I’ve always thought of trains as one of the safer modes of transportation. But recent high-profile train accidents remind us that even vehicles on tracks can run into problems that can result in crashes, with potential results including death, injury, and property loss.
You may remember the tragic Amtrak accident on May 12 in Philadelphia. It killed eight people and injured more than 200 others. The train derailed while taking a curve for which the maximum recommended speed was 50 miles per hour, but preliminary analysis from the National Transportation Safety Board indicates the train was moving at 102 miles per hour. This wreck put new focus on the need for positive train control, better known as PTC, systems.
The NTSB has been talking about the need to improve railway safety with PTC since 1969. However, when two Penn Central commuter trains collided head on, killing four and injuring 43 things heated up due to the increased national attention. In fact, it should be noted that the NTSB in 2014 put out a “most wanted list” on which implementing PTC systems ranked first. The list also noted at least six other railroad accidents from 2008 to 2012.
“PTC systems work by monitoring the location and movement of trains, then slowing or stopping a train that is not being operated in accordance with signal systems and/or operating rules,” the NTSB explains. “This safety redundancy prevents train-to-train collisions and overspeed derailments, as well as the associated injuries and fatalities to passengers, railway workers, and others.”
Yet for all the talk about the need for PTC systems, and the fact the government has set requirements regarding the installation of PTC systems, most U.S. railroads will fail to install positive train control by the Dec. 31 federally mandated deadline, notes Thierry Sens, marketing director of the transportation segment at Alcatel-Lucent in a recent TrackTalk article, Give PTC* the best chance of success with IP/MPLS.
That said, PTC systems do exist. Toward the middle of this year an estimated 14,300 of the 22,000 locomotives in the U.S. were partially equipped with PTC, Sens says. Plus, 19,000 of the 32,600 wayside interface units and 1,800 of the 4,000 base station radios required for PTC had been installed since the government in 2008 ordered PTC be installed on lines carrying hazardous materials or passengers.
As the NTSB paper notes, PTC systems are in use on the Northeast Corridor and on the Michigan Line between Chicago and Detroit. And as Sens discusses, Norfolk Southern is also among the organizations moving PTC forward by upgrading its communications network to IP/MPLS.
The IP/MPLS network allows the railroad, which is one of the nation’s largest (with a 34,600km network), to separate and prioritize traffic, and provides the resiliency required for the important PTC function via its fast reroute, link aggregation group, non-stop routing, and non-stop services capabilities. Alcatel-Lucent’s ADSL+ solutions, integrated access devices, microwave technology, and Service Access Routers power the Norfolk Southern IP/MPLS network, which was first deployed in 2010 and now operates in 22 states.
“PTC is the right thing for the U.S. railroad industry, particularly following recent high-profile accidents,” says Sens. “It will prevent train-to-train collisions, derailments caused by excessive speed, unauthorized incursions on track where maintenance is taking place and the movement of a train through a switch left in the wrong position. Its interoperability features are also a critical element of an efficient and successful rail network.”
Attorney Barlow Keener agrees. As he mentions in a recent INTERNET TELEPHONY magazine column, railroad safety and railroad viability are both for railroad companies and their riders, as well as for the American economy itself. According to the Federal Railroad Administration, he notes, 140,000 miles of U.S. railroads deliver 40 percent of all national freight.
]]>The mining industry is booming thanks not only to natural resource demands in China, but also because every electronic device, including smartphones a lot of the precious materials that miners pull from the earth. For example, an iPhone contains gold, silver, platinum, copper and many rare earth elements like Yttrium, Lanthanum, Neodymium, Gadolinium and Europium.
Keeping these bustling mines efficient requires a highly reliable, accessible, secure and high-performance communications network. The reason is the mines tend to be operational 24/7/365. It is a major factor in why many mines are in the process of or evaluating upgrading their communications networks, since the existing Wi-Fi, 2G, 3G, proprietary VHF and PMR options are not keeping pace with mining information interchange demands of all types.
One solution is private, ultra-broadband, as described in a recent TrackTalk posting, LTE for mining: delivering ultra broadband in the middle of nowhere, by Thierry Sens, Marketing Director Transportation Segment, Alcatel-Lucent (ALU). Indeed, the reason for the title is somewhat obvious in that mines tend to be in not just remote but very remote locations.
For example, the Rio Tinto West Angelas mine in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, the solution for better connectivity has been a private single and converged ultra-broadband 4G LTE network for its pit fields, railways and ports.
