Historically, the communications industry has depended on proprietary, vertically integrated systemsโwhich typically lock customers to a vendor. But telecommunications service providers who want to move from previous-generation networks to 5G quickly need open systems to be responsive to the markets they serve. Airspan Networks Holdings Inc., a pioneer in Open Radio Access Network (Open RAN) solutions, provides software and hardware for 5G networks. Unlike traditional systems, Open RAN architecture disaggregates the RAN into multiple functional elements based on standard open interfaces, which allows interoperability among different vendors, bringing flexibility to a previously rigid market.
โOur 5G Starter Kit is a disaggregated solution,โ confirms Eran Ridel, director, PLM Software, at Airspan. The simple and flexible โnetwork in a boxโ is a 5G standalone Open RAN network with plug-and-play deployment capabilities that runs on the HPE 5G Core Stack. โPositioning HPE hardware as part of our network in a box is something we have done since we validated successful interoperability between our technologies.โ shares Jitender Kadian, vice president of sales, strategic accounts in North America, at Airspan.
Offered pre-integrated on HPE ProLiant servers, which are part of the HPE 5G Core Stack, Airspanโs innovative 5G solution powers dozens of network deployments and collaborations around the world, from sensitive remote operations such as military, shipping, or oil and gas, to low-latency critical applications such as in hospitals. The HPE 5G Core Stack integrates network functions from multiple vendors in a common, service-based architecture and shared data environment to support telco-grade performance and security. The offering reduces the risk and complexity of the transition to a cloud-native 5G core with Red Hatยฎ OpenShift platform as a service and Intelยฎ-powered infrastructure as a service. The solution offers end-to-end orchestration and automation, while also permitting interworking with previous-generation network technologies.
โThe main challenge customers have is integration. It takes time to get the right configuration. Thatโs why HPE and Airspan work together proactively to validate the integration and make the customer experience simple,โ continues Kadian. โOur customers can turn on a private 5G network in just daysโnot months,โ shares Abel Mayal, Airspanโs senior vice president of technology and marketing. โOur flexible approach allows both public and private network operators to deploy 5G functionality incrementally, as user equipment and application requirements evolve.โ
Joint solution benefitting all:
The open interfaces and APIs of the joint solution allow interoperability and scalability by moving the software away from the radios to run on HPE ProLiant serversโwhile also reducing CAPEX and OPEX by up to 40%.1 Additionally, the highly efficient servers can host containerized virtual RAN software for tens of radios while distributing resources among servers, which reduces energy consumption and contributes to modern organizationsโ sustainability initiatives. This represents substantial savings, as the RAN is the largest expense for most operators and lowers barriers to entry for new innovators.
Airspan and Hewlett Packard Enterprise have tested the speed and latency performance of the companiesโ combined offerings to support several use cases for public networks across core, edge, and RAN, paving the way for additional tests to include network slicing and other critical 5G use cases. With network slicing, operators can carve out segments of their networks and tune them to the needs of specific applications to offer customized services for enterprises, industries, the Internet of Things (IoT), and much more. Though Airspan has the capability and expertise to perform solution integration in its research and development center in Israel, the company has chosen to participate in the HPE OEM program to deliver its network-in-a-box offering to customers. Kadian confirms, โwe have performed a lot of integrations, but if we want to scale, we need system integrators, such as HPE OEM, to do this for us.โ โBeing an HPE partner gives us visibility on lead times, volume pricing, and discounts,โ says Ridel โThese are complex times due to supply chain challenges; the HPE and Airspan partnership alleviates the uncertainty to meet the commitments with our customers.โ
Future-proofing the communications industry:
The orchestration layer of the HPE 5G Core Stack enables network operators to manage thousands of virtual machines and hundreds of virtual and containerized network functions across their respective networks. โYou donโt have to over-dimension the software for each specific radio to cope with traffic spikes,โ explains Mayal. โThe resources can be virtualized and moved with the flow of traffic.โ The 5G network in a box offers simpler network management, lower costs, and increased security, as well as the flexibility to create networks on-premises or in the cloud, as close to the end-users as needed to reduce latency for specific applications. In closing, Mayal explains, โthere are three main pillars in our combined technology that are the foundation for our customersโ success: one is cost reduction, another is innovationโopening the market and creating competition accelerates innovationโand the last, but not least, is security. Open RAN is based on standardized interfaces, which eliminates back-door threats and increases the level of security and transparency that can be set in the network.โ
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Nabanita Maji
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
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Nabanita1
OEM Solutions team