The world is moving to IP. Everywhere. In our networks, in our homes, and in our day-to-day lives. This means everything we do is impacted somehow by IP and the Internet. As networks migrate away from Time Division Multiplexed (TDM) based networks to all IP packetized infrastructure, a world of opportunity opens up for the service provider.

When moving to IP, everything becomes packetized. When the network becomes packetized, we can send more and more intelligence through the network. Intelligence means more control over our network resources, and the very services they provide. There needs to be more than just IP for this intelligence to manifest itself and Diameter is the source of that intelligence.

Diameter is the replacement for SS7. Remember that SS7 brought intelligence into the digitized world of telephone networks and enabled revenue generating services like Free Phone (800 services in the US) and made CDMA/GSM networks possible. It is SS7, after all, that allows mobile switches to track subscribers as they roam from network to network, share their capabilities with other networks, and deliver text messaging to their devices.

But SS7 is limited to supporting TDM networks. When the network migrates to IP, a new signaling protocol is necessary to support packet services. Diameter provides much of what SS7 provides today and much more. It is Diameter that ties new Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) platforms together forming a cohesive, transparent policy function network wide. This allows service providers to manage the amount of bandwidth individual subscribers are allowed to consume based on their service plan, time of day, network conditions, and even device type and application type.

This is much more than SS7 could ever deliver, but there are more advantages than just this. Diameter is also used to migrate the charging network to packet. This means the entire network can be migrated to IP, and Diameter can be used as the signaling protocol in all domains. Migrating the charging network to IP and Diameter allows service providers to eliminate costly TDM facilities for billing domains, and brings a much more flexible signaling protocol into the network.

It is flexible because the Diameter protocol is designed to allow extensions to the protocol. The IETF has defined the base function for Diameter that is mandatory for all network elements to conform to, to enable interoperability. But 3GPP has expanded the definition of the Diameter protocol to include applications network-wide.

This means vendors can also develop their own extensions to further enhance the Diameter protocol and the interactions between their products without jeopardizing interoperability with other devices. This is why Diameter is growing in popularity, and this is why it is smart to deploy Diameter now and add to the network as you grow.

Don’t wait for LTE or IMS. Implement Diameter in your network now to support your 3G services. This is smart because when you do implement LTE, you will either have to begin interconnecting Diameter elements within the network or you will have to use mediation devices to interconnect these elements, and then later phase out the mediation devices. It makes more sense to utilize the Diameter interfaces in your network today, and grow as your network grows.

This also means you can take advantage of functions such as Policy and packetizing the charging domains. All that is required is an IP backbone, and a Diameter Signaling Router (DSR). The DSR acts as a Diameter Routing Agent in your network, providing security, congestion controls, and load balancing. Check out our white paper, The Time for Diameter is Now, for more details on how you can begin reaping the benefits of Diameter today, and the role of the DSR in your network.

Today Tekelec announced that it was named as the “front runner” in the emerging Diameter signaling control market according to Infonetics Research’s first report on the space. Tekelec achieved this position with key customer wins in North America, and the report states that, “Tekelec will continue to be a formidable competitor” because of incumbency among large operators.

Infonetics Research published its findings in the new report “Diameter Signaling Control: Annual Worldwide and Regional Market Size and Forecasts.” The firm forecasts a 106% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for the Diameter signaling market through 2016, with North America generating the most revenue of any region each year of the forecast period.

The full announcement can be found here.

CTO Doug Suriano discusses how mobile data will spur innovations in 2012 – especially in terms of pricing models – in an article for RCR Wireless. He predicts that this year will see advancements in personalized plans and cloud services, as well as a major rise in signaling traffic.

According to Suriano:

As mobile data matures in developed markets, we expect several significant evolutions in 2012. The biggest for subscribers will be pricing plan innovations, providing new personalized service and cost options. In addition, we forecast rapid cloud service adoption, new content business models and new device segmentation.

The full article can be found here.

The ultimate reference guide for telecom professionals in next-gen Diameter signaling is now available on your iPhone with Tekelec’s exclusive LTE/EPC Diameter protocol reference guide. You can learn about relevant LTE/EPC Diameter procedures, browse AVP information and view detailed Diameter interface description all from one App.

