Building the 4G wireless network

Exploring LTE architecture and services drivers

In this four-part Telecom Insights guide, Tom Nolle takes a detailed look at how 4G Long-Term Evolution (LTE) architecture and technology planning and deployment decisions should be influenced by LTE service opportunities in various wireless markets. It also looks at why carriers need to evolve their metro network infrastructure toward an Evolved Packet Core for wireless broadband and how changes in metro network technology and operations are being driven by these issues.

Table of contents

Key 4G LTE architecture and opportunity drivers

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Deployment for peak performance and operations

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4G LTE means three class of service issues

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Greenfield and brownfield network design

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Building the 4G wireless network

Table of contents
Key 4G LTE architecture and opportunity drivers Deployment for peak performance and operations 4G LTE means three class of service issues Greenfield and brownfield network design

Key 4G LTE architecture and opportunity drivers

Few people in the mobile industry dispute the inevitability of 4G Long-Term Evolution (LTE), but the timing and the nature of deploying LTE network technology and infrastructure is less certain. Rather than a one-size-fits-all approach, 4G LTE architecture is being determined by the specific competitive and opportunity drivers that provide the impetus for operators to shift to LTE. The solutions vary because of significant differences in wireless markets. The most credible driver for deploying 4G LTE architecture, however, is the market-wide shift from a voice-driven wireless revenue model to a focus on non-voice services. That is, broadband data and video. Operators worldwide have been offering unlimited-usage models, and competition is driving down mobile per-minute prices. At best, voice ARPU is capped and its likely to spiral down over the next five years. Short message service (SMS) is under similar pressure, so data and content services that include video are the hope of the future. The most effective mechanism for promoting mobile data services has been the growth in smartphone use. The Apple iPhone made smartphones a market phenomenon, spawning a host of competitive models and the entry of Googles open-source mobile Android operating system as a general competitor. To create Android, Nokia and Intel which both previously offered their own open-source Linux smartphone platforms agreed to combine their programs to boost market interest. Proving the point, industry statistics point to smartphones making up a third of all handset sales within a year.

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Building the 4G wireless network

Table of contents
Key 4G LTE architecture and opportunity drivers Deployment for peak performance and operations 4G LTE means three class of service issues Greenfield and brownfield network design

In the US alone, smartphone use has clogged cells and entire metro areas, affecting the credibility of smartphone data services and the services offered via traditional handsets. Smartphones also accentuate the competitive benefit of higher mobile data speeds, and the success of smartphones will accelerate 4G LTE architecture deployment. The wireless market forces driving 4G LTE architecture deployment are many and complex. Heres a brief overview of the main forces that operators should consider. First are third-party developer programs. A theme related to the smartphone is the explosion of interest in thirdparty developers, applications and application stores. Every smartphone vendor now has one, and the GSMA a GSM-focused industry group announced an initiative to create a uniform application framework and store across two dozen operators, and membership is growing. Phone applications are also a main focus of Microsofts new mobile architecture, Windows Phone 7. Second, apps provide an assist. Applications are a natural pairing with smartphones because a general-purpose browsing function is of limited value to users, owing to the small screen and the difficulty of manipulating the device to navigate websites while mobile. Applications can draw online information, but they package the user navigation in a way consistent with mobile device and user constraints. Applications dont require 4G LTE services, but most operators are reluctant to make substantial investments in 3G-based application stores and service layer architecture for fear that the success of the investment could overstress 3G networks. Taking the place of wireline broadband. In rural areas and developing economies, 4G LTE network architecture evolution is being stimulated by the need to offer wireless services as an alternative to fixed-wire broadband services. Many developing countries depend on mobile phone services because they lack fixed-line infrastructure. In these markets, it would be unproductive to attempt to deploy wireline broadband given the low economic densities available to justify it. LTE networks offer an enormous advantage in these areas by providing a wireless service that can be used to support fixed broadband access in selected homes and businesses from the same infrastructure that supports traditional mobile services. This driver is particularly valuable in areas that depend on tourism because internet access is increasingly a baseline requirement for travelers.

Forces that drive deployment

Third are regulatory issues. Public and regulatory pressure to include broadband access in universal service subsidies or to fund rural broadband widens the scope of interest in LTE as a fixed/mobile combination. When LTE architecture is paired with frequencies that offer reasonable range, it can serve a fairly large geography economically while supporting both fixed sites and mobile services. As before, this dualism offers a better return on infrastructure and better use of scarce spectrum resources. Wimax, the other 4G technology, is also suited to the rural market, but LTE is generally viewed as a more suitable strategy because it is an evolution of 3G wireless and is more versatile where mobile phones and wireless broadband coexist.

