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Constructing an All-Cloud Network
Industry transformation is shaping an intelligent world that, for telcos, also means disruptive
changes in services, business models, and technical standards. ICT convergence and the
rise of IoT, 4K, VR, 5G, and AI are redefining the concept of what a basic service is. Declining
revenues from traditional services are driving telcos towards business models that work
under a collaborative ecosystem. But, the value SDN and NFV will create for telecom networks
is unclear, slowing the development of technical standards and commercialization.
By Wei Feng, Zhang Lei, and Cai Yanghai
A new layer of cloud telcos knew what future services dominance of the application layer.
they would be providing and could
C
loud services demand a easily develop technology to meet The gap between existing network
level of flexibility from predictable needs. Moreover, infrastructure and applications
the application layer that OTT players are compounding is already huge, with two major
wasn’t required when this uncertainty, threatening telco problems: One, the passive adaptation
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Constructing an All-Cloud Network / Focus
of networks to each new service is either
poor or extremely costly; and two, existing
networks can’t be adapted to business models
Agile Intelligent
capable of competing with OTT players. Slashes TTM for Provides business
new business planning, publishing,
But, network cloudification can build an
applications scheduling, and O&M
automation
intelligent adaptation layer between the
Carriers need
network connection layer, with its defined
Agile,
functions, and uncertain service applications. Intelligent,
Cloudification delivers a fast-response Efficient and Open
network infrastructure that can quickly enable cloudified networks
applications that have commercial value.
Standardized connection layer
Efficient Open
Regardless of network evolution, networks
Maximizes resource Enables deep
must ensure high bandwidth, low latency,
sharing collaboration and fast
and ubiquitous connectivity for telcos to innovation
expand their business.
Intelligent adaptation layer
with errors to combat business uncertainty.
This crucial layer is responsible for:
Flexible application layer
Opening network capabilities: Facing the This layer is designed to support a digital
flexible application layer in the northbound service and application ecosystem whose
direction, the adaptation layer centralizes services and applications can belong to
resource scheduling and abstraction. either telcos or third parties. It supports telco
Application developers can then schedule business scenarios and provides a ROADS
and assemble open network capabilities to (Real-time, On-demand, All-Online, DIY,
quickly innovate services and applications. Social) experience for end users through
Internetized operations.
Stabilizing architecture: Facing the
standardized connection layer in the After cloud migration, networks are agile,
southbound direction, the adaptation layer efficient, intelligent, and open. They
masks the instability of various technical help operators build commercially driven
standards by using deterministic architecture networks for the future and maximize the
to manage uncertain technologies. value of their network assets.
Enabling agile innovation: This layer Network Cloud Engine
provides rapid and low-cost iteration (NCE): The brain of the
capabilities, minimizing the costs associated cloud network system
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Huawei developed All-Cloud to resolve a Based on a unified software orchestration and
range of business issues with a series of workflow engine, different service packages
Service
scenario-specific solutions. can be quickly and flexibly built for different
deployment service and commercial scenarios. This
requirements The new NCE serves as the adaptation layer implements full-lifecycle automation of physical
determine in the shape of a cloud-based platform and and virtual network functions, with the aim of
cross-domain system. By enabling and opening network reducing network connectivity service time from
capabilities, it provides customers with months to days via a friendly, real-time online
distributed
network connectivity that delivers a ROADS consumer service portal or application, which
deployment experience and other VAS. provides minute-level provisioning and services.
and Intelligent operations, such as planning,
scheduling, The NCE has the following characteristics: deployment, control, maintenance, and
improving Cloud Native
assurance, are implemented through a unified,
simple, and clear administrator's workbench,
network
The NCE is based on a cloud infrastructure improving O&M efficiency tenfold while greatly
resource and platform service. Network functions reducing OPEX.
utilization by for different service scenarios, such as
SaaS, NaaS, and DevOps
as much as 100 home, enterprise, and operator WANs, are
percent. deconstructed into independent, autonomous,
In addition to providing traditional CT
and neutral micro-services. Each micro-
network devices and a software transaction
service supports gray upgrades, which enables
model, the NCE supports new SaaS and
elastic scaling based on service requirements.
