1/17/13
Search this blog:
Search
Blog Home
Network Visibility Blog
Ixia Homepage
News & Events
Newsletter
Solutions
Categories
Application Performance
Application Load Testing
Cyber Range Deployment
Cyber Range Deployment
Cyber Warrior Training
Lawful Intercept Testing
Data Center Performance
Cloud Infrastructure Testing
Contact Center Testing
Data Center Optimization
Multiplay Services
Server Load Optimization
Validate Data Loss Prevention
Load Balancer Testing
Low Latency Networks
Mobile Network Security
Mobility Performance
3G Testing
Carrier Ethernet Testing
Carrier Grade NAT Testing
EPC Testing
LTE Testing
Mobile Backhaul Testing
Mobile Data Testing
Wi-Fi Performance Testing
Network Performance
IPv6 Dual-Stack Testing
Network Impairment Testing
Protocol Conformance
SDN Openflow Solution
Network Security
DDoS Testing
IPS Testing
Network Security Testing
Next-Gen Firewall Testing
Network Visibility
BYOD Network Monitoring
Mobile Network Optimization
Monitoring Virtualized
Environments
Network & Application
Performance Monitoring
Network Visibility & Monitoring
blogs.ixiacom.com/ixia-blog/test-3g-network-performance/
Test 3G Network Resiliency Quickly, Easily, and at Lower Cost - Default
Test 3G Network Resiliency Quickly, Easily, and at
Lower Cost
Scott Register July 15, 2011
It’s easy for 3G networks to be overshadowed these days, especially since so much money and attention are going into new
LTE/4G networks. But 3G providers have a huge need for testing in the coming years because they still have so much room for
growth. In fact, North America’s penetration rate for 3G handsets is projected to double between 2009 and 2014, and growth rates
for 3G will be even higher in places like China.
In a couple of recent posts, we’ve talked about how we enable massive-scale LTE/4G testing using our LTE Lab and other product
capabilities. In this post, I’m going to discuss the 3G testing challenges that service providers and equipment manufacturers are
facing today and how we’re helping them answer those challenges.
Unmet Needs in Testing 3G Networks
When we started demonstrating our wireless infrastructure testing capabilities to service providers last year, I felt sure they would
find our LTE functionality useful — and they do. But because 3G networks have been around for several years, I had assumed that
the 3G test market offered less opportunity for us. I was wrong.
On first seeing our LTE Lab, customers have typically come back with the same two responses:
1. This is great. We’re rolling out our 4G network soon, and this lets us validate our Enhanced Packet Core and deep packet
inspection (DPI) devices with massive user load.
2. Can you do this for 3G? We need exactly this for 3G, and we need it yesterday.
To validate 3G networks, these customers must overcome big hurdles in terms of traffic realism, city-scale performance, and cost.
Mobile infrastructures must be built out rapidly to accommodate the rapidly growing 3G user base, but they must also be validated
to handle more types of applications and devices, including almost all of the smartphones and tablets in use today. Beyond that,
there is an unending stream of new security challenges because mobile devices have become ripe targets for makers of malware.
The tools the service providers have been using are fine for doing functional testing with a few mobile devices (called user
equipment, or UEs, in telecom-speak). But they can’t perform cost-effective testing for millions of UEs with real application traffic
and security attacks like we can.
Testing 3G Network Equipment at 100 Gbps and
Beyond
Given these realities, testing at scale is crucial. As we’ve found with LTE, the demand from our customers has been for large-scale
test beds, in excess of 100 gigabits per second (Gbps) of real-world user traffic over GTPv1.
We are meeting this need by emulating more than 150 application protocols encapsulated in GTP tunnels between the serving
GPRS support node (SGSN) and gateway GPRS support node (GGSN), as shown in the 3G network diagram below.
For 3G GTP encapsulation, BreakingPoint emulates all elements in this diagram concurrently, or GGSN or SGSN in isolation. (If
you’re new to telecom jargon, PDN stands for a “packet data network,” i.e., the Internet.)
Besides allowing you to test SGSN or GGSN equipment itself, this capability addresses the need to test DPI equipment that
inspects traffic as it traverses a 3G network. This is especially important for the makers of Lawful Intercept (LI) devices, who have to
be sure that their products can spot trigger words and phrases — the “needles” in the digital “haystack” — no matter how they are
transmitted. Our ability to put real Facebook, Netflix, instant messaging, and other traffic, complete with “needles,” inside the GTP
tunnels makes this easy to do.
As our recent screencast on LTE testing made clear, we’ve also put a major emphasis on ease of use. If you’ve set up a test using
a BreakingPoint CTM that models your desired applications and user behavior, you can enhance that test to encapsulate all traffic
within GTP tunnels with just three mouse clicks and a scroll.
Moving forward, we’ll be adding even more 3G capabilities, which will provide even more flexible emulation options. Let me know
what you are looking for in your 3G testing in the comments below, or shoot me an email at sregister@breakingpoint.com.
Related posts:
1/2
1/17/13
Optimize Big Data Performance
Security & Compliance
Monitoring
Product R&D
Maximizing QA Resources
Pre-Deployment Testing
R&D Testing
blogs.ixiacom.com/ixia-blog/test-3g-network-performance/
Test 3G Network Resiliency Quickly, Easily, and at Lower Cost - Default
Deconstructing LTE/4G Testing
Testing LTE Infrastructure Easily and Economically at Massive Scale
A Visitor’s Guide to Telecom-Land
LTE Diaries: GTP Tunneling
Like
Add New Comment Login
Type your comment here.
Showing 0 comments Sort by newest first
M Subscribe by email S RSS
Trackback URL http://disqus.com/forums/breakingpoint/httpblogsixiacomcomixia_blogtest_3g_network_performance/trackback/
blog comments powered by DISQUS
Copyright ©2013 Default. All Rights Reserved
2/2