To download, click here.

The phenomenal success of the iPhone quickly introduced the mobile industry to a new problem: Smartphones generate a significantly higher volume of signaling traffic, which adds to network congestion and connectivity issues. The industry is working hard on multiple ways of addressing the signaling issue, including changes in smartphones themselves.

Join Tekelec for a webinar on Wednesday, Nov. 9. This webinar will explain what challenges remain and what service providers need to be doing about them. Click here to register.

Tier-1 operators are concerned about the impact of Diameter signaling traffic on their IP-enabled networks – with good reason. Data applications are multiplying like bunnies, driving a surge in signaling traffic. As the volume builds, operators face the real possibility of watching their network performance and service quality deteriorate.

Verizon Wireless, one of the most aggressive adopters of LTE, has read the writing on the network wall: edge-based approaches won’t cut it when it comes to scaling their Diameter traffic. The company has opted for a centralized approach to managing its Diameter traffic with the deployment of Tekelec’s Diameter Signaling Router (DSR), delivered on its EAGLE® XG platform. On the 4G side of the network, the DSR will provide load balancing, charging proxy and support for inter-carrier roaming between LTE networks; on the 3G side, load balancing and charging proxy functions.

Current Analysis recently summed it up: “The transaction arguably establishes Tekelec as the overseer of the highest-profile deployment in the very young Diameter signaling controller market.”

Download the free report here.

Diameter traffic is rising. How can operators manage this growing mesh? Director of Product Management Jason Emery in his latest “Reality Check” column for RCR Wireless examines how to manage the Diameter network.

Excerpt:

The rise of Diameter traffic is analogous to the early days of SS7 traffic growth. In the 90s, service providers began struggling with an exponentially growing mesh of SS7 connections as they added more equipment to support subscriber growth. The solution was to standardize around a core routing function called the signal transfer point to create a reliable, scalable SS7 network.

The result was an architecture that lowered operating costs, supported multiple interfaces and industry standards and provided flexible configurations. This permitted service providers to cost-effectively grow their networks and work with one another on essential capabilities such as subscriber roaming and the delivery of revenue-generating services.

Read the entire article here.

Next week Tekelec will be sponsoring and speaking at 4G World in Chicago, Ill.

Randy Fuller, director of strategic marketing, will speak as a panelist at the “Role of Network Services in Delivering Differentiated Services” session during the “Service Enabling Strategies For 4G” track. Mr. Fuller will focus on policy management and enforcement, real-time charging and network intelligence that will enable service providers to profit from 4G services. The panel will be held on October 25 at 3:40 p.m. CT.

The next day at 2:30 p.m. CT, Matt McCann, principal architect, CTO Office, will discuss how to cost effectively scale and secure Diameter traffic in 4G networks. Mr. McCann will speak on key Diameter interfaces and policy, charging and mobility management. Discussion topics include several Diameter routing use cases:

• Policy, charging, roaming and home subscriber server (HSS) access networks
• Connection and transaction scalability
• Screening and topology hiding
• Stateful and stateless routing
• Network monitoring and intelligence

To view more information, check our press release.

This article originally appeared in Telecom Engine.

While their predictions may vary, virtually every industry analyst foresees staggering growth in mobile data in the next five to ten years. ABI Research expects a 39% compound annual growth rate from 2011 to 2016 in mobile data traffic. Looking out to the year 2020, Jeffries forecasts a 100x ramp in mobile data, and, the firm admits, that’s likely a conservative estimate. Faced with this looming data deluge, operators are turning to all-IP networks like IMS and LTE, which rely heavily on Diameter protocol, to move and monetize their data traffic.

Diameter’s Network Role

Diameter handles critical functions within the control and service planes of 3G and 4G IP networks. It provides the AAA framework to give subscribers permission to access services and enable operators to bill customers based on filters like usage and time of day. It’s essential for mobility management, enabling subscribers to roam freely in partner networks. And, it’s the language network elements like PCRFs, GGSNs, charging systems, subscriber databases, and application servers use to communicate with each other.

