Achieve Seamless Connectivity with Flow Duplication, Flow Balancing, and Bandwidth Aggregation
From mission-critical communications to seamless video streaming, businesses rely on uninterrupted connectivity to function efficiently. As enterprises increasingly adopt cloud-based applications and rely on remote connectivity, the demand for robust, resilient networks is at an all-time high.
Enter intelligent link bonding - a transformative technology that ensures application resiliency and optimizes bandwidth efficiency. Ericsson Enterprise Wireless’s suite of intelligent link bonding features enables enterprises to combine multiple Wide Area Network (WAN) connections into a single, virtual connection. This flexibility not only bolsters bandwidth but also manipulates traffic dynamically to meet diverse operational needs.
The Building Blocks of Intelligent Link Bonding
Intelligent bonding is not just about merging multiple WAN connections; it’s about creating smarter networks that adapt to ever-changing demands. By combining different types of connections—wired, cellular, satellite, and Wi-Fi—into a single virtual pipe, businesses can enjoy improved bandwidth, cost savings, and application resiliency.
What Is Link Aggregation?
At its core, link aggregation combines multiple LAN or WAN interfaces into a unified virtual connection. This process - link bonding, intelligent bonding, WAN bonding, teaming, or bundling - enhances bandwidth, optimizes network efficiency, and improves application reliability. Modern SD-WAN (Software-Defined WAN) technology furthers link aggregation by adding intelligent traffic management, enabling enterprises to prioritize critical applications and reduce costs.
Key Features of Intelligent Bonding in SD-WAN
Ericsson’s intelligent bonding suite is built on three primary features, each serving distinct purposes:
Flow Duplication: Ensuring Mission-Critical Resiliency
Flow duplication is a feature designed for scenarios where data delivery is non-negotiable. Duplicating application data and sending it across two WAN links simultaneously guarantees that mission-critical traffic reaches its destination even if one link experiences congestion or failure.
Applications:
This feature is ideal for vehicles moving between network coverage areas, such as police cruisers, ambulances, and utility trucks. For instance, a dual-modem router in a police car can transmit live video streams across cellular and satellite connections, ensuring uninterrupted data flow during emergencies.
Considerations:
Flow duplication uses twice the data since identical packets are transmitted across two links. It’s best reserved for mission-critical applications to manage costs effectively.
Flow Balancing: Optimizing Cost and Efficiency
Flow balancing distributes network traffic across multiple WAN connections based on predefined weights. This feature is particularly useful in fixed sites where cost management is a priority.
Applications:
Businesses can bond a wired link with a cellular link, assigning, for example, 80% of the traffic to the cheaper wired connection and 20% to the cellular link. This ensures that high-priority traffic takes the most cost-effective route without compromising performance.
Considerations:
Each link must have sufficient bandwidth to handle 100% of the assigned traffic in case of failure. Network administrators must configure flow balancing carefully to avoid congestion or bottlenecks.
Bandwidth Aggregation: Creating a Fatter Pipe
Bandwidth aggregation combines two or more WAN connections to increase total bandwidth, making it ideal for bandwidth-intensive applications like video streaming or large file transfers.
Applications:
Emergency response vehicles, branch offices, and video surveillance systems benefit significantly from bandwidth aggregation. For example, aggregated bandwidth ensures smooth, uninterrupted video transmission during a live-streamed company event.
Considerations:
The aggregated bandwidth adopts the latency of the slowest connection. To achieve optimal performance, it’s recommended to use links with similar latency profiles.
Enhancing Link Bonding with Forward Error Correction (FEC)
Beyond flow duplication, flow balancing, and bandwidth aggregation, link bonding is further enhanced by Forward Error Correction (FEC). This feature adds redundant data bits to transmissions, allowing the receiver to detect and correct errors without retransmissions. FEC is especially beneficial for cellular links, where burst packet loss can impact performance.
FEC pairs well with flow balancing and bandwidth aggregation but is only necessary for flow duplication if both WAN connections experience simultaneous loss.
Real-World Applications of Intelligent Bonding
The versatility of intelligent bonding makes it indispensable across various industries and use cases. Below are some examples of how link aggregation is transforming enterprise connectivity:
Mission-Critical Communication in Vehicles
In vehicles such as police cruisers, fire trucks, and ambulances, connectivity is more than a convenience—it’s a necessity. Ericsson’s dual-modem routers and intelligent bonding features ensure that these vehicles maintain constant communication, even when moving between different network coverage areas.
Flow Duplication:
Supports critical communication by duplicating traffic across two WAN connections, ensuring resiliency during coverage transitions.
Bandwidth Aggregation:
Enables real-time video streaming and data uploads during emergencies, creating a robust communication pipeline.
