Procera Networks launches RAN Perspectives device-driven network intelligence

US network intelligence company Procera Networks has announced the launch of its RAN Perspectives product, which claims to add new insight into the performance of wireless networks by deriving data from the devices using it.

By monitoring the real-time cellular (not GPS) location of a given subscriber as well as what they’re doing, and feeding that data into other Procera quality-of-experience (QoE) products hosted on the operator’s network, RAN Perspectives claims to provide real-time analytical data to diagnose and resolve QoE issues.

“We want to help operators understand what the cause of any customer issues is, and we do that by providing intelligence,” Cam Cullen, VP of Global Marketing at Procera Networks, told Telecoms.com “We have visibility into what the subscriber service is, what device they’re running and how that device may leverage certain applications, video screen size or different pieces of content. One thing we traditionally haven’t had enough information about is intelligence from the user perspective, and operators continually tell us that location-aware intelligence is a big gap in their portfolio.”

“The proliferation of mobile devices coupled with the expanding use of data-intensive applications such as mobile video has led to increasing congestion in the RAN that can dramatically reduce subscriber QoE,” said Shira Levine, Directing Analyst, Service Enablement and Subscriber Intelligence at Infonetics Research. “A device-based solution such as RAN Perspectives has the potential to more effectively manage congestion while enabling a broad array of additional services, solutions and applications, which could have dramatic implications for mobile networks.”

Those additional services include LBS, customer care assistance and coverage heat-maps. RAN Perspectives is currently available for beta testing and is expected to commence its full commercial roll-out in Q1 2015. The software used is technology, platform and device agnostic and can be installed over the air without subscriber opt in since it only has access to the 3GPP signaling information that comes directly out of the handset into the network itself.