How a cloud controller coaxes a better cable performance
Finnish mobile operator Elisa has revealed how it’s given its existing network a rocket, using a cloud access control agent from the stable of a distributed access architecture (DCA) system supplied by Canada’s Vecima. Installing Vecima’s Entra Remote MACPHY system meant that Elisa could redefine the network. This improved its performance so much Lisa found it could run gigabit broadband and create new services for its residential subscribers. Clearing out analogue signals, reconfiguring nodes and switching to access controllers in the cloud has liberated capacity and turbo-charged the speed of delivery to the detached homes, multi-dwelling units and businesses that used Elisa’s fixed networks. The resulting digitisation has created ‘substantial’ energy saving, it’s claimed. No figures were provided.
Save energy
Vecima’s Entra DAA system created these efficiencies with flexible access node configurations, a cloud-based access controller, multiple video delivery options and the option for unlimited capacity, it says. Elisa’s existing Hybrid Fiber Coax (HFC) networks was wasting the untapped potential of a huge amount of unused capacity, according to Vecima. But legacy cable access networks can be redesigned and simplified to eliminate the wastage of analogue and Radio Frequency transmissions. It’s amazing how much you can save by digitising old video, according to Antti Salonen, Head of Technology for Fixed Networks at Elisa. “By deploying the Entra solution, we can move our cable access network to the next generation with higher capacity, new service offerings and automated network operations,” said Salonen.
Technical notes
The Vecima SC-1D Entra Access Node offers a Remote MACPHY Device in a compact, European form factor. Elisa is using the SC-1D managed by a Vecima Entra Access Controller (EAC). This set up applies software-defined networking (SDN) principles to give Salonen’s team centralised control and paves the way for a platform capable of delivering faster connections to end users. ‟Cable operators have ever-growing demands for greater capacity and performance, so we see growing momentum in the move to DAA,” said Ryan Nicometo, general manager of Vecima’s Video & Broadband Solutions business.