All enterprise eyes are on the development and deployment of private 5G cellular networks, as businesses seek new flexibility and capabilities that traditional IT infrastructure has not delivered.
But how do you know that your private network is delivering on the promise of 5G?
It all starts with the target use cases, says Jim Neuens, vice president and general manager for wireless instruments at VIAVI Solutions. Enterprises need to know what they are buying and why they are buying it, and they need to define the key performance indicators that they expect from their private network. For example, is reliability paramount? Are both standard and low-latency applications expected to be supported? What types of devices will run over this network, and are the connected users humans or machines? From those discussions, a strategy can naturally flow that defines service levels and how to ensure that Service-Level Agreements are being satisfied. This couples the network design and deployment strategies, which will result in a solution that meets the desired performance criteria.
Ultimately, Neuens says, the underlying telecom service, delivered to a business and distributed using a private 5G network, is the critical tie into the wide area network. That service must be able to scale to meet the business-critical needs of the enterprise. Testing is key to “prove to the enterprise that the service is fit for purpose.”
Such proof-points are an often-overlooked part of the private network planning and deployment process. VIAVI Solutions and system integrator partner Mugler have seen this play out firsthand as they’ve supported private networks in Germany, where spectrum has specifically been designated by the government for industrial and large-enterprise use. As German companies navigate the world of private networks, it’s not only the networks themselves getting an upgrade—the purchasing and evaluation processes need to be updated, too. According to Stefan Richter, head of private networks at Mugler, procurement approaches designed for IT systems often don’t account for network acceptance testing. A mobile network operator wouldn’t connect a new site to the rest of its network without thorough testing of the radio frequency environment and verification of coverage levels and multiple aspects of performance. Enterprises establish quality controls in various aspects of their business. Similar concepts apply here. But the enterprise doesn’t need to become an expert in cellular tech, so long as it chooses the right private network partner, with the right tools, who can answer the important technical questions thoroughly and efficiently.
There are plenty of questions to be answered, and different tools necessary to answer them. For example, are there RF interferers nearby that will affect user quality of experience and force call/connection drops? That calls for spectrum scanning and analysis. What are the behavior profiles of the types of devices expected to be used on the network, and does the network properly serve them? Emulation comes in handy here, to play out scenarios related to service, capacity, and loading. Meanwhile, there are multiple providers of private network hardware and software (particularly if Open RAN comes into play) with potential quirks that could only emerge when they work in combination. The earlier and more extensively that RF, integration, and service testing is conducted, the better chance of picking up on problems when they are easier to solve, Neuens says. That approach makes much more sense than waiting until a network is completely put together and then test only the sum of its parts, leaving a snarl of possible root causes to untangle and troubleshoot.
It’s a tricky path from private network promise to delivery and operation. It calls for not only a business strategy to derive value from that network, but also a deployment and assurance one, to be sure that enterprises get the network they need and that it consistently performs to expectations.
To hear more real-world experience on deploying private networks from VIAVI Solutions and Mugler, register for the Private Networks European Forum and attend the session featuring VIAVI’s Jim Neuens on October 4, 2022.
