Mobile packet core transformation Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Affirmed Networks vEPC solution

Contents Introduction .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 2

The business case for Virtualized EPC ........................................................................................................................................................................................................... 2

Why HPE and Affirmed Networks for vEPC? ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 3

HPE and Affirmed Networks vEPC solution overview ............................................................................................................................................................................ 4

Network functions virtualization infrastructure (NFVI) ................................................................................................................................................................... 5

Virtual Infrastructure Management (VIM) ................................................................................................................................................................................................... 6

Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 7

Virtual Network Function Managers (VNFMs) .................................................................................................................................................................................... 11

Element Management Systems (EMS) ....................................................................................................................................................................................................... 11

Network Functions Virtualization Orchestrator (NFVO) ............................................................................................................................................................ 11

Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 13

Technical white paper

Technical white paper Page 2

Introduction Communication Service Providers (CSPs) today provide LTE mobile communication services using a standard mobile core architecture known as the Evolved Packet Core (EPC). CSPs have rolled out EPC deployments by utilizing physical appliances for the various EPC functions (MME, SGW, etc.).

With the tremendous growth of data-hungry smartphones, mobile tablets, mobile laptops, CSPs worldwide are seeing their profit margins deteriorate because consumers are consuming more data, demanding higher speeds while keeping their spend constant. In some parts of the world, operators have reached saturation, while in others the customer base expects to pay significantly lower prices. At the same time, the increase of cellular based Machine-to-Machine (M2M) devices is forcing CSPs to find less expensive ways to provide packet core connectivity because the Average Revenue Per Unit (ARPU) for M2M connections has been diminishing.

In order to surmount these challenges, CSPs are looking towards Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) based solutions—including Virtualized EPC (vEPC). By moving the functions of the network from dedicated, proprietary hardware platforms to high-volume, general-purpose computing platforms and open-source software, CSPs are able to reduce network costs while improving the speed for updates to the network. At the same time, they are able to increase innovation and to create new services through a more open ecosystem.

Even though operators are currently focused on 4G networks, they want to make sure that any investments they make today are future-proof for 5G networks. Software Defined Networking (SDN), NFV, probeless network analytics, orchestration/automation plays a key role in 5G packet core networks.

The business case for Virtualized EPC Virtualization of EPC brings the following key benefits to CSPs:

• New service offerings at lower cost points—with an all software infrastructure, capacity can be added in right sized increments and is no longer governed by increments of sizing based on box capacity

• Accelerated TTM—ability to introduce new and differentiated services quickly; increased time to value

• OPEX reduction—higher degree of automation

• CAPEX reduction

• Deployment simplification

• Ease of change management

A recent research report conducted by ACG Research found that significant cost savings as well increased service velocity time were possible using a Virtualized EPC solution when compared to hardware based deployment (as show in figure 1).

Figure 1. Cost benefits of NFV solutions (Total cost of ownership study: Virtualizing the Mobile Core, 2015)

Architecture

CAPEX

Service turn up time

OPEX

1 Only one platform

6 months

15 months

Advance NFV solution

Appliance-based solution

68% lower cumulative CAPEX1. No over-investment in capacity

2. Scale dimensions independently

67% lower cumulative OPEX1. Large environmental savings

(power cooling, and floor expense)

2. Service contract savings

3 Three separate platforms to managevs.

68% 67%

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Why HPE and Affirmed Networks for vEPC? Not all vEPC solutions are created equal. Before selecting a vEPC vendor, a CSP needs to ask the following questions:

• Is this a best of breed solution—a cloud native implementation of VNF software or it is just simple porting of appliance software?

• Is this vendor able to support all geographies in which one operates?

• Does this vendor provide end-to-end virtualization stack?

• Is the solution open? Is this vendor willing to support third-party components, if desired?

• Does the solution support telco-grade reliability, high availability and performance?

• Does the solution result in real savings—both capital and operating?

• Is the solution hardened, mature and field proven?

• Is the solution 5G-ready?

HPE has developed an OpenNFV architecture show in figure 2 that is based upon the ETSI-NFV architecture. It is open, extensible, and can be realized today with production ready products from the HPE NFV portfolio and HPE OpenNFV partners.

