ALCATEL-LUCENT 9500 MICROWAVE PACKET RADIO (MPR)

APPLICATION NOTE

PACKET MICROWAVE: AN INFRASTRUCTURE FOR LONG-TERM GROWTH

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
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1
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Packet Microwave

Enabling legacy to packet transformation / 2 A single product family for all microwave applications / 3 High-capacity and high-availability operation / 4 Flexible networking / 7 End-To-End Management Simplifies Provisioning and Maintenance / 7

Global Services and Support Conclusion Acronyms Contacts

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8 9

9
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Appendix A: Deployment Configurations

Full-Outdoor Configuration / 10 Split-mount configuration / 10 Integrated configuration / 11

10

Global communications, in an increasingly connected world, are becoming solidly founded on a packetized infrastructure leveraging both IP routing and Ethernet media for flexibility, scalability and cost effectiveness. Bringing this packet paradigm to the microwave network environment allows operators to accrue a number of advantages as packetized data traffic, in all its forms, continues to increase. The Alcatel-Lucent 9500 MPR was designed with packet technology as its foundation to provide the lowest total cost of ownership at the highest quality. It enables legacy-to-packet transformation over a common, converged packet network, offers the highest functionality with the smallest footprint, and is highly scalable and resilient. Leveraging packet microwave, existing microwave licenses are maximized through applying packet techniques to optimize bandwidth and maximize payload capacity per radio link. Sparing and operations costs are minimized with the use of a common multi-purpose transceiver that supports multiple deployment scenarios.

INTRODUCTION
Global communications, in an increasingly connected world, are becoming solidly founded on a packetized infrastructure leveraging both IP routing and Ethernet media for flexibility, scalability and cost effectiveness. Bringing this packet paradigm to the microwave network environment allows operators to accrue a number of advantages as packetized data traffic, in all its forms, continues to increase. Today, video and data services are driving network capacity growth. Video, cloud-based applications and services, social networking and other Internet-driven content are booming. With traffic growth forecast to double every year through 20151, and the transition to IP-based LTE for mobile backhaul and all-IP access and transport for utilities, operators are seeking networks that scale to support their needs. Many microwave vendors have reacted to increased data demand by simply incrementally improving their TDM platforms. Then, as mobile broadband services became increasingly widespread, they have introduced hybrid microwave solutions that combine two disparate technologies operating totally independently; TDM dedicated for voice traffic and Ethernet for transporting data. But as the volume of packet traffic overshadows TDM traffic, operators are finding that maintaining two distinct networks with separate operational procedure sets is cost prohibitive and inefficient. The transformation to packet is underway. It is a critical time for network operators, whether they are wireless service providers, wholesale mobile backhaul transport providers, fixed operators, first-responder network operators, or operators that connect financial, government and utility enterprises to the network. Globally, operators have deployed the Alcatel-Lucent 9500 Microwave Packet Radio (MPR) for fixed and mobile backhaul and enterprise applications. Leveraging packet features that increase reliability and scale capacity, revenue-generating services cost-effectively traverse packet microwave links with customer-satisfying Quality of Experience.

Alcatel-Lucent analysis

Packet Microwave: An Infrastructure for Long-Term Growth

ALCATEL-LUCENT APPLICATION NOTE

This paper describes how packet microwave technology can deliver the lowest total cost of ownership at the highest quality. Fixed and mobile operators require a solution that improves network availability and enables the migration to IP without forklift upgrades, a solution that makes operations costs manageable and one that maximizes capacity per radio link. The Alcatel-Lucent 9500 MPR meets all of these requirements.

