5
PACKET BACKHAUL NETWORK
5.1 INTRODUCTION
A backhaul network is usually responsible for transparently transmitting service from the front of an end user, such as a digital subscriber line access multiplexer (DSLAM) and a base station, to the point of presence (POP), and vice versa. The networking technique used in backhaul network is often called transport technology. In this chapter, we also use the word “transport” for the technology related description.
Figure 5.1 shows a typical transport network and its networking requirements:
- Management/Control Plane: A transport network must be a strictly controlled network. Generally, all the network resources are managed by the network management systems (NMS). A transport network is usually dependent on NMS, which provide the centralized control on the whole network. For a transport network, the control plane is optional, which means that the network should work well without any control plane. But in fact, most networks have a control plane because the control plane can facilitate the network management.
- Traffic Engineering: A transport network is generally a traffic engineered network. The forwarding path, service access control, bandwidth allocation, and so on, are all under unified control. In most cases, the technology used in transport network is connection-oriented-based technology. Traffic engineering is an important means to satisfy the service level agreements (SLA).
- Layered Network: A typical transport network is usually ...
