One of the
most respected institutions in the field of technology is the multinational
corporation - Cisco Systems, Inc. This tech tycoon has taken the initiative to
monitor the effects of visual networking on the global network performance
under the Cisco Visual
Networking Index (VNI) program. The 2012 results showed that smartphones contributes to 92% of total mobile
data traffic considering that it only takes up 18% of handsets used globally.
Cisco’s
figure only means that even though few people can afford buying smartphones for
their use, current smartphone users already have utilized it to its greatest
extent. This fact should not be surprising at all as we can already experience
the effects of such in the form of network downtime.
With this
said, imagine if half of the entire population would begin to move to
smartphones. Will this still be a worthwhile investment if no proper control is
in place? Will people still enjoy in the increasing problems of mobile data
traffic?
Sending and
receiving emails, uploading of audio, video and image files or just browsing
the Internet are simply some of the activities that can be done with these
gadgets. In order to prepare for this transition, networks have introduced the requirement
of Diameter agent to be put into place.
Diameter agent is a signaling protocol that came as an alternative to what is now used
as RADIUS for 3G networks. Network operators realized that RADIUS architecture
will not suffice with the skyrocketing demand of smartphones users.
Diameter is
designed to have a peer-to-peer architecture wherein both the network and its
client can benefit. The policy and charging control equipped with diameter
agent can help networks generate revenues which will be used to support the
data usage of the clients. In return, subscribers can enjoy quality service and
uninterrupted network signal.
This new
protocol plays a vital role in the policy and charging control wherein error
handling and accounting become more transparent. It is certainly more reliable
than RADIUS as it has network and transport layer security to heighten
authentication of its offered services.
With the
growing problems of mobile data traffic, network providers are challenged to be
able to provide higher bandwidth to support devices like smartphones. The
principles of Diameter seem to be promising and cost-effective for network
providers and subscribers. No doubt that it’s tagged to become the next radical
step for global networking.
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