Why is there a need to consider next-generation networks?

Among the driving principles behind innovation toward converging networks, we shall examine the following five:

• Portability of the development of added-value applications

• Broadband needs

• Service provider differentiation

• Customer cost reduction

• Existence of data backbone with capacity for  converging traffic with service quality

Integration of added-value services

In the traditional TDM switch systems, the implementation of value-added services is a layer that is external to the network’s basic architecture.  The language that is generally proprietary of public switching networks must interact in a way that was not envisaged when it was designed with the generally open language of the added-value service applications.

This need for integration led to the designing of a new system that was less complex to administer and that essentially facilitated portability between platforms of different providers.

Growing need for broadband

Furthermore, customers increasingly need IP access broadband, and this can only be achieved by means of new architectures arising from a native IP design.

Both considerations, the implementation of new added-value and growing demand for broadband, naturally lead to the idea of bringing together all services into a purely IP network.

With it, the designs of applications have a natural interface with the nodes that provide traditional services, which gives the necessary portability between different network providers.

New forms of differentiation and profit generation

The principal benefits stemming from a unified system necessarily include new sources of economic-financial benefits and market differentiation.

If we divide the public market into two major segments, residential customers and corporate customers, we can list some of the benefits that can be obtained from bringing together carriers and applications into a single IP environment:

Extra benefits for corporate customers:

• Billing based on service quality and service level agreement.

• Simplicity of VPN service administration.

• Advanced video for security systems.

• Plug-and-play videoconferencing.

Extra benefits for residential customers:

• Self-management and simplicity of administration.

• Permanent access to Internet as a basic service.

• Video-streaming on demand for tele-education.

• Commercial TV broadcasting.

• Basic video for family use

• Peer-to-peer applications and access to public video and audio repositories.

The basic scheme for service supply for a typical customer of an NGN system is as follows:

Reducing the costs of needed equipment on the customer side

Another element that is speeding up this customer model is that the manufacturers of customer premise equipment (CPE) have substantially reduced their cost and have increased their speed and functionality over the past two years.

For example, suffice it to mention 802.11g (54 Mbps) wireless routers, LAN switch ports, Ethernet WAN ports, as well as network address translation (NAT) and firewall functionalities, for a cost under US$100 per end-user.

Existence of Data Backbone with Broad Capacity and Service Quality

Many service providers have the data infrastructure that has been growing every year in line with or ahead of demand.  Careful planning of growth makes it possible to consider new high-speed services on a backbone that originally only carried data.

What was used as ADSL access a few years ago for PPPoE services on an ATM network is gradually being transformed into a carrier service on the IP network.

Service quality plays a fundamental role to route traffic, such as video and voice, in real time.

Existing data IP backbone as a rule allow for necessary configuration options that ensure the existence of service quality policies, which otherwise would render their use difficult for converging networks.

Aldo Castaña
Catholic University of Uruguay
Universidad Católica del Uruguay