Figure 2. HPE OpenNFV Reference Architecture

The HPE OpenNFV Program provides CSPs and their suppliers—such as network equipment providers (NEPs), independent software vendors (ISVs), and system integrators (SIs)—the foundation upon which to build a dynamic service and network environment. The HPE OpenNFV platform accelerates the design, proof-of-concept, trial, and deployment of new telco cloud-enabled network services and innovations, while lowering capital expenditures, operating expenditures, and risk. HPE has 96 and growing ISV/SI partners within the HPE OpenNFV program.

HPE has a vast presence and history in the OSS systems and services market, with more than 25 years of experience delivering OSS solutions to more than 500 successful CSP client deployments worldwide. The HPE OpenNFV vEPC solution leverages HPE’s intimate field knowledge and brings to the market a solution that takes into account orchestration and integration into a CSP’s OSS environment.

HPE, as the world’s leading x86 server platform provider, is able to support global vEPC delivery. HPE’s hardware platforms are already in service throughout the globe in CSPs and other industries with stringent requirements for performance, capacity, and availability.

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In addition to HPE Servers, Storage and Networking, the software components of the OpenNFV stack relevant to the HPE and Affirmed Networks joint vEPC solution are:

• HPE NFV Director

• VNFs—vMME, vSGW, vPGW, vPCRF, vOCS, vHSS, vePDG, Gi-LAN Services (vCGNAT, vFW, TCP Optimization etc.)

• Physical Infrastructure Management (PIM)

• HPE Helion OpenStack Carrier Grade

Details of these components and their benefits with respect to the HPE OpenNFV vEPC solution are described in subsequent sections.

The success of new technologies relies on the ability of sound deployment methods and talented delivery teams. HPE has NFV solution delivery capabilities at global scale and reach with consulting services tailored for vEPC deployments. The OpenNFV vEPC solution leverages the strength of HPE’s global consultative services team to offer advisory, design, and implementation offerings.

The strength and flexibility of HPE Financial Services provides the ability to uniquely tailor solutions to achieve the OPEX and CAPEX goals of all CSP tiers. Customizable financial models provide terms to make the deployment financially achievable with attractive metrics.

In addition, the HPE and Affirmed Networks vEPC solution has following key differentiators:

• Pre-integrated offering

• An open modular framework that allows CSPs choice of different VNF, if so desired

• Use of open-source components (OpenStack)

• Carrier-grade performance and reliability using Helion OpenStack Carrier Grade on NFV System

• NFV Optimized VNFs—design, performance, reliability, and scalability

HPE and Affirmed Networks vEPC solution overview The hardened, pre-integrated ETSI compliant HPE and Affirmed Networks vEPC solution is based upon a standards based architecture that promotes an open ecosystem and facilitates rapid deployment. The following figure shows the joint HPE and Affirmed Networks vEPC solution that uses mature solution components.

Figure 3. HPE and Affirmed Networks vEPC solution

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Helion OpenStack Carrier Grade

Embedded VNF Manager

HPE Servers, Storage, Switches

HPE NFV Director

NFV system

Technical white paper Page 5

HPE and Affirmed Networks vEPC solution includes the following components:

Table 1. HPE and Affirmed Networks vEPC solution components

Solution component Description Product

NFVI Switches, storage, servers needed to host VNFs HPE NFV System

VIM Virtual Infrastructure Manager HPE Helion OpenStack Carrier Grade

vPCRF Virtual Policy and Charging Rules Function HPE SNAP UPM

vOCS Virtual Online Charging System HPE SNAP RTC

vHSS Virtual Home Subscriber Sever HPE I-HSS

vMME, vSGW, vPGW, vePDG, Gi-LAN Value Added Services

EPC VNFs Affirmed Networks Mobile Content Cloud (MCC)

EMS Element Management System for faults and KPIs HPE RTMS, HPE eIUM EMS

Affirmed Networks Acuitas EMS

VNF Manager Virtual Network Function Managers to manage lifecycle of VNFs

HPE NFV Director embedded VNF Manager

HPE eIUM VNF Manager

NFV Orchestrator Resource Orchestrator for VNFs HPE NFV Director

Network functions virtualization infrastructure (NFVI) NFV system The HPE NFV System (based on the ETSI-NFV model) provides customers with a pre-bundled NFV Platform (NFVI & VIM) solution that includes complete racking, stacking, and cabling of the infrastructure elements (compute, storage, and network) and includes installation and custom configuration of the NFVI (Physical Infrastructure management SW) and VIM (Helion OpenStack Carrier Grade Software). Specifically for the vEPC solution, it supports SR-IOV and DPDK enabled NIC cards that help in achieving high-performance and NFV System’s architecture supports high availability and reliability at NFVI layer as well as VIM layer.

