T-Mobile s will use gateways from RAD Data Communications to support the latest generation of mobile HSDPA data services. A pilot phase in Germany has concluded with successful tests and as a result an expanded deployment based on RAD’s ACE-3000 gateways is now in full swing.
RAD said its gateways give T-Mobile the added option of connecting HSDPA-enabled NodeBs (3G base stations) via low-cost ADSL2+ lines and drawing on the services of its sister company T-Com. Equipment from RAD is also to be used in other T-Mobile networks later on.
For UMTS and HSDPA backhaul, however, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) has singled out ATM as the standard technology for the time being. To enable ATM services (E1 UNI or STM-1 UNI) to be emulated over packet-switched services (Ethernet/MPLS/IP), gateways in the ACE-3000 series employs ATM PWE3 (pseudowire emulation edge-to-edge). The RAD gateways use pseudowire technology between NodeBs (i.e. HSDPA base stations) and RNCs (Radio Network Controllers) to emulate ATM tunnels through Ethernet networks.
“HSDPA needs more bandwidth. So T-Mobile wanted an economical solution to expand what are known as the ‘mobile backhaul’ links between base stations and radio network controllers (RNCs),” says Adolf Nadrowski, VP RAN Strategy at T-Mobile Germany. “It made sense to do without expensive E1 leased lines and, instead, access a very well-developed DSLAM infrastructure and T-Com’s transport networks and buy DSL backhaul as a service.”
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