Feature Article

Free eNews Subscription>>
February 27, 2013

Tekelec Unveils Software-Defined Thinking Networks

As mobile operators compete to generate new revenue streams and secure their place in the changing digital ecosystem, intelligent mobile broadband solutions provider Tekelec has debuted its offering coined ThinkingNetworks at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week. Per Tekelec’s definition, ThinkingNetworks is a software-defined network that will self-organize, self-optimize, and self-determine responses to unprecedented and unpredictable events, much like the human mind.

According to Tekelec, the foundation of ThinkingNetworks is an intelligent, virtualized control layer through which operators can create elastic network streams for over-the-top (OTT), cloud, machine-to-machine (M2M) and best-effort services.

In a statement, Tekelec’s CTO Doug Suriano said, “We know, for instance, that our customers want to provide policy, charging and identity as cloud-based services. They also want an environment in which they can create unlimited options for partnerships and services with OTT application providers, mobile advertisers, and M2M and cloud service providers.”

The developer added that ThinkingNetworks will evolve through four overlapping phases. In phase one, the company will build a highly scalable new diameter network (NDN) that orchestrates diameter-based communications among gateways, policy servers, charging systems, subscriber profile databases, and mobility and session management functions. It is within the NDN that the anatomy of ThinkingNetworks takes form, through a trio of Policy Server Diameter Signaling Routers and the subscriber profile repository (SPR).

In phase 2, the NDN is executed on a fully virtualized cloud computing platform, the CloudXG. This phase represents a fundamental shift in the way operators improve network scalability and flexibility in terms of sessions, transactions, and throughput. The scalable intelligence, capacity and control provided in the CloudXG phase allows operators to extend their business models beyond access services, said Tekelec.

In the third phase, the MobileSocial, mobile operators will leverage network and subscriber intelligence to provide valuable opt-in, mobile advertising, and other personalized offers to over-the-top application and content providers. This paves the way for them to become digital lifestyle providers. Important elements are the MobileSocial repository (MSR), the OTT application management function, mobile policy gateway (MPG) and the traffic detection function.

Likewise, in phase four, the ThinkingNetworks evolution culminates with the end game of network intelligence and elasticity, optimized for digital lifestyle services. Operators can adjust networks as time, events, and content are added from a multitude of sources.




Edited by Jamie Epstein


FOLLOW MobilityTechzone

Subscribe to MobilityTechzone eNews

MobilityTechzone eNews delivers the latest news impacting technology in the Wireless industry each week. Sign up to receive FREE breaking news today!
FREE eNewsletter