PACKET MICROWAVE
Mobile and fixed service providers, as well as transportation, power utilities and local governments, are evolving their applications and networks to an all-IP model. This in turn will drive the evolution to packet microwave. They know that the benefits of building a future-oriented packet network, with multi-class queueing and scheduling, advanced packet-based OAM for voice and data services, and support for legacy traffic via emulation, are essential. But there are concerns about making the transformation from the long-serving, proven and reliable TDM-based transport. That is why a prevailing requirement for packet microwave is to support this evolutionary trend while de-risking the transitional phase from TDM. This allows service providers to investigate new business models, with the aim of lowering the overall cost of transport, in addition to decoupling the service delivery cost from overall operation costs. To meet the requirements for packet networks, a single packet microwave system should be able to operate in all deployment configurations (full-outdoor, split-mount and integrated) delivering high-capacity, high-availability services that improve customer Quality of Experience. (Appendix A provides details of the various deployment configurations.) Packet microwave must enable the transformation of legacy traffic to packet. The network must be reliable, with no single point of failure, and flexible to enable more scalable, cost-effective microwave architectures. Costs must be minimized for both operations and capital expenditures, with rapid provisioning and reliable assurance methods.

ENABLE LEGACYTO-PACKET TRANSFORMATION WITHOUT FORKLIFT UPGRADES

Enabling legacy to packet transformation

As operators move to broad deployment of IP-based services, efficient network infrastructure must be designed with packet technology as its foundation. The native packet microwave architecture of the Alcatel-Lucent 9500 MPR is optimized for a predominantly data-driven traffic mix by providing native packet transport over the radio link. In native packet operation mode, TDM signals (T1/E1) are transmitted in the packet stream using pseudowires (PWE3) or circuit emulation (CES) techniques. These techniques enable a single packet networking infrastructure to be leveraged for both legacy (TDM) and packet (IP/Ethernet) traffic. To support operators in their transition to all-IP, the Alcatel-Lucent 9500 MPR can operate in hybrid operation mode, so that TDM and Ethernet signals are exchanged at the hand-off point of the microwave network in their original form. As the switch from hybrid to full packet operation mode is done through a simple software configuration, operators can rest assured their investment will seamlessly transition their networks to packet microwave operation with minimal operations costs, as shown in Figure 1.

Packet Microwave: An Infrastructure for Long-Term Growth

ALCATEL-LUCENT APPLICATION NOTE

Figure 1. Transform hybrid operational mode to packet operational mode

Software Conguration HYBRID OPERATIONAL MODE TDM network PACKET OPERATIONAL MODE

PDH/SDH

PDH/SDH

PDH/SDH

Ethernet

PDH/CES Ethernet Ethernet Packet network Ethernet Packet network

With Alcatel-Lucent packet microwave, operators have more efficient network operations and reduced power consumption because they can maintain a single packet network. Packet microwave can gracefully accommodate the transition to packet by encapsulating legacy non-packet traffic into packet streams using pseudowires and circuit emulation techniques.

A single product family for all microwave applications

Alcatel-Lucent is unique in the industry, in that a single transceiver type can be deployed for all microwave configurations (full-outdoor, split-mount and integrated), which reduces sparing and operations costs. The operator can deploy the transceiver for TDM or hybrid and upgrade to packet with no hardware change and no TDM service degradation. Alcatel-Lucent 9500 MPR microwave packet transport (MPT) transceivers support a wide range of frequency bands, modulations, channel spacing and Ethernet throughput.2 Shown in Figure 2, the Alcatel-Lucent family of indoor units has the highest density in the market and the best space consumption with zero-footprint and half-rack sizes available.
Figure 2. Common radios for all microwave applications

MINIMIZE SPARING AND OPERATIONS COSTS BY USING COMMON MULTI-PURPOSE TRANSCEIVERS ACROSS ALL

ALCATEL-LUCENT 9500 MPR TRANSCEIVERS

MPT INDOOR UNITS MSS-1c MSS-4 MSS-8

APPLICATIONS.

