Testing and deployment at cloud scale needs cloud-style automation and orchestration.
There’s already been gallons of ink spilled in service of lecturing Communication Service Providers (CSPs) on the importance of adopting cloud-native business processes and technology as they pivot to the introduction of 5G Standalone (SA) services. 5G SA demands a cloud-native core network, Cloud Native Functions (CNFs) operating on the network, and an operational paradigm that encourages continuous testing, deployment, iteration, and optimization to hone, refine, and improve the network for all users. 5G SA requires cloud-native testing to match.
Testing products in simulation before actual field deployment remains as relevant and important today as it was 20 years ago, but the stakes have risen as the networks themselves have grown more complex. So, what’s new to say for 5G SA, when it comes to testing? A lot, it turns out, according to David Woodcock. He heads product strategy for Canadian RF engineering firm Acentury. Acentury makes RF lab management and automation platforms for network operators.
Woodcock says that 5G SA puts mobile networks much closer to IT. The number and types of network nodes are increasing exponentially, which puts more pressure on operators to test and deploy efficiently.
“5G SA is easier in that the block diagram is a lot simpler, but when you get there, it’s a very different place than you are now,” said Woodcock. Obviously, greenfield 5G SA deployments are the exception, not the rule. And carriers must support their existing networks for years to come.
Scaling testing to meet a more dynamic operating environment
Woodcock outlined some of the challenges that operators must contend with to set up a cloud-native testing environment.
“The nature of the infrastructure is far more dynamic. The architecture can change even based on service type. As the operator scales VNFs and CNFs up and down in their network, those changes need to be validated,” he said.
That technical debt, and the addition of a highly dynamic 5G SA environment, imposes a huge burden for operators when it comes to testing.
“It’s a geometric amount of more work to have multiple networks operating simultaneously. It’s a challenge from a commercial perspective because you can’t offer all the same services to your subscribers, so that’s revenue-limiting. And it’s just technically a lot more work because the more things you have, the more scenarios you have to test,” Woodcock said.
“Modern data networks are incredibly complex; global network operators spend a great deal of time and money to make sure they meet their customers’ expectations,” he said.
Radio Access Network (RAN) testing today is still a very manual process, said Woodcock. Whether it’s a routine update to base station firmware or something more significant, like troubleshooting for dropped calls, “each test is generally independent and done to validate a set of changes to a given configuration,” he said.
This manual process can take hours or days, he said. “In fact, we’ve seen situations where it takes longer to set up a test and tear it down than it does to perform the testing itself,” he said.
Once changes are approved, the changes move to deployment. While operators may use automation tools to help speed the process along, Woodcock emphasized that it’s mostly a manual process, which can increase in complexity and time to deploy depending on the nature of the change and the requirements for testing.
The Mirror Lab mirrors actual network conditions
Woodcock ultimately encourages end-to-end testing in real-world production environments. “There’s always a place for emulation,” he said. “But focus on end-to-end testing as much as possible. Use your network to test your network,” he said. “Use your actual radios to actual describer devices under test, in the middle is an RF switch matrix that mimics real-world MIMO and carrier aggregation, simulates handovers, et cetera.”
Acentury’s Mirror Lab is its solution for bringing forth cloud-native network testing for today and tomorrow’s 5G deployments. While the concept of “digital twins” has picked up as a lot of speed in recent months, Woodcock is careful to differentiate Acentury’s Mirror Lab from a digital twin. It’s a lab recreation of actual network conditions, powered by test automation and orchestration, which enables operators to handle a lot more complexity and variation than they can with manual or patchwork automated processes.
First of all, the Mirror Lab equipment must reflect the same equipment the network operator uses in deployment, he said, straight up to end user equipment operating in Faraday cages to simulate real-world conditions and challenges.
In addition to an RF re-creation of the network’s actual operating environment, The Mirror Lab comprises an orchestration and management system, test automation at scale, and deployment automation software and tools. It’s these features and functionality that Acentury believes can make the difference for network operators looking for testing agility in a standalone 5G environment.
“Our orchestration system talks to the RAN, talks to the device, any emulation equipment. We orchestrate the tests and automate the tests. We collect all that information and analyze it,” he said. Using open Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) helps to make it possible to deploy and manage at scale.
Carriers are grappling with the same workforce challenges as the rest of the technology industry, and using advanced network automation like what drive the Mirror Lab is ultimately about getting carriers to work smarter, not harder.
“Anecdotally, one of my favorite customer quotes is, ‘I love this system: I just did 45 handover tests while drinking my tea.’ It frees up the smart people in the organization to do other things, to be innovative and think about solving bigger problems than running a test script.”
Of course, operators need to be mindful of what all this testing is for. The proof of the pudding is in the eating, as the old saying goes.
Customers ultimately will vote with their wallets, said Woodcock. Regardless of what the operator has to test in the lab, “The end user is the ultimate tester,” said Woodcock. “It’s their perception of the service, on delivery, that matters.”
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