The 5G-PPP Working Group on ‘Software Network SDN/NFV’ hosts its
5th workshop at EuCNC-2019

‘From cloud ready to cloud native transformation’

When & Where: Tuesday, 18 June 2019, 8:30 -13:00, room R8

 

Chair:

  • Dr. Ing. Bessem Sayadi, Nokia Bell-Labs, France

Technical Program Committee:

  • Josep Martrat, ATOS, ES
  • Ricard Vilalta, CTTC, ES
  • Diego López, Telefónica, ES
  • José Bonnet, Altice Labs, PT
  • George Xilouris, Demokritos, GR
  • Iordache Marius, Orange, RO
  • Thomas Deiss, Nokia, DE
  • Lionel Natarianni, Nokia Bell-Labs, FR
  • Ilhem Fajjari, Orange Labs, FR
  • Nikos Stasinopoulos, Incelligent, GR
  • Shuaib Siddiqui (i2Cat), ES
  • Antonello Corsi, ENGINEERING INGEGNERIA INFORMATICA, IT
  • Jose Soler, DTU, DK
  • David Breitgand, IBM, IL
  • David Griffin, UCL, UK
  • Azahar Machwe, Zeeta Networks, UK
  • Hadi Razzaghi, UCL, UK
  • Sofiane Imadali, Orange Labs, FR
  • Anastasios Zafeiropoulos, Ubitech, GR

Agenda:

The workshop will be structured as follows:

  • Session 1 (60min):
    • Keynote presentation ‘’Cloud Native 5G Virtual Network Functions: Design Principles and Use Cases’’, Sofiane Imadali, Orange Labs Networks, 5G-EVE (30min) + Q&A (10min)
    • Presentation of 5G-PPP Software Network WG White Paper: “Verticals in the Cloud-Native Era’ (15min) + Q&A (5min), Bessem Sayadi, Nokia (5G-PPP Software Network WG Chair)
  • Session 2 (60min)
    • Theme: Cloud Native best practices
      • Josep Martrat (ATOS, ES), “Cloud-native Immersive Media pilot deployment using SONATA”, 5G-TANGO
      • Anastasios Zafeiropoulos (Ubitech, GR), ‘’Cloud native applications design and deployment’’, MATILDA
      • Marius Iordache (Orange, RO), “Cloud-native approach for a 5G use-case implementation based on network slicing” + technical paper “SliceNet Programmable Data Plane Control in 5G Network Slicing”, SLICENET
    • Coffee Break (30min)
    • Session 3 (60min):
      • Theme: Cloud Native best practices, Cont’d
        • Hadi Razzaghi (UPB, DE), “Kubernetes and OpenStack to support multi-version service chaining”, 5G-PICTURE
        • Antonello Corsi (ENG, IT), “Progress towards cloud native paradigm for the energy domain services based on VNFs”, NRG5
        • David Breitgand (IBM, IL) and David Griffin (UCL, UK),” Cognitive Network Optimization of Cloud-Native Media Applications”, 5G-MEDIA
      • Session 4 (60min):
        • Theme: Cloud Native as an enabler for Access, Transport, Core
          • Thomas Deiss (Nokia, DE), “Cloud native and RAN”, 5G-TRANSFORMER
          • Ilhem Fajjari (Orange, FR)), “Telco-grade Kubernetes”, NGPaaS
          • Apostolos Papageorgiou (i2cat, ES), “Slicing-aware service orchestration”, 5G-CITY
    • Wrap-up and next steps (10 min)

Motivation and Background:

The softwarization of the network is focused on the virtualization, decoupling the HW from the SW to lower the cost of network and service operation and to reduce the time to market for new services while introducing higher flexibility. In addition, virtualization of networking systems offers a multitude of benefits for telecommunication and datacenter operators by decoupling network functions from proprietary hardware as well as decoupling services from propriety service platforms.

In the same time, the cloud has disrupted the established order in many sectors. And the reason is simple. With it, companies have been able to reduce the investment in their internal data centers in favor of unlimited computing resources, available on demand and billed for use. From now on, the competitiveness of a company depends directly on its capacity to quickly realize new ideas. Start-ups understand this well, so they rely on native cloud approaches to disrupt traditional sectors. It becomes obvious that innovations should be made cloud-native for being successful where the functions are designed for a cloud environment rather than packaged up and deployed onto it.

Cloud-native is an approach to build and run applications that fully exploit the benefits of the cloud computing model. The Cloud-native approach is the way applications are created and deployed, not where they are executed. It includes things like services architectures, infrastructure as a code, automation, continuous integration/delivery pipelines, observability/monitoring tools, etc

A research ecosystem of horizontal and vertical R&D actions is being formed, which examines the transformation from cloud ready to cloud native in the telco world. A carrier-grade enhancement to the Telco cloud native platform is required to provide better-than-IT performance in par or better than what is possible with classical telco platforms. Features like five-nine reliability, stateless microservices, etc should be supported in the Telco cloud native. A fast virtualization and programmability across all networking domains: from core to edge and access, from wired/optical to wireless, cellular and also satellite, is also considered.

