But can they handle tomorrow’s latency-critical applications?

From the first mobile phones and the Internet to smartphones and the mobile Internet, technical innovation has quickly expanded opportunities for people to communicate. This expansion has driven a relentless and rapid rise in the volume of traffic traveling across the networks that connect us. While the human will to communicate is at the heart of the tremendous success of these tools, the quest to satisfy this apparently insatiable desire places great importance on effectively maximizing network performance and utilization.

No matter how much capacity the network provides, we will use it all and more. So, the network’s ability to make the maximum use of available resources is critical. We also seek rapid progress toward each subsequent generation of network technology. For example, as 5G mobile rolls out, we are already looking forward to 6G and the new and better services that could become available. But each new technological generation comes with tremendously greater complexity, which takes vastly more human-hours – not to mention finance – to develop.

The industry pursues a challenging combination of goals: extend coverage, support increasing numbers of subscribers, add more and higher-value services, increase performance and efficiency and keep accelerating technological progress. One observable trend involves the adoption of software-based techniques to achieve faster evolution, enhanced flexibility and greater utilization of network resources. It’s exciting to see innovations in software-defined radio (SDR), as well as the development of software-defined networking (SDN) and network-management tools, enabling networks to meet these demands by becoming increasingly virtualized and adaptable.

The flexibility inherent in SDR permits networks to change and update protocols, giving equipment manufacturers the confidence to invest sooner in the next generation of network technology. By not having to commit to fixed hardware, they can begin product development sooner even while the standards makers are refining the specifications. We get the next generation more quickly because the engineers developing the equipment can start work sooner, and we gain cost-effectiveness since the substantial hardware commitment does not burden each small change.

SDN separates the network control and data planes (which are logically separate in the OSI model), permitting centralized software-based management of network traffic. Building on this, network management systems help to monitor performance, automate tasks and optimize bandwidth usage. SDNs dynamically adjust routing, security and resource allocation, which helps improve efficiency, reduce costs and enhance network flexibility.

This software-based flexibility also eases scaling by enabling the control logic to adapt without disrupting data flow. Deploying new features and protocols without modifying the underlying data forwarding mechanisms also ensures faster innovation.

As we strive to maximize returns on investments in network technologies, software tools have become increasingly widely used and, indeed, essential for managing communication networks and maximizing resource utilization. They monitor traffic flows and patterns, detect underutilized resources and provide real-time insights into problems such as network congestion. They help with traffic tracking and capacity planning to maximize network efficiency and make it possible to dynamically reallocate resources based on demand, especially during peak traffic times.

The virtualization made possible by SDN and associated tools enables physical networking equipment to handle more traffic and serve more users. Distributing workloads dynamically leverages underused hardware, helping optimize resource allocation as well as easing traffic management and facilitating scalability. Virtualized networks can use software-defined routing to streamline traffic flow, reducing bottlenecks and enhancing performance. On-demand scaling also becomes possible, letting infrastructure handle spikes in traffic without requiring physical upgrades. In this way, flexible virtual network functions help to extend capacity and can be partitioned and shared efficiently among users.

As the industry continues to seek technologies that enable networks to deliver greater value and adapt and scale more quickly, we also witness initiatives like Open RAN gaining traction in the market. The 3GPP specifications define open network interfaces that allow interoperability, giving network owners the freedom to choose different vendors for radio access network (RAN) components. Clearly, Open RAN promotes a competitive environment by preventing vendor lock-in, which should, logically, result in lower equipment prices as well as accelerating the pace of innovation. Opening the interfaces between the different parts of the RAN like this creates opportunities for smaller companies and startups to bring fresh ideas to individual aspects of the infrastructure. This would be impossible in a market where only large companies with the resources to provide all elements of a network could exist. As end-users of mobile services, we could all benefit from the disruptive power this brings.

The efficiencies gained through software flexibility and openness will be pivotal in enabling future 5G and 6G networks to support all the services we are expecting. This is especially important for latency-critical applications like self-driving vehicles, high-speed financial trading, augmented and virtual reality and smart factories including robotics. Our ambitions, as a species, may be boundless. On the other hand, the resources available – time, money and frequency spectrum – are naturally limited. As always, ingenuity is the key to making the most of them.

Alun Morgan is technology ambassador at Ventec International Group (venteclaminates.com); This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. His column runs monthly.