When most people think of the Tarana G1, they think about the base node (BN) and the remote node (RN) hardware. G1 is more than that. It’s not just hardware, it’s software algorithms, and, just as importantly, a simplified way to deploy, monitor, and manage fixed wireless networks.
Tarana Cloud Suite (TCS) is a part of G1 that doesn’t get nearly enough credit and yet it’s just as important for smooth deployments and operations. TCS is a resilient, managed cloud service that resides on the Amazon Web Services (AWS) infrastructure. Specifically, TCS is part of Tarana SMS (Software, Maintenance, Support) which is an all-inclusive suite of software and services.
Figure 1: G1 Architecture
TCS brings a number of important operator benefits:
Management and Maintenance
As part of the G1 platform, TCS includes 24 x 7 x 365 KPI monitoring, fault logging, correction and management. Because real-time or near-time data isn’t enough, TCS also includes long-term historic data that can be used for trend analysis and troubleshooting.
We recognize that software management is a real issue in large scale deployments. That’s why TCS includes the ability to run different software versions where needed or pre-provisioning and automation support for “set it and forget it” mode where hardware is automatically kept up to a configurable minimum software version.
Fault Management and Network Analytics
Alarms, anomaly detection, alarm correlation, and email notifications are standard fare for TCS and how it keeps administrators and NOC operators up to date on any issues that might require attention.
Radio and Network Planning
For those deploying CBRS, TCS includes SAS domain proxy functionality to simplify spectrum coordination. Coverage footprint prediction (heatmap in Google Earth) as well as capacity and cell densification analysis is also available.
Powerful REST APIs
We recognize most operators have invested in their own B/OSS systems and automation tools and that’s why G1 includes a suite of REST APIs for device inventory, network topology discovery/geo-mapping, subscriber provisioning, and billing integration.
Subscriber Service Activation
New subscribers means service activation which can be a time-consuming task. To streamline this process, TCS includes API support for zero-touch deployment configuration with minimal to no changes on directly connected infrastructure. It also includes infrastructure authentication, QoS management, and speed test tools to ensure new subscribers are correctly provisioned and operating as expected.
Customers who have used TCS love the simplicity and intuitiveness of the interface. Less clutter means less time spent trying to figure out how to get to the information or functionality you want.
Another feature of TCS is the very high availability and redundancy. Unlike some cloud offerings, TCS makes full use of the scalability of availability that is otherwise only available with a lot of money and engineering for on-prem solutions. Even if TCS is temporarily unreachable, BNs and RNs will still be able to function and pass traffic.
Since TCS is a cloud solution, new updates for features and bug fixes to TCS are rolled out quickly, with expert monitoring and management of the upgrade process. Because an upgrade to TCS does not require an upgrade to BNs and RNs, these upgrades have minimal impact on subscribers or operations.
We believe TCS strikes the right balance between simplicity, functionality, and availability. It gives operators all the flexibility and redundancy cloud is great at offering, but without the downsides normally associated with it. We want our customers to be able to deploy anywhere, manage and monitor anywhere, and do it quickly and efficiently with no messy or confusing interfaces.
If you just can’t wait to learn more, check out our other blogs, or reach out to us at info@taranawireless.com. We’d love to hear from you.