Cisco® helps cable operators to create new revenue opportunities through the deployment of an outdoor wireless mesh solution that leverage their existing infrastructure to cost-effectively expand their service offerings and their market reach.
Broadband Mobility
In recent years, cable operators have driven the in-home broadband market with triple- play offerings: TV, Internet, and telephone services. In order to remain competitive, operators are adding mobility to their offering suite, allowing them to extend their reach outside the home into new markets.
Cable operators are finding that outdoor Wi-Fi mesh networks offer a cost-effective foundation layer for next-generation wireless mobility. Cable companies have a wired infrastructure and unique field assets that can be used to build an efficient and effective outdoor wireless network. As shown in Figure 1, operators can use Wi-Fi to expand their market by offering new services to cities, universities, convention centers, hotels, and other businesses that have mobile employees or outside operations (for example, ports, harbors, and distribution centers).
Figure 1. Market Expansion Opportunities for Multiple-Service Operators (MSOs)
Cisco Cable ServiceMesh Solution
Cisco Cable ServiceMesh solution enables cable operators to extend their services to offer ultra-fast Internet broadband connections to outdoor areas. The seamless handoff of broadband services from their cable infrastructure to an outdoor wireless network allows the operator to cost-effectively deliver a vast array of new applications. Cisco Cable ServiceMesh provides a robust network that can support all of these applications, and can discreetly manage customer groups, offering quality of experience to each. A small sampling of these applications is shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2. Applications Available with Cisco Cable ServiceMesh
Built on the Cisco IP Next-Generation Network (NGN) architecture, the Cisco Cable ServiceMesh solution is a powerful, self-organizing, self-healing, and self-configuring end-to-end architecture. Cisco ServiceMesh combines a superior access network with a fully integrated and intelligent back-end network.
Cisco Cable ServiceMesh was developed through the fusion of Scientific Atlanta cable technology leadership and Cisco routing and Wi-Fi technology leadership. As Figure 3 illustrates, the Cisco Cable ServiceMesh solution is manageable and flexible architecture that securely and dynamically controls subscriber access and applications across wireless mesh networks. The carrier-grade architecture consists of an easy-to-deploy, high-speed, multipurpose, and secure outdoor Wi-Fi mesh network infrastructure that seamlessly integrates with existing hybrid fiber-coaxial (HFC) networks.
Cisco Cable ServiceMesh incorporates all the primary network elements for successful service implementation-from customer devices through the intelligent network edge to the multiservice core.
Figure 3. Cisco Cable ServiceMesh Design
The Cisco Cable ServiceMesh solution is ideal for any environment in which laying cable might be a logistical challenge. In a wireless mesh network, the network dynamically routes packets from node to node (or access point to access point). A few nodes have to be connected directly to the cable plant HFC network, but the rest share a connection with one another over the air. The fact that wiring issues can be mitigated makes such a network ideal for outdoor deployments.
The Cisco wireless mesh network operates in unlicensed bands, using an 802.11b/g Wi-Fi radio in the 2.4-GHz range for the downlink and an 802.11a radio in the 5-GHz range for the backhaul. To that end, cable operators will not have to worry about spending millions of dollars for spectrum licenses.
Cable operators have a particular competitive advantage when it comes to Wi-Fi mesh technology: namely, that they can use the Cisco Cable ServiceMesh architecture to integrate with their existing HFC infrastructure. Rather than requiring cable operators to build an outdoor wireless network from the ground up, the Cisco Cable ServiceMesh technology lets operators simply expand their broadband coverage outdoors.
And the nature of an IP-based network with mesh access technology means they can do this almost seamlessly, without having to run new cable. With the Cisco Wi-Fi mesh network, cable operators can easily provide high-speed broadband wireless connectivity to the communities in which they already offer TV, telephony, and Internet services. The real question facing cable operators is not so much whether to integrate the Cisco Wi-Fi mesh networks into their existing infrastructure, but rather how to utilize the network in order to create reliable services and new application bundles.
