The development of fixed networks has gone through the voice era (64kbps) supported by POTS technology, the web era (2Mbps) supported by ADSL, the video era (20Mbps) supported by VDSL, and 4K UHD era (100Mbps) supported by GPON Fixed networks are now entering the 5th generation fixed network (F5G), Cloud VR era that is supported by 10G PON and Wi-Fi 6.
The F5G network has the following features that build on previous generations of fixed networks:
Full-Fiber Connection (FFC): Full-fiber coverage supports ubiquitous connections to homes, machines, rooms, and even desktops. In addition, it supports extended vertical industry applications, provides over 10 times more service scenarios and 100 times more connections, and is leading us into the era of fiber connectivity.
Enhanced Fixed Broadband (eFBB): The network boasts symmetric upstream and downstream gigabit bandwidth capabilities. Through functioning with Wi-Fi 6 technology, it facilitates the implementation of gigabit connections, offering a one-touch connection experience in the cloud era.
Guaranteed Reliable Experience (GRE): The transition from traffic-driven to experience-driven operations improves user experience. In addition, the network side supports "0" packet loss and ms-level latency. The AI + big data intelligent O&M cloud platform guarantees a reliable experience. On the terminal side, 4K and gaming experience improves through a continuous reduction of Wifi latency.
Through these three features, the F5G network helps improve user experience in traditional home access scenarios. It also enables fiber networks to penetrate new domains such as enterprise, transportation, security, and campus, facilitating digital transformation across various industries.
Challenges of Gigabit Full-Fiber Access
Full-fiber access is now the trending industry consensus. In addition, F5G has higher requirements on fixed network capabilities. The key challenges of this are as follows:
Poor multi-service transmission capability: Traditionally, chimney-type networks are built to separately connect to homes and other high-value 2B scenarios to ensure differentiated SLA. The accumulation of multiple networks complicates O&M and increases costs.
High network costs: Heavy costs are incurred on the ODN infrastructure network, OLTs, and ONTs.
> ODN deployment: The ODN network is essential for full fiber networks, accounting for more than 70% of the total investment. Traditional ODN deployment requires professional personnel and is time consuming in terms of complex tasks such as fiber removal and splicing. In addition, the process is inefficient and it is difficult to ensure quality.
> 10G PON upgrade: 10G PON is the optimal solution for gigabit broadband. 10G PON boards and external multiplexers need to be added in traditional upgrades to 10G PON, increasing CO space and power consumption. In addition, fiber connections need to be reconstructed, which complicates O&M.
> High OPEX caused by poor Wi-Fi experience: Traditionally, Wi-Fi has poor wall penetrating capabilities and cannot provide 100% coverage. Strong Wi-Fi interference leads to slower speeds than home access bandwidth. Large latency and high packet loss rate result in failure to stably carry 4K video services over Wi-Fi, which in turn causes poor Wi-Fi experience that increases OPEX and necessitates home visits.
Inefficient O&M: Traditional network construction is equipment-centric and user experience cannot be guaranteed. It is a passive and inefficient O&M mode that is based on complaints, home visits, and manual experience. This mode severely hinders network O&M efficiency and customer satisfaction. In addition, the resources on operators' networks and the issues on users' home broadband networks cannot be visualized or sensed respectively, and there are no effective user retention methods. As a result, churn rate remains high.
SingleFAN Pro Solution Enables F5G Gigabit Full-Fiber Access
Huawei launched the SingleFAN Pro solution based on a deep understanding of the challenges involved with constructing gigabit full-fiber networks. The solution explores three new concepts — new blue ocean, new capability, and new experience. With the Huawei SingleFAN Pro solution, operators can upgrade their networks to F5G gigabit full-fiber access networks.
New blue ocean: The industry's innovative access network slicing technology enables unified access of enterprise and home broadband users. Through this solution, optical fibers extend to rooms, desktops, and machines, expanding connections 100 times, enabling multiple services to be carried on one network, and ensuring differentiated SLAs. This enables operators to improve their business by expanding services and shortening ROI periods.
Home scenarios: As the next-generation IPTV, cloud VR can deliver a 360-degree immersive experience. A complete end-to-end ecosystem has been established in the industry and cloud VR is ready for large-scale deployment. Network slicing technology ensures low latency and low jitter for game players, providing them with a premium experience.
