enabled by Casa Systems Axym Sftware Platfrm Why d we need a 5G cre? When peple hear the term 5G, they usually think abut the innvatins ccurring with New Radi (NR). Hwever, 5G als refers t fundamental changes that are ccurring within the cre netwrk. Figure 1 Diverse 5G Use Cases and Netwrk Requirements.. The verriding gal f these changes is t help service prviders better mnetize their netwrks. This will be achieved by evlving frm ur current ne size fits all cre netwrk int a 5G cre netwrk that prvides different lgical netwrks ( slices ) fr the different traffic requirements. A few years ag, the industry realized that wireless and wireline cre netwrks were being asked t deliver n a set f requirements that they were nt designed t handle. Fr example, current wireless cre netwrks are designed as a single Evlved Packet Cre (EPC) and as a result, they cannt ptimally handle the numerus, new traffic flws cming frm use cases that are as diverse as the Internet f Things (IT), Enhanced Mbile Bradband (embb) and Missin Critical Services. The cst, latency, thrughput and reliability requirements fr each f these use cases is radically different. The industry s slutin was t develp a new 5G cre netwrk architecture fr bth wireless and wireline netwrks that is services based and prvides flexibility t deliver unique lgical netwrks, slices. Is yur cre ready fr 5G? T many peple it may seem that their 5G cre netwrk purchase decisins are years away. S, why bther thinking abut a 5G Cre investment nw? Yu shuld be careful - the chices yu are making tday may cst yu dearly in terms f nging 4G netwrk perating csts and lst 5G revenue pprtunities. Onging spending n a high cst 4G netwrk r spending n 4G capacity that cannt evlve easily t a 5G netwrk culd result in regrettable capital spend, inflated perating csts and lw prfitability. Casa prvides a 4G and 5G Cre as part f its Axym Sftware Platfrm. T determine if yur current netwrk is ready fr 5G yu shuld ask yurself the fllwing questins: Is yur Cre NFV ptimized? An ptimized 5G r 4G cre uses VNFs that are designed frm the grund up fr peak perfrmance and efficiency in a virtual cmpute envirnment. Sadly, mst current EPC suppliers virtualized their frmer appliance-based sftware using the lift and shift mdel. The result is VNFs that cause incremental latency and vcpu inefficiencies. As a service prvider, yu will be burdened with t many cmpute resurces, t many servers and t much assciated perating expense. If this pr perfrmance is perpetuated int yur 5G cre, the result will be extra latency fr Missin Critical Services, where every millisecnd and even micrsecnd
cunt. Als, prly perfrming 5G cre VNFs will cntinue t drive additinal CPUs which means inflated OPEX csts. Cmparing the Axym VNF perfrmance against cmpetitrs has revealed that Casa s Wireless Cre VNFs deliver frm 2X t 5X higher Gbps thrughput per vcpu and industryleading number f sessins per vcpu. Is yur NFV Implementatin flexible? Casa s 4G and 5G Cres have the versatility t run n bare metal, virtual machines r in a cntainer-based envirnment. Current wireless NFV deplyments have been implemented using OpenStack and virtual machines. Hwever, Clud Native design principles frm the data center wrld primarily use cntainers due t their ability t spin up faster and thus adjust mre rapidly t capacity surges. T ensure that yu have a cre that is ready fr 5G, make sure yu are wrking with a partner, such as Casa, wh can supprt bth virtual machines and cntainers. N ne has a crystal ball fr the evlutin f NFV - staying flexible is critical. Can yur 4G Cre Implement Cntrl and User Plan Separatin (CUPS) tday? CUPS is inherent in the design f a 5G Cre. Hwever, Casa has intrduced CUPS tday as part f ur 4G Cre. CUPS prvides nt nly independent scaling f cntrl and user plane, but als allws a service prvider t independently lcate the cntrl and user plane functins. Deplyable at the netwrk edge r at a centralized lcatin, Casa s Axym suite f CUPS-based VNFs are