WAN Control for Fixed Locations
Intelligent bonding enhances WAN control and cost-effectiveness in fixed locations such as retail stores, corporate offices, and branch locations.
Flow Balancing:
Optimizes cost by prioritizing traffic on cheaper, wired connections while reserving cellular links for high-priority applications.
Bandwidth Aggregation:
Provides the capacity needed for applications like video conferencing and remote monitoring.
Emergency Response Kits
Emergency response teams require connectivity solutions that can be deployed rapidly in the field. Ruggedized kits equipped with SD-WAN routers leverage intelligent bonding to ensure mission-critical communications.
Flow Duplication:
Guarantees that vital information, such as medical records or evacuation data, reaches its destination without interruption.
Bandwidth Aggregation:
Supports Wi-Fi hotspots for multiple devices, ensuring seamless collaboration among first responders.
The Evolution of Link Bonding in SD-WAN
The concept of link bonding isn’t new—it’s been around for over 15 years. However, its integration with SD-WAN and wireless WAN technologies has redefined its capabilities.
Early Days: Wired Link Bonding
Traditional SD-WAN solutions focused on combining wired links, such as MPLS and Ethernet, to create a single logical connection. This approach improved bandwidth and application performance but needed more flexibility for wireless environments.
Modern Era: Wireless WAN Bonding
Today’s SD-WAN solutions incorporate cellular (5G, LTE) and satellite links, addressing the unique challenges of wireless networks, such as fluctuating bandwidth and latency. Modern WAN bonding technologies are optimized to handle these complexities, enabling businesses to achieve cost savings, resiliency, and enhanced application performance.
WAN Control for Fixed Locations
Intelligent bonding enhances WAN control and cost-effectiveness in fixed locations such as retail stores, corporate offices, and branch locations.
Flow Balancing:
Optimizes cost by prioritizing traffic on cheaper, wired connections while reserving cellular links for high-priority applications.
Bandwidth Aggregation:
Provides the capacity needed for applications like video conferencing and remote monitoring.
Emergency Response Kits
Emergency response teams require connectivity solutions that can be deployed rapidly in the field. Ruggedized kits equipped with SD-WAN routers leverage intelligent bonding to ensure mission-critical communications.
Flow Duplication:
Guarantees that vital information, such as medical records or evacuation data, reaches its destination without interruption.
Bandwidth Aggregation:
Supports Wi-Fi hotspots for multiple devices, ensuring seamless collaboration among first responders.
Benefits of Intelligent Bonding
Improved Application Resiliency
Intelligent bonding ensures mission-critical applications remain operational even during network outages by duplicating traffic across multiple WAN connections.
Enhanced Bandwidth Efficiency
Combining multiple WAN links into a single virtual pipe increases overall bandwidth, supporting bandwidth-intensive applications such as video streaming and large data transfers.
Cost Savings
Features like flow balancing enable enterprises to optimize network costs by prioritizing traffic on lower-cost connections.
Flexibility and Scalability
Intelligent bonding supports diverse connectivity options—wired, cellular, satellite, and Wi-Fi—making it adaptable to various operational environments.
Choosing the Right Bonding Strategy
To maximize the benefits of intelligent bonding, enterprises must choose the right features based on their specific use cases:
Mission-Critical Traffic: Use flow duplication to ensure uninterrupted data delivery.
Cost Optimization: Leverage flow balancing to reduce network expenses.
Bandwidth-Intensive Applications: Deploy bandwidth aggregation for high-throughput scenarios.
Intelligent Bonding: The Future of Network Resiliency
Intelligent bonding represents a significant leap forward in a world where connectivity is king. Combining the best SD-WAN and wireless WAN technologies enables enterprises to build resilient, efficient, and cost-effective networks.
Whether you’re streaming live video from a police cruiser, managing traffic at a retail store, or providing Wi-Fi in an emergency zone, intelligent bonding ensures your network is always ready for the task at hand.
About MCA and Our CNS Team
MCA is one of the largest and most trusted integrators in the United States, offering world-class voice, data, and security solutions that enhance the quality, safety, and productivity of customers, operations, and lives. More than 65,000 customers trust MCA to provide carefully researched solutions for a safe, secure, and more efficient workplace.
Our Cellular Networking Solutions (CNS) team (formerly known as USAT) is made up of certified experts in designing and deploying fixed and mobile wireless data connectivity solutions for public and private enterprises nationwide - complete with implementation, training, proof of concept (POC), system auditing, and on-site RF surveying services with optional engineering maintenance contracts.
Our extensive catalog of world-class routers, gateways, and software designed for remote monitoring and management in even the harshest environments allows us to deliver a full suite of reliable technologies capped with a service-first approach.
Share this Post
