At the Mobile World Congress 2014, Ericsson will step up the SDN focus with the launch of Networks Software 14B.
Networks Software 14B focuses on enhancing network performance and enabling operator growth, said Ericsson in a statement.
The new release highlights include doubled app coverage for all devices, speeds up to 450 Mbps for LTE and enhanced HD video conferencing. Software-driven network evolution enables operators to respond to quickly changing network requirements.
Networks Software 14B has more than 200 new and enhanced features.
LTE Carrier Aggregation for 3 carriers to reach data speeds of 450 Mbps; LTE Uplink Coordinated Multi Point (UL CoMP), which can provide twice the app coverage for all devices; and WCDMA features such as Ericsson’s Dynamic Power Sharing feature which gives all devices up to 50 percent faster data speed are the main benefits to telecoms.
Recently, ABI Research said C-RAN vendors are ready for virtualization as Asian telecom operators are pursuing wide-scale deployments.
Centralized or CloudRadio Access Networks (C-RAN) has been one of the most talked about topics in 2013 as major operators start seeking sound business models and many equipment vendors are jumping into the growing market and trying to reshape the landscape to suit their businesses, ABI Research said.
Many of today’s solutions, such as voice over LTE (VoLTE) require software interaction between virtually every part of a network. Ericsson has industrialized upgradability, meeting the requirement for large-scale software release processes that ensure a fast and reliable way to move to the latest software release for telecom operators.
Virtual Home Gateway offers personalized service chaining for devices and users while simplifying operator network management. Ericsson is addressing the enterprise segment with the external release of IMS software functionality for VisualCom, enabling HD video conferencing that is as easy and reliable as a phone call.
Recently, Stephane Teral, principal analyst for mobile infrastructure and carrier economics at Infonetics Research, said: “87 percent of operators participating in Infonetics’ survey have deployed SON in their networks, up 27 percent from a year ago.”
SON is building momentum in 3.5G network optimization: A few large incumbents have already deployed SON as the key optimization tool for their 3.5G networks, and this trend appears unstoppable.
According to Infonetics Research, by 2015, 100 percent of those surveyed plan to use network- and handset/subscriber-based tools for mobile network optimization, reflecting the growing influence of SON on network self-learning.
Ericsson says measurements from live commercial networks show that operators the run the latest release of network software have on average 30 percent better downlink speeds and a staggering 50 percent improvement in uplink speeds compared to operators running on older software.
Release 14B adds features to further guarantee network robustness. Critical nodes get enhanced redundancy, for example Inter-chassis redundancy in the SSR and Geo-redundancy in the Blade System.
