Arrcus is demonstrating a secure 5G network slice using SRv6 Mobile User Plane (MUP), led by SoftBank Corp, and implemented on the NVIDIA BlueField-3 DPU.
The proof-of-concept will be shown at the NVIDIA GTC global AI developer conference, scheduled from March 18th to 21st in San Jose, California. The demonstrations leverage BlueField DPUs and Arrcus’ ArcOS network operating system (NOS) solution, aiming to deliver end-to-end network slicing and offer simplicity, high performance, and a lower total cost of ownership.
Network slicing, facilitated by Arrcus’ SRv6 MUP implementation, offers automated end-to-end segmentation of network resources, enabling the delivery of advanced applications and services. Additionally, security is paramount in the delivery of network slices, particularly for tasks like secure data transportation for enterprise AI inference and training. IPSec adds end-to-end encryption and authentication to secure the traffic on the network slices.
One of the critical challenges in delivering network slicing with IPSec encryption lies in the attainable network throughput, as it is constrained by the limitations of standard compute processors. BlueField DPUs offload the compute-intensive encrypted data path from CPUs, accelerating it with dedicated hardware. This frees up CPU resources for critical applications while ensuring high-performance data delivery.
“We are thrilled to work with NVIDIA and SoftBank to accelerate the deployment of secure 5G network slices,” said Shekar Ayyar, Chairman, and CEO of Arrcus. “SRv6 MUP technology, developed in collaboration with SoftBank, combined with NVIDIA BlueField DPUs, offers a powerful solution that helps address the evolving needs of modern networks, providing advanced security and efficiency while unlocking new revenue opportunities for service providers.”
“NVIDIA BlueField DPUs are purpose-built to offload, accelerate, and isolate data center workloads, making them ideal for secure and power efficient 5G network slices,” said Ronnie Vasishta, Senior Vice President of Telecom at NVIDIA. “The integration of BlueField DPUs with Arrcus’ SRv6 technology will help make the deployment of a secure 5G network possible.”
“SoftBank is committed to delivering the most advanced and secure 5G network to our customers,” said Keiichi Makizono, Executive Vice President & Chief Information Officer (CIO) at SoftBank Corp. “These demonstrations of SRv6 MUP using Arrcus’ ArcOS NOS running on NVIDIA BlueField DPUs are a major step forward in achieving this goal.”
