Solution Guide Version R&S INTRA Traffic analytics for communication service providers

Transcription

1 Solution Guide Version R&S INTRA Traffic analytics for communication service providers

2 Table of contents 1 Introduction Key benefits Key features Solution Architecture Components Deployment scenarios Connecting to Big Data solutions Business Cases Mobile CSP builds up 5G ready infrastructure to save CapEx Large-scale CSP increases business profitability through sampling approach Mobile CSP optimizes network quality with edge and core data Technical Features Traffic input and processing by R&S Net Sensor R&S Net Reporter+ analytics Visual presentation

3 1 Introduction Communication service providers (CSPs) are struggling to remain competitive in today s fast-changing environment. In order to successfully face future challenges such as Big Data, 5G and IoT, CSPs need to: Be able to handle increasingly large data volumes and a growing number of connected endpoints. Keep a lid on costs by avoiding classical price-per-throughput models, which are too costly to optimize and plan networks effectively. Be able to connect their existing analytics tools to multiple systems without being limited to only one type of analytics solution. Reduce cost pressure by reducing operational expenditure (OpEx) and capital expenditure (CapEx) as well as generating new revenue streams and finding ways to keep customers satisfied. The following factors are essential for choosing the right traffic analytics solution: Flexibility and scalability: Accelerate performance and be prepared for changing conditions without having to replace existing systems. Real-time IP network monitoring and subscriber analytics: Increase customer satisfaction and decrease customer churn. Holistic analytics approach for maximum business efficiency: Avoid silo mentality and drive business with cross-departmental data usage. 1.1 Key benefits Revenue generation Connecting R&S INTRA to Big Data analytics systems creates new opportunities for CSPs to monetize additional services based on objective data from the network (e.g. subscriber segmentation, NB-IoT analytics). OpEx savings R&S INTRA features real-time monitoring of the core network, which reduces monitoring efforts at the edge and optimizes RAN network troubleshooting. CapEx savings R&S INTRA offers excellent modularity and scalability. It can easily be integrated with existing systems, fully virtualized, and scaled up whenever necessary. Future-proof solution Multiple deployment scenarios of R&S INTRA and the possibility to utilize open standards like Apache Kafka as a connector to any type of analytics solution make the whole system future-proof. R&S INTRA makes it possible to decode control plane data, which allows new insights (e.g. into RAN or NB-IoT) and facilitates further network optimization as well as network slicing. Customer retention R&S INTRA offers real-time traffic analysis, which ensures advanced and more efficient troubleshooting for improved quality of experience (QoE) and quality of service (QoS). 1.2 Key features Customizable virtualized or bare-metal system with high scalability (several Tbps) Deepest insights based on real network usage, application performance and subscriber experience High statistics resolution with a configurable reporting rate down to 1 second Easy-to-use drill-down reports deliver insights about overall network, subnetwork, individual subscribers Data export for Big Data systems makes it a holistic analytics platform R&S INTRA excels in modularity and processing speed, offering optimal support to CSPs facing future challenges and technologies. Rohde & Schwarz R&S INTRA 3

