Tolaga Research and Deliverables in 2017* · PDF fileCopyright 2017 Tolaga Research | 6...

Copyright 2017 Tolaga Research | 6 Liberty Square Suite 2052, Boston, MA 02109, United States of America

5G boom or bust?May 2017: Transformation drivers and inhibitors for 5G (Report/Webinar)June 2017: Radio technology innovation review for 5G (Research Note/Article)

The changing tide for radio spectrum valuationsFebruary 2017: Unravelling the US 600MHz spectrum auction (Research Note)August 2017: An assessment of the global radio spectrum landscape (Report/Webinar)

Transforming telecom with platform based business models andautonomous operationsMarch 2017: Trials and tribulations for operational automation (Research Note/Article)May 2017: Strategies for platform based business models (Report/Webinar)

Location, Location: The future of network real estateJuly 2017: Real estate strategies for smart buildings and smart cities (Report/Webinar)March 2017:The impact of radio innovation on small and macro-cell site demand (Research Note/Article)

Tolaga Research and Deliverables in 2017*

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*Report topics and dates may change depending on research priorities and specific client demands

Copyright 2017 Tolaga Research | 6 Liberty Square Suite 2052, Boston, MA 02109, United States of America ii

A tale of two players: The hacker and the service providerApril 2017: Securing SS7 networks (Research Note/Article)June 2017: Navigating network encryption with DPI alternatives (Research Note/Article)September 2017: Cognitive security solutions (Research Note/Article)November 2017: Creating value from identity management (Report)

Finding the winning IoT network technology with TCO modelingApril 2017: TCO assessment for LPWA and 4G-LTE technologies (Research Note/Article)June 2017: Scenario planning for LPWA and 4G-LTE IoT Networks (Report/Webinar)

Wireless in the sky: Networking strategies for autonomousdrones/UAVsFebruary 2017: Wireless networking for autonomous drones (Research Note/Article)September 2017: 4G-LTE suitability for autonomous drones (Report/Webinar)

IoT identity management and cryptographyOctober 2017: IoT identity management and cryptography (Report/Webinar)December 2017: IoT identity management and cryptography (Research Note/Article)

The rise of augmented realityMay 2017: Location based technologies and the AR use cases (Research Note/Article)December 2017: AR market bottlenecks in the face of opportunity (Report/Webinar)


5G boom or bust?When the mobile industry is disrupted, it typically responds by inventing a new network technology. Sometimes thispays off, but often it doesn’t. Today the mobile industry is confronted with stagnant revenues and disruptive servicedemands. In response, the industry has invented 5G to deliver enhanced mobile broadband, ultra-low latency, andmission critical connectivity, and “network slicing” capabilities to segment resources according to service demands.

To succeed, 5G must create sufficient value for mobile operators. This value will not come merely from 5Gperformance, but depends on much needed service provider transformation to capitalize on changing mobileservice demands. For this topic Tolaga will investigate:

● Whether 5G is truly transformative for service providers, and if so in what areas.● If network slicing is a catalyst and driver for value creation, or merely a pipe dream.● How service providers might use millimeter wave technologies to disrupt conventional network

architectures and service distribution models.● Whether ultra-low-latency services can be delivered reliably and are sufficiently valuable to justify service

provider investments. If so, when?● When (if at all) 5G connection scalability is needed for the Internet of Things.

Some of the companies that will be studied include:Amdocs, America Movil, AT&T,China Mobile, Cisco, Ericsson, DoCoMo, Google, Facebook, HPE, Huawei,IBM,InterDigital, Kathrein, Qualcomm, Nokia, SK Telecom, T-Mobile, Telecom Italia, Telefonica, Telstra, Orange FranceTelecom, Verizon, Vodafone

Tolaga’s 5G DifferentiationAt Tolaga we have a deep understanding of 5G technology and its alignment with operational,regulatory and commercial market forces.

