There have been many advances in CPU performance in the last few years, following the inexorable progress of Moore’s Law, with the result that many applications that used to require specialist hardware can now be performed in software. But what’s possible isn’t necessarily correct. There are cases in which it makes sense to adopt a hybrid approach to application performance, leveraging the best of software and hardware to ensure delivery of optimum performance.

One example of this is packet processing for applications that must determine the integrity of packets that are traversing the network. Such applications require that every packet must be inspected, resulting in a deluge of packets for processing. Here, rather than flooding the CPU with a huge volume of data, it is preferable to perform pre-processing and filtering on hardware before routing appropriate packets to the CPU for inspection.

If instead of simply pumping data to a CPU at what might be highly variable rates, the hardware can be used to intelligently filter packets, more efficient and scalable solutions can be built and deployed. Specialized packet interface and processing cards can perform Layer 2, 3 and 4 filtering and classification; ensure load-balancing of flows to multiple processing engines to avoid system overload and to accommodate peaks and troughs of traffic; and perform pre-filtering on other layers within IP packets.

This hybrid approach leverages the best of both worlds to reduce costs and increase system performance and scale. On its own, software can achieve much, but there will continue to be a case for supplementing software capabilities with specialized hardware that can support the complex applications required to protect today’s networks. Why not find out how Telesoft’s hardware expertise can boost the performance of your packet processing solutions?

Learn more about our high-performance packet processing solutions or get in touch with our experts to see how we can help? Or, come and see us at booth 4354 at CTIA Wireless!

Packet loss is a common problem of data transmission in IP networks. Sometimes, packets of data fail to reach the required destination. Whatever the cause – and there are many – if packets don’t arrive at their destination, then problems can result. For some applications, this doesn’t matter too much, provided the rate of packet loss doesn’t exceed a certain threshold. But other, more critical applications, depend on the receipt of all transmitted packets in order to function correctly.

 This doesn’t just apply to end-to-end applications, such as conversational voice or video conferencing, but can also affect those applications that are designed to monitor the performance of the network. The impact of packet loss on such systems is also variable. For example, solutions that are deployed to gather network analytic data may not need to gather all packets that are transmitted. It can be sufficient to sample packets and to extrapolate from averages or samples in terms of packet use and demand.

 However, applications that are designed to protect the network from invasive attack must be able to reliably collect all packets transmitted in order not to miss those that might reveal signs of attack or performance degradation. Worse, some forms of network incursion may effect a rapid escalation of packet loss, so the early signs of such attacks need to be caught before real harm results.

 That’s why its essential to ensure that the solutions that protect our networks from harm are able to effectively capture all packets, with zero loss – and to ensure the resulting data can be screened by the intelligent applications that are designed to ensure optimal and secure network performance.

 It’s possible to develop such solutions using off-the-shelf network interface cards and high-performance CPU hosts. But as network transmission rates increase from 1Gb/s to 10Gb/s and beyond, it’s difficult for such solutions to deliver the performance guarantees required to ensure network protection. The cost of deploying such systems also escalates dramatically, both in terms of CAPEX and OPEX through power consumption and real-estate demands. And, such investments may be at risk through performance degradation.

 What’s needed are specialized solutions that enable network security applications to collect all required packets in real-time and at wire-speed without placing additional demands on CPU performance. By sharing the filtering and processing demands between specialized line interface cards and the CPU, overall system CAPEX can be reduced. Moreover, such solutions can also be deployed in small-footprint chassis units with lower power demands, reducing OPEX and providing the scale required to enable network-wide security solutions.

 There are a number of applications that have strict requirements in terms of packet loss, those associated with the emerging field of cyber security among them. By deploying hybrid solutions consisting of high-performance packet-processing interface cards and CPU hosts, not only will you not lose a packet, you won’t spend one either.

Why not find out more about our high-performance packet processing solutions or get in touch with our experts to see how we can help? Or, come and see us at booth 4354 at CTIA Wireless!

