Capgemini said that other partners including Juniper, Intel, Casa Systems, Microsoft and Blue Planet participated in the trial
French IT services company Capgemini and Spanish telecom group Telefónica designed and implemented a proof-of-concept for an end-to-end 5G Standalone (SA) network slicing solution entirely provisioned and managed from the cloud.
In a release, Capgemini said that several companies participated in the trial. Microsoft supported the hosting of the orchestration functions in Azure and provided its 5G SA core network; Intel provided on-premise servers for virtualized baseband; Blue Planet provided the end-to-end service orchestration, built to interact with orchestrators responsible for each domain including radio orchestration and control with Juniper’s O-RAN Service management and orchestration (SMO) and RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC). Also, Casa Systems provided disaggregated 5G radio access network (RAN).
Capgemini stated that communication service providers providing 5G networks to enterprises need to create new revenue streams to monetize the full potential of the large investment they have planned for their consumer networks. This is why the French company considers that 5G network slicing creates opportunities to leverage those investments while also enabling telcos to access new markets.
Capgemini noted that of the main aims of the project was to softwarize the network as much as possible and simplify the operations. Therefore, orchestrating the entire solution from cloud was critical, according to the French firm.
The solution was hosted, tested and verified at Capgemini’s 5G labs in Portugal.
“Together, we’ve shown that it’s possible to build a broad ecosystem that can overcome the challenges of network slicing using end-to-end automation. In addition, we believe our pre-integrated network blueprints can significantly reduce the cost of new network planning, design and test cycles,” said Shamik Mishra, VP and CTO of connectivity at Capgemini Engineering.
“It’s an approach that other operators can use to address new markets, and to make the most of their investment in 5G. We’re actively involved with them and with industry forums to promote the benefits of network slicing and associated blueprints,” the executive said.
In March, Capgemini opened a 5G solutions facility in San Francisco, in the US, to help enterprises boost their adoption of 5G and edge technologies. Located at Capgemini’s Applied Innovation Exchange (AIE), the center claims to provide a co-creation environment for innovative 5G-based applications.
The new facility will focus on the creation of high-value use cases and personalized solutions through workshops with clients and other partners. It will support network equipment providers, communication services providers, enterprises and industrial firms, it said.
Capgemini listed a bunch of use cases, including: remote assistance to improve safety and performance, and to reduce downtime and minimize errors; smart surveillance to reinforce security and safety and smart health to increase diagnostic capabilities by offering access to specialists from any location.
Capgemini has similar 5G lab facilities in France, Portugal and India.
