The Era of Homogeneous Service Delivery

8/14/2019 The Era of Homogeneous Service Delivery

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Prepared by

Jim Hodges

Senior Analyst, Heavy Reading

www.heavyreading.com

on behalf of

www.hp.com

November 2013

White Paper

The Era of Homogeneous Service

Delivery Networks
http://www.heavyreading.com/http://www.heavyreading.com/http://www.hp.com/http://www.hp.com/http://www.hp.com/http://www.heavyreading.com/


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HEAVY READING | NOVEMBER 2013 | WHITE PAPER | THE ERA OF HOMOGENEOUS SERVICE DELIVERY NETWORKS 2

IntroductionSince their inception, mobile networks were designed with two fundamental

principles in mind: to support global mobility, and to deliver a common user

services experience.

While the design of 2G GSM mobile core networks which incorporated the

concepts of home location registers (HLRs), visited location registers (VLRs) and

equipment identity registers (EIRs) were able to support seamless global roaming

almost from inception, delivery of a common user service experience has proved

a more formidable and ongoing challenge. This is especially true for personalized

services, since network capabilities often differed in terms of application support

and subscriber defined default settings.

Ironically, this continues to be a major challenge even in a 4G and Wi-Fi context

since all services/applications are IP data based and inherently more complex.

Still, given customer increasing expectations that mobile data services will be truly

ubiquitous regardless of location, and underlying mobile broadband technology

utilizes, new approaches are rapidly becoming obligatory.

Accordingly, in this white paper we examine how these requirements are drivingnetwork operators and their vendors to adopt new approaches and products to

usher in the era of true mobile services ubiquity.


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The Rise of Homogeneous Service DeliveryAs summarized above, mobile service delivery expectations are driving changes

to how networks interwork with each other, as well as even architectural principles

utilized in their design.

For example, the evolution of 2G to 3G can largely be considered as an overlay of

technology approaches. By this we mean: Even though the architectures are

similar, as shown in Figure 1, infrastructure sharing was very difficult in large part

due to 2G being TDM-based, while 3G is IP-based.

This resulted in the adoption of a more expensive "new build" model, and perhaps

more importantly, a dissimilar or heterogeneous model in which services were

constrained and forced to execute in a single domain (2G vs. 3G).

Figure 1: The Heterogeneous Services Network Phase 1

Source: Heavy Reading


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Consequently, in order to take the initial steps to better support ubiquitous service

delivery, new standards-based approaches were identified and implemented to

make these networks more cross-functional.

The key approach adopted, as shown in Figure 2, was the definition of a new

single database, the User Data Repository (UDR), which functions as a common

"back end" for both 2G and 3G components such as HLR, HSS, AAA, and EIR. There

are a number of strong value propositions associated with this approach.

First, data consolidation means that as subscribers roam, or even within their ownnetworks handover between 2G and 3G based on network availability, the

network can easily retain an understanding of which services the subscriber is

using, where the user is authenticated, and support services such as single sign-on.

This approach also means that adding new data fields to support services or

network monitoring is a much more straightforward undertaking, thus limiting the

risk of downtime.

Figure 2: The Heterogeneous Services Network Phase 2



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Secondly, the use of a common data schema means that by leveraging policy

control and analytics, operators can offer subscribers a much richer set of person-

alized services based on application preferences, location and network capacity.

Stated another way, the deployment of a UDR means that 2G and 3G services,

while still heterogeneous from an execution perspective, have a greater likelihood

of being perceived by the subscriber as running on a single network, rather than

two partitioned networks with limited handover capabilities.

Finally, such an approach, while not originally contemplated as such, means that

it will be much easier to virtualize the "front end" components of these nodes, since

they are essentially software vs. hardware based.

While the deployment of a UDR was clearly a positive step, the rollout of LTE, and

the commitment to utilize Wi-Fi as a low-cost approach for offloading heavy data

usage from 3G network deployments, mean that some operators could face the

challenge of running four networks in parallel. In addition to the pure network

operational issues, adding two new access technologies to the network means

that the complexity level of the model defined in Figure 2essentially doubled.

While LTE will add significant complexity on its own, given a flattened all-IP design,

Wi-Fi is even more fundamentally different in architecture design, since it leverages

small cells and was not designed to support the entire suite of billing applications.

As a result, when mobile subscribers access their applications from Wi-Fi, it is often

more difficult to track their usage preferences and even confirm their identity, due

to the lack of SIM data. This is a serious business concern, given that Wi-Fi users also

tend to be heavy mobile broadband users.

