Huawei Unveils New Products For Its SDN-based Mobile Backhaul Solution

BY Editor

Apr 16, 2013– Shenzhen, China  (Techreleased) – Huawei, a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, today announced new products for its LTEHaul solution (SDN-based Mobile Backhaul). Software Defined Networking (SDN) capabilities are now supported in the newest release of the CX600 series aggregation router, ATN910 series cell site router (CSR), and U2000 Network Management System (NMS). These new product releases mark an important milestone for the development of mobile backhaul solutions, and a landmark for SDN innovation in carrier IP networks.

Huawei

Current mobile backhaul networks face many challenges as a result of the exponential growth of mobile broadband. These challenges include complex O&M for the massive scale of cell sites, time-consuming service provisioning, and inefficient network utilization. The SDN-based Mobile Backhaul solution is well positioned to address these challenges, and it is the outcome of a joint innovation project between Huawei and the China Telecom Guangzhou Institute. The newly added SDN features include the capability to support a massive number of cell site routers (ATN910 series) managed as a virtual cluster by centralized SDN controllers embedded in the aggregation routers (CX600 series). The SDN controller provides a centralized control plane for the cell site routers, performing centralized path calculation, service provisioning, and traffic control. The addition of the U2000 system provides a graphical user interfaced (GUI) based unified NMS for the cell site and aggregation routers. Based on these products, the SDN-based Mobile Backhaul solution effectively provides plug-and-play, auto service provisioning, smart traffic steering, and auto trouble shooting capabilities for a large number of cell site routers. Early tests have shown promising results with service provisioning efficiency improvements of 85% and over 50% reduction in network alarms.

The SDN-based Mobile Backhaul solution is based on existing network hardware, and new SDN features can be enabled through software upgrades, both leveraging and protecting existing customer investments by maximizing existing resources. This solution supports both star and ring topologies, further protecting investments in existing deployment topologies and offering flexibility for new deployments.

“Huawei is committed to helping our customers achieve business success through innovative technology solutions. Our progress with SDN technology demonstrates Huawei’s practical and effective leadership within the Carrier SDN industry.” said Mr. Gai Gang, President of Huawei Carrier IP product line.

According to analyst firm Infonetics Research, Huawei ranked No. 2 in the global IP router market, as of Q4 2012, and has become the fastest growing vendor. The announcement of a product series for its SDN-based Mobile Backhaul solution further demonstrates Huawei’s innovation and technical strength in the IP field.

Huawei has been proactively participating in international SDN standardization efforts, including the Open Networking Foundation (ONF), and in collaboration with stakeholders such as operators, equipment manufacturers, and research institutions, to promote the application of SDN in end-to-end networks.