OEMs targeted for simultaneous 2G and 3G backhaul access
Agere Systems today unveiled its TrueAdvantage Wireless Access Solutions enabling a single network to offer simultaneous support for 2G and 3G wireless systems. The solutions will enable wireless service providers worldwide to save up to $300 million per year in T1/E1, SONET/SDH, and Ethernet leased line backhaul costs, Agere says. It has also been announced today that NEC has selected Agere’s TrueAdvantage solution, including the company’s Advanced PayloadPlus (APP) network processor chips, for use in its wireless access equipment.
Focused specifically on the mobile wireless space, TrueAdvantage wireless consists of a broad family of feature-rich networking chips such as APP network processors, LLP (Link Layer Processor), TADM, Ultramapper”, and Hypermapper framing and mapping devices. The solution includes turn-key software packages, references designs, and hardware development systems that allow telecom equipment manufacturers to quickly and efficiently build lower-cost, higher performance wireless access network equipment.
Agere offers all the functionality needed to support 2G/3G converged equipment. In a single solution legacy 2/2.5G protocols such as Transcoder Rate Adapter Unit (TRAU), Frame Relay and AAL1 Circuit Emulation, are integrated along with the flexible protocol processing needed for more complex 3G ATM and IP networks.
Advantages to the Network
Traditionally, the cost of simultaneously supporting 2/2.5G and 3G networks forced wireless service providers to consume precious real estate with separate equipment for each wireless network. Ageres integrated approach allows wireless carriers to converge these networks onto a single platform, reducing equipment cost and operational expenses, improving scalability, and ultimately providing the ability to lower the cost of consumer services.
Accelerating wireless network convergence allows carriers to cut costs by reducing the number of T1/E1, SONET/SDH, and Ethernet backhaul links they must deploy. Additional backhaul savings can be achieved by improving the efficiency of T1/E1 backhaul links with the flexible protocol processing of the TrueAdvantage Wireless Solutions. By handling a mix of traffic types and providing support for header compression and multiplexing protocols such as PPP mux (Point-to-Point multiplexing) and cUDP (compress User Datagram Protocol), backhaul efficiency is improved by as much as 35%. This offers wireless carriers a potential global savings of $300M per year as fewer T1/E1 leased lines will be required to cover a service area.
All these capabilities are delivered to wireless equipment manufacturers in conjunction with the new production-ready TrueAdvantage Wireless Access Functional Programming Interface (FPI) software that runs on Ageres APP300 and APP500 network processor product families. The FPI can be used as a black box, which can easily integrate into targeted wireless applications such as Node B, BTS, RNC and BSC wireless equipment. In addition, equipment manufacturers can easily modify the source code to incorporate proprietary features and create differentiated systems. As with all solutions built on the TrueAdvantage platform and Ageres network processors, the data plane software requires up to 30 times fewer lines of code for a given function than competing processors.
Advantages to the Systems Designer
These development alternatives combined translate to reduced product development costs and defects and improved reliability and scalability. Using the FPI software, manufacturers can avoid several time-consuming tasks such as learning device-specific details, programming the data plane code, and developing several hundred thousand lines of control plane code. The FPI Software solution is estimated to save more than 8 to 10 staff years or development. These savings are critical as 70 to 80% of the lifetime cost of a programmable system is in software development.
Agere announced today that NEC, a leading 3G wireless equipment maker, selected the APP500 network processor for use in its wireless access equipment. Equipment makers, such as NEC, carefully consider the network processor selection as it represents a critical element within wireless equipment. The complete Agere wireless solution supports the broad diversity of wireless protocols and interworking required. The solution architecture offers a high level of hardware and software flexibility, as well as scalability, which in turn offers Ageres customers substantial development savings.
Converging and saving costs of backhaul wireless links are major and related industry trends, said Allen Nogee, analyst with In-Stat. Ageres TrueAdvantage Wireless Access Solution, with its unprecedented integration of 2G and 3G systems onto a single network, economical software for use with network processors, and scalability for use in a wide range of wireless equipment and multiple protocols and standards, amount to key catalysts for driving this market growth.
Ageres Wireless Access FPI is targeted for use in several types of equipment, including Node Bs, BTS, BSCs and RNCs. The FPI combined as part of the complete TrueAdvantage Wireless offering enables a common platform design with:
* Configurable and scalable hardware and software platforms
* Field software upgradeable feature sets
* High platform availability and reliability
* Multistandard (e.g. WiMax, GSM, UMTS, CDMA, GERAN) & Multiservice (e.g. TDM, ATM, IP) support
* Capability to simultaneously handle a diverse traffic mix and protocol interworking
* Various backhaul types (e.g. T1/E1, OC3/STM-1, 10/100/1000 Ethernet)
* Various mechanisms to substantially improve transport backhaul efficiency