APPLICATIONS

Tail

Point-to-point

Nodal

Long haul

For long-haul applications, an optimized version of MPT is available for the ANSI market, enabling a full-indoor configuration of the Alcatel-Lucent 9500 MPR

Packet Microwave: An Infrastructure for Long-Term Growth

ALCATEL-LUCENT APPLICATION NOTE

High-capacity and high-availability operation

To address growing bandwidth demand, improve customer Quality of Experience and reduce customer churn, the packet microwave network must be reliable and highly scalable. Across both radio and packet domains, there are a number of features which can be leveraged to increase capacity, improve reliability or address both requirements. The Alcatel-Lucent 9500 MPR supports a comprehensive array of these features including: service-driven adaptive modulation, Cross Polarization Interference Canceller (XPIC), multiservice rings and link aggregation. Service-driven adaptive modulation increases overall channel throughput, even in adverse conditions. Traffic with high priority always has bandwidth available, using appropriate QoS prioritization and scheduling techniques. XPIC doubles capacity and saves spectrum and antenna costs. Throughput is doubled on a radio channel leveraging different frequency polarizations. Multiservice rings scale capacity in aggregation networks and also provide sub-50 ms service restoration. Link aggregation (LAG) scales link capacity by multiplying radio links together into a virtual high-capacity microwave link using radio or Ethernet link aggregation techniques. It also provides link protection for additional reliability. Another feature that scales capacity is Alcatel-Lucents Packet Throughput Booster, which leverages packet and IP header compression techniques. It optimizes packets for efficient transport over the radio layer, enabling higher payload throughput. Collectively, these features make a comprehensive high-capacity toolkit that can be used to scale bandwidth capacity, both up and down. The features in the toolkit interwork with one another, providing operators with the opportunity to use any combination of them. Leveraging the system gain of the Alcatel-Lucent 9500 MPR, operators gain an operational advantage during network design. System gain provides the operator with additional distance. The higher the system gain, the longer the distance of microwave links between remote antennas. For example, by combining system gain and the high-capacity toolkit, the operator has the flexibility to deliver more capacity over longer links.
Hitless adaptive modulation

The Alcatel-Lucent 9500 MPR supports hitless, service-aware adaptive modulation to deliver on the requirement to fully exploit microwave bandwidth in its entirety by changing modulation scheme according to propagation availability. It is used to increase radio throughput by adjusting the modulation scheme as propagation conditions change. Figure 3 illustrates how adaptive code modulation technology can automatically adjust modulation modes and dynamically enable service transport according to the performance of air interface channels that might be affected by bad weather conditions.

Flexible networking facilitates the transition to higher capacity and lower total cost of ownership (TCO) microwave network architectures.
Packet Microwave: An Infrastructure for Long-Term Growth
ALCATEL-LUCENT APPLICATION NOTE

Figure 3. Alcatel-Lucent 9500 MPR Hitless Adaptive Modulation

SUNNY

CLOUDY

STORMY

256 QAM

16 QAM

4 QAM

Real-time services

Real-time services

Real-time services

Adaptive modulation techniques ensure that high-priority services, shown in blue on the bottom of each weather scenario, are prioritized ahead of other traffic types, shown in green, orange and red, as you move from bottom to top. The modulation mode can be changed, for example, from 256QAM to 64QAM or QPSK, to enable error-free communications. In adverse conditions, for example, the access bandwidth of the microwave air interface may be decreased from 800 Mb/s to 600 Mb/s, meaning that the microwave equipment must support Alcatel-Lucent 9500 MPR deterministic performance features. Adaptive modulation simplifies network planning and improves spectral efficiency. The Alcatel-Lucent 9500 MPR service-aware, deterministic, performance-driven adaptive modulation delivers on the requirement to fully exploit microwave bandwidth in its entirety by changing modulation schemes according to the propagation availability and transport capacity.
Cross Polarization Interference Canceller (XPIC)

XPIC ensures efficient spectrum usage and applies to all types of services: TDM, Ethernet and SDH. With XPIC the operator can double capacity, save spectrum and antenna costs. As illustrated in Figure 4, channel capacity is doubled when horizontal and vertical antenna polarizations are used. Two MPTs independently transmit different payloads at orthogonal polarization (with respect to each other) at the same frequency band. Unique in the market, XPIC is available on the MPT for full-outdoor deployments.
Figure 4. Cross-polarization Interface Canceller (xpic)

RF channels V polarization H polarization 530 Mb/s 530 Mb/s

1 x 56 MHz channel 2 x 530 = 1 Gb/s L1 throughput with header compression (Mb/s)

Packet Microwave: An Infrastructure for Long-Term Growth

ALCATEL-LUCENT APPLICATION NOTE

Figure 5. Alcatel-Lucent 9500 MPR Multiservice Packet Ring

One physical ring simultaneously protects TDM and Ethernet trafc using both directions of the ring.

