Research & Analytics…

As LTE Grows, So Does Diameter’s Popularity
Infonetics Research says global revenue from the emerging Diameter signaling-controller market jumped more than 900 percent in 2012 compared with 2011, and the market is set to double this year as more LTE networks go commercial. The use case for Diameter signaling control has expanded well-beyond centralized routing to include PCRF binding, LTE-to-LTE roaming, LTE-to-2G/3G roaming, and HSS address resolution, the company adds. Tekelec, an early Diameter mover and shaker, continues as market leader due to some lucrative wins in North America and Asia Pacific.

New Approaches To Small-Cell Backhaul
Multimedia Research Group (MRG) notes that, in 2012, slightly fewer than 170,000 newly deployed small cells needed last-mile backhaul globally and, by 2017, 2.27 million small cells will require a backhaul medium. Last-mile wireline mediums include copper E1/T1 lines, Ethernet over copper, Ethernet over cable, fiber and fiber using CRAN or distributed antennas. For wireless, there’s microwave, MM microwave, non-line-of-site radios, WiMAX, Wi-Fi and satellite. In 2017, microwave radios will be the backhaul medium used the most to connect small cells, with more than 2 million radios being used. Slightly more than a million small cells will be connected by fiber, and another 933 thousand will be connected by MM microwave radios.