T E C H N O L O G Y W H I T E P A P E R

As demand for mobile multimedia services increases and average revenue per user

(ARPU) declines, mobile service providers must transform their networks to profitably

support legacy voice and advanced packet-based services. The mobile transport network

is one of the key considerations for mobile service providers planning a network trans-

formation. To migrate and scale the backhaul and backbone network to meet market

and business objectives, mobile service providers need an end-to-end architecture —

from cell site to core — that supports diverse evolution alternatives and provides a

clear path to all-IP.

The Alcatel-Lucent Mobile Evolution Transport Architecture (META) delivers an end-to-

end network architecture that provides the intelligence, flexibility, simplicity and cost-

effectiveness required to support massive growth in the number of mobile subscribers,

applications and devices. It allows service providers to make a profitable transition to

a more cost-effective mobile transport network infrastructure that supports current

services and delivers new multimedia services and applications.

This paper outlines the challenges associated with transforming the mobile transport

network and presents the Alcatel-Lucent approach to effective transformation.

Enabling the Profitable Evolution of Mobile Transport to All-IPMobile Evolution Transport Architecture

Table of contents

1 The Mobile Transport Challenge

2 Mobile Transport Evolution from TDM to all-IP

3 Alcatel-Lucent Mobile Evolution Transport Architecture

5 Customized Mobile Transport Transformation

5 Cell Site Aggregation

5 Service Delivery

6 Integrated Network and Service Management

7 Graceful Introduction of LTE

8 Backed By Professional Services

8 Conclusion

9 Abbreviations

Enabling the Profitable Evolution of Mobile Transport to All-IP | Technology White Paper 1

The Mobile Transport Challenge

Today’s mobile service providers are facing unprecedented challenges:

• Needtoreducebackhaultransportcosts:Drivenbybandwidth-richservices(unlimitedvoicebundles,VPNs,Internetaccess,mobileTV,etc.)trafficperuserisincreasingfasterthanrevenueperuser,forcingserviceproviderstoreducethecostperbittransportedwhilemassivelyscalingtheradioaccessnetwork(RAN).

• Migrationtoapacketoptimizednetwork:Whilevoiceon2Gcontinuestogrow,severaltrans-porttechnologiesandnewservicesneedtobesupported,forcingmobileserviceproviderstofocusonpacketoptimizationtoreducecosts.

• Retainmorevalueinthenetwork:Newplayerswithinnovativebusinessmodelsandtechnolo-gies are appearing, threatening conventional revenues and forcing mobile service providers to respondwithdifferentiatedservicesthatleveragetheintrinsicvalueoftheirphysicalnetwork.

Allthesechallengesaretheresultofever-increasingenduserdemand.

Attractedbythefreedomofmobilitythatwirelessaffordsandfueledbyadvancesintechnology,business and consumer end users are purchasing a variety of mobile devices as fast as manufacturers candeliverthem.

Inthisboom,mobilevoicetrafficandminutesofuseareincreasing—andwillcontinueto increase—butaveragerevenueperuser(ARPU)isdecreasingasmobileserviceproviders continuetodifferentiatetheirvoiceofferingsonprice.

Meanwhile,broadbandwirelesstechnologieshavespurredmobileserviceproviderstomeetenduserdemandswithnewpacket-basedservices,suchas:

• Shortmessagingservices

• Webbrowsingservices

• Mediastreamingservices

• Real-timemultimediaservices

Butasendusersadopttheseservices,mobilenetworksmustevolvetodealwiththetransmission ofhugeamountsofdataalongsidelegacyvoiceservices.

Thechallengeforserviceprovidersistodeliverallservicesatattractiveratesandatprofitable operatingmargins.Atthesametime,theymustprovidethehighqualityofexperience(QoE) endusersexpectfromadvancedvoice,video,streaming,andpresenceservices.Todoso,they mustleverageexistingnetworkinfrastructureswherepossibleandsimultaneouslytransformtheirnetworkstosupportpacket-basedtraffic.