Enterprise scenarios: Operators can reuse existing ODN resources to develop PON private line services, providing 10G symmetric bandwidth, high reliability, and protection for enterprise cloudification, campus networks, and video backhaul. In addition, flexible product packages enable mobile operators to quickly develop home broadband services at low costs to achieve fixed mobile convergence (FMC) by using existing base station space, power distribution, and optical fiber resources.
New capability: Based on the capabilities of in-house chips, Huawei implements end-to-end OLT/ODN/ONT innovation and supports large-scale deployment of gigabit networks, meeting the next decade of evolution requirements.
OLT: The industry's first OLT with a distributed architecture is oriented towards the next decade of evolution. It supports GPON/10G PON/10GE/100GE unified access or upstream transmission, 16,000 concurrent FTTH 4K video users, and 4000 users to switch channels within 1s. Huawei's innovative board supports switching between multiple modes such as GPON, XG(S)-PON, and PON combo, achieving smooth 10G PON evolution and reducing TCO by 33%. With the unique class D optical module, the optical power budget reaches the industry's highest level of 35 dB, which is 7 dB higher than the industry average. There is a three-fold increase in coverage distance, which reaches a maximum of 40 km.
QuickODN: This is the industry's first full-scenario (pole mounting, wall mounting, aerial mounting, as well as manholes and handholes), pre-connection, and uneven optical splitting solution. Plug-and-play ODN deployment eliminates the need for manual fiber splicing, simplifies fiber deployment, and shortens TTM by 30%. All outdoor products have IP68 waterproof and dustproof ratings and they support more than 20 years of high-reliability usage.
ONT: Huawei in-house chips support symmetric 10G upstream interfaces. The Wi-Fi 6 + omnidirectional antenna + in-house algorithms on the user side provide optimal 4K/VR experience for home users. Forwarding performance is 15% better than the industry average, and mesh networks function with 360-degree high-gain smart antennas to improve coverage performance by 15%. Huawei ONT is the first to pass the BBF TR-398 carrier-class Wi-Fi performance test, and Huawei in-house algorithms bind 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands and intelligent service recognition to ensure "0" frame freezing for 4K videos and games.
> In addition to the preceding product innovations, the solution conserves energy and is highly reliable. The solution's energy consumption satisfies the EU CoC V7.0 standard and is 30% lower than the industry standard. The mean time between failures (MTBF) of core devices exceeds 45 years, ensuring network connections that have long-term stability.
New experience: The next-generation cloud-based management platform NCE introduces AI and big data technologies, reshapes network O&M experience and user experience, reduces home visits by 30%, and greatly reduces OPEX. Two typical scenarios are as follows:
Accurate identification and intelligent diagnosis of ODN optical path faults: The AI-based NCE platform can identify various faults such as contaminated connectors, bent fibers, and interruption, as well as fault segments and root causes, significantly increasing O&M efficiency.
Visualised management and optimisation of home Wi-Fi networks: On NCE, operators can manage home Wi-Fi network topology and real-time connection status in visualized mode, identify Wi-Fi issues (such as interference and configuration errors) in minutes, and remotely rectify faults. NCE can automatically adjust channels for optimization. This ensures premium user experience, reduces manual intervention, and decreases fault rate.
Embrace the Gigabit Era and Advance the Industry Ecosystem
According to Huawei's Global Industry Vision (GIV), there will be 100 billion global connections and 30% gigabit penetration rate by the end of 2025. Statistics published by Ovum, a third-party analyst firm, show that 234 operators in 57 countries have launched gigabit broadband services. Gigabit is widely deployed and network connectivity will be ubiquitous.
The Huawei SingleFAN Pro solution is an end-to-end innovative solution for 10G PON gigabit full-fiber access. It helps operators explore new blue oceans, deliver premium 4K/VR video experience to home users, and provide highly reliable premium private lines for enterprise users. Over 88 global operators have deployed the Huawei SingleFAN Pro solution. The successful implementation of this solution in various network cases confirms that it significantly benefits operators. For example, an operator in Egypt used this solution to accelerate their conversion from copper access to fiber access and build 10G PON Ready networks. In addition, operators in developed markets, such as Europe, are rapidly upgrading GPON to 10G PON to achieve gigabit access, and the Huawei QuickODN solution is accelerating the deployment of full-fiber infrastructure networks in Latin America.
In the F5G gigabit full-fiber access era, Huawei, as a leading ultra-broadband solution provider, is delighted to work with upstream and downstream partners across the industry chain to develop a prosperous industry ecosystem, explore innovative applications, and accelerate the construction of a fully connected, intelligent world.
