Alcatel Wireless Network Guardian 9900 User Manual

Alcatel'Lucent

Alcatel-Lucent 9900 Wireless Network Guardian

Wireless service providers around the globe are beginning to experience significant subscriber uptake of their wireless
data and broadband services. This growth is driven in large part by the growing popularity of IP-enabled cell phones,

laptop aircards, and new data pricing plans that make wireless data access affordable by the consumer market.

This uptake in services increases service provider revenue, however, Alcatel-Lucent and service providers worldwide

understand transmitting IP packet data and IP applications places many different types of load on wireless networks,

and are evolving the design and operation of wireless networks to efficiently and optimally accommodate these loads.

To illustrate, Figure 1a depicts the normalized bandwidth
consumed by applications running on a commercial

— but they don’t translate this into wireless resources

(Figure 1b).
wireless network. By comparison, Figure 1b depicts the
same applications on the same day relative to the cellular
airtime consumed in the network to support these loads.

The Alcatel-Lucent 9900 Wireless Network Guardian
enables a paradigm shift in network operation and

management for wireless operators. It allows wireless
Today’s monitoring and packet inspection products allow
wireless service providers to monitor subscriber and
application usage behavior on their network (Figure 1a)

Figure 1a. Application by Bandwidth Figure 1b. Application by Airtime

100%

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service providers to associate individual subscriber

behavior to resource consumption at every layer and

element in a wireless data path in real time (Figure 2).

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80%

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Alcatel-Lucent 9900 Wireless Network Guardian

Figure 2.Alcatel-Lucent 9900 WNG Tracks Behavior at the Subscriber and Network Level

Radio Network Packet Data

Controller Serving Node

MmM

Monitors every packet and radius exchange
State engine for every mobile device, internet source,

and network element
Airtime, signaling, volume consumed by sources
of data traffic
Behavioral anomaly detection and alarms for any flow

that outs excessive stress on the network — in real time

By connecting individual subscribers to resource consump
tion, the Alcatel-Lucent 9900 helps service providers
manage the effects IP-based applications have on wireless
networks. IP applications in use today were not designed
with wireless data network constraints in mind, and as
a result, can easily and unexpectedly burden the radio
access network. In fact, subtle changes in the transmission
characteristics of wireless data sessions can have a profound
impact on network performance.

With the Alcatel-Lucent 9900, service providers can
ensure they make the best possible use of their network
and the precious air spectrum between the network and
the mobile endpoints.

How It Works

The Alcatel-Lucent 9900 is built with two components:
a detector and a central.

The detector monitors data and radius traffic that is
mirrored from within the packet core of a 3G/4G network.
It generates “events” based on observed behaviors. It also
generates a new flow record, which is a wireless-specific
net-flow record, which is a subscriber-specific net-flow
record, appended with context specific to wireless data
networks. The deployed detectors securely communicate
this information to the central, which provides GUI­access to the detectors, reports, forensics, and control.

Home Agent

Internet

Servers

Ml

Mobile

Internet

Protocol

ALU 9900 Central

Value

This information is proving invaluable for wireless

service providers on many levels:

• Operations — It allows service providers to determine

which subscribers, servers, and applications are the
most significant contributors of non-value-add traffic
and load on the network.

• Planning — It enables service providers to establish a

baseline measurement of network use at the individual
subscriber level, allowing more accurate predictions of
network capacity trends.

• Engineering — It ensures packet transmissions from

devices and networks are consistent with design, and
are not being sent fraudulently.

• Security — It allows service providers to detect a

new class of wireless-specific denial of service attacks
targeted at the signaling layer and exhausting RF chan
nels, as well as the mobile devices that are directly
or surreptitiously participating in the attacks.

• Marketing — It helps service providers determine

the network cost associated with supporting any given
application, thereby enabling application-level ROI

CONTACT

Mike Schabel
[e-mail]
[phone]

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without notice. Alcatel-Lucent assumes no responsibility for inaccuracies contained herein.
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