ONAP’s Frankfurt brings 5G slicing, Multi-Domain Optical Service

LF Networking (LFN) announced the availability of ONAP Frankfurt, the sixth major release of the open network automation platform for orchestration, management, and automation of network and edge computing services for network operators, cloud providers, and enterprises.

Key capabilities in the Frankfurt release include advances in 5G network slicing, integration with O-RAN, orchestration and management of multi-cloud cloud native network functions (CNFs), and cloud native applications across multiple Kubernetes clouds.  Frankfurt also introduces new functionality and makes considerable advances in S3P (stability, security, scalability, performance), and deeper alignment with Standards Developing Organizations (SDOs). Additionally, the release coincides with continued commercial activity and deployments to production across the industry via a vibrant technical community with participation from 34 organizations and 400+ developers.

The Frankfurt release also brings a blueprint for Multi-Domain Optical Network Service (MDONS) for L0/L1 optical service automation.

“It is during the most challenging of times that the ONAP Community shows its true strength,” said Catherine Lefevre, AVP-Network Cloud and SDN Platform Integration, AT&T and chair of ONAP Technical Steering Committee. “I am continually impressed by the amazing work we put forth every day and how we are making a difference across the Industry. It is an incredible collective effort between carriers, vendors and cloud providers. We have all been working incredibly hard these last few months to make the Frankfurt release happen.”

 

Release Highlights:

• 5G support — Frankfurt includes support for end-to-end 5G service orchestration and network slicing, greater alignment with the O-RAN specification, and other enhancements.  Developed in collaboration with SDOs such as 3GPP (see more details below), this feature positions ONAP as a comprehensive, vendor agnostic platform for 5G automation. 
• Standards harmonization — Frankfurt advances alignment with ETSI vis-a-vis SOL002, SOL003, SOL004, SOL005 specifications; 3GPP in the areas of network slicing, fault/performance/configuration management; TM Forum on additional northbound APIs; and O-RAN software community in terms of the O1 interface. These harmonization efforts mean greater deployment readiness.
• Commercial deployments are easier — Frankfurt brings better deployment readiness through major improvements in the continuous integration (CI) process, bringing stability, speed of innovation, and security:
• CI — Frankfurt introduces the capability to run automated testing in response to new patch submissions. Since January, the patch submission process has resulted in ~4,000 ONAP installations and ~70,000 automated test suites. In addition, the integration team has defined five test categories, test APIs, and a test database. 
• Security — Almost every ONAP project made progress on key security issues such as converting ports to https, removal of hard coded passwords, running K8s pods with non-root privileges, and reducing security vulnerabilities (CVE)s. Numerous open source dependencies were upgraded, such as Java 8 to Java 11. 
• Cloud native deployments are easier — Significant security and flexibility improvements made to the OOM project include security enhancements and the ability for ONAP to be deployed in any Kubernetes-as-a-Service (KaaS) environment, thus increasing the move towards cloud.
• Major new functionality — Frankfurt supports self service control loops that allows designers to completely define new control loops without having to wait for an official ONAP release;  Controller Design Studio (CDS) integrated to control loops; Configuration & Persistency Service supports saving 5G/O-RAN configuration data. This release also includes a new use case blueprints: Multi-Domain Optical Network Service (MDONS) for L0/L1 optical service automation and enhanced blueprints for 5G and CCVPN.

The next ONAP release, ‘Guilin,’ is planned for 2H of 2020 and will further increase the support for 5G in areas of network slicing and O-RAN integration, ETSI (e.g. SOL007) and 3GPP standards, as well as the cloud native journey including deeper integration with K8s. The release after Guilin is codenamed Honolulu.

More details on Frankfurt—including new functionalities, blueprints, and 5G use cases—are available via the links provided below. To learn more about ONAP Frankfurt, please visit https://www.onap.org/software

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Slide presentation: Intro to ONAP Frankfurt

In this 8-minute slide presentation, LF Networking's Arpit Joshipura introduces ONAP Frankfurt, the sixth major release of the open network automation platform for orchestration, management, and automation of network and edge computing services for network operators, cloud providers, and enterprises.

Key capabilities in the Frankfurt release include advances in 5G network slicing, integration with O-RAN, orchestration and management of multi-cloud cloud native network functions (CNFs), and cloud native applications across multiple Kubernetes clouds.  The Frankfurt release also brings a blueprint for Multi-Domain Optical Network Service (MDONS) for L0/L1 optical service automation.

