Networks have evolved from being all about communication to being focused on control. Control applications put more demand on the network and on network providers.
"Today, there are a lot of different things that are controlled remotely, which not only affects how much capacity a network needs to deliver but also requires advanced performance. While performance is important, performance is nothing without control."
This is the word from Michael Ritter, VP of technical marketing at ADVA Optical Networking, speaking at the ADVA/XON Innovation Day, which took place in Milnerton yesterday. He continued that there are always new technologies being introduced that require more capacity. Network providers need to be able to make that capacity available.
Users want consistent, ubiquitous capacity; businesses want ultra-low latency and high reliability. The level of capacity required to make this happen must be easily scalable, while also being energy-efficient. Increased capacity demands put enormous pressure on networks to advance quickly enough to meet changing market needs.
"The whole network architecture has to change. We need to do something different," said Ritter.
Speaking about mega trends and the resulting network challenges, he stated this rapid increase in network demand is a result of advancements in digital communication and connected technology. Examples cited by Ritter include a movement towards remote surgeries, to the development of robots and robotic explorers, virtual entertainment technology, and the tactile Internet.
"In order to control this kind technology, we need exceptionally reliable networks. This requires ultra-low latency."
When looking at all of these new technologies, he stressed that all of the technological advancements have one thing in common - they rely heavily on the cloud.
"The cloud is an enabler. It plays a massive role in this environment." Cloud offerings have to facilitate super performance should we want these technological innovations to become more common, he said, adding that something like remote surgery could not be viable were there latency in the flow of data across the network.
Ritter alluded to network advancements that could enable 5G connectivity, but admitted 5G mobile network technology is still a long way off.
And as more and more devices come online, networks need to become robust enough to accommodate the influx of users, Ritter noted. There are a massive amount of devices that want to connect to the Internet, but Ritter believes that asking users to supply their details or register before they can connect does not make for a pleasant experience. "We need a totally different way of connecting these new devices to networks. It cannot be a hostile environment; networks should welcome these new devices and should actually be competing for them."
Looking to the future
When you consider how many new devices are connecting to networks, Ritter also highlighted that comprehensive data security has to be an integral part of network evolution. The security hacks that affected high-profile organisations like eBay and Sony last year are evidence that we need to do something different, he said. "We need different ways to protect our data and change the architecture of our network security."
Sharing his experience at the 2020 Vision Executive Summit, which took place in Iceland last year ? where carriers from across the globe met to discuss where they think the market may be come 2020 ? Christoph Glingener, CTO of ADVA, stressed telecom businesses need to change. If they don't change, they probably won't be around in the future.
"And the pace of innovation is only set to increase," he said. One of the main issues that came up during the event was how the transformation of the security landscape would affect, and has already affected, the nature of the telecoms space; including everything from intrusion detection to understanding the potentially vulnerabilities of the system, Glingener said.
All of these trends require fast, reliable and safe connectivity. "To make this technology work, we need to embrace fibre." Glingener believes the new connectivity demands require what he termed "fibre-to-everywhere", allowing people to connect anywhere and at any time.
To provide users with this level of connectivity, modern networks have no choice but to be highly scalable, flexible, reliable, secure and sustainable.
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