Business Services over DOCSIS (BSoD)...Business Services over DOCSIS (BSoD) Establishing SLA-Grade...
Transcript of Business Services over DOCSIS (BSoD)...Business Services over DOCSIS (BSoD) Establishing SLA-Grade...
Solution Brief ● Business Services over DOCSIS Performance Assurance
4Q - 2014
Business Services over DOCSIS (BSoD) Establishing SLA-Grade Performance Assurance
The Business Opportunity
Performance assured, SLA-backed business services command premium pricing, and
MSOs have the HFC plant in position to take advantage of this segment. Speed is
available: DOCSIS 3.1 can deliver GbE, on-par with fiber-based offerings. However,
most businesses are more concerned about reliability and performance than pure
bandwidth, with cloud computing, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and over-the-top WAN
(OTT WAN) connectivity increasingly critical to operations.
MSOs can differentiate by offering assured Quality of Service (QoS) and Service Level
Agreements (SLAs) - committing to guaranteed uptime, bandwidth availability and rapid
mean-time to repair (MTTR) should issues arise.
With adequate performance monitoring, MSOs can also offer more sophisticated SLAs
assuring latency, packet-loss and other key metrics demanded in time-sensitive
business segments including financial services, healthcare and legal. And, with
monitoring in place, utilization and capacity reporting ensure MSOs can confidently
upsell additional bandwidth and managed services to maximize Average Revenue per
User (ARPU) over time.
The Tools Required
DOCSIS 3.x cable modems do not offer integrated performance monitoring, service
turn-up testing, OAM demarcation and other key features for efficient business services
delivery. At the same time, the business services over DOCSIS (BSoD) market is cost
sensitive, eliminating the option to use Network Interface Devices (NIDs) that typically
terminate and assure large enterprise connections.
Network Performance Modules that use Network Function Virtualization (NFV) to
deliver NID functionality in a small, programmable device offer MSOs the missing
element in BSoD deployments. With full end-to-end OAM visibility, hardware-based
demarcation, performance monitoring, and integrated troubleshooting and turn-up
functionality, this virtualized instrumentation simplifies and assures the full BSoD
service delivery lifecycle.
MSO Success in Business
Services: A Promising Start
Cable MSOs are approaching
a 10% market share in the
business services sector;
revenue is projected to
increase by nearly 80%
between 2014 and 2018 to
nearly $8.8 billion in the US
alone (Insight Research, Dec-
2013). In a market dominated
by telcos for over 30 years,
MSOs have even greater
potential for revenue growth if
they can provide comparable
offerings. Initially targeting
best-effort Internet services,
MSOs are turning to
performance-assured services
to expand into the next tier of
the market.
Cable operators' projected business service revenues. (Source: Insight Research)
Business Services over DOCSIS Performance Assurance ● 4Q – 2014 – r2
Accedian’s MSO-Tailored Solution
The Accedian ant Module™ was developed specifically for the BSoD market, with leading MSOs contributing to feature
set definition, providing test lab and live trial access to ensure these units integrate seamlessly and scale into existing
Cable operations. Installed behind a cable modem (CM), the ant Module auto-provisions and transparently offers remote
access using existing management methods.
With a wire speed, programmable FPGA architecture, the antMODULE offers a complete performance assurance suite:
integrated RFC-2544 & Y.1564 Service Activation Testing
(SAT) with automated SLA benchmark report generation,
Ethernet Service OAM / CFM (Y.1732, 802.3ah), Layer 3
TWAMP performance monitoring offering µ-second precise
delay, delay variation, packet loss, availability, and more;
3rd party handheld test-set loopback support at layers 2-4;
port and flow-level utilization monitoring & reporting;
Virtual Network Function (VNF) extensibility for hitless future
feature addition, hosted in either the V-NID™ Performance
Platform or the SkyLIGHT™ VCX virtual appliance.
Business Services over DOCSIS Performance Assurance ● 4Q – 2014 – r2
DOCSIS-Integrated Zero-Touch Activation Accedian’s patented Plug & Go™ technology permits customer self-install - no pre-
configuration of Modules is required. Once the ant is added to inventory, operations
can start or schedule an automated turn-up test reflecting the customer’s specific
service profile, for true zero-touch service activation.
Plug & Go can use DHCP assigned IP addresses to initiate connectivity between the
ant management platform and newly installed Modules, using DHCP options 43 & 60 to
learn the management platform’s IP address. Once under management control, a
static IP can be assigned, along with a Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) that
remains in sync with any link-state change (per RFC-2131) through automated DNS
queries.
Ant Modules feature a dual-MAC layer 2 addressing scheme, establishing separate
DOCSIS service flows for secure separation of management from customer, test and
monitoring traffic through the single subscriber VLAN. Management can also be
configured in single MAC mode using a Q-in-Q management VLAN.
Business Services over DOCSIS Performance Assurance ● 4Q – 2014 – r2
Business Class Performance Assurance
With the service running, OAM functions and layer 2 & 3 monitoring provide standards-
based QoS assurance, trending, fault management and SLA reporting metrics, open to
existing network and subscriber management platforms.
Like turn-up tests, performance monitoring sessions can be initiated by existing,
standards-based probes or network elements, conducted by Accedian Network
Performance Actuators deployed at the head-end, or by Accedian Elements or Modules
installed at remote customer sites - for true end-to-end testing over the actual service
path. To increase network visibility and provide segment metrics, Modules can be
installed out-of-line at critical core and access locations as supplemental test points.
The result is the most precise, granular, real-time network-wide, per-subscriber QoS
visibility available, with 50+ KPIs and derived metrics that span all aspects of network
performance and customer Quality of Experience (QoE). Percentile and statistical
metrics provide intelligent, actionable fault management for precise isolation of
customer-affecting issues.
NFV-powered Network Performance Modules open a cost and operationally efficient
entry-point into assured, SLA-backed business services. MSOs can take advantage of
this unique technology to secure premium business customers and gain a greater
foothold in this important, growing market.
Example Deployment – A Single Solution Assuring Performance of all MSO Commercial Offerings
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