TALKING business
‘‘
Today ’ s LTE and 4G networks have been playing an important role in supporting mobile broadband services ( e . g video conferencing , high-definition content streaming , etc .) across millions of smart devices , such as smartphones , laptops , tablets and Internet of Things ( IoT ) devices .
The number of connected devices is on the rise , growing 15 % or more year-over-year and projected to be 28.5 billion devices by 2022 according to Cisco VNI forecast .
Mobile service providers have been challenged to support such a high growth of connected devices and their corresponding increases in network traffic . Adding networking nodes to scale-out capacity is a relatively easy change . Meanwhile , it ’ s essential for service providers to keep offering innovative value-added services to differentiate service experience and monetise new services .
These services including parental control , URL filtering , content protection and endpoint device protection from malware and ID theft , to name a few .
Service providers , however , are now facing new challenges of operational complexity and extra network latency coming from those services . Such challenges will become even more significant when it comes to 5G , as this will drive even more rapid proliferation of mobile and the IoT devices . It will be critical to minimise latency to ensure there are no interruptions to emerging missioncritical services that are expected to dramatically increase with 5G networks .
Gi-LAN network overview
In a mobile network , there are two segments between the radio network and the Internet : the evolved packet core ( EPC ) and the Gi / SGi-LAN . The EPC is a packet-based mobile core running both voice and data on 4G / LTE networks . The Gi-LAN is the network where service providers typically provide various homegrown and value-added services using unique capabilities through a combination of IP-based service functions , such as firewall , carrier-grade NAT ( CGNAT ), deep packet inspection ( DPI ), policy control , traffic and content optimisation . And these services are generally provided by a wide variety of vendors . Service providers need to steer
Hesham Elsherif , Principal System Engineer , A10 Networks
“
MOBILE SERVICE PROVIDERS HAVE BEEN CHALLENGED TO SUPPORT SUCH A HIGH GROWTH OF CONNECTED DEVICES AND THEIR CORRESPONDING INCREASES IN NETWORK TRAFFIC .
the traffic and direct it to specific service functions , which may be chained , only when necessary , in order to meet specific policy enforcement and service-level agreements for each subscriber .
The Gi-LAN network is an essential segment that enables enhanced security and valueadded service offerings to differentiate and monetise services . Therefore , it ’ s crucial to www . intelligentcio . com INTELLIGENTCIO
37