Huawei steps into mobile signalling storm with "Small Data Packet Storm" solution
Huawei has said it can help operators double the number of simultaneously connected subscribers on a network by taking steps to mitigate a network effect it has termed the "Small Data Packet Storm".
Huawei's contention is that even though the vast majority of data sessions are very short and involve very little data payload, large numbers of users simultaneously demanding network resources for these small events quickly deteriorate network quality.
Huawei said that when it analysed the total amount of data traffic used on a network it found that 80% of usage lasts less than 10 seconds and 60% of sessions require less than 1kbit. Where smartphone penetration is high, with many simultaneously connected users, air interface efficiency decreases greatly leading to decreases in capacity, user experience and total connected number of users.
This is because those phones are all taking up signalling resources to establish and control the data sessions. Other vendors have called this a signalling storm. Signalling storms have taken down networks in Japan and the USA recent months.
A Huawei spokesperson told Mobile Europe via email: "When there are many such users in this scenario, the uplink control channel will occupy much air interface resources, and few resources will be left for the traffic channel to transmit useful data, then capacity and user experience will decrease greatly. As a result, "small data packet storms" occur."
So what can be done to mitigate the effects of these signalling storms, or Small Data Packet Storms, to adopt the Huawei messaging?
Huawei said that its Small Data Packet Storm Solution includes "key technologies" such as interference cancellation, CQI (Channel Quality Indicator) period extension, dynamic load control, and CCPIC (Common Channel Parallel Interference Cancellation).
"Adopting these technologies can double the number of simultaneously connected subscribers on one network using smartphones. Operators only need to upgrade the software to deploy this Small Data Packet Storm Solution," Huawei told Mobile Europe.