Trafc CoS is taken into account and high-priority trafc is always delivered.

Ethernet/TDM

Ethernet/TDM

Ethernet

Ethernet

Ethernet

Ring breaks

Ethernet

Ethernet Ring Protection

The Alcatel-Lucent 9500 MPR has native support for Ethernet Ring Protection (ERP), ITU-T G.8032v2, whose fail-over time is sub-50 ms, much lower than spanning tree protocols usually found in wireline metro aggregation networks. The multiservice packet ring, shown in Figure 5, allocates traffic in both ring directions at the same time, doubling the capacity available when compared to traditional SDH rings. Both TDM and Ethernet traffic can be mixed in the ring and be protected. When the ring is broken, high-priority traffic is protected by using only one direction, typically within less than 50 ms. No additional equipment or hardware is needed since this capability is fully managed by the Alcatel-Lucent 9500 MPR.
Link aggregation

Link aggregation groups a set of ports so that two network nodes can be interconnected using multiple radio or Ethernet links to increase link capacity and the availability between them. When aggregated, two or more physical links operate as a single logical link with a traffic capacity that is the sum of the individual link capacities. This doubling, tripling or quadrupling of capacity is relevant where more capacity is required than can be provided on one physical link. With radio link aggregation, more than 1 Gb/s Ethernet throughput is achieved over two radio channels. Radio link aggregation can operate at the radio layer (packet based) and the Ethernet layer (flow based). Link aggregation also provides redundancy between the aggregated links. If a link fails, its traffic is redirected onto the remaining link or links. If the remaining link or links do not have the capacity needed to avoid a traffic bottleneck, appropriate QoS settings are used to prioritize traffic so that all high-priority traffic continues to get through.

Packet Microwave: An Infrastructure for Long-Term Growth

ALCATEL-LUCENT APPLICATION NOTE

Packet throughput booster

Capacity can be scaled up and down to meet the requirements of the operator, with XPIC, link aggregation and adaptive modulation. In addition, packet throughput booster techniques can be used to reduce protocol header overhead, increasing radio link throughput over the air interface even more. Packet throughput booster allows operators to scale up the radio capacity, independent of the higher layer protocols transported, whether Ethernet, IPv4 or even IPv6. Depending on the transported protocol and the traffic distribution, there can be a 150 percent increase of traffic composed primarily of long Ethernet frames, to more than 200 percent and beyond for typical Internet mix patterns.

Flexible networking
The Alcatel-Lucent 9500 MPR facilitates the transition to higher capacity, lower TCO microwave network architectures. Current architectures are optimized for 2G and 3G mobile service deployments where lower link capacity and TDM-based traffic are the norm. Looking forward to the impact on mobile backhaul with the introduction of LTE, or just to address growing capacity demands, it is clear that todays microwave architectures cannot efficiently scale. Referencing Figure 6, common microwave topologies today are tree, deployed almost everywhere, chain, used for long-haul, and star, commonly used for urban deployments. Access ring, using ERP and described in the section on Ethernet Ring Protection above, is increasingly being deployed as well. The Alcatel-Lucent 9500 MPR can also support meshed access, used with more scalable and cost-effective topology architectures being designed for future applications.
Figure 6. scalable, cost-effective topologies

TREE Standard microwave topology Deployed everywhere

ACCESS RING Exploit higher capacity and networking Ring protection

CHAIN/STAR Long-haul (chain) Urban (star)

