consulting, business planning and market analysis on wireless data technologies
 

New downloads

Building future-proof fixed and mobile WiMAX core networks.
February 2008. White paper prepared for WiChorus

Meeting the challenges of high-capacity indoor and outdoor coverage.
November 2007. White paper prepared for DesignArt Networks with results from a survey of leading WiMAX operators

Indoor, high-capacity coverage with WiMAX.
December 2007. Presentation delivered at the Wireless Broadband Forum in Cambridge (UK)

Conference Presentations

WiMAX Forum Congress Asia 2008
Singapore, April 9-10, 2008

Presentation: WiMAX vertical Applications. April 10, 2008

Panel: CPE & Device Strategy for Emerging Markets. April 10, 2008

WiMAX Forum Congress Europe 2008
Amsterdam, June 17-18, 2008

Presentation: Analyst Breakfast Briefing. June 18, 2008

Panel: What is the best way to leverage the 700MHz spectrum in the USA and in India? Who will be the winners and losers from spectrum allocation in each market? June 18, 2008

Senza Fili Newsletter

February 2008 Issue

By Monica Paolini, Senza Fili Consulting

The ASN gateway is a key element in the WiMAX core network for efficiently managing network traffic and supporting basic and advanced services. Mobile WiMAX operators need an ASN gateway to support seamless handovers, roaming and location tracking.

Fixed operators may benefit from the ASN gateway as well:

  • It allows them to manage their over-the-air traffic more efficiently, thus squeezing more capacity out of the same amount of spectrum.
  • The ASN gateway brings full interoperability to the core network, making it possible to have base stations (macrocells, microcell, picocells and femtocells) from different vendors within the same network.
  • It lets them take full advantage of WiMAX's advanced security and traffic management features to support advanced, QoS-based services.
  • They can deploy sophisticated but transparent and easy-to-use subscriber provisioning and billing solutions that help to differentiate the operator from its landline and mobile competitors.

"The ASN gateway is essential to take full advantage of end-to-end interoperability and to support our efforts to launch the advanced services that differentiate our services from those of other operators."

Graham Currier
Business Development Director at Freedom4, UK

Our latest white paper discusses how ASN gateways help both fixed and mobile WiMAX operators using IEEE 802.16e to capitalize on the advanced functionality of the technology. As operators face the challenges of rolling out new services using a new air interface, they need to ensure that their core network fully supports their efforts and does not act as a bottleneck.

What does the ASN gateway do?
Basic Functionality
  • Subscriber authentication and key distribution
  • Service flow authorization
  • Basic accounting (start/stop)
  • Mobility management
  • Management of base station traffic
  • Support for inter-vendor interoperability across base stations
Advanced, optional functionality
  • Content management
  • Service differentiation based on content
  • Load balancing and spectrum optimization
  • Traffic compression and backhaul optimization
  • Peer-to-peer traffic management
  • Security and encryption
  • Advanced accounting and charging models
  • Hot-lining and lawful intercept
  • Seamless handover support

ASN gateway functionality. Source: Senza Fili Consulting,
Building Future-Proof Fixed and Mobile WiMAX Core Networks. February 2008.

Inter-vendor interoperability supported by the ASN gateway within the WiMAX Forum end-to-end network architecture. Source: Senza Fili Consulting, Building Future-Proof Fixed and Mobile WiMAX Core Networks. February 2008.

Source: WiMAX: Ambitions and Reality. Senza Fili Consulting, 2007