The HPE NFV System addresses the following areas that have traditionally inhibited Service Providers from moving to vEPC production deployments:

• Alleviates concerns around hardware/software mix by providing a pre-validated and tested configuration that ensure high performance, high availability and high reliability as well as manageability.

• Lifecycle management—HPE will ensure availability of solution by managing the lifecycles of all the individual components in the solution—eliminating the need to requalify new solution components due to issues like product EOL, backwards compatibility, etc.

• Product support—HPE will ensure that support issues are handled at a solution level instead of component level support. This support has been further enhanced to meet some of the strict service provider SLA requirements to ensure success in the telecommunications space.

HPE NFV System brings together HPE hardware and software to create a pre-integrated solution bundle optimized for vEPC solutions. HPE NFV System kits are built based on HPE’s extensive NFV proof-of-concept experience and are designed with an optimal mix of hardware and software to simplify and accelerate vEPC deployments, providing customers a simplified end-to-end experience from ordering, deployment, operations, lifecycle management and services. Kits are designed as building blocks that will allow customers the flexibility to start small and scale out as requirements increase. HPE NFV System consists of:

• HPE NFV Starter Kit—An all-in-one kit comprised of compute nodes with carrier-grade performance, control nodes in high-availability configuration running virtual infrastructure management (VIM) software—HPE Helion OpenStack Carrier Grade, as well as physical infrastructure management (PIM) software and storage nodes. HPE NFV Starter Kit is a complete turnkey solution designed to help CSPs quickly and effectively deploy vEPC solutions.

• HPE NFV Compute Kit—Comprised of server nodes that run Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) workloads, combined with carrier-grade capabilities that enable fast packet processing required for vEPC network nodes. HPE NFV Compute kit can be added to the HPE NFV Starter kit to augment its workload processing capacity, providing customers a flexible scale out path.

Technical white paper Page 6

• HPE NFV Control Kit—Consists of HPE Helion OpenStack Carrier Grade VIM software and PIM software, including HPE OneView, HPE Intelligent Management Center and HPE Central Management Console. HPE NFV Control Kit is designed for customers running custom, limited vEPC trials reusing existing digital infrastructure elements with minimal CAPEX spend.

• HPE NFV Storage Kit—A pre-configured solution that can be integrated with HPE NFV Starter Kit to provide additional capacity for storage intensive applications such as network analytics. HPE NFV Storage Kit simplifies integration with existing HPE NFV System environments, reducing time to roll out new services, minimizing OPEX spend.

Many telcos and suppliers have done NFV proof-of-concepts and are now ready to move to production. To do that, they need solutions that are open, carrier grade, and easy to deploy. HPE NFV System meets that criteria by providing an integrated, pre-tested, deployment-ready, telco hardened NFV hardware and software platform to get customers up-and-running quickly and confidently.

Figure 4. HPE NFV System

See details about the HPE NFV System on the HPE Telecom Digital Infrastructure webpage here: hpe.com/us/en/solutions/telecom-digital-infrastructure-nfv.html.

Virtual Infrastructure Management (VIM) VIM layer for vEPC solution uses Helion OpenStack Carrier Grade that is pre-packaged with NFV System. Specifically for the vEPC solution, it provides support for DPDK, anti-affinity rules, SR-IOV, NUMA, CPU resource pinning, high performance, short VM failure detection and auto-recovery, live VM migration.

Helion OpenStack Carrier Grade (HCG) Helion OpenStack Carrier Grade is a high-performance, high-availability, cloud operating system based on OpenStack that enables telecommunications operators to use commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware to manage Virtualized Network Functions (VNFs) within a carrier-grade Network Function Virtualization (NFV) architecture.

