The Revolution -- Wireless Access and Ethernet Opt

WirelessAccess&OpticalEthernet--ThedriversofthecommunicationrevolutionLeonLiu,V1.2,Nov12th,2004ContentsToday’soverviewThefutureRevolutionDriversoftheRevolutionHowitmatters?IndustryOverviewOverviewCommunicationIndustryislikethecomputerindustryof20yearsago.Giantsbuildtheirownverticalproducts,fromChip,Opticalcomponentstosystem.Nortel,LucenthadtheirOWNcomponentsdivisionsTelecommunicationdevicesareBIGcomputers(BillGatessaidso)CouldthatbeassimpleasPC?OverviewTelecomnetworksishardtobuild,evenhardertomanage.OldPSTNTDMtechnologyneedsanexperttoconfigureit.AssignmentisstillapainofSDHsystem.ATMisnotbettereitherCouldthatbeaseasyasiMac?OverviewTheNGNlooksnotbetteryet.MostMSTPplatformsarecomplex,full-featureboxes.Thepriceisquiteexpensive.ComparingwiththeHorizontalstructure,evenHuawei,ZTE’sMSTPpriceisstillveryexpensive.Ontheotherhand,giantsunderstand“eatyourownbabies,ortheotherswilldo”.Whatstopstherevolutionfromhappening?FutureFutureConvergenceofwhat?Theindustrykeepstalkingabouttheconvergenceoftheservicesonthesamenetwork.Thereareotherconvergences.Thebiggestonecouldbetheconvergenceofthecomputerworldandthecommunicationworld.Themarketisnottelecommunicationanymore,itwouldbetelecomputing–azero-distancecomputingenvironment.Thetwoindustrieswillsharethesamesubsystem,components,siliconchipsfirst.Then,sharethephysicallayer.FutureCost,cost,costCostalwaysdrivesthecomputerindustriesrevolution,Mainframe,Mini-Computer,Workstation,PC,etc.Costalsodrivesthecommunication’stechnologies.Analog,TDM,VoIP,etc.Networkoperationisabigpartoftoday’sTOCstructure.Networkoperators(governmentaswellin3Gcase)tookthebiggestpieofthecakeandyetdidonlyfew.FutureLetthemachinedotheirjobAtotallyself-autonomousnetworkwouldsavesignificanttrunkoftheoperationcost.ThatideahasbeenimplementedinIProutingandad-hocwirelessnetwork.ThereisnotconfigurationjobsinpureIPnetworks.Routersfindtheirownroutviatalkingwiththeotherrouters.AdramaticAd-hocwirelessnetworkwillhaveno-bodyinvolvedofthenetworkbuildingandnetworkmanagementjob.RevolutionRevolutionWheretherevolutionstarts?Startsfromde-regulation!Manyorganizationscanbuildtheirownnetworks.Thatsavestheircostsignificantly.Forthisnew“operators”,lowpriceandno(low)managementaremostimportanttwofeatures.Openstructurecancutthepricetoverylowlevel.RevolutionWhataboutendclients?Isoperators’skillsneededintheendclientslevel.Notreally,iftheaccessserviceiswireless.Wi-Fiisready,Wi-MaxiscomingRevolutionsRevolution’schecklistSelf-autonomousnetworkdoesn’tneedoperators.De-regulationishappeningindeeperlevel.ItcomesfromtheBIGclientsoftoday’soperators,thebigorganizations.Inshort,thefuturenetworkswouldbeself-autonomousnetworks.DriversDriversDrivers.Opticalnetwork,Ethernet+IP,Wirelessaccess,adhocDriversOpticalnetworkTheband-widthbudgetofopticalnetworkisbigenough.Wedon’tcarethemsomuchanymore.Itjustlikesthatprogrammersdon’tcarememorytoday.Opticalofferslow-latency,high-reliabilityphysicalconnect.Then,connect-orientedfeaturesinnetworklayer,linklayerarenotsoessentialanymore.ItbringstheseconddriverDriversEthernet+IPEthernetaswinnerinLANgoestoMANapplicationatleast.WitharobustPhotonicLayer,EthernetcanmatchtherequirementoftheapplicationofatleasthundredsKMs.ItcouldbegoodenoughforthousandKMsinthefuture.Connect-lessEthernetwasIP’sbuddyfromlongtimeago.IPoffersself-autonomousfeatureforthewirednetwork.DriversWirelessaccessForend-clients,wirelineconnectionwillneedtobemanaged.Wirelessaccessremovethelastbarrier.Customerscanwalkin,register,pay,andhavetheservice.Thatbringsthequestionofthewirelesssecurity.DriversWirelessSecurityWirelesssecurity,unfortunately,isjustaworsedisasternow.MD-5,SHA-0havejustbeenbrokentotally.*Thisbugmaypostponetherevolution,butwon’tstoptherevolution.Formostfamilyapplications,e.g.VOD,surfinginternet,securityisnotthatimportant.*Prof.WangXiaoyunpublishedherpaperonAugust17,2004HowitmattersHowitmattersItmattersbecauseDevicevendorswillhavetoshiftbusinessmode.Operatorshavetoshiftbusinessmodetoo!Newoperatorswillcome.Devicevendorsneedtotakecareofthem.Don’tbuildlargeboxwhichcoverseverything.Removethefeatureswhichisnotneededforthenewnetwork.HowitmattersGood,but…Good,good,SoundsInteresting.But,howdoesthatmatterourownbusinesses?