in leading product management, marketing and business development roles at Alvarion, a leading WiMAX solutions provider. Mr. Yaniv holds a B.Sc in Electrical Engineering from the Technion, Israel’s Institute of Technology and M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from the Tel-Aviv University.
Service Aware Traffic Management
Service aware traffic management refers to the ability to differentiate packets by type. The transmitted data stream may be composed of E1/DS1s, ATM, IP, or Ethernet. These packets may come from multiple sources and may have different quality requirements. Smart backhaul is able to prioritize the different flows and preserve the requirements of contractual service level agreements (SLA).
High System Gain
The overall system gain of a backhaul system greatly affects capital investment and service quality. A sensitive receiver threshold performance will enable superior system gain, regardless of the transmission power. From a business standpoint, high system gain affects the capital investment. For example, high system gain allows operators to reduce the number of links required to cover a given distance. It also allows the usage of smaller, less costly, antennas (this can also reduce rent fees in cases where tower-space is leased from a third party). Last, high system gain provides superior network availability and quality of service in harsh weather conditions.
Power Consumption
With the telecom industry taking its share of social responsibility and striving to conserve energy, power consumption is a key component of a backhaul solution. Obviously, low power consumption is also critical for achieving lower total cost of ownership targets, particularly in private networks.
A smart wireless backhaul will have advanced power consumption scheme, based on real-time usage and environmental conditions. Smart power consumption can provide up to 50% reduction in power consumption.
Minimal Footprint
The common backhaul node integrates equipment from multiple vendors handling various wireless and wireline functionalities. The result is that physical space is scarce, particularly if environmentally hardened outdoor units are required. Equipment with minimal footprint design assists in squeezing the maximum capacity into physical rack space.
Resiliency and Modularity
With network requirements constantly evolving, any microwave backhaul solution implemented today must be modular and inherently capable of supporting the new challenges and requirements of tomorrow. Topology awareness is an important feature as was explain above since a smart wireless backhaul will assure that the traffic will get from point A to Point B even if there is a network failure by recalculating an alternate path.
When High Capacity is simply not enough
Operators today struggle with the ever increasing demand for more data capacity and the need to ensure high quality of service and user experience. Wireless backhaul solutions based on point-to-point microwave can support these requirements, but this will be done by systems that are more than mere “dumb pipes.” Smart microwave solutions, which are network and traffic aware, and which address operators’ needs for efficiency, reliability, low cost and power reduction – will help drive next generation services making them affordable and profitable.
About the Author
Shai Yaniv is Vice President of Product Management at Ceragon, a leading provider of high-capacity LTE-ready wireless backhaul solutions. Mr. Yaniv has over 18 years of experience in the telecom industry in the fields of advanced communication systems, including wireless backhaul networks and broadband wireless access solutions.
Over the years, Mr. Yaniv has been a key contributor to the development of a variety of leading of wireless networks solutions for various applications. Prior to joining Ceragon, Mr. Yaniv served in leading product management, marketing and business development roles at Alvarion, a leading WiMAX solutions provider. Mr. Yaniv holds a B.Sc in Electrical Engineering from the Technion, Israel’s Institute of Technology and M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from the Tel-Aviv University.
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Elior
4/27/2011 5:22 PM EDT
Nice article
:-)
ELior
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