Steve Shipley, General Manager APAC, presented at Small Cells Asia 2012 in Taipei. Smart cells are a combination of small cell and compute platform pioneered by a strategic collaboration between Intel and Ubiquisys.
Unblocking The Main Thread Solving ANRs and Frozen Frames
Small Cells Asia 2012 : Ubiquisys Smart Cells
1. Why the Future is Smart Cell Shaped
Steve Shipley
General Manager Asia-Pacific
2. Introduction to Ubiquisys
• A recognised leader in 3G/LTE small cells
– Small Cell software and support systems #1 Indoor Small Cell Vendor
– Small Cell reference designs [FEB 2012 VENDOR MATRIX]
• Proven innovation
– ActiveRadio® Real-time interference mitigation system
– ActiveSON® Self-organising network (SON) of small cells
– Smart Cells with EdgeCloud® technology
• 50 operators launched, contracted or under commercial trial
Including:
• Established supply chain ecosystem
– Operator solution providers:
– CE manufacturers: SerComm, Gemtek, Tecom
– Silicon providers:
2
3. Intelligent Small Cell Systems Portfolio
CloudBase®
lifecycle Build | Activate | Download | Augment | Recover | Re-assign
management
system
EdgeCloud®
Local content Uplink spooling Presence apps
computing
apps platform caching & app proxy & advertising
ActiveSON®
automatic Autonomous coordination to form seamless grid
grid system of capacity and coverage complementary to macro layer
ActiveRadio®
dynamic self-organisation
SideStep® spectrum Continuous adaptive behaviour
optimisation technology
3G/LTE/WiFi
Small cell
devices
4. Introduction to public access small cell hotspots
• Installed in public places: cafes, malls, stores, rail stations, venues etc
• Multi-technology: 3G, WiFi and LTE in one box
• Key characteristics: High quality mobile signal
Small cells provide high-
speed, short-range signal with low
contention
Backhaul is the limiting factor
Limited capacity, heavily loaded with 3G/4G/WiFi
traffic, highly variable performance
6. Enter the Smart Cell
EdgeCloud® PLATFORM EdgeCloud® APPLICATIONS
Intelligent 3G/LTE small cell Cache and content
Hi spec comms-tuned CPU Wireless Policy Mgmt.
Massive storage and RAM “Core” inline processing
Multi-mode WiFi Video adaptation
SMART CELL = SMALL CELL + Hi SPEC SERVER + CLEVER APPS
7. Cache applications
1. Proactive cache
First play from cloud
Next plays
from cache
2. Predictive cache
Timed download during low Content
traffic periods on backhaul from cache
Cuts backhaul traffic Improves user experience
8. Proactive cache in action
2m 50s YouTube video
backhaul
wireless
First play from cloud Next plays from cache
• ~2m to download video • Backhaul eliminated
• Time to play ~11s • Time to play ~3s
40% backhaul savings measured in trials
9. More EdgeCloud® applications for Smart Cells
Inline processing apps Platform apps
• McAfee Global Threat • Cellular-WiFi Policy
Intelligence Management
• URL filtering • Video Ad Server
• Adaptive video shaping • Upload Proxy
Delivers photos/videos to proxy
• Deep Packet Inspection (DPI)
app in smart cell to save time and
extend phone battery life
Core network functions
that protect users.
Running more Running apps closer to
efficiently at the edge mobile users to deliver
of the network. a better experience
10. Future potential of EdgeCloud® technology
Cloud
Mobile Operator
EdgeCloud®
Localised services & content based on policy or use
Notes de l'éditeur
This presentation is about smart cells, a new category of small cells that has a big future. It’s a hybrid device that came out of a 2-year strategic collaboration between Ubi and Intel Corporation – part small cell, part cloud server. In this presentation I’ll introduce you to the anatomy of a smart cell, I’ll run through some of the key applications, and I’ll point to the potential for operators to use them to differentiate and offer new services.And in case you think this is a blue-sky futures presentation, let me assure you it is not. We demonstrated smart cells live at Mobile World Congress just a few weeks ago, we have a product on show in the exhibition, and Intel is running live demos on the device right here at the show.
But first let me introduce Ubiquisys for those who don’t know us:We have commercially deployed small cells in residential, enterprise, indoor hotspot and outdoor rural environmentsLast month we were ranked the #1 indoor small cell vendor by ABI Research, with Alcatel-Lucent and Huawei following in positions 2 and 3. The ranking is the result of a forensic examination of both commercial implementation and technology innovation, using evidence from operators, vendors and ecosystem partners.Part of the Ubi model is that we free leading manufacturers build innovation on our foundation reference designs. Our three key hardware partners are based right here in Taiwan – SerComm, Tecom and Gemtek.
Here is an introduction to the Ubiquisys small cell portfolio, split into technology layers. Key points:It is intelligent, adaptive behaviour that makes the new generation of small cells so compelling – more efficient use of spectrum, better performance for users, reduced interference and low operating costs. All of this happens in higher level SOFTWARE. Small cells are being deployed in huge numbers at the end of commodity backhaul connections. The traditional methods of managing basestations or DSL equipment cannot the combination of resilience, service control and economy required. That’s why CloudBase, the world’s first lifecycle management system for small cells, is so important.