Telesoft Technologies is pleased to announce our involvement in the CTIA Wireless event in New Orleans from May 8^th – May 10^th where we will be demonstrating our industry-leading range of 10, 40 and 100Gb capture cards.

CTIA Wireless is the main event for the global wireless marketplace, attracting more than 40,000 attendees every year with top-level speakers from across the industry. It’s a valuable opportunity for Telesoft to meet with our partners, discuss their requirements and demonstrate our latest technology developments.

This year, Telesoft will be exhibiting at booth 4354 in the Emerging Technologies zone where we will be showcasing the very latest developments in high performance packet capture technology.

Intelligent 10, 40 and 100Gb capture cards for monitoring and analysis 

Designed for high-speed packet capture, analysis and reporting, our high-performance platforms enable 100% accurate packet capture at all line-rates up to and including 100Gb/s.

Our latest hardware platforms use hardware acceleration to deliver zero packet loss and “apply on the fly” real-time configurable filters to ensure that DPI applications can effortlessly connect to 1, 10, 40 and 100Gb networks in scalable, compact platforms.

Contact us today to book a meeting with one of our consultants. We can discuss your needs and apply our expertise to solving your network challenges.

MWC this year was crowded. Judging by the activity in and around the event, those attending had an excellent experience. We certainly did!

It’s always good to reflect on what’s new at MWC and, for the benefit of our readers, we thought we would share some of our own observations.

1. Network monitoring is something that’s fundamental. Full stop. You need to be able to monitor your network in real-time and at wire-speeds. It enables a wide range of applications, but without the basic capability to see what’s happening on your network, you can’t be sure it’s working properly.
2. So much flows from network monitoring that it’s worth expanding on this. One of the major themes of MWC was the delivery of a rich customer experience and the emerging topic of CEM (customer experience management). If you can’t see what’s happening on your network, you can’t deliver CEM. To manage your customers more effectively, you need to be able to perform packet processing at Gb/s rates, which requires specialist hardware.
3. Customers are demanding better and more predictable performance. They are using increasingly demanding applications on their mobile devices. MNOs need to be able to think about delivering Quality of Service to meet these expectations. But QoS demands the ability to process packets and determine if there are any issues or problems  - and that means monitoring your network.
4. MNOs want to exploit an over-arching framework to manage and co-ordinate customer experience. Policy control is the answer to this and it’s big. But network policies need the equipment that can implement them, which takes us back to monitoring and packet processing.
5. Finally, network visualisation and self-discovery is a topic we think is going to develop in the coming months. The ability to create pictures of data routing, data sources and performance will supplement the need to monitor network traffic and help ensure complex MVNO and roaming agreements are consistently and fairly applied. With the dramatic growth in data demand, this is sure to be an interesting area.

So that’s it for another year. Network monitoring is going to be huge, although that might not be apparent when discussing high-level applications. But these applications depend on certain key capabilities and monitoring is fundamental to this process.

We’ll be reporting on new developments and themes in our regular news, but for those who attended MWC, we hope you are able to capitalize on the experience.

If you didn’t attend, or if you want to chat about any of the themes we have identified, why not give us a call? We would be happy to share our expert perspective and show you how you can meet the challenges ahead!

GTP is used to convey IP data traffic to and from mobile subscribers. While it’s been around for some time, as we move towards all IP-based LTE networks, the importance of GTP will continue to grow. Users don’t know it’s there, but they do know when a data session doesn’t work or is slow.

If GTP data isn’t transmitted in a timely and efficient manner, users notice – and start to complain to their service provider. This costs money – impacting margins and reducing profit. What’s worse, it’s a significant contributor to churn. As user demands grow, the importance of a consistent, reliable user experience is likely to grow too, with the result that operators have to protect their network to ensure that users obtain the service they expect.

This means that they need to closely monitor GTP flows to ensure smooth operation. But this is challenging as, each month, there is more and more data being conveyed across the network. In order to keep pace with this demand, operators need to deploy specialist hardware platforms that can intercept, filter and monitor GTP data in real-time, ensuring that the next flows smoothly and that potential issues are identified at an early stage so that problems can be avoided or minimised before they cascade through the network.