A similar, related consideration that operators must consider in a service delivery

model context is the rollout of 4G LTE. The immediate impact of LTE, which is now

globally entering the mass commercialization phase, is the introduction of a new

access architecture and unique services requirements.

The Evolution From Heterogeneous to Homogeneous Networks

Given these requirements, it is clear that new approaches to leveraging common

databases such as the UDR must be extended to more effectively tie these

disparate underlying access technologies together. To support this new model,

network design is now taking a crucial evolutionary turn, migrating from an

enhanced heterogeneous services model to a new concept the homogeneous

services model.

As illustrated in Figure 3, a major characteristic of the homogeneous services

model is that it makes extensive use of more interactive software across all of

these access technologies (2G, 3G, Wi-Fi and 4G LTE), so that all access networks

truly behave as one.

Homogeneous Services Network Functional AttributesAlthough a homogeneous services network is conceptually fairly straightforward,

to gain a more granular view of the network functions required, in this section we

consider how such a network differs from a heterogeneous network using a

number of established network functional attributes, namely: service availability;

service registration; service personalization; and service security.


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Service Availability

In a telecom context, service availability refers to the delivery of high-availability,

low-latency services. For heterogeneous networks, this has been accomplished for

years by following best practices and having a thorough understanding ofnetwork dynamics and performance parameters.

As we move to a homogeneous network model, incorporating pure IP services

from LTE and Wi-Fi networks which follow either a flattened or distributed model

introduces new high-availability implementation challenges. A secondary but

related consideration is the convergence of network and IT infrastructure, which

by default drives a more modular, software-driven software design.

Therefore, leveraging new design models for key network components such as

UDRs and HSSs is critical. One approach, as shown in Figure 4, is to make greater

use of software HSS and UDR clusters, which may contain a subset of the master

databases, but synch in real time.

The advantage of this approach is that individual clusters can be deployed for

each radio access technology closer to the infrastructure to reduce latency and

in the case of 2G network support, simplify the support of legacy applications. For

Wi-Fi, a specific cluster also simplifies the integration of Wi-Fi into a homogeneous

network model, since it appears as simply another radio channel. This is consistent

with the spirit of new initiates such as Wi-Fi 2.0, which are focused on creating Wi-Fi

Figure 3: The Homogeneous Services Network



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networks that can seamlessly roam with other radio networks. Moreover, it's

important to note that this approach also extends the concept of high availability

to Wi-Fi, which operators previously had less control over.

Service Registration

Homogeneous networks also expand the registration and authentication model to

be access-agnostic. There are two key enablers for making this happen: The first is

to develop additional software front-ends to support LTE and Wi-Fi in HSS. Once

again, as shown in Figure 5, since the UDR provides a common, synched data

store, adding this functionality is straightforward. This step is now in place with

vendors extending HSS software. A recent example is the HP announcement that

addressed the commercial availability of Wi-Fi offload support in its core portfolio.

A second enabler is the integration of an analytics engine. While analytics is often

considered in use cases for personalized services, this same engine can play a

valuable role in understanding which access technology is currently being utilized,as well as helping the network determine the next best action when the UDR notes

a change in user function, access network or location.

Again, since this is a common database and HSS, leveraging analytics is less

complex since it doesn't have to contend with multiple databases, but instead has

a clear path to collecting and analysis of device/SIM. In turn, this helps alleviate

Figure 4: Cluster Architecture



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the "black hole" phenomenon when mobile subscribers are registered on Wi-Fi

networks deployed by the mobile operator to offload capacity.

Unlike before, in this model, the network understands which users want to connect

via Wi-Fi and is able to collect valuable user data to understand subscriber choice

preferences. In turn, since access handover is handled uniformly, these analytics

tools may also be leveraged to implement more advanced real-time fraud

measures, based on individual subscriber registration and authentication patterns.

Service Personalization

A mobile operator's competence in providing personalized services will be a key

factor in defining future success. Here again, we see analytics playing a vital role

in a homogeneous network. Once analytics is integrated and the HSS/UDR is fully

radio-agnostic, a very broad personalized services model can be supported. This

includes the integration of location data, delivery of high-value advertising

content and tailored loyalty promotions. Moreover, since mobile users are typically

heavier users with longer sessions in Wi-Fi mode, this opens up myriad new person-

alization and B2B revenue opportunities for operators, including identity validation.

Service Security

Security is another essential consideration for homogeneous networks. Whilemobile networks have been designed with security in mind, the subsequent move

to LTE, which is a native IP implementation, brings new security issues to bear. As

well, since Wi-Fi networks have not traditionally been designed to support the

same rigid parameters of the telco security model, the potential for security

intrusion and data loss is exacerbated.

