MEF18 Proof of Concept, 29 – 31 Oct – Boosting uCPE with SDN/NFV/Legacy Capabilities Including Network & VNF Service Chain Monitoring & Plugware for Universal Access & Brownfield Deployments. PoC Participants: AT&T and RAD.
Speakers: Elie Francis, Director of New Technology and Advanced Development, AT&T Labs and Eitan Schwartz, VP, Service Provider Line of Business, North America.
This PoC addresses the challenges of adapting uCPE to fit real world needs and requirements. The PoC shows three key innovations: (1) multiple services running on a universal CPE; (2) multiple access technologies that terminate on the uCPE; and (3) management of this virtual infrastructure.
The PoC demonstrates uCPE implementation where an enhanced white/grey box provides NFV infrastructure, networking, and orchestration of value-added services with service assurance, as well as network connectivity to existing core routers over TDM using PPP/MLPPP protocol. Such enhancements reflect real AT&T needs to have Flexware address both greenfield and brownfield deployment needs.
The PoC presents a comprehensive and disaggregated uCPE solution with orchestration and automation of physical and virtual network functions. The uCPE includes Silicom’s white box as a hardware platform equipped with RAD’s open vCPE-OS operating system. To facilitate brownfield deployments without losing the white box’s open qualities, the uCPE is enhanced with RAD’s Plugware. These are multi-functional pluggable devices that are coupled with VNFs to allow effective access over TDM networks. In addition, RAD’s Plugware supports legacy voice services such as T1 PRI, along with cutting edge VNF-enabled VAS and service assurance in the combined virtual-physical environment. Furthermore, the solution features advanced performance monitoring, diagnostics, and traffic analysis tools; this functionality is also provided with RAD’s vAccess VNF that optimizes compute resource utilization by combining multiple functions in a single VNF. One more Plugware-enabled functionality is effective hardware-based security that enhances white box functionality. All such enhancements boost white box performance and ensures uCPE a compelling, sound business case.
The PoC draws from AT&T’s broad experience in delivering international services efficiently even in cases where fiber is unavailable or uneconomical. Similarly, RAD draws from a rich experience in Carrier Ethernet, miniaturization, and legacy migration solutions as well as vCPE where RAD has been a leader since ETSI PoC#4 in early 2014 where RAD demonstrated the first multivendor vCPE solution at the customer premises.
Save the date for MEF19, 18-22 November 2019, JW Marriott, LA LIVE, Los Angeles.