designed t help prviders ptimize applicatins and t prvide end users with the highest Quality f Experience (QE). As an example, Missin Critical applicatins require extremely lw latencies that can be achieved by lcating bth cntrl and user plane functins at the netwrk edge, as clse as pssible t the end user. T ensure that yu have a cre that is ready fr 5G, yur 4G EPC shuld be able t implement CUPS tday. CUPS is inherent in the 5G cre architecture but service prviders shuld be making use f CUPS with 4G nw t determine hw t best lcate cntrl and user plane functins t deliver the needed QE fr each specific user case. CUPS with 4G can als prvide NFV infrastructure savings as cntrl and user plane VNFs scale independently. Are yu intrducing verlay 4G Cre netwrks tday that evlve quickly t netwrk slicing tmrrw? Netwrk Slicing is ne f the pillars f a 5G Cre, but a full implementatin f netwrk slicing is still a year r tw away since it will require the cmpletin f standards and trials. A cre that is ready fr 5G must supprt Netwrk Slicing. Interestingly sme f the benefits f netwrk slicing are being achieved tday as service prviders implement 4G Cre verlay cres fr IT and Small Cells. Each f these verlays prvide ptimized perfrmance that cannt be achieve by the legacy EPC. This demnstrates the clear need fr netwrk slicing. T ensure that yu have a 5G Ready Cre, start implementing 4G verlay cres, such as Casa s C-SGN fr IT and Casa s Small Call Cre, and realize immediate benefits. It is imprtant t ensure that these 4G verlay cres can elegantly evlve int a 5G cre supprting netwrk slicing. Can yur Cre VNFs scale bth vertically and hrizntally? Casa s 4G and 5G Cres eliminate the perfrmance trade-ffs present in many f tday s slutins and delivers best-in-class capacity scaling acrss the fllwing dimensins simultaneusly: Thrughput per vcpu (with a traffic mix including small packets) Lwest latency Tunnel and sessin setup rate. Casa s Axym Sftware Platfrm delivers vertical and hrizntal capacity scaling thrugh intelligent pipeline prcessing, perfrmance acceleratin and applicatin f real-time intelligence. It s this kind f engineering that allws Axym t utperfrm legacy slutins many times ver. T ensure that yu have a cre that is ready fr 5G, test the ability f yur VNFs t scale bth hrizntally and vertically using the mst challenging requirements, such as small packet sizes, security algrithms turned n and high attach / detach rates. The Axym Sftware Platfrm supprts the 5G cre The Axym Sftware Platfrm is a set f disruptive sftware slutins designed t help service prviders transfrm their bradband netwrks int a prgrammable ultra-bradband netwrk. Axym delivers industry-leading services and cst per bit. 2
Figure 2 Casa s VNFs fr a traditinal 4G EPC Implementatin Casa s bradband slutins are anchred by the Axym Sftware Platfrm which handles terabit per secnd thrughputs and has prven stability and advanced ruting capabilities. The figure abve shws the Casa 4G Cre VNFs fr a traditinal 4G EPC implementatin. ver the cntrl rather than the user plane densificatin, they are finding that their was intrduced intr 3GPP Release 13 t current EPCs are inflexible and cannt minimize packet size and thus maximize CIT supprt the additinal signaling and traffic device battery lifetime. This capability is nt frm bth an ecnmic and a technlgy pssible withut a cmplete re-architecting f perspective. Casa prvides a small cell cre tday s inflexible 4G cres / EPCs. verlay that can handle the additinal lad Figure 3 Cellular IT Overlay - Casa s C-SGN Casa s Overlay Cre Netwrk Slutins fr IT and Small Cell Cres As mentined earlier, service prviders have started t implement 4G verlay cre netwrks fr small cells and Cellular IT (CIT). Fr CIT, Casa prvides a Cellular IT Serving Gateway Nde (C-SGN) that cmbines virtualized MME, PGW and SGW functins, is ptimized fr CIT traffic and can be deplyed in cntainers, VMs r n bare metal. The Casa C-GSN prvides a cst-effective and secure