The network, installed in 2013 by Alcatel-Lucent, helps with mission-critical communications for things like in-pit autonomous haulage systems (AHS), autonomous drilling systems (ADS), driverless freight train control, anti-collision systems, in-pit proximity detection, in-pit CCTV, high-precision GPS and an array of telemetry systems and sensors are now integral components of successful mine sites around the world, according to Sens.
Alcatel-Lucent has provided an illustration of a private broadband for mining. While a bit of an eye chart, what stands out is the extent of the IP/MPLS infrastructure along with the wireless links from the mines to the backbone network.Source: Alcatel-Lucent
For Rio Tinto, the performance of its LTE network has led some observers to comment that they have a better mobile signal in the middle of the mine, hundreds of miles from the nearest city, than in their office.
“An LTE network is also contributing to reduced operating costs by using an IP protocol to support all applications on a single converged radio network, and improvements in operational efficiency,” notes Sens.
Private LTE networks and mining are a good fit, as Rio Tinto has demonstrated.
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If you traveled by air this summer, consider yourself lucky if you made it to your destination on time. It was a tough summer for both the airlines and for passengers, as IT issues in both July and August led to widespread delays and flight cancellations in the U.S. and beyond.
Most recently, a software update to a plane routing system at an FAA control center in Leesburg, Va., led to what some are now calling Flypocalypse.
The En Route Automation Modernization system routes planes through 160,000 square miles of airspace over Washington, according to The Washington Post, but on Aug. 15 it was unable to handle that important task. “For several hours, the system that processes flight plans at the center stopped functioning for reasons that are still unclear,” according to the Post.
The result: The delay or cancellation of hundreds of flights nationwide and a sea of frustrated passengers.
The August event followed by just more than a month another airline system glitch that had even more widespread repercussions.
In early July, the busiest month of the year for air travel, a router malfunction in United Airlines’ reservation system led to big delays at the company’s Chicago, Denver, and Houston hubs – negatively impacting a reported 400,000 passengers.
As happened during the August event, many stranded passengers in July lit up social media with their complaints.
The problem with the system – which in addition to selling tickets is used to create gate assignments, manage aircraft movement, schedule pilots and flight attendants, and track maintenance schedules – led United Airlines to ground all its planes from 8 to 9:49 a.m. on July 8, according to The Washington Post, which noted the airline also grounded several flights the previous month.
Given the complexity of predicting weather, of airplanes themselves, and of all the people and systems involved in scheduling planes for takeoff and orchestrating them en route and at landing, it’s kind of amazing that things work as well as they do most of the time. But it’s tough to have that perspective when you’re a passenger who’s been waiting for hours at the airport, or a stakeholder in an airline, for which time is money.
The good news is that there are proven technologies in which airlines, some of which are reporting record profits, can invest to make their systems – and in turn, their businesses – more reliable.
One of those solutions for helping make aviation travel less chaotic is IP/MPLS services.
IP/MPLS is a communications network architecture that can prevent problems like minor router failures from grounding flights, noted Thierry Sens, marketing director of transportation and oil & gas segments for Alcatel-Lucent. In a July blog, Don’t let unreliable IP routers ruin your airline’s reputation, Sens notes that IP/MPLS offers high network availability and resiliency via its fast reroute, link aggregation group, non-stop routing, and non-stop services capabilities.
The technology also features embedded security via network access control, network group, encryption, and traffic anomaly detection. That’s important in this day and age of frequent and high-profile network and system breaches, as we need to closely guard the key infrastructure that is our transportation system, and protect the passengers and airline employees.
]]>For more than a century, the massive Paris Metro has been enabling commuters and tourists to easily travel across the French capital. Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens (RATP), which operates the metro network, employs roughly 54,000 employees and has yearly revenue of more than €5 billion ($5.43 billion). As part of the Grand Paris initiative, which has support from several levels of government, RATP is planning:
However, getting there means having a next generation communications network. With that in mind, the Paris Metro is converging its five communications networks into a single IP/MPLS network. Instead of separate networks for TETRA, CCTV, telephony, passenger info and IT, RATP is boldly moving ahead with a converged network aided by the expertise of Alcatel-Lucent.
“By converging our five separate legacy networks into one single IP/MPLS network,” noted Patrick Goasdoué, director of telecommunications for RATP in a recent Alcatel-Lucent interactive case study, Signaling Change for the Paris Metro, “We will not only reduce our maintenance costs, but also improve our operations.”