MESHED ACCESS High capacity and networking necessary Complex interworking enabled

End-To-End Management Simplifies Provisioning and Maintenance

With a modular and scalable architecture, the Alcatel-Lucent 5620 SAM supports some of the worlds largest networks today. Operators can harness its operational flexibility through user security and control, as well as workflow customization, required to enable the collaboration of both experts and operators with less extensive IP and MPLS networking training. Risks associated with provisioning complex services are reduced and comprehensive support for Fault, Configuration, Accounting, Performance and Security management (FCAPS) is provided. The Alcatel-Lucent 5620 SAM aids provisioning of endto-end services using wizards or point-and-click configuration from a single application, eliminating the need to individually configure each device in the service path. In addition,

Packet Microwave: An Infrastructure for Long-Term Growth

ALCATEL-LUCENT APPLICATION NOTE

the 5620 SAM integrates with existing operator OSS systems, processes and workflows by offering pre-tested interoperability with industry-leading OSS vendors with application integrations certified through the Alcatel-Lucent Connected Partner Program. For customers with Alcatel-Lucent optical packet transport networks, the Alcatel-Lucent 1350 NMS can also be deployed.

GLOBAL SERVICES AND SUPPORT

Alcatel-Lucent brings deep, global experience and services support in transformational projects, particularly in leveraging the values of a packetized infrastructure in the mobile backhaul network. To help engineer and design your network, SPIDER, a unique end-to-end tool developed by Alcatel-Lucent, can be used. SPIDER proposes the best topology-based requirements, as well as helps in studying existing transmission networks to identify needed upgrades. It dimensions the transmission links and nodes based on line of sight and according to the required capacity and the routing of the various flows. SPIDER embeds various algorithms for tree-shape topology creation: from enhanced minimum spanning tree to a sophisticated algorithm designed by Bell Labs taking into account the number of antennas per site, the maximum number of hops in a chain and the maximum number of sites on a branch. The topology of the transmission network can then be optimized for OPEX and CAPEX. Multi-technology and vendor-agnostic, SPIDER also provides a quick analysis of alternative scenarios (with increased traffic or alternative topology). Alcatel-Lucent provides a single source for an end-to-end, fully managed solution; comprehensive, ongoing verification testing and wide deployment experience globally combine to promote a successful and timely deployment.

MAXIMIZE CAPACITY PER RADIO LINK BY LEVERAGING PACKET NETWORKING TECHNIQUES

CONCLUSION
The Alcatel-Lucent 9500 MPR operates in all deployment configurations to deliver high-capacity, high-availability services that improve the customer Quality of Experience. Native packet microwave enables the transformation of legacy traffic to packet and supports networks that are reliable, scalable and cost-effective. The capacity boosting features of adaptive modulation, XPIC, link aggregation and packet throughput booster, along with reliability enforced with Ethernet ring protection, reinforce the value of the 9500 MPR. The ability to use different microwave topologies provides operators with the flexibility to grow more cost-effective and scalable architectures to meet growing demand. Costs are minimized for both operations and capital expenditures, with rapid provisioning and reliable assurance methods. Alcatel-Lucent is recognized as the industry leader for packet microwave. More than 150 operators around the globe have deployed the Alcatel-Lucent 9500 MPR to address mobile backhaul and enterprise applications.

Packet Microwave: An Infrastructure for Long-Term Growth

ALCATEL-LUCENT APPLICATION NOTE

ACRONYMS
9500 MPR 2G, 3G, 4G CoS ERP FCAPS IDU IP LAG LTE MPLS MPT ODU PDH QoS SAM SAR SDH SLA SONET TDM TSS XPIC Alcatel-Lucent 9500 Microwave Packet Radio Second Generation, Third Generation, Fourth Generation Class of Service Ethernet Ring Protection Fault, Configuration, Accounting, Performance, Security Indoor Unit Internet Protocol Link Aggregation Long Term Evolution Multi-Protocol Label Switching Microwave Packet Transport Outdoor Unit Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy Quality of Service 5620 Services Aware Manager 7705 Services Aware Router Synchronous Digital Hierarchy Service Level Agreement Synchronous Optical Network Time Division Multiplexing 1850 Transport Service Switch Cross Polarization Interference Canceller

CONTACTS
For more information about Alcatel-Lucent 9500 MPR solutions, please visit www.alcatel-lucent.com or contact your Customer Team representative.

