Bandwidth Optimization

Prevailing architectural approaches used to build and operate broadband networks—both fixed and mobile—result in two undesirable yet seemingly unavoidable characteristics: (1) high backhaul bandwidth costs, and, (2) non-deterministic performance. Together, these attributes weaken the profitability of broadband services and impair the ability of broadband operators to minimize churn and maximize market share. Anagran Internet traffic management (ITM) solutions directly address the underlying technical weaknesses associated with current broadband architectures while still fitting seamlessly within the current architectural model. The result is a dramatic reduction in bandwidth costs coupled with a substantial improvement in performance, measured in terms of subscriber throughput.

Broadband operators of all types have long struggled to balance service pricing and service determinism or quality. In almost all networks, delivering on the first of these attributes necessitates building networks that ‘oversubscribe’ aggregate user connections. For example, employing a Gigabit Ethernet Internet backhaul connection to deliver a 5Mbps service to 4,000 subscribers; a 20-1 oversubscription ratio. While this is an economically prudent approach and reflects the statistical nature of most Internet traffic, it results in a service exhibiting highly variable performance characteristics. This network design practice can also result in severely degraded performance for applications that are not highly statistical in nature—streaming over-the-top (OTT) video being the best example.

In attempting to resolve this discordance, broadband operators often resort to “throwing bandwidth at the problem,” thereby reducing the oversubscription ratio. But this approach not only raises bandwidth costs, it still does not resolve the underlying technical inefficiencies that result in highly variable (and occasionally unacceptable) performance.

Anagran ITM solutions work in conjunction with existing network elements (e.g., routers, BRAS) managing traffic at a flow level to ensure optimal bandwidth utilization. In particular, Anagran products:

• Manage individual TCP flows so as to eliminate inherent inefficiencies. In practical terms, this means applying greater intelligence to inevitable packet discards in order to ensure that all flows of a similar class are treated fairly and the TCP slow starts and stalls are completely eliminated. This yields a fairer and more deterministic network experience for all users.
• Reduce the ability of certain applications (e.g., peer-to-peer) to “game the system” by employing multiple flows per session. This reduces aggregate bandwidth requirements and also contributes to fairness between users.
• Allocate bandwidth in such a way the “bulk” applications such as file transfers yield bandwidth to quality sensitive applications such as VOIP and streaming video and “fill the valleys” when these applications are relatively idle. This also reduces overall bandwidth requirements while radically improving performance for quality sensitive applications.

Anagran's Internet traffic manager, the FR-1000, represents a new class of equipment deployable in wireline, cable, and wireless broadband networks without modifying the underlying topology of these networks. Designed to snap into current architectures, the FR-1000 produces significant OPEX savings through a reduction in backhaul bandwidth requirements and improvement in the Internet experience for all users.