Figure 5: Integrating Analytics



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Therefore, to support LTE and Wi-Fi additional integration, new product offerings

that can support a number of functions are coming to market to enhance overall

network security. An example is a new breed of gateway that combines Evolved

Packet Data Gateway (ePDG) and Wi-Fi Access Gateway into a single node.

There are a number of straightforward implementation steps. The first is to deploy

an advanced security gateway, which is integrated via the UDR with the analytics

engine to monitor usage patterns for abnormal behaviors or access to restrictedcontent. The second step is to integrate this security gateway with the policy

controller to be able to apply individual subscriber and application-level policies.

This approach can also drive new business opportunities for mobile operators

associated with providing a more premium user experience for high-value users, as

well as ensuring that network capacity is optimally managed by dictating which

hotspots could be used for specific applications. One example would be offering

a premium and seamless access model for heavy users of OTT applications such

as Facebook, based on mobile bundle package and total network capability

(mobile and Wi-Fi).


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In addition, as shown in Figure 4, the implementation of a cluster architecture

delivers a number of benefits, which when combined with software virtualization,

empowers an even more flexible implementation strategy since software can be

hosted on any cluster, physical or virtual. This not only serves to enhance network

performance, it also has positive business benefits in terms of lowering costs to run

the network and shorten time to market for new services.

Homogeneous Analytics Template

What separates a homogeneous analytics template from a traditional analytics

model, is given that data can be exchanged between the various nodes cap-

tured directly above, it creates a much more powerful way to leverage analytics

data. There are a number of reasons for this.

First, the amount of data exchanged can be programmed based on network and

application requirements through direct communication between the front-ends.

This means a shift from a template in which the analytics rules engine is relatively

fixed to a truly programmable model. Additionally, and perhaps just as importantly,

when critical attributes change, this data can be exchanged directly in real time,

instead of waiting for the next data synch and wading through a sea of "big data."

Homogeneous Identity Template

Similar to analytics, validating user identity through access to most accurate

network data is a key enabler, given validating identity can be especially difficult

for roaming subscribers or customers that frequently move from LTE or Wi-Fi.

Figure 7: The Interactive FE/BE Software Model



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Through greater software interaction with analytics and HSS/HLR software, network

operators can greatly increase the success levels of identity validation. Given the

advent of services such as B2B mobile commerce applications, which rely heavily

on identity validation, these capabilities are now moving from optional to manda-

tory requirements.

Homogeneous Policy Control TemplateThe final consideration is the creation of an advanced policy control template.

While policy control has already established itself as a key construct of next-

generation networks, we believe that its relative network value will only increase

as functionality is expanded.

And as with analytics and identity, the introduction of a more interactive model

represents a key step in delivering enhanced functionality. For example, even

though policy control rules today are already dynamic and even subscriber- and

application-specific, even more specific policy rules can be created based on

leveraging analytics data to a greater degree.

This is accomplished by ensuring that when, for example, a subscriber invokes a

certain application, resources are provided based on factors such as loyaltyprofile, user status and performance requirements.

While this type of capability can already be provided today to some extent, it can

be extended to reflect the real-time value of the analytics data before policy

enforcement is applied. Conceptually, this occurs by allowing analytics data to

be shared with both the UDR and PCRF software modules. The end result is that

analytics shifts from a post-transaction focus to a real-time focus that allows policy

control to make changes to programmable policy rules "on the fly."


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Homogeneous Services Use CasesAs detailed in the previous section, leveraging additional intelligence in HSS and

analytics and policy control platforms in a more real-time and interactive model is

essential to meet emerging homogeneous services requirements. To provide

additional insight and technical granularity, this section defines and captures the

value proposition of a homogeneous services network with two use cases: seam-

less services personalization (Wi-Fi & 4G); and network-based identity validation.

Seamless Services Personalization With Loyalty Program Integration

As we have documented, in heterogeneous networks it is very difficult to provide

the same level of seamless services personalization when an application is handed

over or invoked in a Wi-Fi environment. However, customer demand for seamless

services is driving operators to find new ways to federate authentication to support

ubiquitous feature Wi-Fi roaming agreements, which don't typically exist today.

As shown in Figure 8, a homogeneous services network model is well suited to

meeting these requirements, since data is shared among principle nodes, regard-

less of the underlying access technology utilized.

Figure 8: Seamless Services Personalization (Wi-Fi & 4G)



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Step 1 LTE Access: Subscriber accesses LTE network and is registered/authenticated in HSS.