Themobiletransportnetworkisoneofthekeyconsiderationsformobileserviceprovidersplanninganetworktransformationthatsupportslegacyvoiceandadvancedpacket-basedservices.Toaddressmarketchallenges,meetbusinessobjectivesanduserdemands,themobiletransportnetworkmust:

• Supportnewmultimediaservices(2G,3G,andbeyond)

• Enablescalablebandwidthatlowercost(leveragingEthernet/IP)

• Provideserviceassuranceacrossallservices(viacarriergradeEthernet/MPLS)

• Loweroperationscosts(viaintegratedmanagement)

Enabling the Profitable Evolution of Mobile Transport to All-IP | Technology White Paper2

Inthisenvironment,mobileserviceprovidersareturningtoIP/Ethernettechnologytooffermorevaluable,personalizedmultimediaservicesandachievealowercostbase.Thisishappeningjustasmorespectrally-efficient3Gvoiceservicesaregeneratingincreasingamountsofpackettraffic.

Theimpactofthisshiftonmobiletransportnetworksisprofound,bothintheradioaccessnetwork(RAN)andinthemobilecore.

Newtransportsolutionsmustsupportasmoothtransformationfrom2Gto3Gandbroadbandwire-lessaccessnetworking.Additionally,newoptionsmustallowserviceproviderstoreduceoperationalexpenses(OPEX).Thishasledmanyserviceproviderstomakesignificantinvestmentsinnetworkexpansionratherthaninleasingcapacity.

Togetthere,mobileserviceprovidersarefollowingvariousnetworkevolutionstrategiesdependingon their business models, including:

• Optimizingtheexistingbackhaulnetworktodriveoutleasedlinecosts

• Buildingnewcarrier-gradeIPbackhaulnetworksthatsupportbothcircuitandpackettraffic

• Implementingahybridapproach—offloadingnon-realtimedatatrafficontoanEthernet backhaulnetworkwhilekeepingvoiceservicesontheexistingbackhaulnetwork

Toeffectivelyevolvetheirnetwork,serviceprovidersneedaflexibleend-to-endarchitecture— fromcellsitetocore—thatsupportsdiverseevolutionalternativesandprovidesaclearpathto all-IPnetworking.

Mobile Transport Evolution from TDM to all-IP

Aspartofamobilenetworktransformation,mobileserviceprovidersmustevolvethetransportnetworktoaccommodatenewpacket-basedserviceswhilesimultaneouslysupportingexisting 2Gservices(Figure1).

Figure 1. Evolution of the Radio Access Network (RAN) and Mobile Transport Network

Real-TimeMultimedia

MediaStreaming VoIP

WebBrowsing

ShortMessaging

RANEvolution

DownlinkCapacity

ServiceTypes

IP/Ethernet/PseudowiresATM

MobileTransport

153 kb/s384 kb/s

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

2.4 Mb/s14.4 Mb/s

73 Mb/s40 Mb/s

100 Mb/s

TDM

4G (LTE & WiMAX)

3G (EVDO HSPA+) & WiMAX

3G (EVDO HSPA)& WiMAX

3G(1xRTT/UMTS)

2.5/2.75G2G

9.6 ->240 kb/s

Evolution to Ethernet/IP Backhaul for

the Cost Effective Delivery of All

Applications and Services

Enabling the Profitable Evolution of Mobile Transport to All-IP | Technology White Paper 3

TheAlcatel-LucentvisionformobiletransportaddressesthesefundamentalrequirementsthroughacomprehensiveIPtransformationarchitecture,whichprovidesmobileoperatorswithanevolutionpathtoall-IP,regardlessofthetypeofnetworktheywanttodeploy(Figure2).Thissolutionisbasedonbuildingblocksthatcanmeetavarietyofoperatorstrategies.Itisdesignedtohelpthemreducetotalcostofownership(TCO)andsimplifytheirnetworkasmuchaspossible,whileatthesametimepreparingfortheevolutiontowardsbroadbandwirelessservices.

Figure 2. Mobile Transport Evolution

Alcatel-Lucent Mobile Evolution Transport Architecture

TheAlcatel-LucentMobileEvolutionTransportArchitecture(META)providesanend-to-endnetworkarchitecturethatsupportsAlcatel-Lucent’sMobileTransformationStrategyandenablesnetworkoperatorstomigrateandscaletheirnetworkprofitably(Figure3).Thisarchitectureoffersmoreserviceintelligence,flexibility,simplicityandcost-effectivenesstoallowmobileserviceproviderstosuccessfullyservethemassivegrowthin2Gand3Gmobilebroadbandservicedemand.

