The 1000x Challenge
Higher efficiency - It's not just about adding resources...
The challenge of the magnitude of 1000x needs new resources, such as more spectrum and more small cells. But, equally important is squeezing out more out of these resources, and increasing the efficiency across the system. Small cell interference management is one such key 1000x enabler.
The increase in overall efficiency can be achieved on three fronts:
- Improving the efficiency of the apps and services through better compression, caching, and more
- Increasing efficiency of the data pipe through 3G/4G/Wi-Fi Evolution, etc
- Making the data pipe smarter, such as, selecting the most optimal radio link, based on the type of data and apps it is carrying.
In essence, these optimizations ensure that each of the individual components operate at their peak performance, as well as work seamlessly and intelligently with the other components. In such a way that maximizes the overall performance and provides an outstanding user experience.
More Efficient Apps and Services
More Efficient Apps and Services
There are multiple efforts across the industry to optimize and improve the efficiency of apps and services. These optimizations are possible at multiple levels, at higher layers or at lower radio link layer. Some examples of higher-level optimization are newer video codecs such as H.265 that use 40% less resources, Qualcomm’s SHUTR which offers uplink compression of HTTP traffic (browsing apps), and new approaches such as DASH—Dynamic Adoptive Streaming over HTTP that adopt the video quality to changing network conditions.
In the future, LTE and HSPA+ will support standards based compression of HTTP traffic at lower levels (radio link layer). This will further improve the overall uplink throughput by 30-40% and reduce signaling by ~70%.
More Efficient Data Pipe – Evolve 3G/4G/Wi-Fi
More Efficient Data Pipe – Evolve 3G/4G/Wi-Fi
Thanks to the strong evolution path, 3G/4G/Wi-Fi technologies are getting increasingly efficient, providing higher data rates and increased user experience. For example, 802.11ac, the next generation of Wi-Fi provides 3x higher capacity per stream.
The efficiency can also be improved by using technologies that are most optimal for certain types of traffic or apps. For example, LTE Broadcast for mass media content. It increases the overall efficiency even for only a few user per cell consuming the same content. The dynamic switching between unicast and broadcast modes makes LTE Broadcast even more practical and attractive.
Another challenge industry is facing is the excessive signaling traffic generated by smartphones. There are enhancements in place to address it. The future enhancements (e.g. HSPA+ Adv.) will bring up to 10x more capacity for chatty applications. Additionally, Qualcomm packs features in its chipsets, as part of Connectivity Engine (CnE), that gate and aggregate the background traffic, reducing signaling traffic by up to 30%.
Smart Pipe – Higher efficiency and bringing more value from networks
Smart Pipe – Higher efficiency and bringing more value from networks
Smart pipe is not only about increasing the efficiency of the overall system but also exploiting the inherent capabilities of the system to bring out more value from operator’s assets. One such example is Quality of Service (QoS) features currently being used for VoLTE. These features can also be used to offer differentiated services that enable new revenue opportunities.
The seamless interworking between 3G/4G and Wi-Fi is another enhancement that makes the data pipe smarter. This interworking/integration is multidimensional and complex. Standards offer many optimizations. In addition, Qualcomm packs many more enhancements, as part of its Connectivity Engine (CnE), which makes the selection between 3G/4G and Wi-Fi links much more intelligent. CnE estimates real-time link quality and decides the most optimal link to be used, taking the end-to-end performance as well as operators policies in to consideration. CnE also has the ability to aggregate background traffic on smartphones reducing signaling by up to 30%.
LTE Direct is a direct device-to-device technology for proximal communication. It offers fast discovery, low battery consumption and long range for peer-to-peer apps.