Companies often struggle with moving forward thanks to a network of fragmented systems that don’t effectively integrate with each other. With its expansion plans, RATP saw the opportunity to fix its own fragmentation issue as it expanded its metro network. This was a perfect time to migrate to IP/MPLS, which moves all communications over a common IP backbone.
The advantage of converging networks into one system extends far beyond improved efficiency, security and control, as Alcatel-Lucent noted in the case study. IP/MPLS not only handles communications traffic today, but it also makes future expansion easier; it can handle new applications and services, manage even more lines, trains and CCTV coverage, and be ready for whatever new innovations emerge in the next few years.
At the same time as it simplifies the communications network and makes it future-proof, the move to IP/MPLS will enable the Paris Metro to significantly reduce congestion and pollution, combat urban sprawl and agricultural encroachment, promote the economic development of the surrounding region and contribute to France's reputation as worldwide leaders in economic progress.
Not a bad trick for an old dog.
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In North America, the Positive Train Control (PTC) system was mandated by the United States federal government in 2008 for railway lines carrying passengers and hazardous materials. Yet, the government deadline to have 96,500 km of track with the feature by 2015 will not be met.
Similarly, the European Train Control System (ETCS) in Europe, part of the Europe Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS), is currently only deployed on 5000 km of track. The EU is aiming for a rollout on Europe’s 68,000km core network by 2030, and there is a long way still to go.
“With the US government set to introduce a five-year extension of the PTC bill by the end of 2015, and the EU turning the screw on ETCS deployment, this is not going away,” noted a recent blog post, Unlocking the benefits of train control with IP/MPLS, by Thierry Sens, Marketing Director Transportation Segment, Alcatel-Lucent. Sens, explained that, “Railways should therefore embrace the respective mandates as an opportunity to improve their network architecture and technology, specifically by introducing IP/MPLS.”
Signaling and train control systems require strict reliability, resiliency, performance and security, as they are mission-critical communications. IP/MPLS architecture is perfectly suited for the task.
By combining IP/MPLS routers, IP/MPLS switches, optical switches, packet microwave and LTE radio networks, railway operators also can build a converged IP/MPLS network to host both mission-critical signaling systems and additional features desired by operators such as CCTV networks and passenger Wi-Fi. While the cost of rolling out the required infrastructure to support these train control mandates is large, railway operators can at least use the opportunity to overhaul their communication systems with modern technology.
Refer in Portugal and Trafikverket (previously Banverket) in Sweden, for instance, are deploying IP/MPLS to support their signaling applications while introducing features such as synchronous Ethernet, cyber-attack protection, non-stop routing, non-stop services and fast reroute.
“These railways are well placed to reap the rewards of improved interoperability, capacity, reliability and safety by hosting enhanced train control on IP/MPLS,” observed Sens. And, Alcatel-Lucent is working with these railway operators on the design and rollout of the systems based on IP/MPLS.
Meeting the regulatory demand for automatic safety features on railways is not quick or easy. But the benefits can be great for railways that do, and next generation communications is the foundation for enabling them to meet future requirements as well as improve operational excellence and the customer experience.
]]>Alcatel-Lucent has developed its Network Services Platform (NSP) as a unified solution for creating agility in delivering network services. NSP brings efficiency and flexibility to the front-end problems of new service creation and the immediately downstream problems of operating those services efficiently and intelligently in a multilayer, multidomain, multivendor network. It does so in a unified and holistically designed solution.
Remarkable gains have been made in the cloud computing community to create and deploy new services efficiently and at scale. It’s also true that a significant impediment to service delivery is the rigidity of networks we deploy and processes used to define and instantiate services being offered.
A great deal of energy has been expended in recent years to enhance the flexibility of networks. Solutions have begun to appear that address parts of the problem, but to date they have been constrained to a particular function or domain and haven’t actually solved the whole agile service delivery problem for networks.
Until the Alcatel-Lucent NSP.
NSP breaks the OSS/BSS logjam in network service creation with the use of open RESTful APIs northbound for OSS and BSS integration and with use of important data modeling standards and templates for network and service representation. Using these abstractions allows services and networks to be represented once to multiple OSS and BSS applications, eliminating the need to define the same service multiple times to different modules so they can talk to a range of vendors’ platforms.
NSP enhances this streamlining by enabling service policies and tenant contexts to be associated with the newly defined services and applied broadly across the target network infrastructure.
As we discovered in the analysis of developing a new bandwidth calendaring service offering in a representative operator case, NSP brings improvements over 50 percent compared to present modes of operation in both calendar time required to define the new service offering and the number of resources needed to define the service in the OSS and BSS contexts.
