Modelling and Planning the Migration for Next Generation Networks

Abstract

The ever increasing volume of data traffic on telecommunications networks has led to a fundamental shift in network operator requirements. Moreover, the continuous evolution of the industry, with developments such as mobile telephony, has created a need for interoperability and advanced service management. These changes in network usage have given rise to major infrastructural change: telecommunication networks are moving from switched circuit networks, designed to handle telephony service, to multi-service digital technologies. This evolution is referred as the migration to Next Generation Networks. The development of a computer-based tool for modelling and planning this migration is outlined. This may be used to study the main characteristics of the new network infrastructure. The tool focuses on network dimensioning and quality of service: Algorithms have been created to study how migration affects capacity requirements and a network simulator has been developed to study and analyse quality of service.