Nokia Networks, Coriant bring SON to mobile backhaul

Nokia Networks and Coriant will demonstrate a new self-organising network (SON) approach to mobile backhaul at next month’s Mobile World Congress, which they said would reduce transport infrastructure by a fifth.

The vendor said the new proof of concept pushes software defined networking further than basic service provisioning to deploy resources according to issues affecting the network. The new SON offers backhaul according to demand, which Nokia said would ensure a higher quality of service.

Among the features of the proof of concept is the ability to track and control plane traffic and view how well the network is running. By using real-time analytics, operators can see when to improve the quality of a network when required.

Nokia Networks said the new solution would make network planning simpler and also allows for more efficient use of transport resources, which it said would extend the life of infrastructure.

Hossein Moiin, Executive Vice President and CTO at Nokia Networks, said: “This proof of concept is the first of its kind to provide a fully automated capability for self-configuration and self-optimisation of multi-vendor mobile backhaul networks using SDN as the management layer. It is a major step towards teaching networks to be self-aware and realizing our Technology Vision 2020. It also reduces total cost of transmitting each bit by making transport networks intelligent enough to take network planning and daily operational decisions in the most cost-effective way on their own.”

Paul Smelters, Senior Vice President of Data Networks, Coriant, added: “Coriant innovation in SDN is leading the revolution to programmable, service-aware data-optical networks. Through this joint program with Nokia Networks, Coriant is showing how it is enabling services as the driver of programmable mobile backhaul and fixed-mobile converged networks.”

Read more:

O2 gets Cellwize for new SON project

Cisco targets enterprise small cells as research shows VAS may be required