HPE NFV Systems Solutions

Provenarchitecture

Ease ofdeployment

Best in classindustry solutions

Carrier gradeand open

Value addedintegration

Ease ofmaintenance

• Solutions based on ETSI NFV Architecture that is optimized for telco applications• Eliminates burden of identifying right mix of hardware and software to build a

NFV Telco Cloud on HPE’s extensive experience with NFV PoCs

• Pre-integrated/pre-tested solutions• Solution level SKUs for easy ordering• Customized and ready to plug into customer network

• Solution-level lifecycle management• Premium support service from HPE to meet telco-grade SLAs

• HPE Server/Storage/Networking• Award winning management suite—HPE OneView and HPE Intelligent Management

Center (IMC)

• HPE Helion Carrier Grade provides OpenStack APIs and open source benefits• Enhanced real-time packet processing capabilities required for VNFs in

telco environments

• Custom scripts that enhances interaction of various software components andsimplifies management

• Documentation of typical NFV use case scenarios

Technical white paper Page 7

Some key aspects include Linux® host operating systems, server virtualization (KVM), network virtualization (vSwitch and SDN controllers), an installer and cloud lifecycle management framework, fault and performance management, and high-availability framework for the OpenStack control plane. Helion OpenStack Carrier Grade includes following key components:

• OpenStack—core services including Horizon, Nova, Neutron, Cinder, Glance, Swift, Keystone, Ceilometer, and Heat

• Compute node software package that includes:

– Carrier-grade Linux (host operating system [OS] running on the compute nodes)

– Carrier-grade KVM (for virtualization of the compute node)

– Carrier-grade accelerated virtual switch (AVS), data plane development kit (DPDK)-enabled high-performance virtual switch

• Management and middleware—composed of high-availability (HA) management; operations, administration, and maintenance (OAM); software image management; and fault and performance management

• Guest software development kit (SDK) for inclusion in the guest OS of the VNF for performance acceleration and improving the HA framework above and beyond standard VIMs

• HPE Helion Lifecycle Manager (HLM)—cloud installer and lifecycle manager

Figure 5. HPE Helion OpenStack Carrier Grade

Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) The following VNFs are part of the HPE OpenNFV vEPC solution that are deployed on Helion OpenStack Carrier Grade.

HPE Integrated HSS (I-HSS) HPE I-HSS is an integrated virtual HSS and virtual AAA offering. Virtual HSS (vHSS) acts as a central mobility management repository while Virtual AAA (vAAA) authenticates mobile users on trusted and untrusted Wi-Fi networks and supports authentication coordination between LTE and Wi-Fi access networks.

Some key features of I-HSS deployed as vHSS are:

• Network protocols—S6a, S6d, SLh, Cx, Sh

• Authentication—EAP-AKA, SIP digest

• MSISDN splitting of a numbering plan in areas where new area codes need to be assigned

• IPv4/IPv6 supports three modes of operations—IPv4, IPv6, and IPv4/IPv6

Openness• OpenStack, APIs; open source-based cloud controller

Carriergrade

Availability

Manageability Performance

Manageability

• In-service upgrade;OAM—configuration,fault, and performance

• Enhanced securityprotection for the programstore and hypervisor

• Advance resourcescheduling, management,and orchestration

Availability andreliability

• Advanced self-healing ofOpenStack control plane,no single failure point

• Less than 1 secondhost/VM fault detectionand automatic recovery offailed VM or node;Live VM migration

Performance

• Accelerated vSwitch:20 Gb/s guest throughput;10 µs interrupt-latencyreal-time virtualization

• Minimum latency onVM failover (~500 ms)

Technical white paper Page 8

• Idle Signal Reduction (ISR) is a mechanism that enables the UE to remain simultaneously registered in a UTRAN/GERAN Routing Area (RA) and an E-UTRAN Tracking Area (TA). When ISR is enabled, the UE does not have to make cell reselections between E-UTRAN and UTRAN/GERAN as long as it remains within the registered RA and TA list. As a consequence, HSS will maintain two PS registrations—one from the MME and another from the SGSN.

• CALEA supports lawful interception requirements (stage 1) described in 3GPP TS 33.106, lawful interception architecture and functions (stage 2) described in 3GPP TS 33.106 and the handover interface for lawful interception (stage 3) described in 3GPP TS 33.108.

• Roaming restriction enables the MNO to identify and establish multiple regions based on E.164 addresses. When roaming restriction is used, HSS compares the candidate E.164 address with the entries in the subscriber’s roaming restriction Class of Service.

• Subscriber routing supports the forwarding of Diameter S6a messages from HSS another HSS, based on the identity of the subscriber contained within the message being forwarded. This rudimentary Diameter routing, included in the vHSS application, enables a non-serving HSS to proxy received Diameter messages to the serving HSS based on service provider provisioned mappings of subscribers to serving Multiple HSS deployments.

