As the demand for seamless connectivity and high-speed data transmission continues to grow, communication service providers (CSPs) are under increasing pressure to optimize their networks. Although upgrading networks and methodologies is a multi-layered, complex, and lengthy process for CSPs, a shared aspect across most projects is the need to transition to cloud infrastructure. This shift will support a transformation that will provide a solid foundation for growth over the years to come. Ericsson Cloud Native Infrastructure Solution (CNIS) is designed to support various deployment options for small, medium, and large telecom execution environments, while also accommodating cloud-native applications and virtual workloads. Its flexibility and adaptability to the needs of CSPs and the industry has led to its deployment across more than 400 data centers globally to date.
Benefits for CSPs
The solution’s success is a testament to Ericsson’s longstanding expertise in core networks, and our collaborations within the telecom ecosystem. It is based on robust reference architecture developed in collaboration with key industry vendors, and the deployed solution integrates capabilities from some of these vendors, including Extreme Networks.
The bedrock of our CNIS is our highly efficient bare metal solution, which improves the total cost of ownership by 15 to 20 percent compared to traditional virtualized infrastructures. By eliminating the overhead associated with virtualization, our bare metal solution delivers superior speed and resource efficiency, ensuring a smoother and more responsive network experience.
For CSPs, the advantages of adopting our CNIS are manifold:
• Simplified network management: Our dual mode 5G core solution for a ‘full stack’ application and cloud infrastructure drastically simplifies our customers’ operations and management. So far, we have approximately 45 live dual mode 5G core deployments on CNIS. Our solution streamlines and simplifies network operations through automation and orchestration.
The benefits are most immediately seen in situations where there is a potential interruption in service. Instead of having to isolate the fault among many different vendors, we can take end-to-end responsibility for fixing any issue in the entire stack. With CNIS, we can remedy faults faster than with a third-party cloud, achieving about 10 percent savings in cloud platform and infrastructure management compared to virtual machine deployment.
• Reduced deployment times: With pre-integrated solutions and streamlined processes, CSPs can dramatically cut down on deployment times, allowing them to bring new services to market faster. We can launch new deployments up to three times faster compared to integration from scratch. In practice, this means we can deploy and go live with applications within 4 to 8 months of placing an order.
• Robust reliability: Building on our previous infrastructure generations such as network function virtualization infrastructure (NFVI), the Cloud Native Infrastructure Solution (CNIS) benefit from our full stack system verification and a radically simplified architecture. It offers a reliable and efficient infrastructure that has been rigorously tested and proven effective by leading CSPs. Our infrastructure solutions are consistently improving, and CNIS continues to improve on reliability in particular. We have observed at least an 80 percent reduction in high-priority and emergency tickets for our cloud-native network functions (CNF) when running on CNIS compared to a third-party cloud provider driven by our full stack system verification.
Role of Extreme’s data centre fabric automation
As previously noted, CNIS is composed of different elements, coming together to form a coherent solution. The role of Extreme’s data centre fabric automation is a great illustration of how integrating these components from partners can add value. These automations seamlessly integrate with Ericsson’s cloud infrastructure to tackle specific challenges faced by CSPs. They provide:
• Improved network resilience: By automating routine tasks and optimizing data flows, Extreme’s data centre fabric automations enhance network reliability and uptime.
• Dynamic resource allocation: Automations enable real-time adjustments to network resources, ensuring optimal performance even during peak usage.
These capabilities allow CSPs to deliver high-quality services without the burden of complex manual configurations.
The successful integration of CNIS and Extreme’s data centre fabric automations is a testament to our collaborative engineering efforts. Our teams have worked tirelessly to ensure interoperability between our cloud infrastructure and Extreme’s automation solutions. This joint effort has involved rigorous testing, iterative development, and a commitment to open standards.
Future outlook
Looking ahead, we believe that CNIS will play a pivotal role in the evolution of 5G and beyond as CSPs look to meet capacity growth objectives, ensure their network infrastructure can support new service and business model innovation, and monetize their networks.
As CSPs transition to more agile and adaptive network models, the demand for cloud-native solutions like Ericsson CNIS will only increase. We foresee a future where networks are not only faster and more efficient but also more intelligent, and capable of adapting to the ever-changing needs of the digital world.
In conclusion, Ericsson’s Cloud Native Infrastructure Solution, supported by our ecosystem partners like Extreme, is more than just a technological advancement—it’s a strategic enabler for CSPs aiming to thrive in an increasingly competitive landscape. Adopting this integrated solution will allow CSPs to achieve unprecedented efficiency, scalability, and performance, positioning them for success in the 5G era and beyond.By: Anton Redfors, Head of Cloud Infrastructure at Ericsson