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Building the 4G wireless network

Table of contents
Key 4G LTE architecture and opportunity drivers Deployment for peak performance and operations 4G LTE means three class of service issues Greenfield and brownfield network design

Fourth, the mobile appliance explosion. A final critical driver for LTE is the mobile appliance explosion, first seen in the use of network-enabled e-book readers and now expanding to new-age tablet appliances. These devices are emerging as the core of a new series of business models based on delivering content to users who are less mobile and use the device from a variety of fixed locations as opposed to using it while moving, literally. Operators expect that this migratory-use behavior model will create considerable demand on cells in locations where people sit and socialize classic hospitality sites. Fifth, supporting mobile users with different usage patterns. Some network operators offload 3G network traffic using hotspots and Wi-Fi to support these users, but others prefer to keep their users on their own cellular networks using femtocells. Among the advantages of femtocell technology is that it can be applied to either 3G or 4G/LTE networks. But given the inevitability of LTE architecture deployment, most operators say they plan to deploy femtocells as a part of their overall LTE program. Femtocells can also be used in the home to ensure that LTE customers have good service even during the period of transition from 3G.

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Building the 4G wireless network

Table of contents
Key 4G LTE architecture and opportunity drivers Deployment for peak performance and operations 4G LTE means three class of service issues Greenfield and brownfield network design

Deployment for peak performance and operations

Finally, there is wireless voice complexity. Many operators also face a cost-side driver for LTE architecture the need to modernize voice services around voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). Because 3G voice is based on time-division multiplexing (TDM), as most wireline voice services are, the fit between the two has been good up to now. As the wireline voice switching plant ages, it becomes more difficult to justify reinvesting in the technology, given the sharp downward trend in voice pricing and the increased competition from internet voice services like Skype. If wireline voice is to shift to VoIP, then wireless voice should as well. The interest in moving to a lower-cost VoIP service model has accelerated since 2008, partly because of global economic conditions and competition from over the top (OTT) players like Skype and Google that has become more intense. While few operators plan a fork-lift voice infrastructure upgrade, most expect that they will be moving away from the TDM model over the next five years, and a decision to shift to packet voice for mobile services would facilitate this migration. Many operators are looking at creating a parallel VoIP model supporting both mobile and wireline users while gradually phasing out the older voice infrastructure as it ages. Operators gain the advantage of higher data rates per cell from 4G LTE, larger customer capacity per cell, and more efficient use of backhaul and metro connect infrastructure for services that are increasingly data-dominated. The current explosion in smartphone and mobile appliance interest makes it clear that the markets will quickly stress the capacity of 3G networks and that further 3G investment will be problematic if there is any risk that competitors will leapfrog to 4G. Because that risk exists in nearly every developed wireless market, there is little chance that a given mobile operator will not confront at least one of these LTE drivers in its service area in the near future.

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Building the 4G wireless network

Table of contents
Key 4G LTE architecture and opportunity drivers Deployment for peak performance and operations 4G LTE means three class of service issues Greenfield and brownfield network design

Wireless 4G LTE infrastructure has a three-layer network structure where components perform a set of structured missions that are independent but cooperate with the other LTE network layers. LTE technology diagrams clearly show this structure that includes the radio access network, the control layer and the Evolved Packet Core (EPC). But in the real world, network planners often have to contend with pressures that operate not on LTE infrastructure as a whole but on a component that represents only part of a specific LTE network layer. Beyond the physical LTE network, most operators divide their organizations and activities so responsibilities for the radio access network can be separated from tower interconnection or from service management. A critical task for operators is to plan LTE network layers independently without losing the cooperation. In a practical sense, LTE planning starts with the radio access network. Ideally, operators should consider deploying software-defined radio technology capable of supporting both 3G and 4G services in the spectrum bands available as soon as possible to make their radio access network technology LTE-ready. When new cells are added or when cells are modernized, this software-defined radio platform investment can pay significant dividends in ensuring that radio life is maximized. Radio access network planning for LTE must also consider target services, target locations and migration needs. Nearly all LTE deployments will evolve from existing 3G services, and there is a temptation to think of LTE as replacing or paralleling 3G on a per-cell basis, which would create planning problems for the following reasons. The capacity of LTE cells is higher, and a smaller number of more widely spaced cells may work well if cell capacity limits arent exceeded. Early customers for LTE services are probably going to be users who have specialized 4G LTE handsets or appliances or who have specialized needs. These customers may be more likely to use LTE service in specific locations, so providing it there first is important. Some areas may lack the tower connection and backhaul capabilities needed to fully exploit LTE, therefore providing facilities there may take time, suggesting that the sites be de-prioritized for now. LTE network demand may be highly variable through the day owing to the patterns of smartphone or tablet use. Intelligent antenna technology may be valuable to customize coverage in order to maximize service utility. LTE service evolution is particularly important, and the question is, what handset capabilities will exist? Almost every operator with LTE plans will have parallel 3G and 4G services operating for some time to accommodate the installed handset base and to support existing roaming agreements. Supporting 3G/LTE handsets for new service customers will ensure that they can use their devices while outside the evolving 4G service area, but it may also perpetuate the use of 3G. Transition planning for handsets is critical to support transition planning for the radio network. Traffic management and mobility management are capabilities LTE creates in the next layer the EPC. The EPC builds a sub-network within a metro/core infrastructure that extends from the tower (eNodeB) through the Serving Gateway (SGW) to the PDN Gateway (PGW) in order to provide connectivity between user equipment and the packet data network.

