It has only been a few years since analysts reported that cable high speed data subscriptions had finally overtaken their standard video subscriptions. As the need for IP speed took hold, cable operators have managed to maintain a comfortable lead on telecoms competitors in many parts of the world, thanks to DOCSIS capabilities in their networks.
As trends such as these accelerate however and competitive service providers boost their network capabilities with fiber, cable operators look to raise the bar once more to not only maintain their HSI service lead, but to become capable wireless service providers for the gigabit era.
Bell Labs predicts that by 2025, U.S. subscribers will utilize an average of 25 devices each. Video consumption per household will see an 85 percent increase—84 percent of which will be on demand. At the same time, we expect to see a 66x growth in wireless cellular capacity and a 100x growth in wireless connection requests.
If we combine:
# Expected trends of enhanced wireless device usage (that also by nature leverage cloud-based services)
# More on-demand IP activity
# New formats for video streaming consumption on fixed networks
# Competitive landscape against telco and alternative providers now equipped with fiber
It is easy to understand why cable operators are focused on developing gigabit IP service delivery capabilities within their networks across both fixed and wireless domains.
How they do this takes different forms depending on the competitive landscape in any given country and if footprint extensions are part of the evolution strategy.
In some countries and regions (Japan and China, for example) cable operators have already adopted FTTH to remain competitive. In Estonia, earlier this year, cable operator Starman launched a successful 10G EPON capable residential solution for greenfield which was so successful that they are now deploying this also for brownfield upgrades.
In many of the North American and European cable operators however, a huge focus is being placed on upgrading the DOCSIS technology in their networks as well as leveraging alternative architectural options to further re-purpose their existing, highly valued assets in Hybrid Fiber Coaxial (HFC) footprints.
To provide this level of access network capacity and prepare for the all-IP future, cable operators have reclaimed a considerable amount of analog spectrum, split nodes, and are driving fiber deeper and deeper into their networks — in some cases, all the way to the subscriber premise.
They are planning their migration to DOCSIS 3.1 and embracing Distributed Access Architectures (DAA) to further address the access network capacity challenge. They are also upgrading IP/optical components and deploying content delivery networks (CDNs) in their core and metro networks to keep up with the tsunami of network traffic choking their backbone and transport networks.
Nokia sees intense activity in North America as well as in Europe. Greenfield footprint extensions tend to be FTTH based, whilst brownfield deployments focus on the above architectural options coupled with DOCSIS 3.1.
Full Duplex DOCSIS is on operator’s radar screens, and to that end, pragmatic investments today that will allow a controlled evolution towards Full Duplex DOCSIS delivery make sense.
Most major cable operators understand that it may be necessary to deploy a variety of different access architectural options and technologies (to match the business case as well as competitive landscape) and evolve these as they tread the path toward the multi-gigabit era.
At the same time, technologies falling under the general umbrella of 5G are an important landmark for gigabit wireless experiences and cable operators are fully embracing the move to mobility. Many cable operators have deployed Wi-Fi extensively and have leveraged mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) relationships to provide ubiquitous connectivity to customers on the go. New licensed and unlicensed technologies will open the door for cable operators to provide 5G experiences not only in homes, but in enterprise environments and through smart city initiatives.
Consumer Demand
Many of the above initiatives are of course a direct response to changing consumer demands that not only are already starting to put cable operator networks under pressure, but are expected to continue to rise relentlessly in coming years. In particular, extension of fixed services to the mobile environment both in and outside of the home – coupled with the need to deliver these services in an on-demand, and increasingly personalized fashion – is shaping how cable operators have to re-architect their networks to continue to keep consumers satisfied.
The massive scale up of residential Wi-Fi deployments has meant that cable operators require new ways of mitigating the issues resulting from interference, signal strength and the growing number and variety of connected devices, that negatively impact customer experience. This means that customer care platforms will evolve towards a pro-active and automated model to adapt to these new environments.
Consumers now expect flexibility and choice, akin to a web experience, from their cable provider, resulting in the consumption of subscription video-on-demand services contracted directly from their cable operator or from an OTT provider such as Netflix.