Tolaga has published many 5G thought leadership reports and articles and are regularlyconsulted by industry leaders

A sample of our 5G research:Operators must chart steady course in 5G rolloutpublished by Mobile World Live, January 20175G fuels millimeter-wave opportunitiespublished by Telecom Asia, October 20165G Aims to be the Chameleon Technology for WirelessTolaga Reseach Report, March 20165G Operator Surveypublished by the Telecom Industry Association, February 2017

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A changing tide for radio spectrum valuations/utilitySpectrum valuation estimates are challenging at the best of times. When in Jaunary 2015, the AWS-3 spectrumauction in the United States netted in excess of $41 billion US Dollars, incumbent broadcasters and investors hadeager expectations for the 600MHz reverse auction. In the first reverse auction they valued their 600MHz holdings at$88.4 billion for the initial 126MHz of spectrum that was offered. After subsequent rounds, it looks like the 600MHzauction will yield in the order of $20 billion US Dollars for 84MHz of cleared spectrum.

We believe that the 600MHz auction is a bellwether for radio spectrum. It brings innovation in spectrum licensingwith a reverse/forward scheme pioneered by the FCC in the United States, and illustrates a changing tide for radiospectrum valuations. Further spectrum licensing innovations are being pursued by the FCC and other regulatorsglobally. For example, the FCC is planning an elaborate licensing structure for the 3.5GHz CRBS spectrum, whichincorporates geo-fencing to protect incumbent military systems, and both preferential and general access licenses tocreate sophisticated spectrum sharing regimes.

As innovative spectrum licensing schemes are introduced, regulators must maintain a careful balance to attractsufficient interest from mobile service providers, or other ecosystem players who can drive mass market adoption.Furthermore, as service providers densify their networks and leverage unlicensed spectrum and spectrum in bandsabove 6GHz, the underlying utility of licensed spectrum changes. These changes are exacerbated by radiotechnology advancements that increase the versatility of the equipment that service providers deploy. For this topic,Tolaga will investigate how these changes in conjunction with new spectrum licensing approaches will impact futurevaluations.

The companies and organizations that will be impacted by changes in spectrum licensinginclude:Telecom Regulators, Network Service Providers, Investors, Equipment Manufacturers, Semiconductor Companies,Tower and Outsourced Real Estate Companies, Web Platform Providers (e.g. Google, Facebook etc)

Tolaga is uniquely qualified for Radio Spectrum ResearchCombined, Tolaga’s lead analysts, Dr Phil Marshall and Dr A (Sathy) Sathyendran have almost fivedecades experience in radio technologies and radio spectrum. Both Dr Marshall and Dr Sathyhave PhD degrees in radio engineering, and have worked for many years with network operators.In addition, Dr Sathy spent many of his 17 years at Vodafone responsible for its spectrummanagement and led its role in several radio spectrum auctionsTolaga has a global radio spectrum database covering mobile service providers acrossmore than 140 countriesA sample of our radio spectrum research:Unravelling the Value of CBRS SpectrumSoon to be published, February 20175G fuels millimeter-wave opportunitiespublished by Telecom Asia, October 2016FCC's innovative 600MHz auction scheme likely to go globalpublished by Telecom Asia, June 2015

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Transforming telecom with platform based businessmodels and autonomous operationsMobile services are transforming virtually every aspect of society at an unprecedented pace, ruthlessly driving changewith potentially dire consequences for companies that are slow to respond. Network service providers should beleading mobile service adoption and benefiting from its success. But they aren’t. Instead, web platform companies likeGoogle, Facebook and Uber are benefiting from the tremendous value in the offing from mobile services.

From an ecosystem perspective, web platform companies target the value chain peripheries with agile self servicecapabilities, and self reinforcing market models that are predicated on the service curation. To differentiate andcompete, network service providers must capitalize on their strengths. These are in their ability to create servicedifferentiation through network technologies and within the long tail of applications that are not adequately addressedby existing web platform providers. However this is by no means easy and demands service agility that cannot besupported by the conventional appliance based infrastructure platforms and siloed operational models that prevail inmobile service provider organizations.

