Field Testing On the Go

I had several interesting conversations at CTIA about the issues associated with the expansion of the Evolved Packet Core and how the network is being verified and tested.

As you know, carriers have a lot of parts in motion: The towers from the likes of American Tower and Fiber Tower; the backhaul from cable operators and companies like Universal Tandem and the leasing of fibers from the likes of Allied Fiber.

All of these connections and companies do not share a common clock, so the transfer of traffic from one span to the other often leads to packet loss and delay. This is not a pseudowire issue because it’s not about channelized voice.   It is however about Ethernet. It’s a network issue and as VoLTE and RCS services become more common, we should start to see the problem more often.

Gil Biran, of Adva Optical told me about a timing strategy that synchronizes Ethernet using the FSP 150 to provide end-to-end synchronization. With this, the goal is to have the elements deployed throughout the network, regardless of who is providing the service. A white paper on the subject, “Timing Excellence for Packet-Based Mobile Backhaul,” is offered by the company.

In addition to speaking about the pricing of having all this synchronization in place, we also discussed the reduction of phase and the savings compared to other solutions.

Testing costs often represents a huge capital investment. This is the problem that Electro Rental solves by providing a worldwide distribution of testing gear that is available to companies needing to deploy in the field for testing. It is rare that a Lab needs rental gear, but out in the field, they fight in real - time (Sorry Roger Daltry it was a close as I could come). 

Here the goal is more tactical. Solve the problems out there, and then move on. Electro Rent has a global presence that services the testing needs of Enterprises and Carriers with superior logistics and quick delivery. 

The bottom line is the field has some choices, and as the networks become more complicated with partner networks, the cost of deploying testing on other networks for other people’s phantom experiences will also rise. Bottom line - the edge is getting better management even if the edge is the eye of the network operators.