UsingtheoptimalcostpointsofEthernet,coupledwiththeprovenscalability,availabilityandserviceawarecapabilitiesofmultiprotocollabelswitching(MPLS),METAenablesmobileserviceproviderstoleverageexistinginfrastructureinvestmentsandevolvetoall-IPnetworkingatthepaceofcustomerdemand,andwiththeQoEthatcustomershavecometoexpectfromtraditionalwirelineservices.

METAisahighlyintegratedsolutionbasedonAlcatel-Lucent’sfixedandwirelessleadership. ItgreatlyreducesOPEX,anditincreasesscalabilityandavailabilitytoenablebroadbandservicedeliveryoveranymedia—fiber,copper,wireless.

PDH and SDHMicrowave

Packet Radio

SDH/SONETEthernet, MPLS,

T-MPLS

E2E Service-Aware QoS, IP/MPLS OAM,Legacy Traffic, Clock Transport

Leased LinesLeased Ethernetor Optical Build

Ethernet over xDSL or GPON

2G

3G

LTE

RNC BSC

WiMAX

BSR Femtoand Pico

Radio Access Last Mile Regional/Metro Network

Hub SiteAggregation

IPAccess Node

ServiceRouting

ServiceRouting

TransportSwitch

Cell SiteAggregation

2G/3G CoreLTE

WiMAX AGW

Enabling the Profitable Evolution of Mobile Transport to All-IP | Technology White Paper4

Figure 3. Mobile Evolution Transport Architecture

Thiscomprehensivesolutionformobiletransportevolutionoffersserviceproviderstheflexibility,reliability,andscalabilitytheyneedtoprofitablymigratefromtimedivisionmultiplexing/ plesiochronousdigitalhierarchy(TDM/PDH)backhaultoall-IPsupportedbyEthernetandMPLS.

Inaddition,METAprovidesserviceproviderswithunprecedentedflexibility.Thearchitectureletsoperatorsevolveattheirownpacebecauseitsupportsmultiplebackhaulalternatives,including:

• Opticalbackhaul(SDH/SONET)

• Asynchronoustransfermode(ATM)

• Digitalsubscriberline(DSL)

• Gigabitpassiveopticalnetwork(GPON)

• IP/MPLS

• Packet-optimizedmicrowave

Thiscomprehensiveapproachallowsmobileserviceproviderstocost-effectivelytransformtheirmobiletransportinfrastructurefromTDM/PDHtopacketwhetherfollowingahybriddataoffloadapproachorconvergingallservicesontoanIP-RAN.

Inshort,theAlcatel-LucentMETAend-to-endarchitecture,spanningfromcellsitetocore,enablesserviceproviderstosimplifyoperationsviaintegratednetworkandservicemanagement.Inthiswayit:

• Providesflexibilityandscalabilitytosupportnew,profitable3Gand4Gmobileservices

• ProvidesQoSsupportforallmobileservices,efficientlyallocatingscarcebackhaulnetworkresources in real time

• Increasesnetworkoptimizationandcapacity,improvingcostperbittransported

• Addressesinfrastructurediversityviaflexiblebackhaulalternatives,eachprovidinganevolutiontoall-IP

BTS/Node B* BTS/Node B* BTS/Node B*BTS/Node B*

7705 SAR1850 TSS-5

TDM/Ethernet

TDM/Ethernet

TDM/Ethernet

CellsiteAggregator

Networkand Service

Management

End-to-EndServices and

NetworkIntegration

Optical, Microwaveor IP/MPLS Backhaul

IP/MPLS andOptical Core

BSC/RNC

SGSN PDSN/GGSNMSC/MGW

9500 MPR

TDM/Ethernet

IP/MPLS

IMS Internet

CORE AGGREGAT ION ACCESS

PSTN

Microwave DSL/GPONOptical

7750 SR, 1850 TSS, 16XX 7710/7750 SR, 7670 RSP, 1850 TSS, 166X, MDR 8000 OR 9600 LSY

TDM/Et

rowaveackhaul

et

PDSN/GGSN

CCaGW

* SUPPORT OF MULTI-GENERATIONAL WIRELESS NETWORKS USING ANY BTS/NODE B (CDMA BTS, GSM/GPRS BTS, UMTS, WIMAX, EVDO/HSXPA, BSR FEMTO, LTE)

