Espoo, Finland – September 20, 2011
Nokia Siemens Networks taps into future of broadband with Liquid Net
Radical new approach shares resources to meet unpredictable broadband demand
Delivers services and content fluidly across the network, anywhere at any time
Nokia Siemens Networks has today launched Liquid Net, a new way to deliver broadband. Liquid Net allows an operator to set up its network to self-adapt to meet capacity and coverage requirements based on demand. The new approach also aims to significantly improve the quality of broadband services worldwide. With Liquid Net, operators can unleash the full potential of their existing business assets and create new revenue sources.
Spectacular broadband growth means networks must be ready to cope with personal data consumption of more than 1GB per mobile user per day1. Demand is also highly unpredictable, fluctuating between locations at different times as people use broadband at home, at work and on the move. Abrupt changes in broadband use can also occur when, say, new device software is launched, or updates to popular applications and over-the-top services are released, leaving operators no time to prepare.
“Capacity in today’s conventional networks is typically frozen in separate places; at individual base station sites, in parts of the core network that manage voice and data services, or in the optical and IP transport networks,” said Marc Rouanne, head of Network Systems at Nokia Siemens Networks. “Each is a potential bottleneck to someone getting the broadband service they want at a particular moment. Fluctuating, unpredictable demand in one part of the network means huge chunks of capacity can be left idle elsewhere, making poor use of existing investments. For example, as much as 50% of a conventional core network’s capacity can be dormant. Instead, Liquid Net unleashes frozen network capacity into a reservoir of resources that can flow to fulfill unpredictable demand, wherever and whenever people use broadband.”
Nokia Siemens Networks has created Liquid Net2, to free-up unused capacity and allocate it instantly across the whole network wherever and whenever it is needed. Liquid Net uses automated, self-adapting broadband optimization to deliver services and content to ensure the best customer experience by always being aware of the network’s operational status and the services being consumed. In addition, Liquid Net channels traffic in the transport network along the path of least resistance and lowest cost between operator sites.
Not only does Liquid Net help operators to raise customer loyalty, but it also opens up new business opportunities.
Liquid Net builds on the principles of Nokia Siemens Networks’ Liquid Radio architecture3. It adds Liquid Core and Liquid Transport functionality to the network which can be implemented either separately in multi-vendor environments or in concert across an operator’s entire network to bring the full benefits of Liquid Net to bear.
“Where Liquid Radio was about supporting capacity growth and flexibility in the Radio Access Network (RAN), Liquid Net smartly carries the theme forward to transport and core networks promising an optimization of not only user traffic but CAPEX investments”, said Peter Jarich, Current Analysis, service director for Service Provider Infrastructure. “Perhaps most importantly, Liquid Net speaks to a need for solutions rather than point products; while components can be deployed as part of a multi-vendor solution, the combination of Liquid Radio, Liquid Core and Liquid Transport into Liquid Net speaks to holistic thinking around operator concerns and demands.”
Liquid Radio, Liquid Core and Liquid Transport can be implemented together or separately in the network for fluid capacity, coverage and services at any time, which can be advantageous in multi-vendor networks. Yet by evolving the whole network, the full potential of fluid capability can be achieved.
“In short, the more fluid thinking that can be applied, the better,” concluded Rouanne.
For further information on Liquid Net, please refer to Nokia Siemens Networks’ website at www.nokiasiemensnetworks.com/liquidnet.
About Nokia Siemens Networks
Nokia Siemens Networks is a leading global enabler of telecommunications services. With its focus on innovation and sustainability, the company provides a complete portfolio of mobile, fixed and converged network technology, as well as professional services including consultancy and systems integration, deployment, maintenance and managed services. It is one of the largest telecommunications hardware, software and professional services companies in the world. Operating in 150 countries, its headquarters are in Espoo, Finland. www.nokiasiemensnetworks.com
Talk about Nokia Siemens Networks news at http://blogs.nokiasiemensnetworks.com and find out if your country is exploiting the full potential of connectivity at www.connectivityscorecard.org
1 Nokia Siemens Networks estimates there will be demand for a ten-fold increase in mobile broadband subscribers and possibly up to 100 times higher traffic per user (more than 1 GB/sub/day), with smartphones creating the fastest growth. Networks need to be prepared to cope with this total mobile broadband traffic. Today’s wireless networks will need significantly better capabilities to meet these demands. Dubbed ‘Beyond 4G’, future networks must deliver low cost per bit, be highly scalable and able to adapt to fluid demand from users at different times of the day and at different locations. Read full blog post.
2 Liquid Net encompasses radio access, the core network and transport:
• Liquid Radio enables radio access to self-adapt its capacity and coverage to match fluctuating user demand. It redefines the conventional structure of base stations and repositions their components in new ways to achieve unprecedented scalability. This is achieved through baseband pooling, unified heterogeneous networks and active antenna systems. Nokia Siemens Networks’ active antenna setup – the Flexi Multiradio Antenna System – can focus its beams on a given area increasing capacity by up to 65%.
• Liquid Core enables the core network (circuit-switched, packet-switched and IP Multimedia Subsystem functions) to deliver services and content, and dynamically provide the capacity needed to ensure the best customer experience at the lowest cost. This is achieved through core virtualization and intelligent broadband management. For an operator, core virtualization means being able to re-use its installed hardware base and to take advantage of the latest processor technology developments. Intelligent broadband management dynamically manages network traffic as well as optimizes content and service delivery in line with user expectations and profitability targets.
• Liquid Transport: By connecting operators’ sites, the transport infrastructure ensures services can be delivered to all clients (like a base station site) simply and quickly, while keeping costs low. Traffic is channeled along the path of least resistance through the network. This is achieved through flexible optics, multi-layer optimization and intelligent control. Multi-layer optimization makes the most cost-efficient use of an operator’s transport network resulting in CAPEX savings of up to 70%.
3 Launched at CTIA 2011, Nokia Siemens Networks’ Liquid Radio architecture enables a more economic use of network resources sharing and redistributing capacity based on user demand. This is achieved through baseband pooling, the use of active antenna systems as well as offering the capability to truly unify heterogeneous networks through utilizing Self Organizing Network (SON) tools and techniques. Read full press release.