4 2 Solution architecture R&S INTRA is a traffic analytics solution that extracts data from a passive copy of the production traffic. Its flexibility and adaptability to different deployment situations and customer requirements make it easy for CSPs to extract all the insights they need, even when dealing with highly specific implementations. Featuring the technologically leading deep packet inspection (DPI) engine R&S PACE 2 and advanced real-time packet processing, R&S INTRA offers high-quality realtime information about network traffic, subscriber sessions and network metadata. 2.1 Components R&S INTRA can handle several Tbps of real-time traffic. It consists of the analytics platform R&S Net Reporter+ and multiple R&S Net Sensor probes, which are powered by the DPI engine R&S PACE 2. R&S Net Sensor is a technically advanced, intelligent IP probe that allows CSPs to extract meaningful network traffic and subscriber behavior data, and to identify statistical trends in mobile and fixed networks. R&S Net Sensor is powered by R&S PACE 2. R&S PACE 2, the DPI software by Rohde & Schwarz, offers highly reliable classification of protocols and applications. It extracts rich data such as usage time, type of content, identification of different types of services, and the top applications. R&S PACE 2 is deployed worldwide and known for its fast performance and efficient memory usage. R&S Net Reporter+ is an analytics platform that provides fine-grained data and helps associate data rates, application usage and network access attributes to individual subscribers. It gives CSPs deeper insights into network and application statistics, accelerates problem identification, and improves QoS for subscribers. 2.2 Deployment scenarios R&S INTRA can be deployed in several scenarios, depending on the specific use cases and customer needs All-in-one analytics system R&S INTRA can be deployed as a stand-alone main traffic analytics system. This scenario is especially suitable for CSPs that need an end-to-end analytics system to process traffic and present relevant reports for strategic decision-making, network planning and subscriber analytics. Reads real-time data records from a pool of R&S Net Sensor probes Connects to external systems to enrich its database with additional information (e.g. CRM, TAC, etc.) Performs subscriber resolving and data correlation, report generation Displays generated reports on its graphical web interface R&S INTRA deployment scenarios Internet Evolved Packet Core (EPC) Radio Access R&S NetSensor Supplement to Big Data systems R&S Net Reporter+ helps create a Big Data pool: Reads real-time data records from a pool of R&S Net Sensor probes Provides aggregated traffic, subscriber and application information to Big Data systems Combined set-up Radius R&S NetReporter+ R&S INTRA can be deployed as both an independent traffic analytics system that provides insights and reports, and as an aggregator for Big Data and third-party analytics. TAC CRM 4

5 2.3 Connecting to Big Data solutions The true value of collected data emerges when data is extracted from all of the CSP s business units and then analyzed as a whole. In order to effortlessly connect an analytics system to any Big Data system, a flexible interface is of crucial importance. R&S INTRA can be easily deployed in any network to enrich an existing Big Data system (or an external analytics tool) with real-time data from the network. The Apache Kafka interface is used to ensure optimized and reliable real-time data delivery between R&S INTRA and third-party data analytics systems. This synergy of multiple analytics systems ensures an optimal use of data and brings value to several use cases and departments. For example, the data rates of each individual application (e.g. mobile Netflix) regarding radio sector and radio technology can be coupled with network layout maps. This opens up new possibilities to optimize QoE for Netflix users across access technologies and locations. The same data can be analyzed in parallel and combined with subscriber analytics and CRM systems in order to identify potential strategies to monetize over-the-top (OTT) services (flat rates, premium packages, partnering with the OTT provider, etc.). Benefits: Developing a Big Data system containing knowledge based on aggregated data from multiple sources offering a solution which provides valuable data for several internal departments with differing demands Avoiding proprietary data extraction systems with vendor lock-in as well as specific analytics for narrow and inflexible use cases Very short time-to-market through use of existing systems Future-proof analytics architecture that supports further extensions, virtualization and an agile approach to changing requirements This holistic use of data represents a significant shift in how we can extract value from our network, use data in a more agile way and accelerate time to action. Product Manager, European Tier 1 CSP Apache Kafka is an open source streaming platform used for building real-time data pipelines. Systems and applications can publish (producers) or subscribe to (consumers) a stream of data (records). In the example below, the R&S Net Reporter+ is acting as a Kafka producer, while the customer s Big Data system is the Kafka consumer. Information about communication flows as well as subscriber sessions are reported in real-time by the R&S Net Reporter+ Kafka producer and temporarily stored in the Kafka broker. Depending on the use case and implementation, the customer s Big Data system can subscribe and read the needed data at their own tempo. Other real-time data feed platforms are available if required. Connecting R&S INTRA to a Big Data system using Apache Kafka Analytics Kafka producer Kafka broker Kafka consumer Big Data / analytics R&S NetSensor R&S NetSensor Database X hours storage R&S NetReporter+ Rohde & Schwarz R&S INTRA 5