For service providers to succeed in the long term, service creation times must be reduced from months to minutes, withreal-time and on-demand capabilities for service curation, management and orchestration. A wide range of servicelevel agreements (SLA) must be supported, with complex ecosystems that can rapidly adapt to fickle markets; all withreduced capital and operational costs.

Network service providers are responding with cloud and network virtualization efforts, including network functionvirtualization (NFV), software defined networking (SDN) and 4G/5G radio technology advancements. Sophisticatedmanagement and orchestration (MANO), self-organizing-network (SON), closed loop automation and autonomoussystems are needed to operationalize cloud, and virtualized and other advanced technologies. However, there areseveral factors that complicate matters:

● Hybrid capabilities are needed to support legacy technology that will remain in place for many years.● The drive towards operational automation and autonomous systems is in conflict with conventional operational

philosophies, which tend to favor the management rather than abstraction of complexity.● Platform orientated business models require service providers to relinquish control and eliminate vertical

integration, both of which has been a hallmark of the industry since its inception, and;● Established organizational structures are disrupted. For example, to function effectively, autonomic solutions

commonly span the service fulfillment and assurance domains and create turf wars within service providerorganizations.

For this topic, Tolaga will identify the solutions that are being developed and best practices for service providertransformation. Particular emphasis will be paid towards pragmatic strategies that are achievable for service providerswith varying market size and maturity.

Amazon, AirBnB, Amdocs, America Movil, AT&T, Blue Prism, China Mobile, Cisco, Ericsson, DoCoMo, Google,Facebook, Huawei, HPE, IBM, NetScout, Nokia, Oracle, SK Telecom, T-Mobile, Telecom Italia, Telefonica, Telstra,Orange France Telecom, Uber, Verizon, Vodafone.

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Transforming telecom with platform based businessmodels and autonomous operations (continued)

Tolaga has a unique and pragmatic perspective towards serviceprovider transformationOur analysts have decades of operational experience spanning over 40 countries and understandthe service provider challenges, particularly at the “coal face”.

For many years we have benchmarked network operators, relative to platform playerslike Amazon, Google and Facebook. The benchmarks have investigated technologies,organizational structures, and key financial metrics, such as return on invested capital,CAPEX-to-Revenue, and other measures of profitability, market growth and sustainability.

We have an acute understanding of the market dynamics that confront service providers andwhat is needed for long term prosperity. We also understand this in the context of practicaloperational and organizational environments.

A sample of our telecom transformation research:Selfies go mainstream - why IoE networks need to be self organized with closed loopautomationTM Forum Perspective, to be published February 2017vIMS: How to manage it end to end?TM Forum Report, November 2016The Changing Face of Professional and Managed ServicesTolaga Research, June 2016A Greater Role for Mobile Devices in NFV and SDNTolaga Research, November 2015Driving Telecom Customer Centricity with Agility and Network EvolutionTolaga Research, September 2015Automation and SON Redefines Mobile Network OperationsTolaga Research, February 2015

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Location, Location: The future of network real estateThere are over six million macro-cellular sites deployed globally. These are complemented by outdoor and indoorsmall-cells and distributed antenna systems (DAS) to provide localized coverage and capacity. While there are over16 million small cells deployed today, 15 million of these are residential femto-cells, and the remaining are used forenterprise and public services. Large venues, such as airports, sports stadiums and convention centers are supportedby large multi-million dollar installations that typically consist of DAS and small-cell systems.

Often overlooked, are the real estate resources that are required for mobile networks. In most markets zoningapprovals and landlord contracts are expensive and time consuming, particularly in urban environments. New sitesrequire towers or other infrastructure to mount radio equipment, and utilities to power base station electronics.

Once a new site has been developed it often has tremendous intrinsic value because of cost and complexities forsite acquisitions. Instead of building their own sites, operators can lease space on existing sites. This has fueledvibrant real estate investment for outsourced telecom infrastructure, pioneered in the United States by companieslike American Tower and Crown Castle. These companies initially focused on macro-cell tower and rooftop sites, andmore recently the industry has extended its reach into other areas, such as ground leases and DAS and small-cellsystems for large venues and in outdoor environments.

