NSN Ups Mobile Internet Traffic Offload

Nokia Siemens Networks unveiled an upgrade to its core mobile network technology that allows operators to offload Internet traffic at an optimal point in the network -- typically close to an Internet peering point -- in order to minimize the distance it is transmitted. This saves transport and traffic processing costs.


Traffic offload can be deployed across Nokia Siemens Networks' Flexi Network Gateway (NG) and as a software upgrade to the Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN). The Flexi NG and SGSN are key elements of Nokia Siemens Networks' evolved packet core (EPC). Traffic offload can be deployed in both distributed and centralized gateways in 2G, 3G or LTE networks. The first phase of traffic offload is already available.


As offloading takes place in the Flexi NG mobile gateway, it does not require additional network elements along the signalling and data paths. NSN said that where an operator has distributed Internet peering points, its Flexi NG can be deployed as a distributed gateway at each of these points to reduce transport network costs, while the SGSN intelligently selects which of the distributed mobile gateways is closest to the subscriber.


"Operators typically need to deploy relatively costly servers to process mobile data traffic, said Matti Palomaki, head of Packet Core product management at Nokia Siemens Networks."Our new approach allows a high volume of Internet traffic, or any operator-specified traffic, to bypass these processing servers and legacy packet core gateway nodes (GGSNs). In the era of smartphone-induced data growth, such"offloading" of traffic can deliver significant savings in next-generation HSPA and LTE networks."http://www.nsn.com