The benefits of the Cisco Cable ServiceMesh solution are:
• Engaging new markets: Cisco Cable ServiceMesh enables outdoor broadband service to new municipal and business customers, allowing operators to capture new markets.
• Increasing revenue: Maximize revenue opportunity and lower customer turnover by offering mobility extensions to existing service offerings.
• Lowering deployment cost: Provide new broadband services without the high costs and delays associated with major cable plant infrastructure construction projects.
• Speedy deployment: Cisco wireless is easy and flexible to deploy, which allows cable operators to quickly enable outdoor wireless services.
• Lowering operating cost: Efficiently manage the new services with an integrated end-to-end architecture that includes management for all application, services, devices, and users.
• Faster return on investment: Because the Cisco outdoor wireless network has a low cost to build out and manage, the return on investment can be achieved within a reasonably short period of time.
• Future growth: Position the company for future rollout of next generation broadband mobility services
Customers
The end goal of cable operators is to provide a good user experience, and the devices that customers interact with play a big part in this experience. Cisco offers many wired and wireless customer devices that are optimized for different environments. Cisco 3200 Series Wireless and Mobile Routers are ideal for mobility applications in public safety and security. For business applications, Cisco offers a portfolio of integrated services routers (ISRs) that are engineered for secure wire-speed delivery of concurrent data, voice, video, and wireless services. For residential applications, Cisco Linksys® and Scientific Atlanta offer a wide range of products that enable a user to enjoy data, voice, video, and music at home. Cisco also works with silicon providers and device manufacturers through the Cisco Compatible Extensions program to help ensure that participating products in the network can use advanced features, including security and power management, that are available in WLAN and voice-over-IP (VoIP) technologies.
Access
The Cisco Cable ServiceMesh design connects outdoor wireless networks with other access networks, providing high-speed, cost-effective wireless connectivity between multiple fixed or mobile networks and clients. The system manages both indoor and outdoor access points, and monitors all access points system-wide.
The Cisco Cable ServiceMesh solution features Cisco Aironet 1520 Series Lightweight Outdoor Mesh Access Points. Designed to be easy to use and simple to deploy, the Cisco Aironet 1520 Series incorporates a cable modem interface and can be strand-mounted for seamless integration into cable network infrastructure. The Cisco 1520 Series employs the Cisco patented Adaptive Wireless Path Protocol (AWPP) to form a dynamic wireless mesh network between remote access points, delivering secure, high-capacity wireless access to any Wi-Fi-compliant client device.
The Cisco Aironet 1520 Series supports integrated dual-band IEEE 802.11a and 802.11b/g standards radios. The dual-radio configuration dedicates the 802.11a radio for access-point-to-access-point communications, allowing the mesh network to maximize all available channels, to minimize the occurrence of interference from unlicensed devices, and to minimize latency. The dual-radio configuration delivers high system capacity through pico-cellular designs and support for real-time applications such as voice and video.
Some additional benefits of the access system include:
• Intelligent routing algorithm establishes the best path through a mesh of wireless nodes to a wired gateway, creating a self-configuring, self-healing network.
• Real-time radio resource management allows the system to detect and adapt to changes in the airspace in real time.
• Zero-touch configuration allows cable operators to install the system quickly with a lower deployment cost and increased network resiliency, reducing operating expenses overall.
• Multiple uplink connectivity and power options allow for a cost-effective and flexible outdoor deployment.
• Innovative Maximal Ratio Combined (MRC) technology maximizes radio sensitivity for an improved mesh access performance and coverage.
Aggregation
A Cisco IP NGN must aggregate multiple access networks, which converge in order to efficiently utilize network services. The Cisco 7600 Series is the carrier platform of choice for aggregating and delivering consumer and business data, voice, and video services over a converged IP NGN. In addition to performing this key convergence function for cable, FTTx, WiMAX and Wi-Fi networks, the aggregation layer of Cisco Cable ServiceMesh provides:
• Real-time communication between lightweight access points and other wireless LAN controllers to meet aggregation demands for a wireless mesh network.