As the service templates travel southbound they are converted by a versatile mediation engine into the semantics and formats needed to work with each IP/MPLS and optical network platform being managed. This auto-conversion dramatically simplifies and streamlines the provisioning process for the service offerings across network layers, vendors and domains.
Communication southbound with NSP is enabled by support of multiple standard protocols important in the multivendor environment it’s designed for: BGP-LS, PCEP, NETCONF, and SNMP today, with OpenFlow on the horizon for cases where it’s used. Special cases for vendor CLI support are also included to continue the simplification.
On top of protocol versatility, Alcatel-Lucent has integrated functionality derived from 1,000s of operator deployments in both optical and IP/MPLS layers to enhance NSP’s value. For example, three distinct path computation engines are available in NSP for use as the operator requires. A packet-oriented PCE (PCE-P) for use with IP/MPLS paths, an optically-oriented PCE (PCE-T) for use with optical paths, and a multilayer PCE (PCE-X) for use in multilayer path optimization are included. PCEs are used to define paths in line with service policies at provisioning time, and as operations progress KPIs are monitored in real time to determine if adjustments of any sort are called for.
Going further, Alcatel-Lucent has incorporated unique and innovative algorithms for resource optimization such as its self-tuned adaptive routing for LSPs that helps the network adapt allocations in real time according to policies and service delivery needs, producing further efficiencies and revenue-generating capacity.
From this profile we can see Alcatel-Lucent is applying its vision and expertise to deliver a solution that supplies the missing link with NSP in solving the wide area network agility problem. Its combination of functions has all the attributes for turning WANs into agile service delivery platforms. It’s a platform that can help turn aspirations into achievements in new service deliveries. It should be a major contributor to many operators improving their networks to become as agile as the cloud.
Paul's work explores transformations under way in SDN, NFV, cloud computing and service orchestration in service provider environments. Use cases from data center to core, metro, access and customer premises are engaged. New architectural developments and implications for vendor and operator designs are analyzed. Syndicated research analyzes market developments, forecasts market sizes, and evaluates market shares of participating vendors in key product categories. Custom research and analysis helps clients evaluate plans related to these transformations, and implement their offerings in the market. Prior to joining ACG Mr. Parker-Johnson led Juniper Networks’ cloud computing solution business enabling end-to-end cloud offerings for service providers and enterprises of multiple sizes and scale.
]]>Originally posted on Alcatel-Lucent Blog February 3, 2015
Talk of “cyber armies” working on behalf of nations might once have been the work of Hollywood, but recent events have demonstrated the opening of a new front in the global war on terror: cyber security.
High-profile attacks on film studios, a US military Twitter account, and several US retailers have led President Barack Obama to declare that cyber terrorism is "one of the biggest threats to national security" and that his administration is working to develop better intelligence on cyber threats. "No foreign nation, no hacker, should be able to shut down our networks, steal our trade secrets, or invade the privacy of American families, especially our kids," Obama said during his State of the Union address on January 20.
The head of cyber defence for the French military, Arnaud Coustilliere, also expressed his concern at apparent attacks on French websites in the wake of the terrorist tragedy in Paris on January 7. "What's new, what's important is that this is 19,000 sites." Coustilliere said. "That's never been seen before."
A similar cyber attack at an unnamed German steel factory in 2014, which sabotaged parts of the control system resulting in severe damage to a blast furnace, show that it's not just web servers and databases that are under threat, but complete ICT (information and communications technology) infrastructure. Train, air and road traffic control systems are as a result all vulnerable, which poses unthinkable consequences for governments around the world.
There is currently a widespread misconception that IP communication networks are more susceptible to attack than a proprietary or TDM network. However, the German steel plant attack in 2014 and the hacking of legacy and proprietary industrial SCADA infrastructure in the Middle East by Flame and Stuxnet worms in 2012 show any kind of infrastructure is vulnerable.
Alcatel-Lucent has consistently invested in researching and developing highly secure solutions for its communications networks and infrastructure to ward off potential threats and provide added peace of mind to its customers.
For example, IP network infrastructure utilizes Network Access Control (NAC), encryption, and traffic anomaly detection. IP/MPLS also uses traffic segregation and isolation, which means that if one VPN network is compromised, the attacker cannot reach out to other VPN domains.
