Intel, Juniper, and Rakuten Symphony partner on O-RAN

by Benedict Chua, Associate Editor

Intel, Juniper Networks, and Rakuten Symphony are collaboratively developing an Open RAN solution that includes a "Symware" multipurpose edge appliance leverages Rakuten Symphony’s containerized RAN software from Altiostar, Intel Xeon D Processors and FlexRAN reference software, and Juniper’s cloud-native routing stack.

Kubernetes will play a key role

The Symware multipurpose edge appliance combines the containerized cell site routing functionality and a containerized Distributed Unit on a single general purpose server platform.

 The companies aim to provide a consistent carrier-grade routing stack across both physical and virtual Radio Access Networks. The goal is to enable 5G network slicing features both in RAN and transport domains including slice isolation, slice monitoring and dynamic traffic steering through segment routing.

The solution supports automation with zero-touch provisioning, rolling updates, telemetry and analytics for all the components, and is based on the Kubernetes ecosystem for orchestration and networking.

“Rakuten Symphony constantly looks to introduce leading-edge innovations to accelerate network transformations,” said Tareq Amin, CEO of Rakuten Symphony. “With our partners, we have developed a cost-performance optimized appliance that simplifies the cell site deployment for 4G, 5G and future generations of mobile technology. Symware provides operators with the ultimate future-proof cell site solution that enables them to flexibly densify their network and accommodate various network topologies at the lowest cost.”

Dan Rodriguez, Intel corporate vice president and general manager, Network Platforms Group added, “We continue to see the industry shift to take advantage of the many benefits provided by the cloudification of the RAN. By utilizing our Next Generation Intel® Xeon® D Processors and FlexRANTM reference software, this collaboration showcases how RAN workloads can be consolidated onto a single server and meet the performance, capacity and cost requirements of 5G RAN deployments.”

Raj Yavatkar, Juniper’s CTO, stated “Removing the obstacles of deploying ORAN in disaggregated production networks is critical for 5G growth. Integrated routing and ORAN in a single platform delivers cost and operational benefits for network operators. Combined with industry leading Intel technology and Rakuten’s DU software, Juniper’s disaggregated and state-of-art routing stack offers operators a unique solution for delivering differentiated 5G services including network slicing.”

https://symphony.rakuten.com/

Interview - Mobile World Congress Los Angeles 2021

 How can a brand new network become the best network in Japan? 

In this video clip, Tareq Amin, CEO of Rakuten Symphony, discusses their success in the use of Open RAN to disrupt the mobile market and how they prevailed despite naysayers.

https://youtu.be/MclEym6jYlMhttps://youtu.be/MclEym6jYlM