Packet Microwave: An Infrastructure for Long-Term Growth

ALCATEL-LUCENT APPLICATION NOTE

APPENDIX A: DEPLOYMENT CONFIGURATIONS

Traditionally, microwave systems have been deployed in split-mount configuration. However, with the world converging on common IP networking and advances in microwave technology, other deployment options are now available including full-outdoor and integrated microwave, as shown in Figure 7. The differences between the deployment options are based on how the various components of a microwave system are combined together to form the solution.
Figure 7. 9500 MPR Deployment Configurations

FULL-OUTDOOR

SPLIT-MOUNT COMMON ODU

INTEGRATED

Dedicated system for full outdoor applications Direct Ethernet connectivity to cell site Point-to-point only Popular in enterprise applications

Nodal

Point-to-point IDU Hybrid solution Tree/star/spoke topology Physical link protection (1+1) Nodal conguration

Integrated unit IP and MPLS networking over any media Ring/meshed topology Support of SDH metro networks

By having a common radio that is interchangeable in these three modes, sparing and operations costs are minimized because the same radio can be used in any part of the microwave network.

Full-Outdoor Configuration
Most frequently used for point-to-point enterprise applications over Ethernet, the fulloutdoor unit configuration provides packet microwave connectivity by connecting the outdoor unit (ODU) directly to a network element that serves as the indoor unit (IDU), thus achieving cost savings by not requiring additional equipment or floor-space. Unique in the market, XPIC is available on the Alcatel-Lucent 9500 MPR MPT for full-outdoor deployments.

Split-mount configuration
Split mount systems currently represent the majority of microwave deployments. They have traditionally been TDM systems, but now include hybrid and packet microwave systems. The IDU supplies the connectivity and the switching fabric, and is connected to an ODU which provides the modem and the microwave transmission. The split-mount nodal IDU configuration enables services coming in from one radio direction to be forwarded to another radio direction without the need to go out to an external device such as an Ethernet switch or a TDM switch. Optimization of radio bandwidth resources and increased scalability is achieved by overbooking bursty data services while ensuring real-time services receive high-priority treatment.

Packet Microwave: An Infrastructure for Long-Term Growth

ALCATEL-LUCENT APPLICATION NOTE

10

The Alcatel-Lucent 9500 MPR nodal configuration supports multiple radio directions at one time, aggregating and switching traffic streams from multiple microwave directions using native high capacity packet switching. This offers the following advantages: Reduced footprint at complex sites Very high nodal density is reached: 12 radio directions in just 2U of rack space dramatically reduces operational expenses and simplifies the network. One single network element supports up to 12 radio directions Native high-capacity switching capacity virtually eliminates any switching matrix bottlenecks in forwarding traffic towards the different radio directions

Integrated configuration
Alcatel-Lucent integrates packet microwave, Ethernet and MPLS networking to facilitate the transition to higher capacity networks. The Alcatel-Lucent 9500 MPR-e integrates with the 7705 Services Aware Router (SAR) for IP/MPLS networks or the 1850 Transport Services Switch (TSS) for SDH and MPLS-TP networks. As with the full-outdoor configuration, cost savings are achieved by leveraging the 7705 SAR or 1850 TSS as the indoor unit.

www.alcatel-lucent.com Alcatel, Lucent, Alcatel-Lucent and the Alcatel-Lucent logo are trademarks of
Alcatel-Lucent. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. The information presented is subject to change without notice. Alcatel-Lucent assumes no responsibility for inaccuracies contained herein. Copyright 2012 Alcatel-Lucent. All rights reserved. M2012011654 (January)