The anticipation around forthcoming IT and networking trends is high as we enter 2024. There is a lot of talk about Generative AI, sustainable computing and networking, and tightening regulatory landscapes. As bandwidth requirements grow and customer expectations increase, we predict heightened focus on network optimization and personalized QoE. We also expect HD video and immersive content to dominate our digital experiences more than ever. Most important of all, we think 2024 will be the year of next-gen DPI, and here’s why:
#1: The rise of big tech and hyperscalers
The top six big tech companies, namely Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Netflix, Alphabet and Meta are responsible for almost 50% of today’s network traffic [1]. These, along with hyperscalers such as Google Cloud Platform, Azure, and AWS herald the era of infinite data, where networks must continuously scale up capacity, security and performance. However, to achieve this, networks need deep traffic visibility. Deep packet inspection (DPI), a cutting-edge traffic detection technology for IP networks, delivers real-time application and threat awareness. ipoque's OEM DPI engine R&S®PACE 2 and its VPP-based counterpart R&S®vPACE, enable granular detection and classification of applications, protocols and services and support advanced traffic metrics (e.g. application speed, container startup latency and VM data receive and transmit rates). Big tech and hyperscalers can leverage R&S®PACE 2 to monitor traditional computing stacks, while R&S®vPACE can be used to support VNFs and CNFs such as 5G UPFs, enabling players in this space to optimize workloads and traffic flows, secure applications and infrastructure, and shape content trends.
#2: The AI and machine learning boom
The global market for AI in telecoms is expected to reach USD 38.8 billion by 2031 [2] as operators adopt AI and automation for service improvements and cost reductions. However, increasingly stringent encryption protocols as well as the widespread use of traffic obfuscation and anonymization, challenges AI’s efficiency and accuracy by impairing the quality of training data. This subsequently affects the efficacy of AI algorithms in analyzing and predicting network behavior. This is why we think that 2024 will be a big year for next-gen DPI. Next-gen DPI incorporates encrypted traffic intelligence (ETI) which combines ML and DL techniques and advanced caching methods to classify encrypted flows. Next-gen DPI with ETI enables operators to classify traffic, even across emerging encryption protocols and techniques such as TLS 1.3, QUIC and ESNI or when tunneling or when VPN is deployed. With next-gen DPI, operators can execute traffic-aware network management, for example dynamic path selection, intelligent resource allocation for latency-sensitive applications and flexible billing based on individuals’ resource consumption and QoE requirements.
#3: High-bandwidth mobile services to continue growing
GSMA’s annual European Mobile Economy report [3] predicts a surge in demand among 5G subscribers for high-bandwidth services such as high quality gaming, XR and video content, entailing over EUR 198 billion in investments in the region, by year 2030. Most of these emerging applications have begun adopting latest encryption protocols. Again, this calls for next-gen DPI with ETI. With next-gen DPI, operators can gather new and more detailed analyses of encrypted traffic. For example, operators can distinguish on-demand streaming activity from OTT video downloading, and hence optimize routing of video traffic, reducing network costs while keeping tabs on subscriber QoE. Visibility into encrypted video traffic will become even more pertinent as the share of video traffic tops 80% [4] in not so distant future.
#4: Emergence of 5G non-terrestrial network (NTN)
5G experienced rapid rollouts throughout 2023 with around 1.6 billion [5] projected subscriptions worldwide. In 2024, chips compatible with the 3GPP’s Release-17, which supports the integration of non-terrestrial network (NTN) technology into the 3GPP's 5G new radio (NR) standard, will become commercially available. This will enable ubiquitous 5G connectivity on standard unmodified smartphones and IoT devices, expanding 5G for rural users and powering various IoT / IIoT use cases in mining, agriculture, logistics, environmental monitoring and disaster response.
The introduction of NTN-NR will need DPI-enabled end-to-end visibility to establish situational and contextual awareness that is needed for seamless handoffs between operator and satellite networks and for applying QoS/QoE policies and improving network adaptability through self-optimizing capabilities. Next-gen DPI will remain indispensable for 5G NTN deployments in identifying underlying applications accurately and reliably to support real-time virtual instances spanning different connectivity technologies and to proactively monitor the performance of each session and application.