verlay cre fr CIT services (LTE Cat 1-6, M1 & NB-IT). The intrductin f NB-IT will result in a significant business pprtunity fr service prviders. NB-IT will be deplyed with sensrs whse batteries must last fr years in the field. Supprt f NB-IT data transfer The nly alternative is t intrduce an verlay CITcre, such as Casa s C-SGN, t prvide full NB-IT supprt. Casa s C-SGN ffers industry-leading perfrmance per vcpu. Casa s perfrmance advantage widens when large numbers f secured small IT packets are transferred. As service prviders add small cells fr but can als manage 3G and 4G small cells frm multiple vendrs. The Axym Small Cell Cre nt nly prvides the needed capacity, it simplifies small cell deplyments fr service prviders With the Axym Small Cell Cre, there are several deplyment ptins Casa can prvide a full verlay EPC r can integrate with 3
Figure 4. Casa s Small Cell Cre Overlay Nte: There are a cuple f acrnyms intrduced in this diagram that cannt be fund in standards dcuments: Virtual Management Cntrller (VMC) - A VNF Manager and Element Management System fr Casa s Axym VNFs. Axym Lcatin Server (ALS) - A database string small cell lcatin infrmatin that can be used t fulfill lcal regulatry requirements, such as emergency calling. Axym Small Cell Manager (ASCM) - The ASCM includes H(e)MS and HMS management fr LTE and 3G small cells, real time hybrid SON, TR-069 aut cnfiguratin (with TR-196 and TR-181 data mdels), a Syslg server and KPI perfrmance management. All these management tls are accessed thrugh a single intuitive GUI interface. an existing EPC. As a further ptin, a virtual Security Gateway can be prvided by Casa. Since the Casa Small Cell Cre is based n the Axym Sftware Platfrm, industry leading density and perfrmance will result in a lwer TCO as the service prvider densifies their netwrk with small cells. Evlving t 5G Tday Casa is develping and can demnstrate many f the Axym Sftware Platfrm VNFs that are part f a 5G Cre. Casa s 5G Cre develpment gals are t enable prgrammability, simplicity, scalability, and cnvergence f wireline and wireless netwrks. Using the Axym Sftware Platfrm, Casa s 5G Cre delivers: Unparalleled Gbps per vcpu The result is lwer OPEX and CAPEX thrugh VNFs that deliver up t 5X higher Gbps thrughput per vcpu and industryleading number f sessins per vcpu. This translates int lwer cst per bit, per user and per sessin fr lwer cmpute resurce capital and perating csts. A slutin deplyable in cntainers, with VMs r n bare metal This ensures future flexibility as NFV and 5G evlve. A smth migratin frm 4G t 5G Casa prvides efficient internal messaging between 4G and 5G cmpnents (multi-access AMF, SMF and UPF). Lcatin-independent placement f the cntrl plane and user plane Casa fully leverages CUPS nt nly in 5G but als tday in Casa s 4G deplyments. Netwrk slicing in a service-based architecture. 4G Overlay netwrks fr IT and Small cells tday - Service prviders can take full advantage f Casa s innvatins tday by starting nw and deplying 4G verlay netwrks that deliver better perfrmance / efficiency and new capabilities fr IT and Small Cell cres. VNFs that scale bth vertically and hrizntally - Casa s Axym slutin delivers vertical and hrizntal capacity scaling via intelligent pipeline prcessing, perfrmance acceleratin and applicatin f real-time intelligence. 4
Figure 5. The 5G Cre 5G prvides service prviders with an pprtunity t ptimize and mnetize their cre netwrks. Nw is the time t start investing in a cre that is ready fr 5G and avid regrettable spend n an inflexible, prly perfrming 4G-nly cre. Casa Systems heritage as a prvider f innvative bradband access slutins that incrprate terabit thrughputs, sftware innvatin and extreme subscriber management capabilities has resulted in the Axym 4G and 5G Cres that have been designed frm the grund up fr flexibility, efficiency and perfrmance. Casa Systems, Inc. 100 Old River Rad Andver, MA 01810 Tel: 978.688.6706 www.casa-systems.cm 5G Cre R2 April 2018