VMware and Nokia: A Catalyst for RAN Innovation

Jens Koegler Telecommunications , ,

Originally posted on VMware Blogs by David Lawrence and Rod Gilbert

Momentum around 5G is driving network transformation for communication service providers (CSPs). The adoption of radio access network (RAN) virtualization is enabling a more flexible and scalable network, and the disaggregation of the RAN gives CSPs the control and flexibility to optimize their networks.

Although traditional RAN deployments can make it difficult to move toward an open RAN, CSPs can find a suitable balance between openness and solution readiness. Together, VMware and Nokia are embracing the evolution of radio access networks and embracing cloudification to increase CSPs’ innovation velocity, with RAN functions implemented in software and deployed on a flexible cloud platform.

Nokia Embraces RAN Evolution

Nokia 5G Cloud RAN hardware and software are disaggregated — to take full advantage of the cloud-computing model, the functions are built with a cloud-native design.

Nokia 5G Cloud RAN enables CSPs to offer new services with shorter software and innovation cycles, resulting in a better mobile experience for their customers with lower latency and high performance. By utilizing dynamic pooling and elasticity, CSPs can improve hardware capabilities and resilience while embracing efficiency at scale. Nokia 5G Cloud RAN allows for an open ecosystem to encourage new applications and revenue opportunities.

CSPs are rapidly advancing their plans to deploy Cloud RAN while looking openness,” said, Jane Rygaard, lead of strategic partnerships with cloud providers and dedicated wireless networks at Nokia. To address CPSs interest to balancing between openness and ready solution like Cloud RAN, Nokia and VMware with longstanding partnership of testing and validating 5G core network functions on VMware Telco Cloud Platform, are now collaborating on validation of Nokia Cloud RAN and VMware Telco Cloud Platform RAN. With this joint effort we see that CSPs will be able to accelerate their journey for innovative open and virtualized solutions for their radio access network.”

VMware Enhances Nokia 5G Cloud RAN Performance

The Nokia 5G Cloud RAN solution has been validated on VMware Telco Cloud Platform RAN to enhance traditional RAN deployments and disaggregate the RAN into a flexible, high-performance stack with open interfaces.

VMware Telco Cloud Platform RAN is a cloud-native RAN solution optimized for running virtualized baseband functions, vDUs and vCUs, while meeting the stringent performance, latency, and jitter requirements inherent to the RAN.

VMware Telco Cloud Platform RAN helps CSPs disaggregate RAN functions and run them on a horizontal platform that delivers equivalent performance to bare-metal solutions. The flexibility of the platform becomes the foundation for CSPs to move to open RAN without disrupting their operations or overhauling their network design.

“Nokia and VMware have a long history of partnership with a focus on helping service providers make the most of their infrastructure modernization efforts. Our expanded partnership for RAN to validate Nokia 5G Cloud RAN on VMware Telco Cloud Platform RAN is yet another example of our industry commitment,” said Lakshmi Mandyam, Vice President of Product Management and Partner Ecosystems, Service Provider and Edge, VMware.

VMware and Nokia Accelerate RAN Disaggregation

VMware Telco Cloud Platform RAN with the Nokia 5G Cloud RAN solution virtualizes, disaggregates, and optimizes the radio access network to improve scalability, flexibility, and agility.

The result moves the RAN into its next phase of evolution and accelerates the time to market for new services and applications, empowering CSPs to modernize and monetize their networks.

To learn more, download the solution brief.

Jens Koegler

Jens Koegler is VMware's Healthcare Industry Director in EMEA. He is helping our healthcare customers develop and run modern applications to drive innovation and ensure better patient care through a digital foundation that includes data center, hybrid cloud, mobile, networking and security technologies. VMware plays a strategic role in the healthcare industry. Its leading innovations in enterprise software help ensure consistent patient care and reduce IT access time for healthcare professionals so they can spend more time with their patients. Jens plays a key role in helping customers understand how new applications, devices, the latest IT technologies and digital transformation are driving innovation in healthcare.