Wireless networks today are delivering infinitely more content to more users than could have been imagined only a few years ago. Business users and consumers alike are leveraging mobile capabilities to stay in contact, remain productive, and enjoy the conveniences afforded my mobile access to email, business applications, the Internet, and other services.
But, for all the benefits the latest wireless devices and services offer subscribers, they present a management challenge for wireless network operators, who are tasked with ensuring services and content are delivered reliably and quickly.
To effectively eliminate congestion, services outages, and general inefficiencies, operators must be able to ensure the effective use of their network resources. Fortunately, there are many tools available for network monitoring, traffic shaping and management, deep packet inspection, security, event monitoring and management, as well as provisioning and billing. Unfortunately, however, in most cases, these tool all require separate software or hardware that not only require added investment, but once deployed, must be integrated into the overall network management process in order to perform effectively - and even then, there are limitations, since these separate elements have not been designed as a single solution and, therefore, are likely to not perform as effectively as needed.
Through its Bell Labs facilities, Alcatel-Lucent has developed a single tool that addresses each of these needs in a single solution - its Alcatel-Lucent 9900 Wireless Network Guardian (WNG). The 9900 WNG is designed to simplify management of network operations and resources and provide real-time end-to-end visibility into network behavior.
By looking at how every packet, flow, subscriber, device, domain, access point, Internet server, and applications manifest impacts network resources, the 9900 WNG is able to provider all wireless operators a solution that allows them to effectively control their networks, regardless of wireless technology.
Because it monitors every packet that is exchanged between mobile devices and wireless networks, the 9900 WNG is able to develop a predictive analysis of how different types of traffic will impact every part of the network. A real-time dashboard provides visibility into the network and its traffic flow, including usage trends, which can be used to resolve service deficiencies, billing errors, and generally determine opportunities for increasing network efficiency. Importantly, the 9900 WNG also identifies anomalous events in real time to identify down to the specific device or network element when resources are being overloaded, impacting network services for other users.
Through its two components - the Alcatel-Lucent 9900 Detector (deployed in the packet core) and the Alcatel-Lucent 9900 Central (deployed in the NOC) - the 9900 WNG delivers a significant advantage to wireless operators looking for an edge over their competition, providing advantages in a number of areas, including operations, planning, security, engineering, marketing, and revenue assurance.
Wireless operators' success hinges on their ability to deliver services reliably; the Alcatel-Lucent 9900 WNG is designed to increase operators' ability to combine operational management with infrastructure design for an optimally designed delivery mechanism. With the certainty that the network has been built effectively, and the proper tools are in place to monitor activity in real-time, operators can then shift their focus to working with partners to develop new services and applications that can be rolled out with confidence.
For more on the capabilities of the Alcatel-Lucent 9900 WNG and how it supports wireless operators needs for network management, read the Alcatel-Lucent white paper, "Alcatel-Lucent 9900 Wireless Network Guardian: Powerful solution to classify wireless data traffic, understand wireless resource usage and improve network performance."
For more on how operators can ensure the efficiency and viability of their networks and work closely with partners to deliver the most effective services and applications in an evolving communications environment, visit the Next Generation Communications community.