6 3 Business cases 3.1 Mobile CSP builds 5G ready infrastructure to save CapEx Initial customer situation A European tier 1 mobile service provider wants to reduce CapEx and OpEx despite steadily increasing network traffic. Furthermore, the CSP needs to set up a future-proof telecommunications network architecture to be well positioned for upcoming impacts of 5G and IoT. Customer s requirements: Traffic will increase from currently 500 Gbps to 1,5 Tbps 2021 Their infrastructure needs to be capable of full virtualization in order to deliver agile services CSP has a customized EPC (evolved packet core) infrastructure Solution: deployment scenario In response to the CSP s technical requirements, R&S INTRA was deployed with the following setup: Fully virtualized software installation on Linux and commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware Advanced subscriber-aware load distribution towards analytics for GPRS tunneling protocol (GTP) to ensure scalability and a future-proof setup for increasing data rates Optimized load balancing to convert low-load 100GE links into fewer high-load 100GE links to reduce the costs associated with additional equipment (transceivers, load distribution and switching equipment) Customization to accommodate combo EPC elements (SGSN/MME and PGW/SGW/GGSN) Monitoring of several GTP interfaces Advanced subscriber resolving to distinguish native traffic generated by own subscribers from that of mobile virtual network operators Correlation and monitoring of roaming traffic, as well as visibility across radio access technology (RAT) fallback. High data reporting resolution of 1 second, so that the insights can be used for efficient customer care and network assessment Advantageous pay-as-you-grow approach to capital investment Summary of results R&S INTRA within virtual environment with Big Data export Cross-departmental cooperation for joint usage to extract reports and forecasts Granular and precise traffic statistics information to make customer care more efficient Deeper insights into subscriber behavior for detailed customer campaign management Improved QoS and QoE by analyzing radio access attributes, TCP delays and inter-cell handover Capacity and network planning for LTE network based on per-cell information Multi-lateral information for strategic decisions and wholesale negotiation Main business results Better network planning & optimization Precise and granular (in terms of location, technology and traffic peaks) forecasting of future demand for network capacity based on real network usage and application performance Knowledge-based partnering decisions (content delivery networks, OTT providers, virtual network operators) Better edge network planning and optimization by evaluating network performance and coverage as perceived by the subscriber Flexible extraction points for R&S INTRA to accommodate combo EPC elements GTP-U Big Data system R&S NetSensor R&S NetReporter+ UE enodeb S1 U S1 AP Combo SGSN/MME MME GTP-U GTP-C S 11 Combo xgw PGW/SGW lub RNC lups SGSN Gn GGSN UE NodeB GTP-U tunnel 6

7 Higher business profitability Dramatic optimization of profit thanks to informed and solid wholesale price negotiation Optimized product management and early detailed insights about product usage Shorter time and reduced overall effort for customer care Cost reduction Reduced CapEx through virtualization No need for purpose-built hardware and wasteful overprovisioning thanks to scalable pay-as-you-grow model Savings in space, power and cooling capacities for equipment along with easier roll-out and management of network services Reduced cost and risk (no vendor lock-in) thanks to modular and flexible analytics APIs 3.2 Large-scale CSP increases business profitability through sampling approach Initial customer situation A large-scale fixed-line CSP is facing huge volumes of daily and peak traffic. Their amount of traffic, especially for landline connections, is constantly increasing and even light users internet consumption is steadily growing. In order to correctly forecast the evolution of customer needs and increase marketing and product management efficiency, objective insights from the network are needed. Installing a fully-fledged analytics system that covers the whole network traffic as well as all subscribers would be a considerable financial and organizational burden. This is why they are opting for a sampling approach to analytics. Customer s requirements: Very high traffic volumes and multi-million subscriber base Network planning, finance and marketing departments need detailed information about traffic volumes, peak traffic, application and protocol distribution, acceptance and usage of offered products Solution: deployment scenario For this implementation, a representative sample of 3% of all subscriber lines has been selected based on a balanced distribution in terms of geographical location and line rate (used data packages). Several locations country-wide to monitor landline traffic and extrapolate the acquired data Flexible connectivity to accommodate different BNG lines (10GbE, 40GbE, 100GbE) Customized subscriber resolving in the context of L2TP tunnel tracking Advanced decapsulation and tracking for asymmetric network stack structure (several layers of VLAN, MPLS) Data export from R&S Net Reporter+ to feed into customer s specific analytics system Anonymization of attributes that would identify specific customers, GDPR compliance Main business results Capital investment savings Dramatic savings in hardware, licenses and power thanks to a representative sampling approach Excellent network planning and forecasting based on extrapolated data and averages Computing optimal investment for the next years based on network data and available technologies Better partnering contracts with virtual network operators, thanks to information about peak traffic, volumes, usage template Higher business profitability Informed price negotiations with virtual network operator (VNO) (how much are VNO s subscribers actually consuming, when is their peak activity, does it correspond to the overall network peak?) Creating, monitoring and evaluating the (potential) success of new offerings by analyzing representative data per product and per type of subscriber Insightful product management and early objective feedback about the usage of the products and packages Better strategic decisions and agility to answer traffic- and subscriber-related questions at any time when they appear Cost reduction Less systems and hardware to maintain, power, cool, and operate (thanks to sampling approach) Pay-as-you-grow model, no large upfront investment COTS hardware (no vendor lock-in) R&S INTRA provides us with detailed and multilateral information about our product usage, which in turn allows us to proactively respond to subscriber trends, as well as manage the network wholesale business based on facts and analytics data. We are better prepared to make informed decisions about further capacity and traffic planning and will shortly introduce new dynamic traffic QoS monitoring capabilities. Product Manager, European Tier 1 CSP Rohde & Schwarz R&S INTRA 7

