In wireless networks, a driving force called “mobile backhaul” resides in the area between base stations and regional network controllers. As mobile users multiplied and thought up more ways to use their mobile services – demand exploded into multiplay voice, video, and data. At the same time, the ultra-competitive “capture subscribers at any cost” environment drove service providers to offer low-cost, all-you-can-eat service plans, which fueled even more demand. Although it has been slow in culminating, this was the death-blow for Time-division multiplexing (TDM) and a new beginning for Carrier Ethernet.

Originally relying on legacy TDM technology, most backhaul networks have been undergoing a move to an IP-over-Ethernet paradigm to more cost-effectively meet the growing data bandwidth demands of smart phones and devices. However, until now, this so-called “Carrier Ethernet” could not meet the synchronization requirements for mobile voice.

Through the diligent work of standards groups such as the IEEE and Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF), and real-world demonstration and testing of systems conforming to the ITU-T Synchronous Ethernet and IEEE 1588v2 standard, Carrier Ethernet is now ready to take on mobile voice.

To help clear the road ahead for Carrier Ethernet, Ixia provides:

1. Award-winning testing solutions for wireless backhaul test equipment. Ixia captured an overall market share of 48.3 percent in 2010 for wireless backhaul testing. Frost & Sullivan recognizes Ixia as the 2011 Market Leader in Wireless Backhaul Test Equipment.
2. Industry leadership; Ixia regularly collaborates with industry standards groups and specialized forums such as the IEEE and MEF. Ixia recently co-authored a MEF-approved Ethernet synchronization whitepaper based upon the MEF22 mobile backhaul implementation agreement technical specification, which identifies the requirements for MEF Carrier Ethernet services and MEF external interfaces for use in mobile backhaul networks. The goal of this document is to provide technical managers and network designers with insight into successfully deploying physical layer based Synchronous Ethernet and/or packet-based methods using IEEE 1588v2 for frequency synchronization in their Carrier Ethernet mobile backhaul networks. It specifically focuses on methods to test and validate synchronization distribution architectures (SDA).
3. Conclusive demonstration of how to meet 3G and LTE synchronization requirements with packet networks. These rigorous test exercises, performed by Ixia and Alcatel-Lucent, validate the performance and robustness of IEEE 1588v2 boundary and transparent clock implementations under traffic load and scaled mobile backhaul network conditions. For more information, see Ixia’s video and companion whitepaper.
4. Documented test methodologies in Ixia Black Books about Carrier Ethernet and Ethernet Synchronization that will help you become familiar with new technologies and understand the key testing issues associated with them