Tellabs Blog

A couple of big trends in the mobile broadband arena are coming together to deliver a one-two punch to service providers offering mobile backhaul service to wireless operators.

It’s been evident for quite some time that the explosive growth in the number of IP-enabled mobile devices is exhausting IPv4 addresses. Thankfully, the next-generation protocol, IPv6, can support 2128 IP addresses —an almost limitless number of devices—each with its own unique IP address.

LTE backhaul can enable mobile operators to deliver tremendous, wireline-like data speeds to their customers. To deliver this promise, operators first need to overcome many challenges. These challenges are truly unique, because LTE fundamentally changes the nature and requirements of mobile backhaul networks.

Contrary to traditional TDM and ATM based 2G and 3G networks, LTE networks are based on IP connectivity. This technology offers more flexibility and cost-efficiency. But the architecture of LTE, combined with the open nature of IP, makes LTE networks far more vulnerable to attack than their TDM-based predecessors.

As operators migrate to LTE and LTE-Advanced, mobile backhaul synchronization becomes more important than ever.

In 2G and 3G networks, mobile operators were able to syntonize base stations from native TDM networks. The nature of the backhaul network provided an easy source of timing. Today these mobile networks have grown, and most of the traffic is carried over Ethernet.