Before we talk about smart cells, let’s be clear about the small cell environment where we see them initially deployed. We’re talking about public access small cells, typically providing data capacity and coverage in indoor public places such as retail premises.It’s important that we are clear about the typical characteristics of these small cell hotspots. They’re multi technology on the wireless front, and the limiting factor on data performance is not the wireless interface but the backhaul, which is typically commodity DSL.These are cells that we have commercially deployed today, an which provide mobile data capacity at an unbeatable price per Megabyte and a fraction of the opex of manually planned cells.
We’ve taken the compelling features of an intelligent small cell and integrated a powerful computing platform….Working with Intel, we developed a powerful computing platform for small cells. The Intel Core or Atom CPUs with hardware accelerators are not providing the baseband function, but are specifically tuned for communications processing activities.We’re talking about a lot of processing power. For example, a typical Core variant can handle around 40Gbps of inline processing, such as video adaptation or virus checking.We’re also talking about a lot of storage at the edge of the network. Typically a 40 or 80 GB SSD.We then integrated this ultra-compact comms-tuned server with our 3G / LTE small cell platform.Our name for all of this technology is EdgeCloud.
The result is the smart cell – a completely new category of small cell.There are two sides to a smart cell – the platform itself and the applicationsPlatform:Intelligent 3G/LTE small cell – completely self-managing with dynamic interference mitigation and SON capabilitiesHi spec comms-tuned processors – with the power to process the comms stream in real-timeMassive storage and RAM – a platform for apps and contentMultimode WiFi – because these are hotspots where cellular and WiFi can be integratedApplicationsCache and content – mitigating limited backhaul, delivering a faster media experience, new commercial opportunities eglocally served adsWireless policy management – the ideal place to host sophisticated WiFi/Cellular integration systemsCore inline processing – the ability to do stuff only previously available in the core network, protecting users with eg virus checkingVideo adaptation – the power to adapt video in real time at the edge of the network.
So let’s have a look at one class of app – cache applications. We’ve worked with Edge Datacoms, a company with a heritage in sophisticated edge content systems.We have here 2 examples, both of which we demonstrated live at MWC.1 Proactive cache.Viral and contextual content are a nightmare for small cells served by commodity backhaul. Every play hogs the backhaul, and the backhaul speed dictates the user experience. In this example, when the first YT clip is played it is also stored in smart cell SSD. All subsequent plays drive right from the smart cell, eliminating backhaul use and delivering a great user experience.2 Predictive cacheIt’s surprisingly easy to predict the heavy content usage at any one location – ISPs and CDNs already maintain such data and software can learn from user behaviour. In this example we periodically downloaded CNN news and the picture ad content from facebook at times when the backhaul was lightly loaded. The subsequent user experience benefitted from most of the data being delivered direct from the cell.The two key benefits here are backhaul traffic reduction and improved user experience.It’s worth noting that the cache here serves and is informed by all wireless interfaces - cellular and WiFi.
Here’s what happens when someone watches a YouTube video from a smart cell and then when a second person watches the same clip – it’s a 2. 50s vid.On the graph, red is the backhaul data and blue is wireless.The first play is characterised by a lot of backhaul activity and a delay before the video is actually available to watch. In addition, any variations in backhaul performance will directly affect the viewing experience – as we have all experienced at one time or another.The second play is completely different. After just a couple of seconds the clip is completely loaded into the phone’s memory, resulting in a high quality and reliable viewing experience with backhaul data almost completely eliminated.Every environment is different, but it is easy to achieve backhaul savings of 40% or more by using these methods.
In this brief presentation there isn’t time to provide details of every application for smart cells, but here are some important examples.Inline processing – doing things to improve user experience and protect users. Previously only possible inside the core network.McAfee Global Threat Intelligence – full virus and threat protection, running much faster at the edge where the mobile users are. Demo’d at MWCURL filtering – for protecting children, or enforcing corporate policies – demo’d at MWCAdaptive video shaping – adapting content served from the smart cell depending on how congested the air interface.Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) – for a whole host of contextual applicationsPlatform apps are where providing massive power and storage at the edge of the network enable a new user experienceCellular-WiFi Policy Management – policy management tools take a lot of processing power. Not a good idea in a phone (battery life) or in the core (too slow, backhaul limited). Smart cell is ideal, and serves 3G/LTE/WiFi from the same box.Video Ad Server – mobilevideo ads are not popular with advertisers, because the quality is unpredictable, and the charging mechanism unhelpful. Serving ads directly from the small cell solves the quality problem and enables operators to work ad-funded free hotspot data deals.Upload Proxy - delivers photos/videos to proxy app in smart cell to save time and extend phone battery life – overcomes the 2 main reasons that folks don’t upload their content in public places – poor performance and battery life.
This is just the start. What smart cells do is bring the cloud closer to mobile users – changing the experience, changing the economics.