5G Standalone - What does the move to cloud mean for operators?

lamta
Sep 12, 2022 • 4 min read

Acentury hosted a webinar "5G Standalone: What does the move to cloud mean for operators?" in collaboration with RCR Wireless News and Volt Active Data. During the webinar we discuss the challenges that come with mobile network architectures undergoing drastic change and moving to the cloud. We also discuss possible solutions to these challenges, including techniques utilized by cloud networks, and the resulting concept of the “Mirror Lab”.

For better and for worse, mobile networks are becoming more complicated. The number of user experiences is only increasing day-by-day and requires a proportional amount of frequency bands and multiple radio access technologies to match. How will you adapt your testing and deployment processes to accommodate these changes?

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DevOps and CI/CD

At Acentury we believe that an effective approach to this problem is to learn from cloud native companies who have already faced these challenges in the past.

In cloud-native companies, a practice known as DevOps is used to closer associate the roles of the development and operation to produce quality outputs more effectively. Within DevOps there are related processes known as “Continuous Integration” (CI), which refers to the automation of the creation and testing processes, and “Continuous Deployment” (CD) which refers to the automated packaging and delivery of the product. Together, these two processes form CI/CD. The aim of CI/CD is to increase early defect discovery increase productivity and provide faster release cycles. It compiles the incremental changes made by developers, packages them into deliverable automated tests, verifies the functionality, and automated deployment services deliver them to the end users.

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The stronger testing regimens and shorter release times resulting from DevOps and CI/CD significantly improve the quality of the products and services offered by native cloud operators. How can we apply these procedures to the 5G RAN, which contains many aspects that are non-virtual? We need a tool that is capable of tying all elements of the lab into a single system that can automate test setup, execution, and analyze test results.

The Mirror Lab

We at Acentury propose the concept of a “Mirror Lab”, a system that reflects the production network in the lab environment, and the equipment configured the same way. These Mirror Labs will come equipped with an orchestration layer that manages and controls testing, resources, result valuation, and deployment. This allows the incorporation of automation to increase efficiency of the lab as a whole and lessen the opportunity for human error. To learn more about the details, here is the webinar recording hosted by RCR Wireless for access at any time!

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David Woodcock, Product Strategy at Acentury, hosted this webinar. David has spent more than 30 years in the wireless industry. Prior to Acentury, he has worked for industry leaders such as Motorola and Dell as well as several early-stage companies, in roles ranging from Systems Engineering and Product Management to Sales and Business Development. With experience in network design, mobile devices, professional services, hardware and software, David brings a unique view of the broader picture to any discussion about applying technology to solve customer problems. He has a degree in Systems Design Engineering from the University of Waterloo and an MBA from Queen’s University.


We also have a separate webinar session where we talk about the Mirror Lab infrastructure in more detail.


About Acentury
Acentury Inc. is a fast-growing RF technology and software company that builds automation solutions and products for the wireless communications industry. Acentury is an engineering organization deeply rooted with a problem-solving mentality and have developed several products that support several industry verticals including mobile network operators, network equipment vendors, cable multi-service operator, aerospace and defense, satellite communications, and the hyperscale tech companies.

Acentury Website: https://acentury.co/
Acentury LAMTA: https://www.acentury.co/lamta
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/acentury-inc/

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