Alcatel-Lucent (announced the Alcatel-Lucent 9900 Wireless Network Guardian (WNG), the industry’s first mobile network management solution that addresses the need by carriers for enhanced visibility and research in third-generation (3G) and emerging 4G networks.
The WNG can show carriers that some types of traffic, like e-mail and instant messaging, consume up to 1,000 times as much air time as file downloads
In a interview with AP it is Michael Schabel, general manager at Alcatel-Lucent Ventures in Murray Hill, N.J. says,
“If I look at mobile e-mail, one megabyte takes two hours of air time,” he said, because the mobile network needs to repeatedly set up and tear down the connection. In contrast, a 1-megabyte file from a peer-to-peer file-sharing network takes about 30 seconds to download, he estimated.”
This is may change the way wireless carriers price their data plans which is usually by kilobyte.
Canada’s Bell Mobility is the first carrier to trial the Alcatel-Lucent 9900 WNG in a live commercial network. The product will be publicly unveiled at the CTIA Wireless 2008 Tradeshow on April 1.
Until this launch, carriers did not have a single tool that could comprehensively track IP traffic across the many network layers and measure its consumption of wireless network resources - a situation that could cause service-affecting network problems as new applications are transmitted on wireless networks. By connecting usage sessions to wireless network resource consumption, the Alcatel-Lucent 9900 Wireless Network Guardian provides critical network visibility that service providers will need to manage the effects IP-based applications have on their wireless networks.
Wireless behavioral research conducted by Alcatel-Lucent’s Bell Labs over the last three years shows that transmitting IP packet data and IP applications place significantly different load types on wireless networks than voice traffic due to differences between voice and IP.
As an example, when considering common applications such as VPN, e-mail, Web-surfing, and peer-to-peer, some use up to 1,000 times more wireless network resources (airtime, signaling, etc.) per byte of data than others - potentially creating substantial network congestion if left unaddressed. This challenge is increasing with the growing adoption of more sophisticated, high-bandwidth services and the trend toward “open” wireless networks.
Invented by Bell Labs, the Alcatel-Lucent 9900 WNG is the third product to come out of its Alcatel-Lucent Ventures organization in less than one year - following the OmniAccess 3500 Nonstop Laptop Guardian and the OmniAccess 8550 Web Services Gateway. The 9900 WNG was developed in consultation with leading wireless operators. It is the first product that makes it possible for carriers to engineer wireless data flow with the level of granularity needed to understand each flow’s impact on every layer and choke point in the wireless network, specifically the radio access network. With this capacity carriers are now able to efficiently and optimally accommodate demanding data applications through traffic optimization and/or strategic network expansion.
“There is no shortage of tools on the market that provide traffic analysis for wireless operators,” notes Peter Jarich, Research Director with Current Analysis. “Much less common, however, are tools that go beyond simply identifying traffic types or usage and provide visibility into the impact of that traffic on network performance. Most people believe that going forward - as 3G ramps up and 4G gets launched - nobody can predict which applications will drive mobile broadband uptake. If so, tools such as Alcatel-Lucent’s 9900 WNG will be critical for ensuring that operators can not only head off network threats but also incent applications that make the most efficient use of network resources.”
The Alcatel-Lucent 9900 WNG leverages Bell Labs innovations and deep technical understanding of IP and wireless networks to provide end-to-end, real-time visibility of how mobile data subscriptions and services are affecting the radio access data network. To enhance the delivery of data and applications to their subscribers, carriers such as Bell Mobility can monitor their networks to ensure that they make the best possible use of the precious air spectrum between the network and the mobile endpoints.
“We are at a tipping point in wireless data networking. As applications and network usage patterns change, operators’ networks need to evolve to address this traffic growth and mitigate the impact of these changes so our wireless customers can provide their customers with unparalleled data services,” said Mary Chan, President of wireless networks activities for Alcatel-Lucent. “This new solution fits perfectly into Alcatel-Lucent’s broad portfolio of solutions for wireless networks and represents a critical first step in wireless IP transformation - one that every carrier who offers or plans to offer wireless broadband services has to address in order to confidently manage their increasingly open wireless networks.”
About the Alcatel-Lucent 9900 Wireless Network Guardian
The Alcatel-Lucent 9900 WNG is composed of two network elements: a wireless network detector, for deployment in the data center, and a wireless network central, for deployment in a network or security operations center. The Alcatel-Lucent 9900 WNG monitors network traffic at a granular level, identifies anomalous wireless behaviors which could degrade network performance and impact subscriber’s experience, and enables carriers to strategically use Alcatel-Lucent and 3rd party products to mitigate disruption and optimize networks.
The Alcatel-Lucent 9900 Wireless Network Guardian also enables carriers to detect and protect their networks from a new class of wireless-specific denial of service (DOS) attacks targeted at the signaling layer and exhausting RF channels.
Pricing and availability
The Alcatel-Lucent 9900 Wireless Network Guardian is generally available worldwide as a stand-alone product through Alcatel-Lucent’s sales team. Wireless service providers can also leverage Alcatel-Lucent’s market leadership in providing end-to-end network integration, security and hosted services capabilities to install and configure the Alcatel-Lucent 9900 WNG as well as analyze the findings and recommend strategies to optimize network resources and security controls. Alcatel-Lucent’s Threat Management services can be customized to incorporate the Alcatel-Lucent 9900 WNG for wireless service providers.
Pricing is subject to network configurations and size.
For more information on this product, including videos, please visit:
http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/WNG