Dynamic Actionable Recognition Technology
What is DART?
Dynamic Actionable Recognition Technology (DART) integrates Allot’s vast expertise in IP traffic identification and policy enforcement into a highly effective technology toolkit for managing bandwidth consumption and service performance in mobile and fixed broadband networks.
DART is at the core of Allot’s intelligent IP service optimization solutions, which play a key role in helping service providers to ensure that network costs do not outpace revenue growth, and that the data-usage needs and expectations of all subscribers are met.
3 Layers of Awareness
Intelligent service optimization begins with granular visibility and an understanding of how IP-broadband network resources and services are being consumed. To that end, DART provides three layers of traffic awareness: application, subscriber and network topology.
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Application Awareness
DART employs multiple inspection and analytical methods to identify the specific applications. From straightforward Layer-7 monitoring of individual traffic flows, to complex analysis of application behavior, this synergy of inspection methods greatly improves recognition capabilities and reduces unidentified traffic even at maximum speeds and peak loads. Through proactive learning, DART is able to adapt to changing tactics as applications attempt to evade detection through encryption or by altering their connection behavior or flow patterns. Frequent and ongoing updates to Allot’s extensive signature library are designed to keep pace with developments and advances in Internet applications.
Subscriber Awareness
DART also identifies the user who is generating the traffic. For example, the service provider may see that one subscriber is streaming YouTube videos to his laptop, while another is “skyping” from her iPhone. DART employs real-time mapping of static or dynamically allocated IP addresses to subscribers and their service plans in order to monitor subscriber-application usage and to track consumption patterns and trends.
Network Topology Awareness
Network topology is the third dimension of awareness that DART brings to Allot solutions, providing valuable intelligence about different areas of the mobile or fixed network. As a result, operators can monitor and manage with pinpoint accuracy the utilization of infrastructure elements such as the shared spectrum in radio access cells, cell backhaul links, gateway/service nodes (SSGN, GGSN), and switches such as CMTS or DLSAM components. This provides a more complete and accurate picture of network utilization and enables flexible enforcement policies.
Ability to Act
DART gives network providers the ability to act upon the application, subscriber and topology intelligence they’ve gathered by mapping these elements directly into policy enforcement rules. As a result, operators can regulate bandwidth consumption and service delivery based on network conditions, subscriber profiles and desired outcomes. For example, traffic policies may prioritize or allocate a guaranteed amount of bandwidth to certain traffic. Or policies may limit bandwidth allocations when usage exceeds predefined congestion thresholds. Likewise, policies can be used to steer relevant subscriber traffic to one or more value-added services. Altogether, these separate actions result in a coherent enforcement policy that manages fair use, enhances the user experience, protects network integrity, reduces network costs, and increases ARPU.
Ability to Scale
DART is an integral part of Allot Service Gateway and next-generation NetEnforcer platforms, which scale from 45Mbps to 60Gbps throughput.
DART Benefits
- Accurate application identification
- Granular subscriber, application, and topology visibility
- Enhanced QoS policy enforcement