Step 2 Application Invocation: Subscriber invokes mobile broadbandapplication telco or OTT.

Step 3 Software Interactive Mode 1: HSS shares critical parameters withother support nodes (Identity, Policy and Analytics).

Step 4 Wi-Fi Access: While broadband session is still active, subscriberroams into a supported Wi-Fi access network. Mobile is also registered in

HSS binding session to current 4G authentication.

Step 5 Software Interactive Mode 2: HSS shares this information with othersupport nodes (Identity, Policy and Analytics). Policy and Analytics confirm

that subscriber prefers to use Wi-Fi for this type of mobile broadband ap-

plication and so directs LTE RAN to handover to Wi-Fi access network.

Network pushes notice to subscriber that session will be handed over to

Wi-Fi. Subscriber accepts.

Step 6 Wi-Fi Handover: PCRF directs LTE RAN to handover to Wi-Fi accessnetwork. Network pushes notice to subscriber that session will be handed

over to Wi-Fi. Subscriber accepts, and handover from LTE to Wi-Fi is per-

formed. Analytics and Identity data continues to be shared, just as in thesteps 3 and 5.

Step 7 Software Interactive Mode 3: Real-time data is shared among HSS,analytics and PCRF to maintain subscriber services profile.

Step 8 Initiate Loyalty Promotion: In this scenario, the network is config-ured to trigger a loyalty promotion event (i.e., free content based on sub-

scriber preferences when on a Wi-Fi network) for a 4G subscriber who uti-

lizes the operator Wi-Fi network vs. a third-party Wi-Fi network. The pro-

gram is delivered via the telco application server, with data shared with

OSS/BSS systems as required.

Network-Based Identity Validation

One of the emerging requirements to support personalized B2B services is a

stronger suite of identity validation techniques. For example, while password

updates for B2B applications continues to be generally administered by an email

account, given the regularity of email hacking, a second and parallel approach is

now viewed as required to provide increased consumer protection.

In this scenario, as shown in Figure 9, the mobile network when configured as a

homogeneous services network is able to easily comply with these more stringent

requirements.

Step 1 ATM Access: Subscriber attempts to access ATM via swipe cardand password.

Step 2 ATM Password Rejection: Incorrect password is input. A failuremessage is sent to the user with a request to resubmit password. A correct

password is resubmitted.

Step 3 Network-Based Identity Validation Invoke Request: Given the ini-tial failure, before the transaction is completed, B2B provider requests a

network-based identity validation (via linkage of mobile number in B2B

application profile).


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Steps 4 and 5 Network-Based Identity Validation Data Collection: HSS,Identity and Analytics modules create an identity validation profile file

based on updated location, mobile status (e.g., authenticated, not on

blacklist) Note: this same approach could also apply if the mobile was uti-

lizing Wi-Fi access. In Step 5, the profile file is provided to the CSCF.

Steps 6 Network-Based Identity Validation Return Result: IMS core for-wards the latest profile to the B2B application.

Step 7 B2B Application Transaction Completion: B2B application allowsthe transaction to complete given it is able to correlate location of the

subscriber's mobile to ATM location.

Figure 9: Network-Based Identity Validation



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ConclusionOver the past 18 months, there has been a potent shift in customer attitude

toward the availability of personalized services. As a result, network operators are

now taking steps to reengineer their core networks to meet these new require-

ments, aligned with the services model we have introduced and documented in

this white paper.

Looking forward, Heavy Readingbelieves there is little doubt that the influence of

this model will continue to grow, as operators take the final steps toward a fully

access-agnostic model, capable of supporting a ubiquitous and programmable

palette of applications that characterize the essence of homogeneous service

delivery networks.


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About the AuthorJim Hodges

Senior Analyst, Heavy Reading

Jim Hodges has worked in telecommunications for more than 20 years, with

experience in both marketing and technology roles. His primary areas of research

coverage at Heavy Reading include softswitch, IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS)

and application server architectures and virtualization, control plane protocols

such as Diameter and OpenFlow, IP service delivery, subscriber data manage-

ment (SDM) and managed services.

Hodges joined Heavy Reading after nine years at Nortel Networks, where he

tracked the VoIP and application server market landscape, most recently as a

senior marketing manager. Other activities at Nortel included definition of media

gateway network architectures and development of Wireless Intelligent Network

(WIN) standards. Additional industry experience was gained with Bell Canada,

where Hodges performed IN and SS7 planning, numbering administration and

definition of regulatory-based interconnection models.

Hodges is based in Ottawa and can be reached [email protected].
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]

The Era of Homogeneous Service Delivery

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