The workshop is not only about 5G technologies and their implementation – with, for instance, Cloud-RAN, functional split and resource management techniques in 5G – but also about the whole service-based technology relevant to 5G in the cloud-native transformation. A service-based technology, by definition, offers hardware and/or software resources provided as a service over a network.

This open workshop aims at reinforcing this European research ecosystem by strengthening the liaison between the participating projects, facilitating the exchange of ideas and helping each research group to take advantage of the results produced by other projects, improving focus of innovation and aligning towards common goals and milestones, thus maximizing the overall impact. The workshop will promote and stimulate the discussion about development of new research directions for building a stronger abstraction layer for the cloud, programmable infrastructure, cognitive management, flexible programmability of 5G networks services, managing application lifecycle in the cloud, etc

The workshop is endorsed by the Software Networks Working Group of the 5G-PPP (https://5g-ppp.eu/) and supported by participating projects and partners.

The participants will have the opportunity to exchange ideas, share hands-on experience and solutions and discuss research results. The workshop will aim in extending collaborations and paving common exploitation strategies. The structure of the workshop is based on invited presentation of 5G-PPP projects that operate on the same focus area, followed by breakout sessions on particular subjects allowing immediate interaction between the delegates and facilitating the exchange of expertise and best practices in the field.

Participating Projects:

  • NGPaaS: An ideal 5G PaaS should not only facilitate building, shipping and running classical virtual network applications (VNF) with “telco-grade” quality, it should also combine all sort of third-party applications with those VNF for creating new more versatile and powerful cloud objects, breaking silos between connectivity and computing. Such a 5G PaaS does not exist today. NGPaaS will build it.
  • 5G-TRANSFORMER: aims to transform today’s mobile transport network into an SDN/NFV-based Mobile Transport and Computing Platform (MTP), by provisioning and managing MTP slices tailored to the specific needs of vertical industries and MVNOs. This enables vertical industries to meet their service requirements within customized MTP slices, which can be created on a federated virtualized infrastructure.
  • 5G-CITY: 5GCity enables European cities to have a distributed and multi-tenant edge infrastructure enabling the orchestration and service programming of edge 5G services within a neutral host rational. Despite enabling multiple verticals, 5GCity use cases focus on media and automotive industries providing the tools needed to convert conventional services and traditional cloud services into 5G enabled services.
  • 5GTANGO: enables the flexible programmability of 5G networks with a vendor independent platform that consists of an NFV-enabled Service Development Kit (SDK) for VNFs/Network Services packaging, and Store with automated validation and verification (V&V) mechanisms for Network Services qualification and a modular Service Platform that includes an orchestrator and a slice manager in order to bridge the gap between business needs and network operational management systems.
  • SLICENET: addresses the diverging and demanding requirements from vertical businesses (e.g., Smart grid, Smart city and eHealth) for 5G services, and focuses on achieving cognitive network management and control for end-to-end network slicing operation and slice-based services in SDN/NFV-enabled 5G networks.
  • NRG5: the objective is to make the deployment, operation and management of existing and new communications and energy infrastructures (in the context of the Smart Energy-as-a-Service) easier, safer, more secure and resilient from an operational and financial point of view.
  • 5G-MEDIA: 5G-MEDIA is developing a novel platform for the deployment and optimisation of media applications for 5G networks. It is making use of Function as a Service as a key technology for cloud-native application deployment. 5G-MEDIA is using a range of machine learning techniques to automate the configuration and adaptation of media applications to dynamically changing demand patterns and resource availability.
  • 5G-PICTURE: develops and demonstrates a converged fronthaul and backhaul infrastructure integrating advanced wireless and novel optical network solutions. The proposed solution will be based on network softwarization, migrating from the conventional closed networking model to an open reference platform, supported through HW programmability, where HW is configured directly by network functions, to provide the required performance Structure
  • MATILDA: propose to design and implement a holistic 5G end-to-end services operational framework tackling the lifecycle of design, development and orchestration of 5G-ready applications and 5G network services over programmable infrastructure, following a unified programmability model and a set of control abstractions.
  • 5G-EVE is creating the foundations for a pervasive roll-out of end-to-end 5G networks in Europe, supports this fundamental transition by offering to vertical industries and to all 5GPPP Phase 3 projects facilities to validate their network KPIs and their services. 5G-EVE end-to-end facility consists of the interconnection of four 5G-site-facilities (France, Spain, Italy, Greece) and will enable experiments with: (a) heterogeneous access, including NR, licensed/unlicensed spectrum, advanced spectrum management; (b) Mobile Edge Computing, backhaul, core/service technologies; (c) means for site interworking and multi-site/domain/technology slicing/orchestration.