#5: Growing appetite for B2B2X offerings
The growing enterprise demand for end-to-end connectivity solutions has fostered operator B2B2X portfolios where players across the value chain - hardware manufacturers, system integrators, security vendors, analytics providers, payment intermediaries - co-create revenues. This however, has its own challenges. Mediating a diverse service portfolio spanning different industries, each characterized by unique customer needs, resource requirements and billing models, requires real-time traffic insights.
Again, next-gen DPI comes into play. Next-gen DPI enables accurate and granular analysis and accounting of operator resources (e.g. bandwidth) and vendor applications, services and hardware (e.g. cloud platform). It also speeds up diagnostics and issue resolution, especially for critical use cases. In smart manufacturing for example, R&S®PACE 2, by distinguishing IIoT protocols such as Modbus, Profibus, EtherNet/IP or MQTT, and traffic patterns such as periodicity and low data rates, enable network administrators to prioritize and secure critical machine-to-server communications. Similarly, DPI in fintech can help identify behavioral characteristics such as specific transactional sequences or predictable communication flows between financial servers and clients, before these transactions are routed over low latency, secure pathways.
#6: AI to reimagine network security
In 2024, security vendors will be harnessing the power of AI for threat identification through next-gen DPI. This will help in tackling emerging exploits, for example RDP-related threats, identity-based attacks, spear-phishing and social engineering techniques that largely fly under the radar of traditional security defenses. For instance, last year’s massive MGM breach saw cybercriminals impersonating as employees and downloading over six terabytes of data from MGM’s systems [6]. Next-gen DPI with advanced ML / DL algorithms would have averted the USD 100 million attack by identifying irregularities in application and user behavior. Similarly, in another major breach involving 23andMe [7], attackers used credential stuffing, which could have been detected by DPI’s monitoring of unusual locations, devices and patterns of access. Whether it is suspicious traffic from remote C&C centers, or legitimate users accessing malicious domains, 2024 will see next-gen DPI becoming a crucial addition to networks’ AI-based security artillery.
Data and more data: Why we will always need DPI for network visibility
Complex communication protocols, rise in traffic diversity and the need to keep networks optimized, will all drive the need for real-time traffic visibility, and hence DPI. It is not surprising that the global DPI market will reach USD 6.58 billion by 2028, from just USD 1.32 billion in 2022 [8]. As we usher in 2024, there is no doubt that DPI will continue being at the core of major shifts in the telecom and networking space, delivering unparalleled visibility into every application and service, and keeping players traffic-aware at all times.
References
[1] What Percentage of Internet Traffic Do Technology Giants Generate?: https://senalnews.com/en/research/what-percentage-of-internet-traffic-do-technology-giants-generate
[2] AI in Telecommunication Market Research, 2031: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/ai-in-telecommunication-market-A09352
[3] The Mobile Economy Europe 2023 - https://www.gsma.com/mobileeconomy/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GSMA-Mobile-Economy-Europe-2023.pdf
[4] Ericsson Mobility Report, November 2023 - https://www.ericsson.com/en/reports-and-papers/mobility-report/dataforecasts/traffic-by-application
[5] Ericsson Mobility Report, November 2023 - https://www.ericsson.com/en/reports-and-papers/mobility-report/reports
[6] Casino Giant MGM Expects $100 Million Hit from Hack That Led to Data Breach - https://edition.cnn.com/2023/10/05/business/mgm-100-million-hit-data-breach/index.html
[7] What the 23andMe Data Breach Reveals About Credential Stuffing - https://healthitsecurity.com/features/what-the-23andme-data-breach-reveals-about-credential-stuffing
[8] Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) Market Size & Trends 2023-2030 - https://www.barchart.com/story/news/19496317/deep-packet-inspection-dpi-market-size-trends-2023-2030-360-market-updates