The outsourced telecom infrastructure market provides compelling business models with low tenant churn rates andreliable recurring revenue opportunities. Mobile network traffic is expected to continue to see unabated growth,which drives demand for more sites. However as the mobile industry matures and transforms to address new servicecategories, such as the Internet-of-Things, smart-buildings and smart-cities, and new technologies, such as LTE-Unlicensed, spectrum sharing and 5G, the market for outsourced telecom infrastructure is changing. For this topic,Tolaga investigate what these changes mean for outsourced telecom infrastructure providers. In particular:

● Where should real estate companies that provide outsourced telecom infrastructure invest their capital andhow is this impacted by factors, such as capital structure, investor expectations, financial status (e.g. REIT)and primary market dynamics. For example, Crown Castle has doubled down on the US market, extendingits footprint with O-DAS systems. This is in contrast with American Tower, which is pursuing a relativelyaggressive international expansion strategy. Who has the better strategy?

● Unlicensed technologies and “lightly-licensed” spectrum will enable alternative service providers and privateand enterprise network expansions. Edge network computing demands decentralize network operations.How (and when) will these impact outsourced infrastructure business models and the long term contractsthat real estate investment companies are putting in place?

● While the outsourced infrastructure market is relatively mature, the technologies that are used are not. Thetechnologies are greatly impacted by the ‘tit-for-tat’ competition amongst service providers, which dilutesthe value of infrastructure sharing. However this might change as service providers shift their modusoperandi from one of controlling infrastructure end-to-end, to one that is focused on curating andfederating key infrastructure assets. This could have a dramatic impact on telecom real estate investmentsand their value.

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Location, Location: The future of network real estate(continued)

Some of the companies that will be identified/analyzed in the study include:American Tower, Axiata, Bharti Infratel, Boingo,Citi, China Unicom, China Mobile, Cisco, Commscope, Crown Castle,Ericsson, Huawei, Insite Wireless, Intel, Indus, IHS Towers, Kathrein, Nokia, SBA, SkyWorks, Towers Besama,Protelindo, Qualcomm, Arqiva, AT&T, Sprint, Telecom Italia, T-Mobile, UBS, Viom, Verizon, and Vodafone.

Tolaga has decades of experience in telecom network real estateDr Phil Marshall has deployed networks in many countries, and has worked on numerous duediligence projects for mobile networks investments (debt, equity and mezzanine) - on behalf ofmobile service providers, banks, Government Agencies (e.g. ExIm Bank and OPIC) andindependent investors.

As an analyst, Dr Marshall has tracked the tower industry for almost two decades, and providedboth tactical and strategic advice to investors. He has developed extensive network models onbehalf of his clients to predict tower demand in markets spanning North America, Latin America,Asia Pacific, Western Europe and the Middle East. He is accomplished in System Dynamics andGame Theory modeling, which he has used to investigate numerous investment opportunitiesand valuations for telecom network real estate.

A sample of our research:Operationalizing mass-market small-cell and DAS adoptionTolaga Research, June 20165G fuels millimeter-wave opportunitiespublished by Telecom Asia, October 2016LTE Unlicensed Fuels Enhanced Neutral HostsSponsored Report (Qualcomm), November 2015Transforming radio network planning and optimizationTolaga Research, March 2015Mobile broadband and LTE stokes the telecom tower industryTolaga Research, August 2014Tapping into the telecoms tower opportunityMobile World Live, October 2014

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A tale of two players: The hacker and the serviceproviderSecurity is always game of cat and mouse. However as the World becomes digitized, the sophistication and scale ofattacks is increasing at a tremendous rate. Both network and application security is needed, to address “data-in-transit”, “data-at-rest” and “data-in-process” operations. This study will focus on network security from theperspective of communication service providers, in terms of the challenges that service providers face in securingtheir own networks and the managed security services that they can offer to their customers. The following topicswill be investigated:

