Huawei unveils UMTS small data packet storm solution

Huawei, a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, has announced the launch of a UMTS Small Data Packet Storm solution that aims to ease challenges arising from the widespread use of smartphones and mobile broadband (MBB) applications enabling double the number of simultaneous subscribers to access a given network and enjoy MBB services.

Huawei notes that the rapid growth of smartphones and MBB applications has strained UMTS networks worldwide. When analyzing the total amount of data traffic used on a network over a certain period of time, Huawei found that 80% of usage lasts less than 10 seconds and 60% require less than 1kbit.

This finding leads to another obstacle for MBB development known as “small data packet storms”. Small data packet services are different than traditional voice services and high data rate downloads. When a smartphone user frequently refreshes pages on a site being browsed, the total amount of consumed traffic is very low. In scenarios where smartphone penetration is high, with many simultaneously connected users, air interface efficiency decreases greatly leading to decreases in capacity, user experience and total connected number of users. This is referred to as a “small data packet storm.”

Huawei has developed this latest solution to combat small data packet storms in order to improve the user experience for subscribers using smartphones. The solution has already been deployed commercially in Canada, Europe, Hong Kong and other regions where it has helped operators achieve business success.