Enabling the Profitable Evolution of Mobile Transport to All-IP | Technology White Paper 5

Customized Mobile Transport TransformationTomakethebackhaultransformationefficient,Alcatel-LucenthasdesignedMETAtogiveserviceproviderscompletecontroloverthenetworktransformationprocess.Itcanbetailoredtomeet diversebackhaulnetworkevolutionrequirements,includinghybriddataoffloadapproaches,overanymedia(copper,fiber,ormicrowave).

Inaddition,METAleveragesIP/MPLSandopticalbackbonestomeetthereliabilityandservicescalingrequirementsofnextgenerationnetworks,IPmulti-mediasubsystems(IMS)andIP-basedservices.ByusingaservicerouterortransportserviceswitchintheMTSOtointerconnectmobileelements,METAallowsserviceproviderstooptimizeresourcesandnetworkingflexibilityofinter-elementconnectionstodrivecostsoutoftheRAN.

AdditionalflexibilityisprovidedbyallowingserviceproviderstotakeIP/MPLSandtransportmulti-protocollabelswitching—T-MPLS(theinitialversionofMPLStransport),andthecapabilitiesofserviceroutingandCarrierEthernettransporttointermediatehublocationsintheRAN.Thisallowsacommon,sharedinfrastructuretobeusedforallaggregatedtrafficbetweenthehubandtheMTSO.ItalsodeliverssignificantleasedlinesavingsbecauseCarrierEthernetoropticalconnectionscanbeusedforbackhaul.

Finally,METAcanalsosupportmulti-generationalaccessviasimultaneoussupportforTDM/PDH,SDH/SONET,multilinkpoint-to-pointprotocol(MLPPP),ATMwithinversemultiplexingoverATM(IMA),EthernetandIPastheaccessnetworkevolves.

Cell Site AggregationAlcatel-LucentMETAprovidesadditionalbenefitsbyextendingIP/MPLS,T-MPLSandEthernetaggregationtowardsthecellsite.

Inthecellsitethereareopportunitiesforaggregationsolutionsthatconvergemulti-generationaltrafficstreamsand/oradaptlegacybasestationinterfacesontopackettransportinfrastructures.

Thisisaccomplishedthroughthedeploymentofcellsiteaggregatorseitherco-locatedwithamobilebasestationoratintermediateaggregation(hub)sites.Thisenablesadedicated,fully-managed,end-to-endbackhaulsolutioncapableofsupportinganycombinationofwirelessaccesstechnologiesandvendors.

Thesecellsiteaggregationsolutionscanalsohelpserviceprovidersbylinkingsmallclustersofbasestationsandgroomingthetraffictoreducebackhaulcosts.ThroughtheimplementationofCarrierEthernetbetweenthecellsiteandtheMTSO,trafficcanbeaggregatedefficientlyandend-to-endservicedeliveryupheld.

ForserviceprovidersevolvingtoIPbackhaul,thecombinationofbothEthernetforreducedcostsandMPLSforenhancedservicesdeliverywithreliabilityandQoSareessentialtosupportallmobileservices.

Service Delivery Thegoalofmobiletransportnetworkmodernizationistoenablenewservicedeliverywhileloweringthecostoftransport.Alcatel-LucentMETAleveragestheoptimalcostpointsofnewertransporttechnologiessuchasCarrierEthernet/MPLS/T-MPLSandhelpsserviceproviderspreparefortheprofoundchangesthatlongtermevolution(LTE)willbring.

AkeycomponentofthearchitectureisanIP-optimized,data-awaretransportinfrastructuresuitableforthefullrangeoflegacyandnewservices.ThisinfrastructuresupportsdifferentQoSrequirements(i.e.,delay),dependingontheapplication.

TomeetthestringentQoSrequirementsofreal-timetraffic,theIPbackhaulnetworkmustintegratemanyofthequalitiesandattributesofswitchednetworks:predictability,reliabilityandmanageability.