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Australia hit by sophisticated cyber attack from state actor

The Australian federal government advised of a sophisticated cyber attack targeting Australian organisations across a range of sectors, including all levels of government, industry, political organisations, education, health, essential service providers, and operators of other critical infrastructure.

The Prime Minister's office said it is convinced that a state-based cyber actor is involved because of the scale and nature of the targeting and the tradecraft used.

The attack leverages a number of initial access vectors, with the most prevalent being the exploitation of public-facing infrastructure — primarily through the use of remote code execution vulnerability in unpatched versions of Telerik UI.

https://www.cyber.gov.au/threats/advisory-2020-008-copy-paste-compromises-tactics-techniques-and-procedures-used-target-multiple-australian-networks

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NeoPhotonics demos 90 km 400ZR in 75 GHz DWDM channels

NeoPhotonics has demonstrated transmission of 400Gbps data over data center interconnect (DCI) ZR distances in a 75 GHz spaced Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) channel.

NeoPhotonics said its demonstration achieved two milestones using its interoperable pluggable 400ZR coherent modules and its specially designed athermal arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) multiplexers (MUX) and de-multiplexers (DMUX).

• First, data rate per channel increases from today’s non-interoperable 100Gbps direct-detect transceivers to 400Gbps interoperable coherent 400ZR modules. 
• Second, the current DWDM infrastructure can be increased from 32 channels of 100 GHz-spaced DWDM signals to 64 channels of 75 GHz-spaced DWDM signals. The total DCI fiber capacity can thus be increased from 3.2 Tb/s (100Gb/s/ch. x 32 ch.) to 25.6 Tb/s (400Gb/s/ch. x 64 ch.), which is a total capacity increase of 800 percent.

NeoPhotonics technology overcomes multiple challenges to transporting 400ZR signals in 75 GHz-spaced DWDM channels. The 400ZR signal utilizes an approximately 60 Gbaud symbol rate and 16 QAM modulation, resulting in a broader transmitting signal spectrum compared to that of a standard 100 Gb/s coherent or PAM4 signals. Furthermore, it is recognized that the center frequencies of the lasers, MUX and DMUX will all drift due to temperature changes and aging. Consequently, as the channel spacing is reduced from 100GHz to 75GHz, adjacent channel interference (ACI) becomes more critical, and can potentially degrade the optical signal-to-noise ratio of 400ZR signals.

The filters used in NeoPhotonics MUX and DMUX units are designed to limit ACI while at the same time having a stable center frequency against extreme temperatures and aging. The optical signal spectrum of the pluggable 400ZR transmitter is very important for two reasons. First, the spectrum should not be too wide, as that would result in “spillover energy” impacting its neighbor DWDM channels. Second, it also cannot be too narrow, as that would degrade the signal quality or even recoverability, especially after the MUX and DMUX filtering.

NeoPhotonics has demonstrated end-to-end 90km DCI links using three in-house 400ZR pluggable transceivers with their tunable laser frequencies tuned to 75GHz spaced channels, and a pair of passive 75GHz-spaced DWDM MUX and DMUX modules designed specifically for this application. The optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) penalty due to the presence of the MUX and DMUX and the worst-case frequency drifts of the lasers, as well as the MUX and DMUX filters, is less than 1dB. The worst-case component frequency drifts were applied to emulate the operating conditions for aging and extreme temperatures.

“The combination of compact 400ZR silicon photonics-based pluggable coherent transceiver modules with specially designed 75 GHz channel spaced multiplexers and de-multiplexers can greatly increase the bandwidth capacity of optical fibers in a DCI application and consequently greatly decrease the cost per bit,” said Tim Jenks, Chairman and CEO of NeoPhotonics. “These 400ZR coherent techniques pack 400Gbps of data into a 75 GHz wide spectral channel, placing stringent requirements on the multiplexers and de-multiplexers. We are uniquely able to meet these requirements because we do both design and fabrication of planar lightwave circuits and we have 20 years of experience addressing the most challenging MUX/DMUX applications,” concluded Mr. Jenks.

https://www.neophotonics.com/press-releases/?newsId=11856

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AT&T tests Nokia's RAN Intelligent Controller over commercial 5G

Nokia and AT&T conducted a limited live trial of RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) over the AT&T commercial 5G mmWave network in New York City.

Last year, AT&T and Nokia announced their collaboration to co-develop the RIC software platform, in alignment with the O-RAN Alliance target architecture. The RIC software is available at the O-RAN Software Community.