8 3.3 Mobile CSP optimizes network quality with edge and core data Initial customer situation A European tier 1 mobile service provider wants to reduce customer churn and improve monitoring of network quality and subscriber QoE. How can the CSP come up with a solution that helps them achieve a 360 degree view of their subscriber base and network? Together with Rohde & Schwarz, the CSP sets up a holistic analytics system to gather and analyze data from both the edge and the core. This solution provides them with the statistics needed to optimize QoE and create innovative solutions for 5G networks. This way, they can improve customer experience while simultaneously generating new revenue streams. Customer s requirements: CSP wants to utilize their own Big Data system to bring together data from various sources CSP wants to create an infrastructure which will ultimately help them move towards a self-organizing network (SON) technology The network optimization and planning team wants to dynamically tailor the extracted data based on their project needs Deployment scenario adapted to the customer s challenges In response to the challenges faced by modern CSPs, Rohde & Schwarz provides a series of products from its mobile network testing (MNT) division. When applied in a complimentary way, these products provide the required streams of analytical data needed to build a complete 360 degree view of the network, ranging from the core and the radio access network (RAN) all the way to the end user device. There are many advantages to these products that can be individually harnessed to assist modern CSPs with their ongoing or one-off network optimization projects. Combining these best-of-breed components within either an existing or a new Big Data solution allows the CSP to create a singular solution to optimize their network and move towards a self-organizing network (SON). In the case of the CSP s major network optimization project, R&S INTRA was deployed to serve as the main data input source for the planning department. The IP statistics (TCP KPIs and RAN statistics in combination with layer 7 awareness) obtained from R&S INTRA provide the optimization and planning team with the critical information they need to review the impact of IP data on the existing networks. This will help them increase performance and save costs. The extracted data can be tailored based on the project needs. For this particular customer s project, the aim was to: Combine the data from RAN testing with information about subscriber connections and communication KPIs so as to gain complete awareness of the network state from the end device to the CSP core and all the way to the used service Report RAN parameters and attributes directly from the control plane of the traffic, ensuring an additional perspective about the access network state and performance Be aware of daily network peaks and troughs to assure maximum performance and efficiency of delivered services Customize advanced subscriber resolving to get full visibility of communications in the context of multiple default bearers, roaming traffic, LTE-2G/3G handover, etc. 360 degree view of the network: from RAN to core Node B lub Uu Node B lub RNC lucs lups CN (Core Network) UE RAN analytics solutions by Rohde & Schwarz lur R&S INTRA RNC UTRAN 8

