Introduction

The telecommunications industry is evolving rapidly. Wireline carriers are making significant investments in fiber infrastructures to deliver business, transport and residential services, and Carrier Ethernet is emerging as a important access and backhaul technology around the globe.

Wireless carriers are scrambling to keep pace with an ever growing demand for mobile Internet services. And, wireless equipment vendors are developing fourth generation (4G) technologies that can provide IP-based, high-speed broadband services for fixed, nomadic and mobile users.

As wireless carriers move to 4G mobile technology, it is placing huge demands on their backhaul infrastructure. The multiple, high-bandwidth, quality-sensitive services that carriers have planned for 4G technology requires an infrastructure that is packet-based, scalable and resilient, as well as cost-effective to install, operate and manage.

An innovative new, connection-oriented Ethernet technology, Provider Backbone Bridging-Traffic Engineering (PBB-TE) 802.1Qay, is emerging as a key solution for addressing the enormous 4G backhaul infrastructure challenge. Currently being standardized by the IEEE, PBB-TE promises to provide the resiliency, scalability and operational efficiency that wireless carriers require.

• Part 1:
  Introduction
• Part 2:
  Wireless Evolution to 4G
• Part 3:
  4G Network Characteristics and Requirements
• Part 4:
  Using PBB-TE in 4G Wireless Backhaul Networks
• Part 5:
  Summary