Diameter signaling controllers are like traffic cops for LTE networks, prioritizing and directing traffic to the right network elements at the right time. As more of these network elements move to software, the role of diameter signaling is set to explode.
“NFV could create potentially a much worse signaling tsunami than we’ve talked about in the past,” said analyst Sue Rudd of Strategy Analytics.
Rudd said that as operators virtualize legacy equipment the separation of the user plane from the control plane is creating a big increase in signaling traffic. And she believes it could be the tip of the iceberg.
“As we go forward with NFV and we decompose our functional elements into VNFs — virtual network functions — then those have to be reassembled on the fly to configure actual service logic,” said Rudd. “We will see a tremendous potential load on signaling unless we aggregate appropriate groups of VNFs and optimize the performance of the network.”
Are operators ready?
“What is rather surprising is that operators — I don’t think they’ve really grasped the magnitude of change that they will see with NFV,” said Travis Russell, director of product marketing at Oracle. Russell came to Oracle from Tekelec, a maker of diameter signaling controllers acquired by Oracle last year.
“We’ve already seen instances where a very simple event like an SGSN dropping a bunch of connections has created these tsunamis,” said Russell. “Besides the entire operational model … as we start moving telecom into data centers and creating these telco clouds … and segmenting different parts of the network, there’s going to be a lot of transactions between all those network elements.”
“The signaling plane ought to get equal coverage with the control plane and the user plane,” added Rudd. “There really has been almost no discussion of the signaling impact.”
“I think we’re going to start to see a lot more focus on ‘how do we control this diameter traffic?’,” said Russell, adding that diameter signaling controller are emerging as the “STP for LTE.”
Watch the full RCR Insights interview with Sue Rudd and Travis Russell.
Featured Image Copyright: / 123RF Stock Photo