9 Ensure high system scalability and sustainability by using modular architecture and intelligent subscriber-aware load balancing Control and validate new technologies and services introduced by the CSP by using the application visibility capabilities Comprehend data specifically on E-UTRAN, UTRAN and GERAN in order to increase network performance and optimize network planning The solution combines IP traffic insights from the core with detailed RAN analytics provided by other Rohde & Schwarz tools such as the drive test software R&S ROMES, QualiPoc Android - a smartphone-based tool for voice and data service quality troubleshooting, the post processing and reporting software platform R&S NetQual NQDI II, and several diversity optimizer tools. This combination of technologies ensures faster root cause analysis and situation awareness, along with a better understanding of what is truly happening in the network. The RF as well as IP data are harnessed and included in the CSP s global Big Data solution. This solution provides the CSP with a detailed picture of the network s strengths and, even more important, the areas that need further optimization. When these tools are combined as part of an ongoing optimization program, they can be used to manage both CapEx and OpEx. Moreover, the operational teams can manage near real-time user data to plan regular or non-regular external optimization tasks. Capital investment savings Better network planning and optimization by evaluating network performance and coverage as perceived by the subscriber Better forecasting of future demand for network capacity based on real network usage and application performance Cost reduction Reduced edge network monitoring costs (e.g. for extensive drive tests) by complementing core network monitoring with edge network monitoring Reduced need for traditional field testing such as drive tests and handheld measurements, so that more engineering and expert resources can focus on solving significant problems Re-usage of collected data for various insights and even for future use cases thanks to the standard and vendorindependent Big Data export One of the reasons for choosing Rohde & Schwarz was the immense flexibility of R&S INTRA. Now we can tailor the solution to our needs. Furthermore, R&S INTRA scales up to a reporting resolution of 1 Tbps which addresses our growing demand for fast data rates to gain a far deeper understanding of our network in real-time. Business Development Manager, European Tier 1 MNO Main business results Higher business profitability Advanced network optimization capabilities thanks to better subscriber-based planning with data from the core and the edge Improved QoE/QoS through more efficient troubleshooting thanks to real-time traffic analytics Minimized churn rate by improving network performance and enhancing customer loyalty Monetization of new services by identifying and evaluating frequently-used applications, top-tier subscribers and OTT Rohde & Schwarz R&S INTRA 9

10 4 Technical features The technical functionalities of the analytics solution R&S INTRA are threefold. This ensures optimal data input and processing, traffic analytics and reporting: Traffic input Traffic processing Reporting Real-time line speed data Passive analytics on a copy of traffic Subscriber-aware load balancing and scalability up to several Tbps Content processing for IPv4, IPv6, dual stack (e.g. Teredo), L2TP, GRE, GTPv1, GTPv2, etc User plane and control plane traffic Input up to 100G Support for asymmetric traffic stack structure for uplink and downlink Traffic pre-filtering based on address range, MPLS, VLAN In-house DPI engine R&S PACE 2 with 2,600+ classification signatures and 95% classification coverage with no false positives Subscriber resolving and tracking over multiple IPs and default bearers Control plane extraction and analytics: DNS, DHCP, RADIUS, GTPv1/2 GTP-U and GTP-C correlation Subscriber analytics (radio access technology, IMSI, IMEI, cell ID, etc.) Traffic reporting granularity: down to 1 second Support for virtualization Intuitive graphical user interface for reporting Insights into: Flexible granularity for data rate values (total, per application and protocol, per subscriber, per flow) Consistent reporting for applications, protocols and configurable application groups Subscriber insights (data consumption rates, distribution of used applications and protocols, radio attributes) Network information (statistics aggregated per radio access technology, location, cell, etc) and KPIs (TCP retransmission counter, TCP round trip time) Content delivery networks, etc. Optional export to Big Data systems (e.g. via Apache Kafka) Open APIs to connect to third-party analytics platforms (REST, CSV) Reporting data with flexible degree of granularity depending on the customer s specific use case, keeping costs and footprint as low as possible 4.1 Traffic input and processing by R&S Net Sensor R&S Net Sensor is a passive network probe that analyzes traffic in real-time and extracts the KPIs, along with classification details (e.g. protocol, application, etc.) and statistics (e.g. number of packets and bytes transferred both upstream and downstream). The probes are designed to detect and report both user plane data and control plane data for subscriber resolving and correlation. Technical advantages: A decoupled two-stage architecture for traffic preprocessing and detailed DPI handling ensures both vertical and horizontal scalability of the system, as well as an efficient packet-processing pipeline. Stage 1 prepares traffic for inspection and performs pre-processing and decapsulation of traffic Stage 2 performs flow tracking, DPI classification and control plane extraction Absolute scalability is achieved through efficient load balancing between stages Up to 10 decapsulation levels allow analytics of traffic within tunnels or with labeling even when using multiple headers/ labels 5-tuple flow tracking plus optional tunnel tracking ensure precise traffic detection as well as flexible subscriber resolving and statistics The process of extracting selected control plane messages (e.g. GTPv1/v2, DNS, Radius, etc) and forwarding them towards analytics lays the foundation for an optimized and flexible analysis. 10