Enabling the Profitable Evolution of Mobile Transport to All-IP | Technology White Paper6

TheimplementationofMPLS/T-MPLSwithintheAlcatel-LucentMETAprovidestheQoS,trafficengineeringandmanagementcapabilitiesnecessarytosupportallmobileservicesaswellasbusinessapplicationsandconsumerInternetservicesoveranIPnetwork.

Ratherthanusingmultipleoverlaybackhaulnetworks,Alcatel-LucentMETAcanaccommodate legacyaccessneedsandbeoptimizedfornextgenerationbroadbandservicesusingEthernetand MPLS,basedonmulti-serviceroutingandswitchingplatforms.TheuseofIP/MPLS-basedpseudo-wiresbringsmatureandefficientfunctionalitytotheRANandenablestransitionofthelegacyRANtopacket.Inaddition,theincorporationofCircuitEmulatedService(CES)capabilitiesontotransportserviceswitchesletsoperatorsleverageexistingTDMinvestmentsbyenablingthetrans-portofTDMtrafficoverEthernet.

Integrated Network and Service Management ThemobileRANischaracterizedbyrapidgrowthandahighchurnrateaswellasadiversityofaccesstypes.Asmobilenetworksgrow,acontinuousrebalancingoftheRANcanhaveamajorimpactonthecostofnetworkownership,asnewcellsareaddedorexistingcellsmodifiedtoaccommodatechangesincapacityrequirements.Tosupportthiscriticalbusinessactivity,strongnetworkmanage-menttoolsandprocessesareneededtocontroloperatingexpenses.

ServiceproviderscanchoosetomanagetheRAN,packetandopticaldomainsseparatelyorinamoreintegratedfashion.Alcatel-Lucent’sintegratedmanagementsuiteprovidesaflexiblemanage-mentsolutionthatenablesbothapproaches.Supportingunifiedbackhaul,thesolutionprovidesintegrated management across technology layers using alarms from each layer that are fed to the top layer’smanagementsystemforconsolidatedalarmview.Thisletsmobileoperatorsseethefullmain-tenancestatusofthebackhaulnetworkwherebytransportrelatedalarmsarefedtoeitherAlcatel-LucentRANmanagementsystems(i.e.9153OMC-R,9253OMCRAN,9353WMS,9453XMS)orother3rdpartyRANmanagementsystems).Andtofurthersimplifyoperationsandmaintenance, acommonnetworktree/map,withsecureoperatornavigationisprovided(Figure4).

Figure 4. Alcatel-Lucent Integrated Management Suite

• Consolidated alarms• Common map• Single sign-on

RAN

Packet

Optical

Access

Optical/AccessLayer

PacketLayer

RANLayer

7750 SR7705 SAR

1675 LambdaUnite1671 SC/1678 MCC

1850 TSS-320

1665 DMX/OMSN1850 TSS-100

9500 MPR/MXC

ISAM

1850 TSS-5

MSCBase station

5520AMS

1350OMS

5620SAM

9153OMC-R

9253OMC-RAN

Multistandard RAN management system

Alarms Alarms Alarms

9353WMS

9453XMS

Enabling the Profitable Evolution of Mobile Transport to All-IP | Technology White Paper 7

AspartoftheAlcatel-Lucentmanagementsuite,the5620ServiceAwareManager(SAM)facilitatesdeliveryofadvancednetworkservicesbasedonAlcatel-Lucent’sconvergedIP,EthernetandMPLSportfolio.AnditenablesmanagementofcellsitesthatprovidemicrowaveaccessviatheAlcatel-Lucent9500MicrowavePacketRadio(MPR).

The5620SAMenablesprovisioningofanend-to-endserviceusingwizardsorpointand-click configurationfromasingleapplicationwithouthavingtoindividuallyconfigureeachdeviceintheservicepath.Itgreatlyreducesthecomplexityandriskassociatedwithprovisioningcomplexservices,andprovidescomprehensivesupportforfault,configuration,accounting,performance andsecurity.

Themanagementsystemofatransformedmobilebackhaulnetworkmusthavethecapabilitytounder-standthehierarchyofend-to-endserviceconstruction.Withthisserviceawarenessthemanagementsystem can react to individual nodal and composite service events and present corre lated, relational informationtotheoperator.Thisenablesfasterserviceprovisioning,verificationandrestoration.