Hardware acceleration tools that can process data at line rates of more than 10Gb/s are required to ensure that GTP data is correctly processed and delivered at the required rate. Operators need to sort GTP streams and identify the correct session data, charging data and so on, to ensure that customers are billed correctly and that they obtain the data experience to which they are entitled. Simply keeping pace with this isn’t enough. Operators have to proactively manage the network, which means actively verifying that it is functioning as expected. If they don’t, customers will be the first to notice and they will be quick to swamp the complaints department.

If you would like to find out more about how we can help filter and stream mobile data for a range of applications, why not get in touch? Telesoft Technologies is a Gold sponsor of the forthcoming “Future of Cyber Security” event, to be held in London at Canary Wharf on the 19^th of March – If you would like to book a meeting with Telesoft during the conference or learn more about how we can help, please call Callum Rasmussen on +44 1258 486518.

Telesoft Technologies is a Gold sponsor of the forthcoming “Future of Cyber Security” event, to be held in London at Canary Wharf on the 19^th of March.

Product expert Steve Patton will be delivering a seminar on “A hybrid hardware/software approach to cyber security”. As transmission rates on networks accelerate from 10G, through 40G to 100Gb/s, software only implementations of DPI cannot process the packet throughput, and will miss vital signatures or identities.

Telesoft Technologies will discuss a hybrid approach, designed to ensure that no information is lost. By using a combination of intelligent hardware pre-filtering and “back in time” analysis on high speed interfaces it is possible to rapidly identify flows of specific interest, ensuring that later stages of host analysis only see packets of interest.

The Future of Cyber Security 2012 conference brings over 400 senior decision-makers face to face with leading cyber security specialists.

Designed exclusively for central and local government organisations, NGOs and major private sector enterprises, the event provides conference delegates with a unique opportunity to interact with thought leaders in the field.

Conference sessions and seminars will give senior IT, information and security officers unrivalled insight into the cyber threats of today and the potential threats of tomorrow.

To register for this important event, simply follow this link. If you would like to book a meeting with Telesoft during the conference or learn more about how we can help, please call Callum Rasmussen on +44 1258 486518.

Data analytics has captured considerable attention lately. Mobile network operators are looking for ways to increase monetization of their networks. While an obvious way is to try to increase the amount of money spent by individual customers, it’s not enough simply to launch more and more services in the hope that they will be consumed. MNOs need to be more creative than that. They need to understand what the customer really wants and to provide offers that reflect these interests.

It’s now believed that this can be achieved through personalization. MNOs want to ensure that customers have access to a portfolio of services that are targeted towards their needs, preferences and activity patterns. But it’s quite a challenge to achieve these levels of personalisation at the scale demanded by mobile networks today. What’s more, they need to consider personalization as an on-going process – they need to learn from customer behaviour in order to ensure that offers reflect evolving needs and demands.

That’s where data analytics comes into play. MNOs need to be able to determine how user activity can be reflected in the services they offer. They need to be able to review habits, context, the times at which they access services and so on – and do so dynamically. It’s just like a supermarket loyalty card, which results in targeted offers based on your shopping history, or the way in Amazon presents products for you to consider based on browsing and purchasing habits.

In order to achieve this, MNOs need to be able to review the enormous quantities of data that traverse their network, in real-time. This requires the deployment of powerful processing engines that can interpret and filter relevant information from noise. Today’s DPI solutions need to be upgraded to meet this demand and to ensure that MNOs have the tools they need to be able to develop personalised service offers. The best way to achieve this cost-effectively is to take advantages in advances in hardware technology, so that the massive task of pre-processing relevant data can be handled without overloading host CPUs.

Such hardware technology can connect directly to optical transport at 10, 40 or even 100 Gb/s transmission rates. It performs filtering and processing of data to ensure that the policy engines are able to respond in real-time and to dynamically build personalized plans, learning from user behaviour and preferences.