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Building the 4G wireless network

Table of contents
Key 4G LTE architecture and opportunity drivers Deployment for peak performance and operations 4G LTE means three class of service issues Greenfield and brownfield network design

The portion of metro/core infrastructure within the boundaries of this chain is controlled by LTE, and the associated service control processes (often using IP Multimedia Subsystem, or IMS). Maximizing this zone makes mobile services discretely controllable in terms of quality of service but can also limit infrastructure reuse. Making the zone smaller (jumping off into the packet data network sooner) will improve overall efficiency but limit mobile service customization potential.

EPC components require service control input

Operators also need to consider how the LTE EPC elements noted above will be mapped to real hardware. Some vendors offer discrete or specialized devices to support these roles, and others use intelligent line cards in switches and routers. The decision on which hardware to use may be made by default if the infrastructure to carry LTE traffic from the towers to the service point has already been deployed and doesnt offer a smart card option, or where the wireless operator is outside its wireline market area and doesnt own the lower network layers. In cases where the choice is available, it would be smart to review the capabilities of the integrated smart cards. Normally, these will reduce capital and operations costs and reduce traffic latency by minimizing box-to-box connections. At the deepest level, where the EPC integrates with existing infrastructure, it is important to review vendor options for traffic offload. Smart traffic handling at or near the eNodeB can segregate Internet traffic from wireless service traffic and move it immediately onto the best-effort infrastructure used for broadband internet connectivity. That will reduce traffic in the more expensive EPC components and improve service performance and operations costs. Offloading is especially critical for internet video traffic, which can load the SGW/PGW and the associated tunnels significantly. A final point in the layer-by-layer review for LTE planning and design is to ensure that all of the components, especially the radio access network (RAN) and EPC components, properly link with the service control and registration logic. EPC components require service control input to manage traffic routing and to rebuild the connection map for mobile users. The links must be stable and secure while also being compatible in terms of format and interface standards with the equipment that operators plan to deploy. Specific lab testing is recommended. Lab testing is a good idea for LTE layer planning in all cases. Operators report that the best approach is to have two distinct test models: one that represents the final form of an evolved infrastructure, and one that represents the evolution itself. When the end-state components have been verified in the first test bed and any longer-term interoperability issues resolved, the evolutionary test bed can be used to model each stage of deployment to ensure success.

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Building the 4G wireless network

Table of contents
Key 4G LTE architecture and opportunity drivers Deployment for peak performance and operations 4G LTE means three class of service issues Greenfield and brownfield network design

4G LTE means three class of service issues

Mobile services are changing fast enough to make planners dizzy, even if they are confined to the core mobile space where voice continues to dominate. Competition and the need to harmonize voice planning and infrastructure with emerging non-voice services (wireless broadband data and video) have totally revamped wireless service provider business models. For example, who would have believed a few years ago that operators would allow Skype voice applications on handsets? The evolution to 4G Long-Term Evolution (LTE) has created three distinct class of service issues that promise to change wireless operators planning models in the coming decade. While each one is significant in itself, they are almost certain to act together in all major market geographies. The result will be a planning shift in voice services that drives massive changes in voice infrastructure. The three issues are the migration of earlier mobile voice services to 4G LTE voice services, migration from a supply-side mobile service market controlled by wireless operators to one driven more directly by demand and outside forces, and the behavioral migration model created by the impact of always-available mobile broadband on consumer and worker behavior. Mobile voice migration has two dimensions, one linked to evolving the current radio/handset combination to LTE, and the second to evolving existing TDM-dominated voice services to voice over internet protocol. In both cases, the problems are the inertia of current services, the capital required and the customer impact of changes. The effect of wireless voice migration can be reduced if the operators target is largely made up of data devices.

