One big change telecom operator core networks are making is virtualization: the functional separation of applications and software from hardware platforms. At the same time, 5G core network virtualization requires use of edge computing. At this point, virtualization and edge computing require each other.
That allows use of commercial, off the shelf hardware, which provides capital investment and operating cost advantages and sometimes greater simplicity. Increasingly, it also is possible to abstract the hardware platforms as well, using cloud computing supplied by third parties.
Since March 2020, Google Cloud has been developing a 5G strategy for mobile operator networks, aiming to sell Google Cloud computing as the fabric for virtualized 5G network operations.
Google Cloud and Intel now have announced they have a platform for supporting virtual radio access networks or open RAN operations.
You might think of this as one way edge computing is going to develop with 5G, or a way virtualized network processes will be supported, computationally.
One might also see this as another example of telco or enterprise computing virtualization, open network standards and use of commercial off-the-shelf hardware, open source and abstracted functions using application programming interfaces.
The collaboration uses Google Cloud's Anthos application platform and Intel cloud-native platforms and solutions, including Intel's cloud-native Open Network Edge Service Software (OpenNESS) deployment model.
Google already had created mechanisms to support application operation at the edge, using Anthos.
Such abstraction of the computing functions supporting core networks illustrates the way telcos themselves will be potential customers of cloud computing service providers.
But it also is, at the same time, part of the adoption of edge computing.
No comments:
Post a Comment