• User roaming while maintaining security and quality of service, helping to ensure that mobility does not compromise performance, reliability, or privacy.
• Central management and configuration for administrators from a single location using the award-winning Cisco Wireless Control System (WCS), which has self-healing capabilities that reduce troubleshooting and repair time. Wireless access points can be configured, upgraded, and managed from the Cisco WCS making network management cost-effective and efficient.
Intelligent Edge
Cisco Cable ServiceMesh uses the Service Exchange Framework features of the Cisco IP NGN architecture to control customer access and use of services without limiting deployable applications. In order to successfully deliver services, the network must be truly "session-aware" and must dynamically identify subscribers, track their actions, and apply policies to govern quality of service (QoS) and security, with complete accounting on each session. Cisco Cable ServiceMesh provides these service control benefits:
• Managed access to the network: Securely authenticate both known and unknown end-user devices on the network through the Cisco Cable ServiceMesh portal. Whether free access, prepaid access, subscriptions, or corporate contract users, Cisco Cable ServiceMesh manages identification and subsequent monitoring and enforcement of the agreed service.
• Differentiated services for multiple customer groups: Using the network to deliver services to multiple customer groups requires that the network can provision per-customer-group and per user. The Cisco Intelligent Services Gateway (ISG) is the next-generation policy enforcement point (PEP) and policy decision point (PDP) that delivers dynamic per-customer-group and per-user session awareness.
• Service provisioning: One of the critical components of user satisfaction is the ease with which services are initiated, delivered, and billed for. Cisco Cable ServiceMesh includes all the necessary back-end capability that has been fully tested for function, interoperability, and performance, allowing operators a faster route to market, lower integration and customization costs, and proven infrastructure for monetization of the services provisioned.
• Good customer experience: Because wireless mesh networks cater to the needs of different customer groups that use the network for different applications, the network operator needs a way to enforce differentiated services based on end-user identity and applications. The Cisco Service Control Engine (SCE) is a carrier-grade deep packet inspection and control appliance that provides visibility into and control over network traffic, helping ensure that traffic from public safety employees receives priority over that from other user groups.
Multiservice Core
The Cisco IP NGN multiservice core lays the foundation for the network to operate as a service delivery platform. The Cisco Carrier Routing System (CRS-1) provides unprecedented stability, reliability, security, and performance, as well as the service flexibility required for scalable network convergence. With the carrier-class Cisco CRS-1 at the core of Cisco Cable ServiceMesh, operators can confidently extend their existing service reach to deliver outdoor wireless services to government, business, and residential customers.
Security
Data security concerns are top priorities for businesses and municipalities. Because they may be sending confidential data over their networks, they must make sure that any network they deploy adheres to government security regulations. Cisco Cable ServiceMesh supports all the standard wireless security protocols, such as Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 (WPA2), WPA, Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), and IEEE 802.11i.
The wireless security system allows for easy definition of security policies for individual users. Even though tourists, residents, and police officers may be using the same mesh network, tourists will not be able to gain access to confidential government databases. This per-customer-group definition has the ability to assign separate service set identifiers (SSIDs) and virtual LANs to public safety workers, consumers, and small businesses. Operators can further monetize their wireless services by ensuring that customers can set their own security-for example, by offering parental controls that block certain Websites even when the kids are on the wireless network.
Conclusion
Cable operators can take the first step towards broadband mobility with proven technology that's available today. Cisco Cable ServiceMesh offers operators a cost-effective, secure system for deployment of outdoor Wi-Fi networks, combining a superior access network with a fully integrated back-end network. Simple to deploy and operate, Cisco Cable ServiceMesh is based on intelligent wireless routing technology and a powerful, self-organizing, self-healing, and self-configuring end-to-end architecture.
With the Cisco Cable ServiceMesh wireless solution, cable operators can now offer outdoor broadband services to current and new customers, all while making use of their existing HFC investments. This translates into reduced operating expenses, improved communication and efficiency for businesses, and better service and safety for communities.
