Network Communications News (NCN) October 2017 | Page 44

WIRELESS NETWORKS
Lights, camera, action!
Dan McCarthy, sales manager UK, Ireland and Nordics at Cambium Networks,
examines how wireless operators can prepare for the video era.
A
s next-generation
video applications
continue to grow in
popularity, ser vice
providers’ networks
are being pushed to the limit.
Streaming video is the leading
reason for increased demand
for bandwidth among residential
end users. Couple this with the
rapidly growing number of devices
in the home and it is not unusual
to find an average residence with
multiple concurrent streaming
video sessions. 
In 2021, the amount of
video traffic on our networks is
expected to grow even fur ther,
with Cisco’s annual Visual
Network Index forecast predicting
that one million minutes of video
every second will be transmitted.
This will see video account for
82% of all IP traffic.
While fibre is often touted as
the number one access mode
to meet this demand, providing
the infrastructure in rural or
hard-to-reach areas presents
both economical and logistical
challenges. Here, providing
high-speed, high-bandwidth
terrestrial connectivity is
not always practical, or even
possible, meaning the onus falls
on wireless network operators to
keep up with demand.
Unprecedented demand
Meeting this increased
demand and providing reliable
connectivity for business
and residential customers at
reasonable and competitive
prices is essential. As well as
being able to meet customer
demand for throughput at peak
periods, wireless operators are
vital in delivering on Government
Universal Ser vice Obligations and
connectivity targets.
44 | October 2017
Add video to the equation
and delivering the required
bandwidth becomes even more
complex, with many wireless
ISPs reaching a point where their
deployed hardware is unable
to keep up with demand. When
many operators started out, small
networks and limited connectivity
were the norm, but as demand for
bandwidth-hungry services has
grown, existing networks cannot
scale effectively enough to deal
with it.
The obvious solution to this
problem is for operators to replace
their existing equipment, but in
the current climate this is easier
said than done, with the cost
and time of traditional network
migration methods being major
pain points.
Sustainable solutions
To avoid these costly and
unnecessary hardware upgrades,
network operators need reliable
information to model their
network to meet end-customer
demand while managing a
successful business. Scalability
is an essential factor in this and
802.11ac wave2-based subscriber
modules can enable this. The
ePMP Force 300 from Cambium
Networks, for instance, provides
up to 500Mbps headline data rate,
operates in the unlicensed 5.1-5.9
GHz frequency band and has a
25dBi reflector antenna to support
long-range connectivity.
Other important factors
for service providers when
considering network upgrades
include scalability and effective
frequency reuse. Various solutions
are emerging in the market to
help meet these requirements,
including ones designed to reuse
spectrum which is becoming a
precious commodity. For example,
Video streaming is
creating a headache
for operators,
but what is the
solution?
with up to 1.36 Gigabit throughput
capacity, Cambium Networks’
new Point-to-Point gigabit
throughput solution, the PTP 550,
features non-adjacent asymmetric
channel aggregation capabilities
to efficiently consolidate limited
blocks of spectrum to deliver the
capacity demanded by advanced
network operators.
Network planning and
management tools to help
operators model network
performance to design for current
and projected needs is also of
utmost importance. A built-in
cloud-based controller enables
wireless operators to manage
networks remotely via the cloud,
ensuring bandwidth can be
allocated where and when it is
needed and network support or
modifications can be provided
more quickly.
With solutions such as
these, WISPs should be able to
equip their network with enough
bandwidth to deal with the
predicted surge in video traffic
and become broadband heroes in
those areas which can’t connect
to high-speed broadband via more
traditional, terrestrial means.
More information: Cambium
Networks 01364 655 500
cambiumnetworks.com