Wimax, all about removing complexity from Networks

As telecom operators look towards reducing the complex nature and architecture of their networks, deployment and roll out of wimax can reduce their complexities to a large extent. Network operators worldwide are busy evaluating or planning for these deployments, selecting vendors, identifying the appropriate network architecture and often deciding how to integrate Mobile WiMAX within their legacy infrastructure.

 

And as operators move towards the implementation stage, attention is gradually widening beyond its initial focus on the radio interface. It was the natural place to start, as it is the main building block of a WiMAX network and is responsible for most of the spectrum efficiency and cost savings that WiMAX promises.

As they start to plan end-to-end networks, however, network operators have increasingly been looking beyond the air interface, to the entire Access Service Network or ASN and the Connectivity Service Network or CSN.

The ASN coordinates traffic across multiple Base Transceiver Stations or BTS and supports security, handoffs and Quality of Service (QoS). In this scenario, CSN manages core network operations through Internet Protocol servers, Authorization, Authentication and Accounting (AAA), Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) gateways, and it provides an interface to legacy core networks and other operators’ networks.

Delivering the much needed flexibility to the newtork, the open IP architecture which is at the core of WiMAX marks a pivotal innovation among non-proprietary mobile technologies for this technology. It is set to decrease the complexity and cost to network operators, while increasing the flexibility in developing new services and applications and the freedom in selecting the best suited vendors.

Furthermore, the adoption of an open IP architecture by network providers represents a crucial step towards empowering end users and giving them more control in choosing applications.

If network operators want to reap the full benefits that WiMAX and its all-IP architecture can deliver, they need to adopt the ASN and CSN solutions that best suit their requirements and provide all the functionality required while avoiding unnecessary complexity in their network.