Building robust signaling networks – meeting the challenges of the rising signaling storm

Operators are facing increased challenges that affect the performance of the signaling network. At the same time, consumers increasingly expect high availability from communication and data services. In this environment, network failure scenarios can trigger a massive amount of signaling – a signaling storm.

One current strategy to address this issue is to mitigate overload problems by over-dimensioning networks for the peak signaling load. This adds complexity and implies higher opex and capex, leading to an additional financial burden that puts an operator in a less competitive position.

Distributed signaling network robustness that follows the concept of three protection lines provides operators with a robust and scalable network architecture beyond the capabilities of existing overload protection mechanisms at node level. Applying this concept enables mobile networks to handle the growth in signaling without unnecessary over-dimensioning, and ensures service delivery to consumers even in cases of heavy signaling load, node failures and malicious activities that lead to signaling storms.