Data analytics is going to be fundamental to the way in which MNOs launch and target services, ensuring that they develop ever-closer relationships with their customers. If they want to ensure their service packages are truly personalized, they must deploy the right tools to make sense of the relevant data, dynamically and in real-time.

Our product and technical experts are attending Mobile World Congress this year. They will be available to solve your network problems with in-depth, on-the-spot discussions.

• Find out why hardware acceleration is a must for packet processing applications, including DPI.

• Learn why network Policy engines depend on DPI for QoS delivery.

• Discover why true high-performance media processing needs scalable, reliable hardware – and why software is not the only answer.

• See STM1 to 40Gb/s high-speed media and packet processing cards in convenient PCIe form factors

• Discuss high-density media, IVR and signaling solutions for deployment in NGN / IN networks

Why not arrange a meeting with our consultants so we can discuss your needs and apply our expertise to solving your network challenges? Simply pre-book a meeting or call Callum Rasmussen on +44 1258 486518 to arrange a meeting.

Quality of Service (QoS) used to be a simple matter. In today’s IP-enabled world with a profusion of applications and vastly differing bandwidth requirements, it’s become a lot more complicated.

This makes life difficult for network operators – and the fact that demand is surging complicates matters further. Network operators are faced with the twin challenge of both massively increased demand and increasing application requirements. Delivering QoS to all users fairly and equally is tough.

Until recently, they have relied upon packet inspection solutions based on CPU power to ensure that problems can be identified and resolved. But keeping pace with demand makes this increasingly expensive. With core packet transport moving to 10Gb/s, 40Gb/s and beyond, the load on CPU-based systems will grow. This will dramatically increase the cost of such systems, increasing both CAPEX and OPEX and reducing profitability.

A better approach is to offload the pre-processing task to dedicated hardware resources. This reduces the load on the CPU and ensures that the system can scale effectively to cope with increased bandwidth in the future. There can be significant cost benefits – we estimate by as much as 50% at transmission rates of 40Gb/s. What’s more, the adoption of hardware acceleration solutions can ensure the QoS delivery across an entire network.

This is essential, as QoS is the key to customer satisfaction. If customers can’t access the services they want, or if they don’t perform as expected, they will migrate to networks that offer better performance. QoS is going to become a differentiator for network operators and increasingly selective users will search for solutions that deliver what they need.

A recent article has highlighted some of the problems that Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) face when attempting to manage traffic in their network.

Traffic management is needed for a variety of reasons. First, quality of service needs to be maintained – both for the network overall and for individual customers. Secondly, with MNOs increasingly offering packages that set limits to data consumption, they need to be able to monitor usage of individual users to ensure that they do not exceed a given quota or that they are billed appropriately if they do so.

Thirdly, there may be restrictions on the use of certain applications, because the MNO or regulator has a specific policy or because there is a legal reason preventing access. Fourthly, there may be specific policies that need to be enforced – for example, if users pay for a high-performance service, the MNO must be able to deliver the required level of performance to the subscribers. And, fifthly, users need fair access to bandwidth – those that over-consume may be subject to temporary restrictions, ensuring that bandwidth is available for other users. We could go on, but it’s clear that traffic management is absolutely critical to the smooth operation and performance of the network.

And that’s why MNOs need the tools to ensure that they can review traffic and manage network demands in real-time. Deep packet inspection technology is critical to this. And with transmission rates increasing all the time, it’s a struggle to keep up. MNOs need DPI solutions that can scale effectively and cope with continually increasing traffic flows.

The volume of data and the rate at which it is transmitted just keep on growing. Traditional DPI equipment will be overwhelmed by this flow of data, as it relies in CPU-based technology for processing the data. A better solution is to perform the pre-processing at the level of hardware, ensuring that only packets of interest are sent to the control application. This means that the pressure on CPUs is alleviated, ensuring the DPI application can perform as expected.

After all, DPI is now fundamental to ensure network performance, to meet customer expectations and to ensure fair access to data for all. Quite simply, without DPI, MNOs would be unable to manage their networks.