NaaS transaction and delivery models on
Service deployment requirements determine
the public cloud. Examples include one-stop
cross-domain distributed deployment and
e-commerce service transaction models such
scheduling, improving network resource
as online product and service subscriptions,
utilization by as much as 100 percent. The
provisioning, and adjustment. These help
architecture is user-oriented, providing multi-
operators reduce consumer-oriented
tenant resource isolation and management.
transaction costs and slash transaction costs
The reliable design complies with design-
between solution providers and operators.
for-failure principles, enabling automated
monitoring, fault location, isolation, and self- NCE provides DevOps tools so operators or
healing on the NCE. third-party partners can flexibly integrate,
reuse, and combine existing micro-service
Lifecycle automation
and third-party capabilities. This enables
The NCE provides the following functions: rapid development and low-cost testing
planning and simulation, network service when customers’ business scenarios and
deployment and provisioning, network network tech change. For example, Huawei’s
monitoring, assurance, and optimization of CloudEPN enables operators and third party
the entire process. integrators to use the NCE-based DevOps
tool platform to quickly create new third-
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Constructing an All-Cloud Network / Focus
party firewalls, accelerate WANs, promote them: required, new technologies are used
and introduce a wide range of VAS. to construct new networks.
It also integrates secondary software Business-driven: Develop a network
and capabilities, providing the end evolution roadmap to start the shift Unified architecture: Define a
consumer with more flexible and from tech-driven to business-driven unified cloud network architecture
richer integrated services. networks. that’s agreed industry-wide.
The NCE is the brain of the entire Network evolution technologies are Cloud networks are still in their
cloud network solution architecture. continually emerging in the CT, IT, initial development stage, and still
It integrates the SDN agile controller and OTT space. But, telcos must need to be defined by the industry
and can combine and assemble first consider commercial value, to implement a stable and unified
different software function modules starting with ROI, before selecting architecture. A priority when
for micro-services to adapt to various technologies and applications. They selecting technologies is the ability
CloudX network scenarios. need to look at increasing B2B of the service layer to carry over
revenues and optimizing the B2C the flexibility and agility of OTT/
The NCE simplifies business service experience. IT, while masking the uncertainty
monetization and ramps up of technologies and protocols and
efficiency by accelerating service Systematic evolution: Decide supporting flexible service innovation.
and application development and on network-wide cloudification
innovation. strategies, focus on service continuity It’s also important that the network
and connecting old and new services, layer doesn’t lose the strengths
Another important part of Huawei's and ensure steady and systematic of CT, and that its architecture is
comprehensive cloud network network evolution. standardized so interconnections
architecture is the infrastructure can happen without increasing
connection layer. People, things, Operators have more than 30 complexity. Therefore, standards
data, and applications are all years of accumulated network organizations, such as IETF, BBF,
interconnected, with data centers infrastructure, so it’s unwise to rush and ITU-T, are vital to defining cloud
(DC) at the core in a range of cloud migration. Evolution must network architecture.
scenarios, including home, base progress together with business
station, enterprise, campus, branch, planning, and so a policy of gradual For decades, global operators
and IoT. evolution is advisable. have deployed networks based
on technology. However, as
Making All-Cloud Typical evolution policies include the direction of future service
reality overlay-to-underlay and evolving development leads us into
locally before expanding the whole uncertainties, traditional network
Taking cloud networks from concept network. During the replacement deployment logic is already showing
to implementation is long, slow, window in the network lifecycle, new cracks. Future opportunities will
and difficult. The entire industry technologies are used for network only open up by making business
chain must form a consensus on the reconstruction. When expansion value the core of future network
following three ideas, and then fully to support new types of services is planning.
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