Diameter Drawbacks

But, there’s a hitch many operators haven’t considered as they deploy their all-IP IMS and LTE networks. As the data traffic swells, so will Diameter signaling activity. With most current networks solutions, each Diameter-based element communicates with every other component through direct signaling links, creating a spider web of connections. Each Diameter node must handle all session-related tasks such as routing, traffic management, redundancy, and service implementation. In the near term, deploying an IMS or LTE network without a signaling core may be adequate. However, as traffic levels swell, the lack of a capable signaling infrastructure creates problems related to scalability, congestion control, network interconnect, subscriber to HSS mapping, and PCRF binding. The situation is very similar to what operators encountered with early SS7 deployments and ultimately resolved by creating centralized, hierarchical routing network.

Creating a Signaling Layer in IP Networks

The Diameter protocol defines a new network node – the Diameter agent – which operators can leverage to create a Diameter signaling layer in IP networks. The DA performs essential network tasks like relay, proxy, redirect, and translation. Centralizing these functions in the network core eliminates the Diameter mesh, a consequence of having point-to-point signaling connections. Endpoints like MMEs, HSSs and CSCFs are relieved of routing, traffic management and load balancing tasks, which improves signaling performance and network scalability. From its vantage point in the network core, the DA provides a centralized location for Diameter mediation as well as a gateway to other networks to support roaming, security and topology hiding. And, the benefits don’t stop there. The DA can be employed to address a variety of use cases specific to IMS and LTE networks.

Centralized Routing

As the demands on LTE networks grow, operators often deploy additional MMEs and HSS front ends to support increasing loads. But, if there’s no separate Diameter signaling core, adding new elements creates its own challenge. Since Diameter uses SCTP or TCP for transport, each network resource in the EPC must have a direct SCTP or TCP connection to every element with which it communicates. The end result is a logical mesh network.  As a result, the addition of a new node requires network, configuration and routing updates at each and every network element, a costly and time consuming process.

Acting as a Diameter relay, the DA reduces the number of SCTP or TCP associations in the network. When new elements are added, they are connected to a mated pair of DAs – not to every other resource in the network. The task of maintaining routing tables and status updates is simplified, since changes are required only at the DA rather than at every endpoint. The centralized DA proxies information for decentralized elements like MMEs and HSSs. Then end result: a less complex, more scalable network with lower OPEX.

PCRF Binding

When multiple PCRFs are deployed in a network, there has to be a mechanism to balance the assignment of user sessions across them and make sure that all messages associated with a particular user’s session are handled by the same PCRF. That’s no simple task since messages can arrive on different interfaces like the Gx and Rx and may be identified by different elements such as an IMSI or IP address.

A Diameter agent deployed at the network core can provide static binding or dynamic load sharing across PCRFs when a user’s session is first established. The DA ensures that subsequent messages for that subscriber over the Gx, S9, Gxx, or Rx reference points are sent to the same PCRF. That functionality can be extended across multiple DAs in the network, which communicate with each other to act like a single, logical DRA.

HSS Address Resolution

With multiple HSSs in an LTE network, subscribers can be homed on different platforms.  Operators, therefore, need a way to maintain the association of subscribers to HSSs. The DA centralizes routing data and provides the mapping between a subscriber identity such as an IMS public ID or IMSI and an HSS. With that flexibility, operators can map individual subscriber numbers to a particular HSS, easily move subscribers from one HSS to another, or even split subscriber number ranges across different HSSs. Since routing data is centralized, HSS provisioning is much easier, and updates can be performed dynamically as new HSSs are placed in service

Conclusion

Operators are turning to all-IP networks like IMS and LTE to provide the bandwidth to support swelling data loads. However, if those networks are deployed without a separate Diameter signaling core, a host of challenges related to scalability, security, mobility management, and routing will arise as traffic loads escalate. Providers can overcome these challenges by leveraging the Diameter agent’s proxy, redirect, relay, and translation capabilities. Consolidating these functions at a DA in the network core creates a Diameter signaling layer that relieves endpoints of routing, traffic management and load balancing responsibilities. The resulting architecture provides the flexibility and scalability to support even the most data-intensive devices and applications.