In addition, to detect intrusions and protect optical fiber networks, Alcatel-Lucent integrates advanced security features into its DWDM optical equipment, 1830 Photonic Service Switch. Layer 1 encryption of high-speed lines (10G), which are based on AES 256, one of the most advanced market standards, guarantees data integrity and confidentiality, and by preventing latency of even a few microseconds, does not compromise performance.
This type of encryption is ideal to secure the transmission of real-time high-speed data used by data centers, cloud infrastructure, and all critical communications. For railway operators, airports, road authorities and government agencies, which rely on these networks, constant availability is essential. However, with cyber threats only likely to become more sophisticated, they should be mindful of taking necessary precautions to avoid becoming the cyber terrorists' next victim.
See a detailed demonstration of how to fully protect the confidentiality of the information carried over the fiber:
It goes without saying anymore that people and businesses in an increasingly connected world rely on the Internet for personal and commercial communication. We are also in the midst of a continuing migration of people are increasingly moving to cities as the world is becoming more urbanized. What has also become clear is that cities with a smart grid and a solid IP infrastructure thrive more than cities that do not. The case for the smart city has never been stronger.
First, the demographic shift: Roughly half of the world’s population lived in an urban area in 2010. By 2050, according to the World Health Organization, nearly 7 out of 10 people will live in an urban environment. Unsurprisingly, by 2025 there will be 37 mega-cities with a population above 10 million people, according to the United Nations Environment Programme.
This alone should be reason for government and industry to come together and invest in the network resources to support this city population. But there is good economic reason, too.
Cities with good broadband infrastructure reap the benefits, according to stats compiled in a recent TechZine posting, Smart cities are built on smart networks, by Marc Jadoul, Strategic Marketing Director, and Jacques Vermeulen, Director, Global Solution Leader for Smart Government, Alcatel-Alcatel-Lucent. As the authors note, a 10 percent increase in broadband penetration produces between 0.25 and 3.6 percent growth in GDP, and 80 new jobs are created for every 1,000 additional broadband users. Further, broadband is responsible for 20 percent of new jobs across all businesses, and 30 percent of new jobs in businesses with less than 20 employees.
But what does it mean to be a smart city?
First, it means having a city-net based on wireline and wireless broadband networks that give access to a high-capacity IP and optical communications infrastructure.
Second, it means investment. Smart cities invest in data centers and a government cloud, control platforms for multimedia and machine-to-machine (M2M) communications.
Third, once the foundation is laid, the city’s public infrastructure (including buildings, public space, roads, traffic lights, parking, etc.) is optimized for peak efficiency and environmental preservation.
“Elements like a smart grid helps reduce CO2 footprint and energy bills, and wireless sensors can continuously monitor and control pollution, lighting, and waste,” noted the Alcatel-Lucent blog post.
Fourth, entrepreneurship is leveraged to create new applications to enrich daily life of all citizens. New York City, for instance, relies upon third-party developers for apps that make its metro easier to navigate.
Participation is also key. In fact, community engagement is a crucial factor for successful smart city rollout. This includes citizen participation, feedback loops, as well as social media interaction and dedicated community portals.
The case for the smart city is obvious. But will government heed the call.
There are many reasons why railways are using IP/MPLS for their communications networks but two major ones are:
“Even if a single converged communication network is built to support all applications, IP/MPLS can make sure that critical applications always use the same path on the IP network and that several critical data flows are never mixed in the same IP session or path,” noted a recent Alcatel-Lucent blog post, Communications for Transportation: Top 10 reasons to migrate to IP/MPLS.
As the blog notes, in addition to the first two, a single unified and converged IP/MPLS infrastructure can support both mission-critical and less vital services at a lower cost than dedicated legacy networks.
Yet, legacy equipment can be overlaid on top of IP/MPLS for a smooth transition. Plus, the technology is flexible enough to meet any network topology and answer all needs while guaranteeing high performance and resilience.
As the list continues, it is noted that other reasons to migrate include such things as flexible synchronization options, including the Synchronous Ethernet (SyncE) feature, provide the easiest and quickest way to achieve frequency synchronization and the benefits of an Ethernet-network without changing existing TDM-network applications.
IP/MPLS also delivers multi-tenancy capabilities so railways have the potential to resell network capacity to third parties, and it can support cloud technologies such as software-defined networking and network functions virtualization. And, IP/MPLS is LTE ready since it is a native IP technology. This means it can help prevent cyber attacks through solutions such as Alcatel-Lucent’s Critical Network Infrastructure (CNI), which includes a range of embedded security features like Network Access Control (NAC), encryption, and traffic anomaly detection.
