Overcoming the complexities of network configuration in the 5G era

Gavin Hayhurst of TEOCO

Providing mobile network services across a country is a bit like fitting together the pieces of a very large and intricate puzzle: where radio network configuration is the management of thousands of cell site parameter settings to ensure each piece of the puzzle fits together with its neighbors. The roll-out of 5G networks poses new challenges to operators with new 5G cells parameters, business rules and cell interdependencies to be considered, says The author is Gavin Hayhurst, head of product marketing at TEOCO.

Additionally, 5G will have to coexist with existing network layers, supporting handovers between technologies to ensure a seamless user experience. Managing this level of complexity via manual processes is extremely complicated and prone to errors that negatively impact customer experience. This is where configuration management tools become invaluable, automating the configuration of cells across the entire network. 

Network configuration: The challenges

Mobile networks are dynamic and complex. Operators typically deploy radio access kit from multiple vendors across different technology generations, each one with its own release cycle and upgrade drops per year. This leaves operators in a constant state of ‘upgrade rollout’, and with each upgrade comes new features, and changes to parameter settings.

To add to this, operators are required to support multiple network technologies with involved hand-over strategies between them. All of this creates even more complexity, and for every change that needs to be made to the network, data transcripts with new configuration settings need to be generated that account for the multitude of interdependencies between vendors, technologies and software versions to guarantee service quality. As a result, a great deal of work and planning is needed to guarantee that the network remains fully operational and to ensure that subscriber expectations are met.

With 5G deployments underway, operators will have to contend with deploying millions of new cell sites across the world. Each cell site requires thousands of different parameter settings. If the site also includes GSM, UMTS, and LTE, interdependencies between those technologies need to be considered as well, and handovers need to work. Neighbor settings, power settings and cell parameters all need to comply with hundreds of customised rules and policies as cell site transcripts are built out.

Manual processes impeding progress

While network operators have always aspired to finding more efficient and effective configuration management processes, configuring a network has on the whole remained a protracted, manual process.Configuring a complex new site can take many hours and the likelihood of a miscalculation, typo, or mistake in this process is, for the most part, unavoidable. As a result, it is likely that the point at which the integration engineer deploys the new configuration, a set of errors will be revealed invalid ranges, invalid values and so on. While some of these issues can be identified and corrected during the deployment stage, this inevitably translates into more service hours and lengthy delays. Mistakes may also go unnoticed, only to be discovered when the site is switched on and then found to be working sub-optimally. More time and effort is then required to fix the configuration errors, placing engineering teams under even greater pressure.

Delivering 5G success: Speed of execution

Despite these network configuration challenges, configuration management tools have been developed to avoid such convoluted, manual processes, and can significantly improve site integration timeframes. By employing a configuration management tool it is possible to maintain network integrity by automating the monitoring, auditing, updating, validating, and reporting on cell site configurations. As networks continue to be expanded and optimised, it is critical to ensure that configuration changes made to the Radio Access Network (RAN) are accurate, ensuring that excellent quality of experience is maintained.

With an ever-growing appetite for finding faster ways to new service monetisation, 5G roll out plans tend to have ambitious timelines. This means that there is increased value in the ability to rapidly and automatically generate error-free transcripts and expedite deployments.

Bringing 5G site integration into focus

For network operators, time to market is critical. Automation therefore holds the key to saving both time and money and also allows operators to deliver a significantly improved service to its customers. Not only can the right configuration management tools be the key differentiator enabling network engineers to launch new 5G cell sites efficiently and securely, it can also be part of the ecosystem that helps to maintain network integrity and quality of service. When it comes to mass 5G site integration, where speed and quality matter more than ever before, the opportunity to accelerate this time consuming and resource intensive process is welcome news for operators as they embark on their 5G journey.

The author is Gavin Hayhurst, head of product marketing at TEOCO.

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