For the recent trial, AT&T and Nokia ran a series of external applications, called “xApps,” at the edge of AT&T’s live 5G mmWave network on an Akraino-based Open Cloud Platform. The xApps used in the trial were designed to improve spectrum efficiency, as well as offer geographical and use case-based customization and rapid feature onboarding.

Ultimately, the trial achieved its test goals. Both companies tested the RAN E2 interface and xApp management and control, collected live network data using the Measurement Campaign xApp, the neighbor relation management using Automated Neighbor Relation (ANR) xApp, and tested RAN control via the Admission Control xApp – all with zero interruption to the live commercial network.

Mazin Gilbert, VP of Technology and Innovation at AT&T, said: “This successful trial is a testament to what we can achieve through openness and collaboration. Together with the O-RAN Alliance, AT&T and Nokia will continue to develop and contribute to the E2 interface and the RIC platform to help enable an intelligent and flexible 5G network.”

Michael Clever, Head of Edge Cloud Platforms at Nokia, said: “We are excited about the success achieved by the joint AT&T and Nokia team in proving out the RIC over AT&T's 5G network in such a great city. This represents a major milestone toward the advancement of RAN network intelligence, openness and programmability, with the ultimate goal of improving wireless networks efficiency and end user experience.”

https://www.nokia.com/about-us/news/releases/2020/06/18/nokia-and-att-run-successful-trial-of-the-ran-intelligent-controller-over-commercial-5g/

AT&T and Nokia collaborate on open RAN platform

Wednesday, January 09, 2019  AT&T, Nokia, ORAN  

AT&T and Nokia are collaborating on an open software platform under the ORAN Alliance to open up access to 5G radio access networks (RANs). The goal is faster, more flexible service deployments and programmability within a rapidly-evolvable RAN.  The ORAN Alliance aims to enable a multi-vendor open ecosystem of interoperable components for the disaggregated RAN.

AT&T said it is commencing development of a software platform for the RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC), to enable the creation of open source software that is aligned with the O-RAN target architecture. AT&T and Nokia are co-creating the platform code to accelerate the deployment of open source software for the 5G RAN.



Some highlights:

• The RIC platform will provide a set of functions and interfaces that allow for increased optimizations through policy-driven closed loop automation 
• The platform will be architected in the form of an extensible real-time microservices framework coupled with a radio information database and key open control plane interfaces for mobility management, spectrum management, load balancing, radio resource control and RAN slicing to name a few.  
• Implementations of these functions, sourced from multiple vendors, could be mixed and matched on a single network infrastructure. 

The platform will also enable interfaces to third-party applications for enhanced mobility functions such as cross layer optimization and machine learning inferences.

AT&T also plans to increase its engagement in Akraino Edge Stack, a Linux Foundation project focused on building production ready cloud infrastructure for edge deployment in open source. In particular, AT&T has also signed a multiyear co- development agreement with Nokia to further expand Akraino Edge Stack capabilities supporting the needs of the RIC and other edge cloud platform deployments.

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TM Forum's Open Digital Architecture gains momentum

Amdocs, Netcracker, Nokia and Oracle Communications are adopting TM Forum's Open Digital Architecture which provides a framework for software used in operating service provider networks.

BT, Deutsche Telekom, Telefónica and Telenor are also among 11 new signatories to TM Forum’s Open API and Open Digital Architecture Manifesto.

Other backers include Chunghwa Telecom, Vidéotron, Globetom, 30 other organizations.

The TM Forum estimates that CSPs spend about $90 billion each year on IT. On top of that, the process of selecting and procuring software alone costs the industry approximately $1 billion per year. Open Digital Architecture aims to cut these costs while significantly reducing time-to-market for new services and delivering cutting-edge digital experience – factors which are crucial to remaining competitive and unlocking growth in the 5G era.

“As we shift to the infrastructure-agnostic cloud native IT architecture needed to underpin a multi-service operator like Orange, it’s imperative that we are able to invest in the things which make a difference rather than spending millions of euros in integrating again and again legacy solutions and customization,” said Thierry Souche, Group Chief Information Officer and Senior Vice President, Orange Lab Services. “The Open Digital Architecture offers a modern approach and the standards required for the industry to thrive, avoiding rigid, complex customized solutions. This is not about commoditization of IT software. It’s about freeing us to focus on delivering new and differentiated services.”

