Differentiated Telecom services delivery through Open API’s

Delivering services through Open API’s is doughty success of Android and revolution that enabled an ecosystem of innovation . How can Telco industry can learn from this breakthrough is the baseline of “Automation and Orchestration” and “Network Slicing” Movement as we know today .

However achieving this is easier said than done as success of this in Telecom comes finally to these three things

1. An Open Architecture
2. Modular and Pluggable
3. Model Driven
4. Solved via Open API’s

Architecture

Although a proven E2E architecture is a must to build telecom systems and deliver them using a Telecom standard SLA’s yet in a real Telecom world which is massively “Brown field” this will seldom be applied so a framework that will give option to select only few new components and seamlessly integrate with existing legacy OSS/BSS components is a typical Telco OSS/BSS transformation journey

Outcome based

If there is one lesson Telco industry has learnt from open source is that there is almost zero time when a new architecture will make business case unless it is introduced incrementally based on “Outcome based” KPI’s that enables specific business outcomes in a non-airgapped environment and fully matching complex Telecom requirements

Model Driven

A strong emphasis on “Model Driven” is a baseline to de-couple Infrastructure from Application , in addition it should enable it to open focus on input and output manifests leaving implementation details flexible to enable a wider ecosystem while keeping a Telecom grade compliance .

One such example is we can learn from ONAP community responsible to enable an Open Orchestration and Intelligence Engine for Telecoms and their output for delivering models that delvers a Telco grade services

source: https://wiki.onap.org/display/DW/Architecture

Programable and API Driven

As Telco’s accelerate their Network transformation to both improve customer experience and enable new era of growth it becomes evidently important that everything need to be enabled using API as a Service .

Whether it is a hardware procurement , service creation or Operations everything need to be models , depicted and delivered as an API that can be consumed in either ways

System view Integration

This is how external brokers or API consumers connects to systems

Internal view Integration

This is how you can develop and integrate a Module to existing system , it needs detailed API mapping to an abstracted plugin’s that hides all integration and functional complexity

NBI API’s

These are how the Services will be enabled and mostly need to align with TMF and MEF API’s as an example

• TM Forum 641 APIs
• TM Forum 633 APIs
• TM Forum 638 APIs
• MEF Legato Reference Point

Partners and Developer API’s

These are how the Network will be exposed and interconnected to a global Network to deliver services at scale as an example

• TMF 641
• MEF Interlude
• Telco Edge
• CAMARA API’s

Resource Orchestration

This is how you can integrate different components from different vendors in your network as an example

• Redfish
• ETSI
• IETF

Enabling ML/AI an removing Data Silos

If there is one domain that seems unanimously important to win for Telco’s is both making networks intelligent and Monetize data . Data is generated at every points how we can deliver a standard MDAP (Management of data analytics platform) and integrate with the Telco NF’s like NWDAF defined in 3GPP SA2 is vital .

An API first and Model driven architecture will enable to remove data silos that exists between service and functional domains . In addition it can make Networks more flat and simple by removing duplicated between NWDAF , MDAF and may be data collectors .

In this paper i have tried to inked some of the directions how Telco’s can deliver their NG-OSS transformations towards more nimble and Open automation frameworks to deliver Telecom services in an agile and standard manner that meets the Telco specific requirements of performance , reliability and security

A broader look at Openness for Telco

When it comes to enabling an Open architecture in Telecom it need to viewed in the context of end game which is a Telecom service , this is one study one by our partner #Nokia and that gives a best glimpse how an architect should build and deliver services with a balance between 3GPP and a Linux world , below are 9 initiatives worthy to learn and apply

1. 3GPP
2. IETF
3. CNCF
4. NFV
5. Apps
6. ODA TMF
7. OCP
8. O-RAN
9. Blocks chain and FinTech

Here is the the details https://www.nokia.com/networks/insights/9-openness-initiatives-powering-innovation/?did=D00000001041&gclid=CjwKCAjwkMeUBhBuEiwA4hpqEMZWCacSPI2H5FaURO23Z7wmSJRPmIfnexGVktQFtr2fEZ3HSTj3wxoChGAQAvD_BwE#

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