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Stoke Enhances Mobile Broadband Gateway With Software Spanning Performance and Security Needs of 3G and 4G Networks
Unique Considerations Required to Support Multi-Vendor LTE eNodeB Aggregation Architectures
| Source: Stoke, Inc.
SANTA CLARA, CA--(Marketwire - September 22, 2009) - Mobile broadband gateway developer Stoke
Inc. today introduced a new software release enabling mobile broadband
operators to immediately support initial 4G/LTE deployments, while
enhancing the profit potential of their current 3G networks. Based on
extensive lab and commercial operator trials, Stoke has enhanced both its
StokeOS software and its SSX-3000 platform to address the specific
requirements of high availability, reduced operational expense, high
performance and end-to-end security in eNodeB aggregation.
Mobile data networks worldwide are buckling under the explosive growth in
data traffic, driven by the popularity of data hungry smartphones, iPhones
and, above all, Laptops with 3G modems. StokeOS Version 4.5 offers an
innovative platform enabling operators to improve performance, reduce churn
and increase profitability from their existing 3G networks while they
prepare for investment in 4G/LTE. Stéphane Téral, Principal Analyst,
mobile and FMC Infrastructure at international research and consulting firm
Infonetics Research, commented, "Despite the sophistication of traffic
analysis tools as well as the wireline Internet experience, no one was
smart enough to foresee the once-in-a-century mobile data traffic tsunami.
Consequently, we have reached the point of urgency to develop and implement
new tools and techniques that help mobile operators cope with and thrive in
this new reality."
New features in StokeOS 4.5 support deployments of all-IP backhaul
architect, and allow carriers to leverage lower-cost open IP transport
networks at the earliest stages of 4G/LTE. Capabilities in this software
version include intra-device resilience, redundancy within individual Stoke
SSX-3000 devices to reduce cost, power, and overall footprint, and support
both for femtocells and LTE eNodeB base stations.
"Based on extensive customer input as well as our own engineering vision,
this release was specifically designed to deliver the security and
performance features required by LTE deployments, while providing
breakthrough functionality for the pressing needs of today's 3G
architectures," said Michael Homeier, vice president of product management
at Stoke. "StokeOS 4.5 allows us to deliver a truly scalable gateway at
home in both 3G and 4G environments, and supports operators' best-of-breed
selection strategy to optimize their LTE investments."
According to recent analyst reports, telecommunications carriers worldwide
will be deploying next generation networks for their wireless backhaul
starting in 2012 to satisfy surging demand from bandwidth hungry services
and devices. The multitude of radio standards is also putting pressure on
vendors to implement reconfigurable software solutions, and on operators to
revamp their mobile core networks to an all-IP platform. StokeOS Version
4.5 addresses these requirements for multi-vendor, all-IP environments
while supporting both 3G and 4G architectures.
Four Main Considerations for eNodeB Aggregation
Secure Communications: When open IP is used for wired or wireless backhaul,
the signaling and subscriber traffic must be secured from the eNodeB to the
operator core. The SSX-3000 is a high density, high throughput security
gateway, providing line rate, low-latency, encrypted communications.
Tunnel Management: Unlike user to network secure sessions, the interaction
between eNodeB and the security aggregator is of "network to network" type,
therefore traffic destined for user endpoints as well as to the eNodeB
itself must be protected. The gateway must be able to distinguish between
traffic to subscribers and traffic destined for the eNodeB in the same
encrypted tunnel. StokeOS 4.5 also provides a range of tunnel
initialization and recovery options to ensure non-stop operations.
Deployment Flexibility: The gateway must be capable of supporting many
types of home, pole-top and macro eNodeB units from a range of eNodeB
suppliers to support expected operator LTE radio access network deployment
models. It must also support different deployment architectures, providing
operators with the freedom to select best-of-breed solutions for 4G, and 3G
environments.
Operational Efficiency: In lab and commercial trials, customers identified
efficiencies in space and power usage, multiple functionality, high
availability and high scalability as key operational metrics.
Highest throughput, lowest cost per subscriber
The SSX-3000 delivers connection and traffic throughput densities from
8,000 to 240,000 connected subscribers, in throughput configurations from
4Gbps to 16Gbps, in a five-rack unit form factor. Each gateway can support
multiple concurrent applications, offering massive capital, energy and
operational savings and 7x - 10x improvement in cost per session over
traditional solutions, together with strong standards-based authentication
and IP security capabilities. For further information on the Stoke
SSX-3000 platform, please visit http://www.stoke.com/Products/ssx-3000.asp.
About Stoke
Stoke develops carrier-class mobile broadband gateways specifically
engineered to enable mobile and converged network operators to maximize the
economic returns of their 3G mobile networks. For more information, visit
http://www.stoke.com.