● Cognitive security solutions. Malware, Ransomware, Botnets and other malicious software is becomingincreasingly sophisticated and enabling an dramatic increase in lucrative and high profile attacks. Theseattacks circumvent conventional security techniques and often go undetected for protracted time periods.Cognitive solutions, based on techniques such as machine learning are being developed to cope with thechanging threat landscape. Many of these techniques rely on intelligence gleaned from the network, (i.e.“data-in-transit”) and potentially create unique managed security service opportunities for service providers.In this study, cognitive security solutions will be analyzed with particular emphasis to the following:

● What is the state-of-the-art in cognitive security solutions, and which companies are leading theirdevelopment?

● What are the pitfalls and limitations with cognitive security solutions, and how well are serviceproviders positioned to use them for managed security services?

● Navigating network encryption with DPI alternatives. For decades, service providers relied on deeppacket inspection (DPI) techniques for traffic and security management (e.g. Intrusion Detection andPrevention). However since conventional DPI techniques rely on interrogating payload traffic, they havebecome less effective with the increased use of encryption techniques such as Secure Socket Layer (SSL),standards like HTTP/2, and polymorphic features that are intentionally incorporated in malicious traffic suchas Malware. Initially it was proposed that service providers use trusted proxies to terminate and decrypttraffic for interrogation, before it was sent on its way to the recipient. However trusted proxies areproblematic because they require man-in-the-middle (MITM) functionality and breach the end-to-endencryption requirements that many services demand. More recently a variety of innovative techniques havebeen developed to enable service providers to analyze connections that contain encrypted traffic. Thesetechniques will be investigated in this topic.

● Creating value from identity management. Identity management is required for most connected servicesto identify, and authenticate connecting devices and authorize the available services. Commonly identitymanagement is vertically integrated with the services being provided. As a result, users must contend with aseemly endless array of user names and passwords. This can become even more challenging for IoT devicesthat lack human-to-machine interfaces.

Consumers are sharing their credentials online more than ever before and fraud is rife. Online credit cardfraud costs merchants between 7 and 10 percent of their revenues.

Devices connecting to mobile networks use SIM technology, which is evolving from removable hardware toembedded hardware (eSIM) technology. Web applications commonly have their own identity management

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A tale of two players: The hacker and the serviceprovider (continued)

schemes, but are increasingly relying on open standards like OAuth, supported by Google, Facebook,Microsoft and Twitter.

This topic will investigate the premise that service providers are underestimating the strategic importance ofidentity management, and the opportunity to anchor mundane identities and securely associate them withrelated digital identities. It will also investigate emerging technologies, such as biometrics and block chaintechnologies to enhance the extensibility, security and convenience of identity management solutions.

● Securing SS7 networks. SS7 solutions were designed at a time when networks were essentially closed, withinterconnections between trustworthy Tier 1 service providers. Since then SS7 network interfaces have beenopened to many more parties and are prone to malicious attacks. The potential for these attacks have beenknown for many years and widely publicized since 2014. While this should have been a call to action forservice providers, many have opted to disregard the threats, with the hope that they won’t be caught out.For this topic, Tolaga will review common SS7 attack vectors, the threats they pose, and the remedies thathave been developed.

Some of the companies that will be identified/analyzed in the study include:Allot, AT&T, Checkpoint, Cisco, Citrix/ByteMobile, Cyphort, Ericsson, F5, Gemalto, Giesecke and Deviant, Huawei,IBM, Intel, Juniper, Nokia, RSA, Sandvine, Sequans, Symantec, U-Blox, and Verizon.

Tolaga is capitalizing on its deep service provider experience andunderstanding of security to bring a unique perspective to its research.This is reflected in topics and the manner in which they are researched.