11 Efficient packet-processing pipeline of R&S INTRA Network node TAP Pre processing 1 DPI and extraction 1 Stage 1 Stage 2 Classification vector per flow, statistics, selected control plane R&S NetReporter+ Network node R&S NetSensor Traffic classification by R&S PACE 2 The DPI engine R&S PACE 2 by Rohde & Schwarz constitutes the core of the R&S Net Sensor probe. It inspects and analyzes network data in real-time, reliably detects the most popular applications and extracts metadata and application attributes from the network traffic. It analyzes IP packets using different technologies such as deep packet inspection and behavioral, heuristic and statistical analyses in order to determine the protocol, application and other application-based attributes of the traffic. Using an in-house DPI brings several benefits: Seamless integration into R&S Net Sensor, taking full advantage of the DPI Short time-to-market for new features Control over product roadmap Faster and more efficient support Classification model Classification model of R&S PACE 2 Streaming Application tag Web Layer 7 protocol tag Spotify Layer 7 application MPEG Transferred content HTTP Layer 7 protocol TCP Layer 4 protocol IP Layer 3 protocol Audio Application attributes Layer 7 protocol attributes OSI model Handling encryption As encrypted traffic constitutes approximately 70% of all communications data and is steadily growing, CSPs need to be able to identify which of their services and resources are being accessed. Today, encryption is just another transport layer that is used to access streaming, browsing, messaging and corporate applications. R&S PACE 2 features a variety of detection techniques such as network flow tracking, byte pattern matching and behavioral analysis. Using this technology, R&S INTRA is able to correctly identify a large number of applications utilizing encryption. Here are some examples for encrypted applications: IPv4-TCP-SSL-YouTube IPv4-TCP-SSL-Facebook IPv4-TCP-SSL-WhatsApp 4.2 R&S Net Reporter+ analytics R&S INTRA features analytics capabilities based on information about network flows, the corresponding counters and classification stack and other metadata. The following input data are used by Net Reporter+ to extract insights and create reports: Traffic forwarding (control plane payload) Reporting on classification results Reporting on flow counters Reporting on network stack structures Optimized for real-time reporting, R&S Net Sensor extracts and reports on the traffic parameters to ensure short reaction time when needed as well as fine-grained data (down to 1 second reporting resolution). This is why R&S INTRA covers a vast variety of use cases, ranging from real-time detailed network monitoring to strategic statistical data analytics. Rohde & Schwarz R&S INTRA 11

12 4.2.1 Faster subscriber resolving When it comes to customer care and service optimization, the analytics platform R&S Net Reporter+ delivers data to aid fast problem identification and improve QoS for subscribers. This is achieved by using fine-grained data to associate data rates and communication KPIs to individual endpoints. For use cases limited to trend and application analytics, R&S Net Reporter+ performs subscriber anonymization in order to protect personal data Control plane extraction GTP-U and GTP-C correlation are important to associate a subscriber to the corresponding traffic that they generate. This, in turn, allows identifying the needed KPIs and details for customer care and troubleshooting. Thanks to the GTP-C decoding, details about the sessions, communication and subscriber can be extracted and correlated to enrich the reports. Examples of metadata (GTP) IMSI MSISDN IMEI Radio access type Location info (MCC, MNC, CGI/SAI/RAI/TAC/ECGI/LAC) Multiple default bearers with APN, PDN address (IPv4, IPv6), AMBR and QCI Roaming indication Reporting & measurement interval When it comes to providing good customer care and real-time monitoring, high data granularity is essential in order to spot irregularities, bad customer experiences or network issues. For marketing purposes, on the other hand, a powerful application recognition engine is much more important than granularity. R&S INTRA is highly adaptable to the customer s specific requirements. It provides flexible and configurable reporting and aggregation intervals for all different kinds of use cases. R&S Net Sensor continuously performs measurements and traffic analysis to extract information from every single communication stream with an aggregated value interval of only 1 second. The derived information is periodically sent to R&S Net Reporter+ for aggregation and presentation. 4.3 Visual presentation Multiple reports are available in the intuitive R&S Net Reporter+ web interface Standard reports and insights The following reports are available with R&S Net Reporter+: Standard reports Insights for specific use-cases Network Subscribers Attributes (related to subscribers) Applications Protocols DNS servers Domains Content delivery networks Media streaming Domain details Domain relations 12

