Nokia exec: ‘Network slicing is another piece of the 5G puzzle’
BICS has deployed Nokia’s SDN (software-defined networking) controller designed to automate optimal traffic routing on the network, which the companies said will improve overall network performance. BICS will use the controller, which monitors routing paths across and then optimizes this traffic flow, to manage capacity and flow routing across its global network. Further, Nokia’s VP of the Network Infrastructure business in Europe Rafael de Fermin commented that the SDN solution will prepare BICS to offer 5G network slicing capabilities.
“The delivery of network slicing will allow enterprises looking to adapt 5G for advanced use cases, such as IoT or M2M, to get the consistent quality of service that has been promised by 5G for some time,” de Fermin said. “It’s another piece of the 5G puzzle falling into place and taking the industry one step closer to global 5G adoption.”
In the 5G network slicing architecture, each network “slice” is an isolated, bespoke end-to-end network tailored to fulfill the requirements of a particular application. It allows for flexible, programmable converged networks wherein disparate services that would typically require parallel systems reside on a single infrastructure.
According to BICS and Nokia, the SDN controller will allow BICS to manage local and roaming traffic slices. “This is particularly significant as current 5G slicing use cases are only for local traffic – meaning it opens the door for future use cases supporting global connectivity,” said BICS in a statement. “This next level of innovation will depend on operators adopting 5G and slicing at scale in the future.”
In addition to network slicing, the SDN controller also paves the way for bandwidth calendaring, which is a method of dynamically planning and scheduling traffic loads at predefined times.
However, more immediate use cases include things like live video streaming for safety applications at industrial sites. Such applications, said BICS, will benefit from lower latency and network reliability in the case of outages.
“BICS is investing heavily in its software solutions ecosystem, and this new module is just the latest development in this effort,” says Jorn Vercamert, VP of products and solutions at BICS. “Greater network intelligence is worth investing in – it means even better service for our customers, and by extension, the end-customers of those operators. BICS’ network carries around half of the world’s roaming traffic, so this move re-affirms our strength in the global communications landscape and is also a future investment for when the industry fully moves to 5G and looks to deploy network slicing at scale.”