A sample of our network security research:IOT security event moderatorBoston, MA, USA. October 2016It's time to tackle IoT securityTechTarget IoT Agenda, February 2016Navigating the turbulent seas of IoT securityTolaga Research, September 2015Demystifying the small-cell security challengeTolaga Research, February 2015HTTP/2 and QUIC meets mobileTolaga Research, April 20154G mobile network security in briefTolaga Research, June 2014

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Finding the winning IoT network technology withtotal cost of ownership modelingHistorically the Internet-of-Things (IoT) has been poorly supported by mobile operators, creating opportunities forcompanies like Ingenu, LinkLabs, LoRa and SigFox to gain market traction with low power wireless access (LPWA)solutions that operate in unlicensed radio spectrum. In response, the mobile industry has standardized LTE-M1 andNB1 technologies that are specifically designed for IoT use-cases. With market scale being so important, not allthese technologies will survive in the long term. This study will quantify the strengths are weaknesses of eachtechnology and estimate their total cost of ownership (TCO) for network operator and end users, and for typical use-cases and deployment scenarios. Particular attention will be paid to the following:

● The underlying business models and risk factors associated with each technology.● The coverage and capacity performance of each technology. For this purpose, Tolaga has developed a

network modeling platform that uses sophisticated radio propagation and Poisson Point Process modelingtechniques to characterize coverage and capacity for equivalent network configurations.

● Device and equipment pricing estimates, which account for the underlying technology design and theimpact of economies of scale, and;

● Technology implementation and ongoing operational costs, such as site acquisition and deployments andongoing rental costs, if they apply.

Some of the companies that will be identified/analyzed in the study include:AT&T, Ericsson, Huawei Ingenu, LinkLabs, Nokia, Qualcomm, Semtech/LoRa, SigFox, SK Telecom, Texas Instruments,Vodafone, and Verizon, and other service providers, and enterprises that require IoT connectivity solutions.

Tolaga is delivering unique and actionable insights by combining itsability to analyze academic literature with decades of experience inwireless network design and sophisticated modeling technologies, suchas System Dynamics

A sample of our research:Operators must chart steady course in 5G rolloutpublished by Mobile World Live, January 2017Navigating reliable IoT connectivity with LPWATechTarget IoT Agenda, August 2016Transforming radio network planning and optimizationTolaga Research, March 2015

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Wireless in the sky: Networking strategies forautonomous drones/UAVsUnmanned airborne vehicles (UAV) or drones are on the increase, with global shipments exceeding 10 million in2016 on a trajectory to reach 70 million by 2022. Today operators must maintain visual line-of-sight (VLOS) withtheir flying drones and are forbidden from flying the drones into restricted airspace.

However current drone flight restrictions are not sustainable, particularly as increased pressure comes fromcompanies like Apple, Google, and Walmart, who are all eager to capitalize on the operational efficiencies andservice capabilities that can be created with drones. However for drones to operate beyond visual line of sight(BVLOS) requires sufficient networking capabilities to ensure that the drones conform with intended flight plans,avoid collisions and are geo-fenced from entering restricted airspace. While radar and Automatic DependentSurveillance – Broadcast (ADS-B) technologies are used by air traffic controllers to track the location of commercialaircraft, it is insufficient for managing the flight paths of drones. Instead, it is being proposed that 4G-LTE and in thefuture 5G mobile networks be used. This study will investigate the feasibility of using mobile networks for droneoperations, with particular emphasis towards the technical challenges (e.g. interference) and the business modelsthat are being proposed. Key questions that will be investigated include:

● What impact will drones have on network planning (particularly for uplink connectivity), and does this implythe need for interference management techniques such as directional antennas etc?

● Is it viable to use cellular for drones over dense urban environments?● Is it conceivable that drones might operate in alternative bands such as 3.5GHz instead of the conventional

cellular bands and with different antenna designs/site densities (akin to aviation networks)? Or is this tooexpensive?

● Could/should resource scheduling be adapted specifically for the drones?● What role (if any) should ADS-B play in monitoring and controlling drone flight paths?● How should the required conditions for BVLOS operations be enforced, who pays and how much?

