As our demand for high-performance, high-throughput networks continues to rise, industry groups like the Metro ethernet Forum (MEF) provide a real vision into the practical nature of what we'll see next in areas of network delivery. Backhaul has always been a challenging problem, and the MEF has been doing lots of work on finding ways to more efficiently and effectively handle this type of traffic.

More light at the end of the backhaul tunnel

Carrier Ethernet Mobile Backhaul network breakthrough demonstration at CTIA Wireless

April 1st, Las Vegas, USA ­ - The press and mobile service providers looking for light at the end of the backhaul tunnel were invited to an impressive demonstration of demanding mobile applications supported by Carrier Ethernet backhaul at CTIA Mobile 2008. The MEF (Metro Ethernet Forum), addressing the need to deliver increased bandwidth while reducing central operation costs, is showcasing a multi-vendor Interoperability Showcase to support their claim that Ethernet backhaul offers an ideal cost profile for maintaining revenue per unit in face of soaring usage. The demonstration, showing that Carrier Ethernet can meet the delay and delay variation requirements of cellular networks, was held in collaboration with the European Advanced Networking Test Center (EANTC) and the IP/MLS Forum.

"Carrier Ethernet presented us with the ideal combination of lower capital costs and lower OPEX" according to Kevin Curran, SVP Marketing, Optimum Lightpath. "So Optimum Lightpath embraced it as our primary delivery technology in 2005. Today we use Carrier Ethernet Services to deliver mobile backhaul services to cellular operators with guaranteed SLAs (service level agreements), high capacity and unprecedented rates."

The MEF's preliminary work involved independent research within the mobile community driving their draft "Service Implementation Agreement (IA) for Carrier Ethernet services in mobile operators' backhaul networks". The final specification will provide the industry reference document for the purchase and sale of backhaul services over Ethernet, encompassing a wide range of Access technologies. The IA complements the MEF 8 specification defining Circuit Emulation Services (CES) - the technology that allows TDM services to be offered over Ethernet so that low capacity legacy TDM networks can make the transition to highly scalable networks supporting increased bandwidth demand at lower costs.

The Mobile Backhaul Interoperability Test Event at CTIA Wireless models a representative next-generation backhaul network - including customer access, heterogeneous aggregation and edge networks plus a core network - using such diverse technologies as MPLS, T-MPLS, and PBB-TE. The diverse technology clouds were interconnected via standard interfaces enabling interoperable end-to-end communication spanning multiple network architectures. The demonstrations included: phone calls over multiple technologies, mobile TV and video on demand, high speed data services and voice prioritizing using MEF bandwidth profiles, CDMA2000 applications, circuit emulation and uninterrupted voice calls demonstrating MEF service resiliency in both core and aggregation networks. The complete test network had already been showcased at the "MPLS and Ethernet World Congress" in Paris and the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

"Since 2002 the MEF has directed its influence towards a whole range of communications challenges, and each time it has had a major impact on the industry in question" stated Nan Chen, MEF President. "This time the challenge is to meet the pressure from increasing mobile usage by offering a cost-effective migration path from legacy backhaul networks to an all-IP Carrier Ethernet solution - it's the natural choice because its scalability allows decoupling of traffic volume from capital and operating expenses, so operators can handle massive growth in video and data traffic at less cost."

Service Providers are further invited to visit the MEF website http://www.MetroEthernetForum.org/ for supporting materials including a mobile backhaul case study presented by Optimum Lightpath, copies of approved MEF specifications and listings of certified Service Providers.

About The MEF:
The MEF is a global industry alliance comprising more than 140 organizations including telecommunications service providers, cable MSOs, network equipment/software manufacturers, semiconductors vendors and testing organizations. The MEF's mission is to accelerate the worldwide adoption of Carrier-class Ethernet networks and services. The MEF develops Carrier Ethernet technical specifications and implementation agreements to promote interoperability and deployment of Carrier Ethernet worldwide.

For more information about the Forum, including a complete listing of all current MEF members, please visit the MEF web site at http://www.MetroEthernetForum.org/