Cable operators need to ensure a quality video experience whether it sourced from their network or from another provider, and many US operators have now deployed sophisticated IP network analytical platforms that can rapidly cross check session performance with expected service level agreements (SLAs) and pinpoint issues for quick resolution. In this way cable operators can improve their position in Netflix Ranking tables which has a direct impact on satisfaction and subscriber churn.
Innovation in Gigabit Technologies
As cable operators move towards a Gigabit era, it is inevitable that cloud/virtualization technologies will be leveraged to help scale services and control service fulfillment and assurance. Nokia’s long-term vision for cable operator networks is the cable cloud that will be capable of automating and optimizing consumer and business services across multi-gigabit, multi-technology access networks coupled to distributed datacenters supported by next generation aggregation and core networks.
In the short- to mid-term, evolution of cable access networks as well as transport and core capabilities are where innovation is taking place. This is an area where virtualization, coupled with architectural changes can provide a cost effective, scalable evolution blueprint for cable operators.
In 2016 Nokia acquired Gainspeed, which pioneered the concept of using a Distributed Access Architecture (DAA) for cable networks. We looked at the functions the CCAP performs and, applying SDN and NFV concepts, moved them to the optimal location in the network. The objective from the outset was to eliminate all cable-specific hardware from the headend (in other words, virtualize the CCAP), enable cable operators to meet skyrocketing IP capacity requirements, rapidly deploy and scale new services (including gigabit services), and cost-effectively migrate their existing HFC access infrastructure to a software-driven, all-IP architecture.
Various approaches have been proposed for the implementation of a distributed access architecture. Most cable operators now understand that a combination of these approaches will be the most optimal as they gradually deploy and evolve towards a future cable cloud controlled paradigm. This is a fully distributed architecture which:
Provides optimum reduction in hub rack space and power compared to traditional CCAP architectures and some DAA variants.
Eliminates all cable-specific headend hardware, making use of common data center-grade equipment. This affords cost and operational savings, and aligns with overall networking industry trends.
Does not require any changes to the OSS/BSS or special protocols for timing synchronization. Aigns HFC with other access technologies such as EPON, Carrier Ethernet, aLTE, and Wi-Fi — all of which co-locate the PHY and MAC.
More easily supports multi-service carriers to employ a single, common routing platform and lower latency requirements of next-gen Full-Duplex DOCSIS.
Multi-Gigabit Transport and Core
Having enough core and transport capacity is one thing, but running these networks hotter and in a more flexible way to cope with a somewhat unexpected future is another.
Nokia recently launched a new version of its IP Routing chipset – FP4. Standalone, it is simply the world’s first multi-terabit routing silicon (2.4Tb/s ) that consumes half the power of its predecessor (FP3). When combined with our SROS router operating system we create a portfolio of IP routing products and solutions of unmatched performance and capabilities, boasting 0.576 Petabits per second at the top of the range.
The new FP4 based cards are compatible with existing Nokia router chassis, present in cable operators worldwide, and hence offers investment protection without limiting the performance or flexibility of the evolved network. In-fact, an FP4 powered SROS network is now so capable that it can easily offer the performance required for evolved multi-gigabit cable cloud networks, but not sacrifice the flexibility and control required in these environments. and What this means for cable operators is that they can now confidently:
Upgrade existing SROS chassis as and when required to give x2, x3 or x6 performance boost depending on model.
Run router to router interconnects based on an efficient nx 100G/200G/400G without overhead (previous industry standards were LAG based nx100G link aggregation with 30 percent overhead.)
Have embedded security (DDoS mitigation) capabilities handled right in the IP network itself. This capability by the way works hand in hand with our Deepfield IP network analytics engine and our Network Services Platform (carrier SDN) to form a control loop that constantly keeps cable networks protected against cyberattacks such as DDoS.
Nokia continues to evolve as a strategic partner to our cable operator customers. This is possible thanks to our now comprehensive portfolio of cable-relevant products and solutions, bolstered by acquisitions of Alcatel-Lucent, Nakina Systems, Gainspeed, Deepfield and Comptel.
By Steve Davidson, European Marketing Director for Cable at Nokia