13 4.3.1 Overview of general traffic data Application consumption insights CSPs can get insights into the data volume of specific applications, their usage patterns in time, and their popularity within their subscriber base. They can choose between an aggregated view on data which displays weekly and monthly patterns, and a fine-grained view providing 5-minute granularity. This helps CSPs offer targeted marketing plans to subscribers in order to generate additional revenue. Daily fluctuation of downstream and upstream traffic CSPs can see an overview of the traffic of one week with the option to zoom in so as to plan network capacity and detect data consumption patterns. Insights into media streaming usage CSPs have access to an overview of the volume used per streaming type (audio & video). They can also compare the use of paid vs. free content and learn more about paid subscriptions. This helps CSPs offer individual marketing plans and take different strategic decisions on partnering with entertainment and streaming platforms. Rohde & Schwarz R&S INTRA 13

14 4.3.2 Insights into specific issues Traffic mix of one specific subscriber CSPs can get a one-day snapshot of the traffic of one subscriber which allows them to look into application, protocol, transport and network layer details. CSPs can get an overview of the amount of upload and download data and data peaks. Data resolution granularity is configurable (here it goes down to 5 minutes). Detection of encrypted traffic CSPs can see a one-day snapshot of encrypted traffic in a mobile operator network based on approx. 7.7 million GB of traffic, 3 million GB of which are encrypted. Example of protocol details for an encrypted application (YouTube) As more and more services and applications use extensive encryption, it is important to be able to analyze encrypted traffic and provide full network visibility in order to manage networks more efficiently. 14

15 Overview of CSPs own as well as roaming subscribers CSPs can generate statistics about the number of roaming subscribers and their aggregated consumed data rates per country of origin (mobile country code/mcc) as well as the statistics of used applications. CSPs can use the statistics to develop roaming packages based on data rates and usage behavior. Overview of mobile access technology CSPs can get a one-day snapshot of data rates and subscriber statistics per mobile access technology (UTRAN, EUTRAN, GERAN) and the correlated application distribution. CSPs can get an overview of how applications use the available network. They can also check whether protocols that need higher data rates are using the appropriate technology. Insights of content delivery networks CSPs can find out which content delivery network (CDN) is used most by volume of data, accessed domains, or by the number of subscribers that accessed a CDN. They can identify where where the CDN servers are located (country distribution) and when there are peaks in throughput. This will help CSPs negotiate peering agreements and optimize the connectivity to popular CDNs. Rohde & Schwarz R&S INTRA 15

16 Service that adds value Worldwide Local and personalized Customized and flexible Uncompromising quality Long-term dependability ipoque ipoque, a Rohde & Schwarz company, is a leading vendor of deep packet inspection software that adds protocol and application classification capabilities to network analytics, traffic management and cybersecurity solutions. Rohde & Schwarz also provides a holistic network traffic analytics system for communication service providers that allows deep insights into network behavior, network performance and trends to optimize both quality of experience and quality of service. Rohde & Schwarz The Rohde & Schwarz technology group develops, produces and markets innovative information and communications technology products for professional users. Rohde & Schwarz focuses on test and measurement, broadcast and media, cybersecurity, secure communications and monitoring and network testing, areas that address many different industry and government-sector market segments. Founded more than 80 years ago, the independent company has an extensive sales and service network in more than 70 countries. Rohde & Schwarz GmbH & Co. KG ipoque GmbH Augustusplatz Leipzig Info: + 49 (0) info.ipoque@rohde-schwarz.com R&S is a registered trademark of Rohde & Schwarz GmbH & Co. KG Trade names are trademarks of the owners PD Version Oktober 2018 (mh) White paper R&S INTRA Data without tolerance limits is not binding Subject to change 2018 Rohde & Schwarz GmbH & Co. KG Munich, Germany 2018 ipoque GmbH Leipzig, Germany PDP 1 en