ManagementoftheopticalandmicrowavetransportsystemsintheAlcatel-LucentMETAisprovidedbytheAlcatel-Lucent1350OpticalManagementSystem(OMS),acomprehensivesetofapplications,bundledaccordingtothetransportnetworksolutionsmanaged(e.g.,connectivityservicesbasedonEthernet,MPLS,SDH/SONET,andWDMtechnologies).Thiscompletesolution,allowsmobileserviceproviderstomanagemulti-technology,multi-servicenetworksthatintegratecurrentandnext-generationtransporttechnologieswithemergingdatatrafficlikemetroEthernet.

Inaddition,theAlcatel-Lucent5520AccessManagementSystem(AMS)supportstheISAMfamilyofAlcatel-Lucentaccessnodes.Itprovidesallmanagementrequirementsforprovisioning,maintain-ingandtroubleshootingaccessnetworkswithallthenecessarymeansforenablingsmoothintegra-tionintoaserviceprovider’soperationssupportsystem(OSS).Anditprovidesasetofproductivitytoolsthatdrasticallyincreaseoperatorefficiency.

Graceful Introduction of LTEWithmobiletrafficevolvingtobecomefullyIP-based,themobiletransportnetworkneedstoaddresskeynewrequirementsforguaranteedenhancedQoSandlowlatency.Atthesametime,themobiletransportnetworkneedstoproviderequiredscalabilitywhileensuringservicereliabilityandflex-ibility.ServiceproviderswhoareemployingmobilepackettransportbasedonMETAcanleveragethesamepackettransportnetworkarchitectureforLTE.Thisgivesoperatorsafuture-safeevolutionpathtoLTE,andallowsco-existencewithpreviousgenerationsofmobiletechnologiesthroughcost-effective,convergedtransport.METAprovidesacomprehensivesolutionaddressingtheintroductionofLTEbysupporting:

• Precisealignmentofmobileandtransportnetworklayerstoensureend-to-endQoS

• ScalabilitytomatchLTEbandwidthrequirements

• AbilitytoconvergebackhaulandbackbonetransportformaximumflexibilityinLTEroll-outandgrowth

• IntegrationofmobilityOAM&Pfunctionswiththetransportlayertoreducenetworkcomplexityand streamline operations

Deliveringamulti-technologysolution,METAenablesthereliabletransportofall-IPtrafficoverOptical, Microwave,IP/MPLS,orDSL/GPONpacketnetworks.ToensurethecontinuityofservicesbasedonexistingmobiletechnologieswhileintroducingLTE,METAallowsadvancedtrafficmanagementandprocessing,andfullseparationandprioritizationofdifferentservicetraffic,inordertodeliverguaranteed end-to-end,managedQoS.ThroughtheimplementationofMETA,serviceproviderscanconsolidateCapexandOpexthroughamorescalable,flexible,resilientandsecuretransportnetwork.

Enabling the Profitable Evolution of Mobile Transport to All-IP | Technology White Paper8

Backed By Professional ServicesBeyondtechnologyandproductssuccessfultransformationmustbesupportedbyend-to-endservicedelivery.ThisrequiresaservicesintegratorwhounderstandstherequirementsofthenewRANandbackhaulnetworkandcaneffectivelyintegrateallcomponents.Alcatel-LucentbackstheMobileEvolutionTransportArchitecturewithextensiveexperienceandcomprehensiveprofessionalservices.Asaleaderindevelopinganddelivering2G/3Gnetworks,broadbandwirelessaccess,andcarrier-gradeIP/MPLSnetworks,Alcatel-Lucentistheidealmobiletransportnetworktransformationpartner.

Today,Alcatel-LucentissettingthestandardforIPnetworktransformationbasedonavision, portfolioandcommitmenttodelivernext-generation,user-centricsolutions.

AstheworldleaderinIPnetworktransformation,Alcatel-Lucentprovidesmobileserviceproviderswithawealthofindustrythoughtleadershipandservicesintegrationexperiencefor:

• Consultationonservicetransformation

• Integrationofcarrier-gradesolutionsacrossmultiplevendorsandtelecomdomains

• Operationssupportsystem/businesssupportsystem(OSS/BSS)andsecurityintegration

• Supportforpolicy-drivensecurity,QoS,blendingandpersonalizationapproaches

• Skillsandresourcesforrapiddevelopmentanddeploymentofhigh-valuetechnologiesandservices.