Some of the companies and government organizations that will be identified/analyzed inthe study include:Amazon, AT&T, Boeing, Ericsson, FAA, Huawei, NASA , Nokia, PrecisionHawk, Qualcomm, Telstra, Vodafone, andVerizon

Wirelessly controlling drones is by no means trivial. Tolaga understandsthis and is uniquely qualified to investigate the viability for cellularnetworks to support drone operations and investigate the businessmodels and value propositions for key stake-holders.

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IoT identity management and cryptographyOn October 21, 2016 Dyn, which is now owned by Oracle was crippled by a massive distributed denial of service(DDoS) attack. This attack was launched from tens of thousands of IoT devices, such as webcams, which had beencompromised by Mirai Botnet malware. Mirai spreads by scanning the Internet for IoT devices that are onlyprotected by default usernames and passwords to infect and hijack them so that they can be used for DDoS attacks.As IoT devices proliferate the likelihood for DDoS and other attacks will increase and drive the need for improvedidentity management techniques. In addition:

● If these attacks continue it is likely that device manufacturers will come under legal pressure to improvetheir identity management functionality.

● We believe that irrespective of security concerns, identity management is of strategic importance to IoTservice providers. It provides an anchor for the services that are supported and a means for abstractingdigital identities for IoT devices depending on the services that are being used.

The need for effective identity management is complicated by the challenges in implementing secure and scalablecryptographic techniques. This is particularly the case for low end IoT devices that have limited CPU and Memorycapacity. Standard public key and symmetric encryption schemes are widely used, without consideration for thevulnerabilities and attack surfaces that are created, when they are poorly operationalized, or applied to solutionsthat are incapable of executing the required functionality. As a result, innovative cryptographic techniques andcertificate management schemes have been developed and will be investigated for this topic.

Some of the companies that will be identified/analyzed in the study include:CENTRI, Centrify, Cisco, Comodo, Cyphort, DeviceAuthority, Digicert, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Okta, RSA, Rubicon,Symantec, and Verisign.

Tolaga is capitalizing on its deep service provider experience andunderstanding of security to bring a unique perspective to itsresearch.

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Copyright 2017 Tolaga Research | 6 Liberty Square Suite 2052, Boston, MA 02109, United States of America 12 of 12

The Rise of Augmented RealityAugmented Reality (AR) is on the increase, as consumers and enterprises seek opportunities to blend the physicaland virtual worlds. There is no shortage of “hockey-stick” forecasts for the AR market. However a lot needs to bedone with AR technology and associated business models, before these forecasts can be realized. This includes,advancements in AR device form-factors, improved network technologies, advancements in big data technologies,data analytics and the integrity of the underlying augmentation data. In this study, Tolaga will focus on thenetworking and connectivity solutions that are needed to support AR. It will focus primarily on enterprise field-forceapplications, and identify the technical, operational and commercial requirements for these applications to succeed.Particular emphasis will be paid to the role that mobile networks will play in delivering AR solutions, and how this isimpacted by advancements to 4G and emerging 5G technologies (e.g. high bandwidth connectivity and highresolution location). For example:

● What are the network bandwidth and latency requirements for typical AR use cases, and how is this likely toevolve in the coming years? Are these requirements sufficiently addressed with current and emergingtechnologies?

● How might network densification impact AR service performance, particularly in terms of location basedcapabilities?

● What edge computing capabilities will be required for typical AR use cases?

Some of the companies that will be identified/analyzed in the study include:AT&T, Aurasma, Ericsson, F5, Huawei, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Nokia, Oculus, ScopeAR, Telefonica, Verizon andVodafone, transportation, supply chain management and electrical utility companies.

Although the opportunities for AR are seemingly endless, it will notreach its potential without crucial technology advancements. Tolaga isuniquely positioned to investigate the networking technologies neededto support AR solutions in the field.

Tolaga Research and Deliverables in 2017* · PDF fileCopyright 2017 Tolaga Research | 6...

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