WASHINGTON, D.C. -- To help alleviate the growing demand for bandwidth, the ATIS Network Optimization Focus Group released a report today that contains major recommendations for helping networks become more efficient at handling traffic growth while maintaining a high quality of experience for end-users. The Network Optimization Focus Group Assessment and Recommendations (ATIS-I-0000023 )report describes network optimization in terms of an architectural framework, definitions, use cases/scenarios, requirements, and analysis. Based on this analysis, it provides recommendations regarding further standards work.

“As subscribers’ appetite for bandwidth-hungry applications and content increases, network operators trying to keep up with demand cannot afford to simply throw more bandwidth at the problem,” said ATIS President and CEO Susan Miller. “Networks must also become more efficient and optimized to better handle traffic growth while maintaining a high quality of experience for end-users. The recommendations of this ATIS Focus Group provide the innovative leadership to do this from the standards perspective.”

In the context of the new report, Network Optimization refers to dynamic and automated changes in network behavior that enable the network to adapt to traffic patterns to optimize network, application, or subscriber performance as appropriate. Specific network optimization actions may impact how and when traffic is routed, policed, shaped and prioritized, and may include employing optimization functions such as caching, TCP optimization, signaling proxies, video rate adaptation/compression, or buffer management techniques.

To more closely examine specific optimization techniques, the new report presents high-level overviews of seven network optimization use cases: Congestion Aware Fairness, Subscriber/Application Aware Network Optimization, Network Aware Scheduling of Content, User Rate Plans, Reasonable Network Protection and Management, Load and Policy Aware Multi-RAN Selection, and Optimizing Use of Wireless Non-Bearer Resources.

In analyzing these cases, the Network Optimization Focus Group found a number of areas for further standards development. Specifically: Congestion Awareness, Policy, Traffic Detection, Application/Network Interfaces, and Access Selection. New standards work is moving forward in ATIS Committees and Forums, as well as coordinated with other organizations, including 3GPP, OMA, and IETF. The focus group is an initiative of the ATIS Technology and Operations (TOPS) Council, which is chaired by Juniper Networks Chief Architect Paul Mankiewich. The TOPS Council identifies the communications industry’s most pressing technical and operational priorities, and coordinates standardization efforts across the industry to produce implementable, end-to-end solutions.

Access a copy of the report at https://www.atis.org/docstore/product.aspx?id=25666

A webinar titled Network Optimization — Utilizing Standards to Maximize Existing Bandwidth will be held Thursday, September 22 at 11:00 EDT to deliver high-level information on The Network Optimization Focus Group Assessment and Recommendations. Learn more and register for the webinar.

Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS)