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Argela demonstrates dynamically programmable end-to-end network slicing for 5G on M-CORD

Orchestrated network slicing using Argela’s ProgRAN and RAN-triggered core network slicing technologies is demonstrated on Argela M-CORD, the first operational M-CORD outside ON.Lab.

Sunnyvale, CA – August 15, 2016 Argela announced success of a Proof of Concept (PoC) programmable network slicing technology for 5G networks on its M-CORD reference platform. Argela’s M-CORD is the first operational rack outside ON.Lab.

Argela’s 5G slicing technology PoC enables the virtual partitioning of both the radio access network (RAN) and the core network (CN) components of the cellular network as well as orchestration of end-to-end slicing, effectively enabling Network-As-A-Service for different use and business cases.

The RAN slicing technology in the PoC is Argela’s ProgRAN architecture, which decouples the data and control planes in the RAN, and allows operators to dynamically create, modify or terminate virtual base stations on an existing base station hardware. Each virtual base station governs a non-overlapping portion of the wireless resources using its own, use case optimized control functionalities. The ProgRAN architecture also allows for vRAN implementations where the base stations are disaggregated into Central and Remote Units (CUs & RUs) and some of their functionalities are virtualized and moved to a data center as CUs. The CUs are pooled by the RUs as needed.

Argela’s CN slicing technology on the other hand, allows for a programmatically modular disaggregation of the CN components for each slice, virtualization of these components and implementing them using VMs on generic servers at a data center. The technology is capable of providing the most suitable resources and network topology to different types of use and business cases. Orchestration of CN slicing allows for the sharing of some of these components across multiple slices.

The PoC successfully demonstrates how RAN slices can be dynamically mapped to CN slices in real-time to orchestrate end-to-end network slicing. The PoC shows how network slices could be orchestrated dynamically in order to meet specific service or business requirements. The orchestrator in the PoC is flexible and may map multiple RAN slices to the same CN slice. The PoC also successfully demonstrates inter-slice handovers.

“5G networks need to provide support for a wide range of use and business cases, potentially each with vastly different service requirements. It is crucial to develop 5G to appear as a “single system” that can meet these diverse requirements and also ensure that the network remains profitable for the operator. A use case optimized approach is needed for 5G, requiring a highly adaptable, virtualizable and dynamically programmable network.” said Bülent Kaytaz, CEO of Argela. “At Argela, we envision a 5G network where network slices are created and service specific optimizations are invoked for them programmatically. The slices will potentially provide individually optimized network configurations for all active use cases. In addition, they will provide a new dimension for operators to innovate revenue generating services.”

“We have been an active and critical contributor at ON.Lab to Mobile CORD (M-CORD), an initiative that is actively developing an open service delivery platform designed to provide data center economies and cloud agility to mobile service providers using the pillars of software-defined networking (SDN), network functions virtualization (NFV) and cloud networking.” said Oguz Sunay CTO of Argela-USA. “We have successfully realized the first M-CORD rack outside ON.Lab at our Sunnyvale office. We have incorporated our ProgRAN platform to M-CORD on Cavium’s OCTEON Fusion-M and ThunderX. We have partnered with Quortus to virtualize and incorporate their EPC into M-CORD. Building on M-CORD’s open source ONOS controller and XOS orchestrator we have successfully demonstrated our programmable, RAN-triggered, end-to-end network slicing capability. Programmable network slicing, based on virtual EPC and vRAN, is an important part of the technology evolution of 5G. It empowers mobile operators with the necessary tools for rapid innovation of new set of services. At Argela, we are excited to play a part in bringing 5G to life.”