• Extensiveoperationsandmaintenanceservices

Thiscompleteandintegratedapproachallowsmobileoperatorstoensuretheirnetworksarereadytoaddresstheneedsoftheircustomers.Itenablesthemtolaunchabroadvarietyofprofitablenew,IP-basedservicesandblendthemwithalreadyavailableservices.

Conclusion

Tomeettheever-increasingenduserdemandformorepersonalizedmultimediaservicesandaddresscompetitivepressures,mobileserviceprovidersmustfindawaytodeliverallservicesatattractiveratesandatprofitableoperatingmargins.Atthesametime,theymustprovidethehighQoEend usersexpectfromadvancedvoice,video,streaming,andpresenceservices.Theseobjectivescanonlybemetbyleveragingexistingnetworkinfrastructureswherepossibleandsimultaneously transformingnetworkstosupportpacket-basedtraffic.

Themobilebackhaultransportnetworkisoneofthekeyconsiderationsformobileserviceprovidersplanninganetworktransformationthatsupportslegacyvoiceandadvancedpacket-basedservices.Tomigrateandscalethenetworktomeetmarketandbusinessobjectives,mobileserviceprovidersneedanend-to-endarchitecture—fromcellsitetocore—thatsupportsdiverseevolutionalterna-tivesandprovidesaclearpathtoall-IP.

TheAlcatel-LucentMobileEvolutionTransportArchitecture(META)isdesignedtohelpserviceprovidersmakeaprofitabletransitiontoamorecost-effectivemobiletransportnetworkinfrastructure.ItsupportsthedeliveryofnewmultimediaservicesandapplicationswithstringentQoSrequirements,reducescostsinthemobiletransportnetwork,andprovidesanevolutionpathtoall-IP.

This complete solution provides:

• Acomprehensiveintegratedsolution,unmatchedintheindustry,forevolvingCDMA/EVDOandGSM/UMTS/HSPAmobiletransportnetworkstoall-IP

• Flexiblebackhaulevolutionbysupportinganyaccess:TDM/PDH,ATM,DSL/GPON,IP/MPLS,microwave,andSDH/SONETmigratingtoallIP/Ethernet

• QoSsupportforallmobileservices,efficientlyallocatingscarcebackhaulnetworkresources in real time

Enabling the Profitable Evolution of Mobile Transport to All-IP | Technology White Paper 9

• Increasednetworkoptimizationandcapacity,improvingcostperbittransported

• Diversebasestationtransportoptionsforoptimizedbackhaulofallmobileservices

• Comprehensiveportfolioofprofessionalservicesinsupportofmobiletransportnetworktransformation

Formobileserviceprovidersembarkingonanetworktransformation,theAlcatel-LucentMETApresentsthebestoptionfortodayandtomorrow.

Abbreviations

ARPU average revenue per user

ATM asynchronous transfer mode

BSS business support system

BTS base transceiver station

CDMA code division multiple access

DSL digital subscriber line

GPON gigabit passive optical network

IMA inverse multiplexing over ATM

IMS IP multi-media subsystems

IP/MPLS Internet protocol/multi-protocol label switching

LTE Long Term Evolution

META mobile evolution transport architecture

MLPP multilink point-to-point protocol

MPLS multiprotocol label switching

MTSO mobile telephone switching office

OAM&P operations, administration, maintenance and provisioning

OPEX operational expenditure

OSS operations support system

OSS/BSS operations support system/business support system

PDH plesiochronous digital hierarchy

QoE quality of experience

QoS quality of service

RAN radio access network

SDH synchronous digital hierarchy

SONET synchronous optical network

TCO total cost of ownership

TDM time division multiplexing

www.alcatel-lucent.com Alcatel, Lucent, Alcatel-Lucent and the Alcatel-Lucent logo are trademarks of Alcatel-Lucent. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. The information presented is subject to change without notice. Alcatel-Lucent assumes no responsibility for inaccuracies contained herein. Copyright © 2008 Alcatel-Lucent. All rights reserved. CAR7526081006 (10)