Converged Access Network and Triple Play

2010 was a noteworthy year for China's network industry, as the momentum of "Triple Play" rapidly swept across the nation, prompting major operators to successively initiate network optimization, upgrades, or overhauls under this backdrop. As an equipment and solution provider positioned in the access network domain, Raisecom has long been committed to research on access network technologies and products, particularly the evolution of access networks. In fact, convergence is an inevitable outcome of development. Raisecom proposed the concept of the converged access network several years ago, with its core philosophy being convergence—convergence of services, convergence of technologies, convergence of networks, and convergence of management. Therefore, as the era of Triple Play arrives, it is necessary for us to revisit the converged access network, analyzing and validating the demands and changes of access networks in the Triple Play era through the development, evolution, and convergence of access networks. Before discussing the converged access network, let us first examine the current status and issues of traditional access networks.

Throughout years of development, access networks have been constantly changing, but their essence—or rather, their characteristics—have remained unchanged. For instance, the vast number of nodes, the multitude of service types, the extensive coverage requirements, the difficulty of management, and the low maintenance efficiency are all issues that have persisted from the very beginning of access networks. As the saying goes, "what exists is reasonable." Across different periods, backgrounds, demands, and resource conditions, numerous access network technologies have emerged, and many have gained recognition. This is the current state of access networks. Now that the stage of moving from nothing to something has passed, with the restructuring of operators and the opening of full-service operations, competition is intensifying rapidly. User perception and experience have become the focus of attention, and access networks have correspondingly undergone changes.

The evolution of access networks to date can be analyzed from several aspects. First, the change in access media—from copper cable to optical cable. The "fiber-to-the-x, copper-to-the-x" transition has been underway for years, primarily addressing issues of transmission bandwidth, transmission distance, and construction and maintenance costs. This is an inevitable historical trend. The second aspect is the evolution of management—from no management to manageable to precise management. Due to the vast number and variety of access network devices, management has always been a major challenge. At the very beginning of network access, when the focus was on moving from nothing to something, management issues were largely overlooked. Now, however, when improving service quality and reducing operational costs are priorities, management has become a top concern. The third aspect is the evolution of access services. Traditional access networks were designed for a single service, providing one access mode and related equipment. Under the current trend of convergence, a single access mode must accommodate multiple access technologies. Therefore, access networks have begun transitioning from single-service access modes to multi-service converged access modes. The fourth aspect of evolution is access efficiency, or resource utilization—namely, the development from point-to-point to point-to-multipoint. The advancement of PON technology has undoubtedly made tremendous contributions to this evolution. From the above four points, it is evident that access networks are gradually developing toward fiber-optic, point-to-multipoint, manageable, and multi-service models. It is against this backdrop that Raisecom proposed the concept of the converged access network three years ago and defined its core principles.

The core of the converged access network is convergence—seeking unity, change, and development on the basis of inheritance. Let us now examine the four principles of the converged access network:

First, technology convergence. Due to the diverse and ever-changing needs of users, the existing access network encompasses many technologies, which in turn have spawned numerous devices, leading to many problems such as difficult management and maintenance. To resolve these issues, the first priority is technology convergence. This is the core and foundation of the converged access network. Technology convergence primarily addresses how to utilize a single access network platform to enable the application of various technologies, providing users with smoothly evolvable access methods.

Second, network convergence. The core philosophy of network convergence is to use a single network access platform to enable users' multi-service access capabilities, support multiple bearer networks, and evolve toward future bearer networks. The FTTx access model is a representative of network convergence, but not the entirety of it. Network convergence requires a unified access platform for support. The access network serves as the pipeline, and how well the pipeline function is fulfilled is key. PTP and PTMP are different networking modes and are the primary access models of FTTx.

Third, management convergence. This involves breaking the traditional siloed management model and strengthening the formulation and application of management specifications and standards. As a pipeline, the access network must support service-based provisioning, maintenance, scheduling, and management modes. Service interoperability and manageability are essential prerequisites for access network equipment to be deployed in the network.

Fourth, service convergence. Because user demands are diverse and there are many service interfaces—although these are now being reduced—multi-service support capability is indispensable for access networks. How to achieve converged access for multiple services is the ultimate goal of the converged access network. The national strategy of Triple Play is, in essence, the converged access of three typical services.

In addition to these four principles, the converged access network also adheres to one principle: fully utilizing existing resources, rapidly meeting customer needs, delivering premium services, and enhancing customer experience. This is also the goal we, as an access-layer equipment manufacturer, have always pursued.

With the proposal, advancement, discussion, and implementation of Triple Play, everyone has come to understand the national strategic vision and determination regarding Triple Play. At its core, Triple Play is about intensifying competition across the full-service domain, ultimately enabling every operator to provide users with telecommunications, television, and Internet services—or in other words, voice, video, and Internet access. These are currently the services that people care about most and that are closest to the daily lives of the public. If Triple Play were compared to a movie, the government would be the producer and screenwriter, operators the directors and leading actors, and equipment manufacturers—or upstream and downstream vendors—the supporting cast. Ultimately, whether this movie is a box-office hit and a success depends on the audience. No great movie can succeed without its audience; the audience's feelings and evaluations determine its success. In reality, several operators are simultaneously filming this Triple Play blockbuster. Many factors will determine who ultimately wins, but at the root of it all is user experience. Technology is no longer an issue, costs are generally acceptable, and operational and maintenance experience and models need to be explored step by step. Therefore, the key to Triple Play ultimately lies in letting users experience it. Whoever can first let users feel the charm of Triple Play and be willing to pay for it will not be far from achieving success in Triple Play.

Triple Play is a milestone in the national network development strategy, but at the same time, it is also a beginning—the beginning of the nation's networks becoming comprehensive, intelligent, and household-oriented. With the proposal of "Sensing China" and the development of the Internet of Things, it is conceivable that future networks will bring boundless excitement to our lives.

In summary, the current focus of Triple Play is to rapidly let users experience it. Regardless of how the experience is perceived, we can gradually improve upon it. Therefore, the key lies in leveraging existing resources to rapidly deliver Triple Play services that meet user needs—this is precisely the core of the converged access network.

The real problem that the converged access network must solve is to achieve per-user or even per-service pipelining, provide differentiated services, enable rapid provisioning, offer flexible pricing—or customizable and combinable pricing strategies—and provide robust monitoring mechanisms to ensure the quality of the services we deliver. To some extent, this pipeline should not be shared; it must possess a certain degree of independence, security, and scalability. Finally, as for which technology to use to provide users with access, it comes down to one statement: what is suitable is what is best.