SONET/SDH has stood railways in good stead over the years, but IP/MPLS is most decidedly the future of railway communications.
]]>Anyone who knows “futbol” (aka “soccer” in the U.S. and “football” elsewhere) knows how enormously popular it is in Latin America. Hence, being able to provide as many fans as possible great inside and particularly remote from stadium user experiences has become something of an obsession. Illustrative of this is that thanks to its newly installed 100G ultra-broadband network, Colombia’s mobile provider, UNE, was able to debut widespread streaming video services in time for the recent 2014 FIFA World Cup. This meant its subscribers could have quality viewing experiences over their smart TVs, tablets and smartphones.
Columbia, like many countries, is in the midst of an explosion in interest in streaming video, and meeting this demand meant need, of course, requires better infrastructure. In fact, Columbia has been working hard to build its high-speed infrastructure, and it has grown its Internet connectivity by roughly 300 percent in the past 2.5 years, according to a recent Alcatel-Lucent case study, UNE Secures Colombia’s Ultra-broadband Future with 100Gbps Network.
Colombia’s growing its infrastructure highlights some of the problems that are common with connectivity in emerging economies—namely, dealing with the needs of large territories with widely dispersed urban centers and chronic constraints on NOC space and power consumption.
“Integrating the legacy infrastructure—in this case, the optics management system and unused fiber—with the ultra-broadband network, is also daunting on the professional services front,” noted Earl Kennedy Earl Kennedy, IP Transport Product Marketing, Alcatel-Lucent, in a recent TechZine article on the UNE network deployment. “Indeed, the heart of UNE’s challenge is nation-building—extending UNE’s fiber-optic network to connect 1,053 municipalities, 50 percent of small- and medium-sized enterprises, and 50 percent of Colombian households by the end of this year.”
As a result, the top priority for UNE is to sustain momentum by growing capacity.
To meet this challenge, UNE looked to Alcatel-Lucent for its optical 100G infrastructure.
“We needed integration for the management system that we had been using for several years, and we were able to gain peace-of-mind knowing that the previous technology, which also had been deployed by Alcatel-Lucent, and had served us well, would be easier to integrate with the new network,” noted Alejandro Toro, network engineering and operations director for UNE.
He added: “Other considerations, such as the maturity of the platform, capacity, and power efficiency, posed even bigger challenges, and Alcatel-Lucent exceeded the qualifications of other providers for addressing those.”
The Alcatel-Lucent solution provided the relief that the capacity-strapped UNE needed, bridged incomplete fiber spans up to 180 kilometers long, and did it all with significantly less space and power use than the typical deployment requires.
And, Alcatel-Lucent did it in time for the FIFA World Cup, making Columbia’s sports fans very, very happy.
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Their networks, which traditionally have been based on turnkey network elements running software on purpose-built hardware, are moving to a software-centric model. In this model the true value lies in the software, while the hardware is typically of the commercial-off-the-shelf variety.
Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) is the name of this new architecture, which not only embraces the model of instituting network functionality in software and running it on industry-servers, but also allows applications and services to leverage those resources whenever and wherever they are.
The success of virtualization in the data center has demonstrated the power of running network capabilities on virtual machines. That’s powerful because it allows networks to be more fluid so they can meet shifting demands. It’s also powerful because it can result in cost savings, given less – and less specialized – hardware is required, and given virtualized environments (in which one server can host various network elements) tend to consume less power than environments featuring a collection of appliances.
NFV also can help facilities-based network operators effectively reinvent themselves to be more agile, so they can better compete with faster and often smaller over-the-the-top service providers.
Reducing equipment costs and power consumption, and expediting the introduction of new services and features were among the key goals laid out by ETSI’s NFV group, which got the network functions virtualization movement rolling a couple years ago. Founders of the NFV group within the European standards body included AT&T, BT Group, Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telecom Italia, Telefonica, and Verizon.
Network operators that want to get started with NFV, suggests Andreas Lemke, marketing lead of the CloudBand NFV platform at Alcatel-Lucent, should take advantage of what he describes as “5 must-have attributes of an NFV platform.” These include:
Finally, and as important as all of the technology, Lemke says that those wishing to get started with NFV should select partners that can provide the same five 9s reliability, quality of service, and security in the new virtualized environment as they enjoy with their existing networks.
There is a growing industry consensus that NFV will become the architecture of the future for networks that are agile, applications friendly, high-performance, interoperable and secure. In fact, not only is there consensus but there is traction in the market for NFV solutions as service providers look to transform themselves to be as accommodating as possible in a profitable manner to the dynamics of rapidly changing market requirements. However, not all NFV solutions are alike which is why the Lemke attributes list is one worth consideration as part of an NFV evaluation.
