New Pathways to Profit with Network Visibility

Today’s networks are far more complex with challenges such as dynamically re-routed traffic, priority queues, and class of services that change from device to device and link to link. The difficulty of meeting these challenges exponentially increases with higher bandwidth demands and real-time applications and services. Network intelligence and quality-determining decisions need to be made with data from the edge of the network--close to the actual customer experience. 

Visibility Leads to Intelligence

Looking to the future, there is an obvious need for complete network visibility—not only visibility into the applications that customers are running on their smartphones and devices, but also visibility into varying bandwidth flows and demands—from a neighborhood to a business center to an entire community. To manage a network’s performance, operators need reports on bandwidth in real-time. What all this really amounts to is a need for greater intelligence.

Information is important, but intelligence is what drives profits. With greater visibility, you have the intelligence to improve troubleshooting, create new products, and enhance the customer experience. To get this level of intelligence, you have to be able to collect the data at the edge of the network. In the case of a wireless network, that means gathering data from cell towers and micro towers and compiling the data in real time through a cloud-based approach to intelligent collection and network management.

If you can cost effectively distribute packet collection throughout the network, and then distribute the data through a cloud-based network, you can dramatically reduce the cost, footprint, and complexity of capturing rich intelligence about the network, the content, and the customer experience. 

Acquisition must be part of standard network components widely distributed at the network edge. Embedding intelligent packet acquisition using an integrated circuit in optical transceivers, such as Small Form factor Pluggables, quickly extends the data reach to virtually any optical link anywhere within a network. This kind of solution provides the following:

• Dramatically lower operational expenses--With an intelligent transceiver replacing a standard transceiver, no additional rack space or external power is required. It doesn’t need an internal operating system or external configuration and maintenance. Using the host network for communications, no management or overlay networks are needed.

• On-demand access--Combining this type of packet access with a multi-user, multi-probe access platform means technicians do not need direct access to network elements to quickly and easily access the targeted data. Users will view any customer, service, or quality of experience on demand, leading to quick diagnoses and faster problem solving.

• Ubiquitous visibility everywhere in the network--This approach can be deployed into any pluggable transceiver port throughout a network. The increased visibility results in reduced mean time to fix problems, which in turn leads to increased customer satisfaction.

• Customer intelligence--The data captured for network monitoring extends to many different applications, such as Wireshark for network analysis or other applications for security or market and business intelligence, providing analytics and intelligence on customer usage and behavior.