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Building the 4G wireless network

Table of contents
Key 4G LTE architecture and opportunity drivers Deployment for peak performance and operations 4G LTE means three class of service issues Greenfield and brownfield network design

In that case, LTE can be deployed almost as an overlay and its footprint expanded based on growing market opportunity. Where the goal is a more complete migration to 4G in a shorter timeframe, it will be necessary to accommodate 3G and 4G simultaneously in the radio network. It may also be necessary to support dual-mode 3G/ LTE handsets to provide service to LTE customers who are outside the current LTE footprint or roaming on other providers networks. For the TDM-to-VoIP element of LTE voice migration, operators have a choice of sustaining voice independently on 3G for as long as the dual radio access network (RAN) is in place. Eventually, though, they will have to accommodate LTE voice, which is VoIP. The pace of this accommodation may depend on the age of the TDM wireline infrastructure and the pace at which wireline voice can be migrated. Alternatively, operators can explore a TDM-over-LTE option such as VoLGA (Voice over LTE Generic Access). VoLGA allows operators to perpetuate TDM switching even in a pure LTE mobile network, but its probably most valuable in managing the 3G-to-4G migration where there is substantial capex and opex dedicated to the TDM voice plant. The supply-side/demand-side transition in mobile services is due to the growing influence of over-the-top (OTT) players such as Google and to the application stores and smartphones of players like Apple. The fact that smartphones act as internet appliances whose specific behavior is created by developers exploiting web assets has made the smartphone very responsive to market fads and has in fact let smartphones create those fads. Operators must now address the question of how to offer their own service enhancements on a shorter market cycle without compromising their long-lived capital assets and operations practices. Most prospective LTE operators still see IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) as their primary voice and connection services framework, but its clear that some collateral way of creating web-like applications for smartphones will be essential if the whole consumer market is not to be ceded to Apple and Google. The path to success lies in a combination of creating service-layer assets that can be exposed through web interfaces, as well as via IMS, and in creating developer programs to encourage third parties to build services using these tools. Some operators have taken a lead in these programs, and others are looking to standards bodies and industry groups to create cooperative communities of operators to broaden support and enhance developer credibility.

Market shift to mobile first

The final evolution in services is also linked to the transformation in services being created in the mobile space. Eric Schmidt, Googles CEO, encouraged developers to focus on mobile first, which is a reflection of the fact that because mobile devices are constant companions, they are likely to create the user behaviors that will translate into service opportunities not only in wireless but also in wireline. Social networks have made the transition from wireline to wireless, showing that consumer behavior patterns transcend technology. Many service planners believe that innovative mobile services built to reinforce emerging network-enabled social behavior will translate in the other direction. Operator plans to use femtocells for home, hospitality and business networks will create an option to use a mobile device as a universal portal, always available and always on but integrated not only with the wireless carrier network but also with a home or local network.

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Building the 4G wireless network

Table of contents
Key 4G LTE architecture and opportunity drivers Deployment for peak performance and operations 4G LTE means three class of service issues Greenfield and brownfield network design

What links all these service trends, in fact, is the symbiosis between mobile services and social behavior. Mobile calling and SMS services evolved to fill what was primarily a social need. With their availability, users modified their behavior to exploit the services and created a whole new online culture. The handset market and associated developer programs are creating a flood of new services and potentially new online cultures as well. Because these new opportunities are driven by social behavior, they will develop and mature quickly and cant be addressed with traditional long-cycle planning. Operators dare not miss this wireless evolution opportunity driven by class of service changes. Somehow, the reality of long-lived capital investment and regulatory oversight must be balanced with the reality of a consumer-driven, social-fad-conscious marketplace. The willingness of operators to not only tolerate but embrace what would in the past have been seen as OTT competitors is a reflection that they recognize the need to move beyond a reflexive defense of traditional markets and into a reasoned exploitation of new opportunity.

