Oct to Nov 2010 - Teletimes

Sandro Dionisi
Gearing up
for effective network operations
Mobile networks are constantly evolving to meet customer demands. In order to manage effectively such
evolution, operators need to enhance their operational efficiency. Sandro Dionisi, NGMN Board member and
Head of the Telecom Italia Lab, outlines the key innovations that have boosted operational efficiency in next
generation mobile networks.
Challenges of network operations
Operators are facing many
challenges in network operations
management. Complexity
is one of the issues, due
to the rollout of several radio
access technologies from
2G to LTE, in a multi-vendor
environment and multi-deployment
scenarios covering
macro, micro, pico and femto.
Network complexity and traffic
increase require the ability
of tuning network parameters
dynamically to the pace and
location of the traffic. In order
to adapt network performance
to time, location and
volume of traffic, a real time
monitoring of the network is
required as well.
The scope of network operations
enhancement is manifold:
optimizing manual operations
in network maintenance
and configuration, reducing
cost, and enhancing monitoring
capabilities for localized
problems like hotspot and indoor
coverage. Convergence is
also needed to unify different
services, technologies and domains.
In detail, there are six major
challenges facing operators
in network operations: complexity
management, dynamic
configuration, real time performance,
together with cost
reduction, accuracy and convergence.
Solving these challenges
would help to improve
procedural efficiency, increase
network capacity and quality,
and address new technological
issues.
The evolution of the operations
framework is based on
two evolutionary steps: self
organizing network (SON)
and evolved O&M.
SON is bringing changes
The key innovations for SON
can be summarized in three
main keywords: self, dynamic
and decentralized.
“Self” means that the network
is able to configure
and optimize configurations
automatically. For instance,
manual operation for simple
but repetitive tasks such as
installing new network nodes
should require a minimal effort.
“Dynamic” means having automatic
reaction capabilities
when problems occur. When
a fault is reported, a dialog
between the network and
the operation & maintenance
center would be initiated to
automatically help solve the
problem.
“Decentralized” points to the
fact that in a SON approach,
network elements shall have
the capability of optimizing
operational parameters autonomously,
without involving
the rest of the network
15Oct - 14Nov 2010
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