That is Half II of a three-blog sequence on options to beat challenges related to bridging the digital divide.
Within the earlier weblog (see Bridging the Digital Divide with Subscriber Edge), we mentioned the standard broadband community design. On this weblog, we’ll concentrate on a brand new structure for broadband networks, and the challenges that they tackle.
Transferring to a distributed structure
The power to allow subscriber capabilities on completely different layers or gadgets within the community offers a chance to optimally place subscriber edge within the community to assist match economical and user-experience wants. For instance, on condition that video quantities to greater than 75% of the amount of complete subscriber visitors, versatile termination permits for the environment friendly offload of video visitors nearer to the subscriber by way of cautious placement of content material caches and the addition of peering factors. Distributed termination of subscribers improves the general person expertise because the visitors follows a extra ultimate path that optimizes capability utilization and helps decrease latency for demanding functions.
With this distributed structure, communication service suppliers (CSPs) can save prices by lowering unneeded bandwidth upgrades of the complete community by way of visitors offload additional downstream. Nevertheless, with extra distributed placement of subscriber edge capabilities utilizing completely different termination fashions, CSPs could face challenges with scaling, managing, and working subscriber companies networks.
To unravel these challenges, Broadband Discussion board outlined the Management and Person Airplane Separation (CUPS) mannequin for the Broadband Community Gateway (BNG) in TR-459 (see Determine 1). CUPS permits distribution of person/knowledge planes nearer to the subscriber, permitting the management airplane perform to be centralized. It is a vital change from the standard BNG structure—the place management airplane and person airplane capabilities are tightly built-in and carried out by the identical gadget. This new distributed architectural method takes benefit of CUPS to supply newer broadband companies and use instances which are completely different from conventional choices.
Centralizing the management airplane perform helps decrease operational prices in a distributed subscriber edge perform that may be non-uniform with various necessities on scalability, type issue, and position.
CUPS additionally permits new income streams or fashions, which weren’t attainable with the standard structure, akin to differentiated service plans. For instance, service suppliers can supply a day/evening plan, the place subscribers are provisioned or moved to a smaller set of person planes through the evening for price financial savings and potential sustainability advantages.
Prospects can even supply tiered plans with Platinum, Gold, and Greatest-Effort, based mostly on redundancy capabilities to assist shield premium subscribers from person airplane, entry, or web site failures. With the management airplane now not tightly built-in with the person airplane, and full visibility of all person planes, CUPS permits larger flexibility for CSPs to seamlessly transfer subscribers to completely different nodes with out disruption.
The most recent improvement by the Broadband Discussion board is Concern 2 of TR-459 Multi-Service Disaggregated BNG with CUPS specification (see Figure2), which permits improved resiliency, scalability, and quicker deployment instances to assist present a greater end-user expertise with a extra dependable and constant service.
Within the third weblog, we’ll share particulars on the Cisco Subscriber Edge resolution, together with the structure, technical benefits, and buyer advantages.
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