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Building the 4G wireless network

Table of contents
Key 4G LTE architecture and opportunity drivers Deployment for peak performance and operations 4G LTE means three class of service issues Greenfield and brownfield network design

Greenfield and brownfield network design

Deploying 4G wireless services is an acknowledgement of the transformational mission of mobile service in creating new opportunities. The term transformational is especially relevant because most 4G deployments will transform the business model and network infrastructure of current mobile operators. For current 3G operators that plan to evolve their services to a 4G Long-Term Evolution (LTE) wireless framework, LTE standards and specifications define a longer-term architectural model and provide guidance on how that evolution can be managed. One challenge in making wireless evolution guidance practical and useful is that operators often see LTE as a greenfield (or new) network opportunity in one geography or application and as a brownfield network opportunity (a transition from existing infrastructure) in another. Even where operators have 3G infrastructure in place, their service goals may drive them to create a totally parallel and independent LTE network. Conversely, some new LTE operators may have to consider interoperability with 3G service providers for roaming and even interoperability between their own LTE and wireline networks. A harmonious approach to LTE is likely to be helpful to most operators at some point. Radio access network (RAN) planning is a requirement for both greenfield and brownfield LTE network infrastructure deployments, but the information resources that drive it are different. Where 3G services are already deployed, the best strategy is to use 3G data usage patterns to identify the locations where LTE is likely to intercept the largest subscriber interest. When doing this, it is also critical to analyze shifts in the pattern through the day and also through the week. The extent to which demand patterns change may be an indication of the early need for such things as intelligent antenna systems to change cell coverage to match subscriber mobility.

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Building the 4G wireless network

Table of contents
Key 4G LTE architecture and opportunity drivers Deployment for peak performance and operations 4G LTE means three class of service issues Greenfield and brownfield network design

Where there is no 3G data to rely on, it may be necessary to consider basic demographic information and consumer/ worker behavior patterns. Most operators report that 3G data usage is highest where customers are at least somewhat idle in traffic, on public transportation or in hospitality locations. 3G data usage is also highest where the concentration of users includes a high percentage of youth those under age 25. This means that schools/ universities and other natural congregation points for the young are likely to be the early 4G LTE opportunity areas. LTE mobile backhaul or connectivity is an area where greenfield and brownfield network approaches may be very different. Where 3G services are already in place, the backhaul capabilities for those services arent likely to be directly upgradeable to LTE for capacity reasons, but rights of way and current infrastructure might be exploited. In an LTE greenfield network deployment, tower connectivity and mobile traffic backhaul to a service point will need to be created from scratch. This may also be the case where an operator is adding LTE to a 3G profile that includes many cell sites that are outside its own wireline network scope. LTE greenfield network backhaul should consider service and revenue evolution carefully in order to avoid getting too far in front of the opportunity because the first cost is likely to be high and the economy of scale relatively low. With brownfield network upgrades to create LTE backhaul, its probably best to look further into the future and shoot ahead of the duck to ensure that long-term costs are managed, because theres a higher likelihood that the economies of early deployment will be reasonable where exploiting some of the existing facilities is possible.

Newfound flexibility to accommodate trends

In service planning, the 4G wireless brownfield network operator will not only have data from current services on which to base future service plans, it will have a customer base to specifically target with new LTE services. Greenfield network LTE providers may lack both of these assets. The service trends created by smartphones and application stores testify to the need for flexibility in creating and marketing new services in an LTE world, but there is a greater need for flexibility in the near term in greenfield applications. The lack of data on services and the lack of a customer base from which some degree of market control can be exercised make greenfield providers more vulnerable to market shifts. That is particularly true in a situation where the greenfield network LTE service is being introduced to compete with existing 3G offerings from competitors. Operators believe that LTE deployment issues for brownfield network markets are more contained, and the range of choices for a given technology or service can be constrained by knowledge of the market and the need to maximize current infrastructure and craft assets. Greenfield LTE network infrastructure, in contrast, provides greater flexibility in targeting and deployment but also greater risk that the choices will prove sub-optimal in the near term and threaten early return on investment. In the long term, however, operators believe that LTE network infrastructure planning will settle on a common model. Operators also believe that LTE will ultimately transform metro networking, the role of voice central offices, and the structure of business and consumer services. This means that the most significant greenfield/brownfield network issue may be whether the operator is deploying LTE as an adjunct to a common carrier role and a successor to TDM-based services, or whether LTE is the model of its service present and future.

Tom Nolle is president of strategic consulting firm CIMI. The content of this Telecom Insight guide is provided by SearchTelecom.com