BOCA RATON, Fla. -- A new mobile/wireless network that serves Sweden’s top engineering university and which will be utilized by universities across Europe has been developed and is currently operational using Axerra Networks’ multiservice over packet (MSoP) solutions. This new GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) network provides students of Sweden’s Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) with immediate wireless capabilities while also providing a test bed for research and educational projects initiated by major European universities. Axerra Networks’ solutions provided the crucial technology in the Radio Access Network to enable voice and data traffic from base transceiver stations (BTS) to be integrated and aggregated for efficient transport to the base station controller (BSC) over the IP/Ethernet infrastructure of the Swedish University Network (SUNET).

According to Johan Montelius, project manager at Sweden’s Royal Institute of Technology, one of the most important considerations for the project was the need to ensure high quality voice service without requiring SUNET to give special priority to the traffic. While integrating both voice and data traffic directly over the SUNET IP packet network, Axerra Networks’ solutions control latency, jitter, and packet loss – a critical capability for reliable GSM voice applications. Axerra Networks also successfully addressed the challenge of providing accurate clock synchronization between the BTS and BSC, a key requirement for the successful transport of voice and data over an asynchronous IP/Ethernet network.

“Axerra Networks’ expertise in the integration, concentration, and adaptation of any voice or data mobile service, whether 2G, 2.5G, or 3G, to IP, IP/MPLS, and Ethernet networks, enabled us to play a major role in this project,” says Denis Bambury, VP Sales-EMEA for Axerra Networks. “Our unique ability to efficiently backhaul multiservice traffic over IP/Ethernet infrastructures means that our multiservice over packet solutions provide essential cost-saving benefits for every mobile/wireless operator.”

The mobile/wireless network project at Sweden’s Royal Institute of Technology is part of a SIBED (Sweden-Israel Testbed Program for IT Applications) initiative that supports the development of primarily wireless applications in test bed environments. In this recent project, the aim was to create a GSM and GPRS (General Packet Data Service) network that can be shared by other institutions for both research and education. The GSM/GPRS over IP/Ethernet infrastructure consists of an MSC (mobile switching center), a BSC (base station controller), a CGSN (combined GPRS support node), a SMSC (short message service center), and systems for operation and management. These GSM/GPRS components, used as the core of the network, were provided by Ericsson. The equipment is located at the University premises in Kista, Sweden, but additional base stations will be added locally at other sites, providing access to the central infrastructure using SUNET, the Swedish University Network used by over 32 European universities and colleges.

“This project is important not only because it provides wireless connectivity for students on our Kista campus, but also because it will further research and education in mobile technology that has been hampered by the fact that few educational institutions have access to these systems,” says Professor Bjorn Pehrson of Sweden’s Royal Institute of Technology.

Axerra Networks Inc.