“Telco operators are evolving from a traditional mindset to truly embrace modern ways of working,” added Enrique Blanco, Chief Technology and Information Officer, Telefónica Group. “The Open Digital Architecture is a true enabler to accelerate this digital transformation, allowing limitless scaling and multi-tenancy while remaining agnostic to the choice of underlying compute platform. This architecture paves the way to leverage cost-effectiveness, flexibility and scalability avoiding infrastructure lock-in while embracing true continuous integration and continuous deployment cycles.”

Bhaskar Gorti, President of Nokia Software and Nokia Chief Digital Officer, said, “Nokia is pleased to give its added support to our TM Forum partners. Telecom networks and the supporting business, operations and experience systems are rapidly changing to one that is software-based, automated, intelligent, and customer- and experience-centric. In short, a network architecture that gives CSPs many new opportunities and use cases, like network slicing, that allow them to better serve their customers. And those endpoints are what we are driving towards with the announcement today.”

https://www.tmforum.org/oda/open-digital-architecture-open-api-manifesto/

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RedShift delivers Cloud Unified Communication Threat Management

RedShift Networks introduced a Cloud Unified Communication Threat Management (UCTM) service for securing communication & collaboration applications for Service Providers and enterprises.

The new UCTM service automates real-time application traffic security including eMeeting, eMessaging and VDI offerings. Defense in depth approaches are well addressed in the data realm but conspicuously absent from real time cloud security until now. RedShift Networks UCTM Cloud addresses this gap with four (4) critical capabilities:

• Non-blocking application inspection with analytics correlations,
• Preventing robocalls, VoIP threats, DDoS and TDoS with a real-time threat service,
• Eliminating more than 40,000 different real time threats from “bad actors” at multiple application layers based on traffic analysis, and
• Advanced threat protection globally in real-time with a virtual, software or cloud-based solution

These capabilities are also available in RedShift’s on-prem and virtual appliance solution.

“RedShift’s new cloud-native UCTM offering delivers our award-winning product and technology to every type of customer  – Service Providers and Enterprises – in their choice of hardware, software and cloud-based product form factors,” says Amitava Mukherjee, CEO and Co-Founder at RedShift Networks.

https://redshiftnetworks.com/

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Verizon Business expands Virtual Network Services with Cisco

Verizon Business is expanding its Virtual Network Services (VNS) portfolio for enterprise customers with the introduction of Cisco’s 5000 Series Enterprise Network Compute System (ENCS).

The Cisco ENCS purpose-built platform will now be included within Verizon’s catalog of virtual network functions and service chains that are offered to customers.

Verizon’s VNS portfolio allows customers to replace traditional network devices, such as routers, firewalls and switches, with virtual network functions (VNFs), which can be managed and orchestrated from a central location.

“Customers need to be able to quickly and easily deploy network services to branch locations as their business needs evolve,” said Aamir Hussain, Senior Vice President of Business Products. “The addition of Cisco’s ENCS compute platform to our VNS portfolio is another way for us to help enterprise customers simply deploy enterprise networking solutions for a more responsive, scalable and flexible network.”

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Champion ONE merges with Approved Networks - optical components

Champion ONE, a leading designer, marketer, and supplier of optical networking components worldwide, today announced its merger with Approved Networks and its affiliate, U.S. Critical, two recognized leaders in the programming, testing, and distribution of network solutions.

The merged company becomes one of the world’s largest independent optics companies, providing both open network and highly-customized optical solutions to the global market’s leading telecommunication service providers, as well as to data centers and U.S. government agencies, among others.

The new company will be headed by Pete Kirchof, Champion ONE’s Executive Chairman. Kurt Dunteman, Approved Networks’ Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, will serve as Chief Revenue Officer of the unified company. The company will retain its Champion ONE, Approved and U.S. Critical brands.

Kirchof noted that, “Similar to Champion ONE, Approved Networks has achieved significant growth since its inception, in large part due to its commitment to listening to customers and delivering consistent operational excellence. The decision to merge the companies was based not only on the compelling business synergies, but by the exceptional cultural fit, shared operational ethos, and relentless dedication to customer service.”

“A large part of Approved Networks’ success has been the company’s ability to identify and take advantage of targeted, strategic growth opportunities, and it became clear that a partnership with Champion ONE would create greater value for our clients and stakeholders,” said Dunteman. “This is exciting news that means enhanced programming, testing and engineering capabilities; redundant lab operations on both the East and West Coast; and increasing growth opportunities for our employees, while providing expanded product breadth and domain expertise to our customers.”

https://www.championone.com

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