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As populations increasingly migrate from rural to urban areas, power utilities face new economic challenges and opportunities around creating and maintaining adaptive grid communications network infrastructure.
The dynamics of this global change are fairly well known, although how to address the challenges isn’t so obvious. For example, cities consume three quarters of energy and contribute 80 percent of CO2 emissions globally, according to a recent report in The Guardian. How can that energy be most effciently delivered, with minimal environmental impact?
Consensus is emerging that what’s needed are smarter, safer, greener cities. Governments and municipalities are under pressure to invest in sustainable infrastructure capable of efficiently delivering services to citizens and workers.
There’s a pretty compelling smart grid transformation opportunity for public-private partnerships embedded in this evolution. Together, telecom service providers and information and communication technology (ICT) providers can bring in their assets, expertise and experience to help power utilities meet goals for smart grid applications.
Smarter energy management for power utilities is an imperative, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to achieve.
ICT is an important driver of economic competiveness, livability and environmental sustainability associated with smart grid transformation for smart cities, noted Marc Jadoul and Jacques Vermeulen of Alcatel-Lucent in a recent TechZine article, “Smart practices for building smart cities.”
“The right ICT infrastructure will affect the way each city will be created and evolve,” Jadoul and Vermeulen noted. “It will enable smart cities to include vastly enhanced sustainable areas, such as smart buildings, smart infrastructures (water, energy, heat, and transportation) and smart services (e-substitutes and e-services for travel, health, education, and entertainment), which drastically change the urban experience for city dwellers and travellers.”
Using broadband networks to provide access for high-capacity communications infrastructure, the city net becomes the backbone of a smart city. Creating that backbone requires investment in an open data approach flexible for a variety of applications that benefit both the city and its population.
This infrastructure foundation opens up opportunities to optimize a city's public infrastructure, including a smart grid to reduce CO2 footprint and lower energy bills. For example, wireless sensors can continuously monitor and control lighting.
Other important aspects of an effective smart grid include real-time remote grid monitoring substation automation, smart metering, and green energy devices.
]]>InnoTrans might have been and gone for another two years but Alcatel-Lucent’s highlights from the world’s largest railway exhibition live on in three videos which are now available to view at any time online.
Hall 4.1 was entirely dedicated to Train Control and Communications for railway networks and Alcatel-Lucent’s expertise in this critical field was shown in four key demonstrations: Converged IP/MPLS Network for Railways, Agile Optical Network for Railways, Long Term Evolution (LTE) ground-to-train communications, and Cloud Connected Passenger. A short overview of all of these solutions and their specific applications is now available to view here.
As the video shows, Alcatel-Lucent’s LTE Ground-to-Train solutions will be deployed in the Grand Paris project’s Telecom System for Future Urban Transport (Systuf). This new communications system is based on LTE, and to demonstrate the capabilities of LTE at InnoTrans, Alcatel-Lucent set up a live LTE network which hosted multiple mission-critical and non mission-critical applications. This included on-board CCTV, emergency communications, live driver view footage feeds, platform video feeds, train location services, and Tetra/PMR voice.
This live LTE network was also the foundation of Alcatel-Lucent’s Cloud Connection demonstration, which offered a vision of what the passenger train of the future might look like. The next generation of on-board infotainment services which leverage ultra-broadband connectivity were shown in a multimedia table. As the video shows, the table incorporates on board IPTV, video on-demand services, and online shopping, while passengers can use the service to book a table in the train restaurant, or check to see whether the toilet is occupied.
Perhaps the highlight exhibit for Alcatel-Lucent’s was the world-premiere presentation of its Converged IP/MPLS Network for Railways. The demonstration showed how Alcatel-Lucent’s IP/MPLS service routers and switches can build a single converged communications network infrastructure that supports all railways services and applications including signalling, as well as provide a smooth migration of existing legacy systems like analogue CCTV and GSM-R base stations to the new network. A brief overview is available in the first video, but for a detailed demonstration of IP/MPLS and its capabilities click here.
An in-depth look at Alcatel-Lucent’s agile optical networks for railways is also available in the overview and a third video. This technology is intended to counter cyber security threats to mission-critical applications, with Alcatel-Lucent’s latest solutions, Wavelength Tracker, and the 1830 Phototonic Service Switch (PSS), which constantly monitors optical losses and detects any intrusions, on display. PSS can also be fitted with the AES-256 layer 1 encryption module to preserve the integrity of the network, providing network operators with added peace of mind that their networks are protected from even the most sophisticated security threats.
