CASE STUDIES/COMMENT
Anritsu
Today, most major carriers and service providers have far progressed strategies to deploy all IP Next Generation Networks. However, how does one secure the delivery of high quality user experience over IP infrastructures? As with legacy networks and services this will also be an issue also for tomorrow's converged networks.
Few things in life are trivial, and providing high service quality to the end users across a converged network is certainly not one of them. Although IP in many cases will simplify the operation, the convergence in the access layer and across services indeed adds complexity. Ever since the launch of UMTS wireless operators have struggled with inter-technology handovers between their GSM and UMTS radio access networks. Once extended into a fixed-mobile converged (FMC) environment, handovers need to be facilitated between cellular accesses and both trusted and non-trusted local WiFi and WiMAX accesses, to enable mobility and Voice Call Continuity.
One of the enablers for FMC is the IP Multimedia Subsystem, IMS. Destined to provide a wide set of seamless services through service delivery platforms and application servers, IMS will be an important means for service expansion and hence revenue. Even though IMS is widely accepted, few believe it will be the only service environment. This means that operators need to manage multiple service domains apart from their multiple access networks and their core backbone network. Added to this, most operators will continue using their legacy infrastructure for a foreseeable future.
Much of the richness in the services of tomorrow comes from the continued evolution of the user terminals. Open Java and SIP smart-phones enables a completely new set of services, and the very foundation for the operators' future revenue growth. The increased complexity in the service architecture with terminal based client applications may however represent an unpleasant rendezvous for the operators. Most users who have attempted to use WAP and GPRS services probably also have experienced problems, problems which often have been due to trivial profile or parameter related reasons, but still fatal for the end user, and fatal to the success of the service. Open terminals can easily turn in to a true nightmare for the operators trying to guarantee seamless operation and roaming.
Service quality is probably one of the most important sources for differentiation. Having end-to-end visibility across the NGN network and services will be paramount, not only for understanding the customers' experience, but also to efficiently manage the increasingly complex value chains, where application- and service partners play an ever more important role thereby rendering SLA management a must. Only by proper monitoring, operators will be able to tell what their customers experience, and whether they get through loud and clear!
www.anritsu.com
7 layers
More and more industry segments are beginning to integrate wireless modules, such as GSM/GPRS, UMTS/HSDPA, W-LAN, Bluetooth etc, into their products. By doing this they are increasing the attractiveness and usability of their products considerably. The range of businesses for which wireless technologies can bring considerable improvements is extremely wide. The continuously growing Health Care Sector, the Traffic and Automotive Sector or the Metering Sector are only a few examples of industries that benefit from the integration of wireless modules into their products.
However, for manufacturers from the non-telecommunications sector, integrating wireless modules is quite a challenge. First of all they have to keep any eye on the interaction between the various modules and other hardware and software components within their products. And secondly interoperability between products from different manufacturers is a must if products are going to be a success on the global market.
But that is not all. Not only do manufacturers have to fulfill their own quality standards. They also have to fulfill country specific regulatory and type approval demands, which increase considerably when integrating wireless modules. On top of this, module integrators have to make sure their products meet the requirements of qualification and certification regimes such as the Bluetooth SIG, the GSMA, PTCRB etc. Depending on the way wireless modules have been integrated and probably altered during the development process, it is necessary to go through a fairly complex, time consuming test and certification process. Having a partner who thoroughly understands the ins and outs of these processes can be a great help.
7 layers is one of the world's leading test and service centres for the wireless industry and supports some of the largest mobile phone manufacturers with testing and certification of their products. In addition to this they have a thorough understanding of a large number of successful modules, chip-sets and reference designs that have been tested in their laboratories. This is the experience manufacturers from the non-telecommunications sector can build on when tackling highly interesting but demanding new business fields by integrating wireless modules into their products.
www.7Layers.com
Espial
Service providers are actively looking to interactive, personalised IPTV services to differentiate their triple and quad play solutions. As always, the search for top line revenue growth has to be balanced with a firm eye on bottom line expenses. Although most operators understand how IPTV middleware is critical for delivering a superior quality of experience, few are aware of the economic impact of this choice. Recently, Espial, a leading IPTV middleware provider, released a white paper studying the economics of middleware. They considered several cost areas in their analysis including set-top boxes (STB), IPTV head-end and ecosystem components; IPTV middleware; service innovation; and, finally network infrastructure. The conclusion? IPTV middleware significantly impacts overall deployment costs on a $600M investment.
The fictitious operator in the white paper builds one million subscribers over five years. The projected savings from judicious middleware selection was 33 per cent or US$195M. Let's quickly explore the impact of middleware selection on two cost areas.
First, Set Top Boxes (STBS) are a major cost line item - up to 50 per cent of overall spending. As well, these costs vary considerably depending on the STB features, truck roll costs and the STB lifespan. For example, an SD STB costs in the order of $90-150 while an HD with DVR unit will run around $450. A well architected middleware - one with an efficient code base and data architecture - reduces memory and CPU requirements, extends lifespan and reduces truck rolls. This can substantially impact TCO as noted in chart above.
Seconds, middleware can affect IPTV Headend ecosystem costs including procuring and integrating video systems with operations/business support systems (OSS/BSS). This includes equipment to receive, encode, store and distribute the IPTV service to the set-top box as well as OSS/BSS systems such as billing. Wise selection of middleware can impact this cost area between 10-40 per cent. These savings are attributable to three areas: an open integration environment, multi-domain management and a scalable architecture. An open environment dramatically lowers system integration costs across the entire IPTV Headend ecosystem. A scalable architecture supports linear growth and ideally can support 100,000+ subscribers per application server. Finally, a multi-domain capability will support separate regional channel line-ups, UI skins, and applications. This allows a single system to serve the needs of many communities, which avoids duplicative spending.
To wrap up - prudent middleware selection can dramatically affect an IPTV service TCO.
Kirk Edwardson, Director of Product Marketing
www.espial.com
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