With over 130,000 visitors from more than 100 countries in attendance, the 10th anniversary edition of InnoTrans was the largest exhibition yet. It was also a big success for Alcatel-Lucent. We hope you enjoy our round up of the highlights from our exhibit.
]]>Ethernet services delivery based on the control plane approach hasn’t changed for proven solutions such as MPLS/VPLS and PBB. Layer 2 flooding and learning as an approach to build the forwarding database is still necessary, but this has inherent limitations.
A new approach has emerged that brings many benefits over the control plane approach in the form of Ethernet VPN (EVPN). With EVPN, the control plane and data planes are abstracted and separated. A multiprotocol BGP (MP-BGP) control plane protocol carries MAC/IP routing information, and there are several data plane encapsulation choices.
EVPN provides several benefits over the control plane approach. These include integrated services, allowing operators to deliver Layer 2 and Layer 3 services over the same interface, and networking efficiency since EVPN allows for multi-homing with all-active forwarding and load balancing between provider edge routers.
As a recent TechZine article by Greg Hankins and Jorge Rabadan, Senior Product Line Managers at Alcatel-Lucent, Ethernet VPN (EVPN) for integrated layer 2-3 services, noted, EVPN also brings greater control and design flexibility.
“Since the control plane and data plane are separated, several MPLS or IP data plane encapsulation choices are available to meet core network requirements,” explained the authors. “Provisioning and management using a single VPN technology rather than both Layer 2 and Layer 3 is simpler.”
There is greater control because MAC/IP provisioning from a network management system database enables programmatic network control, whole control plane signaling maintains a consistent signaled forwarding database instead of flooding and learning in the data plane.
EVPN technology helps with data center interconnect, cloud and virtualization services, integrated Layer 2 and Layer 3 VPN services, and overlay technologies that simplify topologies and tunnels services over IP infrastructure.
“With EVPN, service providers can meet evolving demands for higher speeds, sophisticated QoS and guaranteed SLAs,” the authors noted. “EVPN can support the requirements driven by new applications in a way that existing technologies can’t.”
The days of using a control plane approach and a flooding technique are numbered.
]]>The emergence of cloud computing and mobility, not to mention bring-your-own-device trend (BYOD), has introduced a strong need for mobile virtual private networks (VPNs). Yet, most operators are only able to offer mobile VPNs to larger customers since their fixed-line VPN infrastructure is often separate from their cellular infrastructure.
One solution to this problem, outlined in a recent TechZine article, Mobile VPNs for Enterprises of All Sizes, by Jan Vandehoudt, Principal Consulting Engineer and Patrick McCabe, Senior Product Marketing Manager, Alcatel-Lucent, is for mobile network operators to use an enterprise services gateway (ESG).
“The ESG approach simplifies the network and ultimately streamlines the operational and provisioning model,” noted the authors. “This makes it feasible to extend the mobile VPN service to small- and mid-sized enterprises for the first time.”
An IP/MPLS router that has massive scalability, high performance and carrier-grade resiliency for VPN services is at the heart of the ESG model. This router not only handles IP/MPLS but also functions as a mobile gateway. By mixing functions, the ESG is able to replace the mobile gateway (PGW, GGSN), PE router and border gateway.
The benefits of combining functions into one ESG include massive scalability and resiliency, a simplified network and streamlined operational and provisioning model, and automated service provisioning.
Using such architecture also dramatically reduces both capital expense and operational expense for mobile network operators. A recent Bell Labs study found that over a five-year timeline the new approach is two times less expensive in terms of CAPEX and 10 times less expensive in terms of OPEX.
Further, the study found that deploying an ESG allowed the mobile network operator to offer services more quickly and with greater reliability.
“This approach not only provides cost and revenue advantages for the MNO, but it also opens new markets to include small- and mid-sized enterprises that may not have been candidates for this service in the past,” noted the TechZine article.
The use of an ESG is a win-win both for operators and their customers. Customers get high speed access to key business applications with high availability, as well as persistency of connection without constant re-authentication and log-ins and multi-device flexibility. At the same time, mobile network operators get flexible service definition within existing framework and a simple implementation model that scales from small to large enterprises. Operators also get simplified operations including end-to-end service assurance, SLA monitoring, and traffic engineering.
In short, the case for enterprise service gateways is strong.
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