• Force cancellations support manually detaching a subscriber from the network using the provisioning tool.

• Subscriber trace supports functionality as defined in 3GPP TS 32.421, 32.422, and 32.423.

• Multi-sub defaults enable operators to define multiple default profiles that can be used while provisioning a new subscriber profile.

• Access control—role-based identity management—controls the profile data access based on rules defined for the user of the provisioning system.

Some key features of I-HSS deployed as vAAA are:

• Network protocols—STa (trusted Wi-Fi), SWm (untrusted Wi-Fi), S6b (PGW), SWx (HSS).

• Authentication—EAP-AKA, EAP-AKA’.

• Handover from VoLTE to VoWiFi: When a VoLTE call is initiated or in progress, the voice session is anchored in the operator’s PDN Gateway with the voice packets routed over the mobile operator’s evolved packet core to the device. If the user’s LTE device also supports Wi-Fi access, the device can initiate Wi-Fi access authentication while the VoLTE call is in progress. Handover from a VoLTE call to a VoWiFi call is possible once authentication via the AAA is successful for the Wi-Fi network access with the voice session still anchored in the operator’s PDN Gateway, and a data session is established between the PDN Gateway and the Wi-Fi provider’s network. Once this data session is setup, the PDN Gateway will route the voice packets over the Wi-Fi provider’s network to the device.

• Handover from VoWiFi to VoLTE: When a VoWiFi call is initiated or in progress, the voice session is anchored in the operator’s PDN Gateway with the voice packets routed from the PDN Gateway over the Wi-Fi provider’s network to the device. The PDN Gateway informs the AAA of its identity for this session. If the user’s device determines the Wi-Fi access is no longer strong enough to support the call, handover from VoWiFi to VoLTE is done by informing the PDN Gateway to route the voice packets over the mobile operator’s evolved packet core network.

Following are common across when I-HSS is deployed either as vHSS and vAAA:

• High Availability—To maintain high availability, I-HSS leverages our 20 years of experience with the active/active deployment model, providing milliseconds synchronization of the database between two separate nodes. This synchronization increases solution reliability and enables simplified operations with no downtime in maintenance events.

• Geo-redundant synch is the data synchronization mechanism for I-HSS while maintaining active/active-mated instances for high availability.

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HPE Unified Policy Manager (UPM) HPE UPM is a virtualized carrier-grade software solution that implements policy decisions based on business rules spanning multiple domains. It is part of the HPE Subscriber Network and Application Policy portfolio (SNAP)—an integrated solution providing policy, charging, and promotion management solutions to address business needs of telecommunication service providers. UPM enables execution of network, subscriber, and application policies across voice, data, and video networks, and it also:

• Enables real-time management of network resources in sync with subscribers and applications. Example—QoS control in the network based on triggers such as destinations, roaming to new networks, time of day, credit exhaustion, and congestion status.

• Allocates network resources dynamically, makes optimization and control decisions, and enables the creation of new services controlled by individual subscribers. Examples—fair usage, tiered pricing, access control.

• Allows single policy control across multiple access networks through its rich set of standard-based out-of-the-box connectors.

• Provides graphical rule definition for ease of use and shortened time to market.

• Complies with 3GPP Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) standards.

• Works in concert with HPE Real Time Charging (RTC) to deliver a personalized service experience to subscribers where policy actions can trigger quota or QoS upgrade offers.

HPE Real Time Charging (RTC) HPE RTC is a virtualized carrier-grade software solution that implements online charging and billing solutions for network service providers to enforce credit control in real time. It is part of the HPE Subscriber Network and Application Policy portfolio (SNAP)—an integrated solution providing policy, charging, and promotion management solutions to address business needs of telecommunication service providers. RTC charges prepaid or postpaid subscribers based on their network services use or access to 3G/4G content or applications, and it also:

• Enables real-time management of network resources in sync with subscribers and applications, including charging and rating subscribers based on supplied charging and rating plans, and a complete functionality enabling creation and implementation of custom charging and rating plans

• Permits delivery of a highly personalized service experience to subscribers

• Provides graphical rule definition for ease of use and shortened time to market

• Provides graphical tools for definition and adjusts charging and rating plan session process flows, including definition of entirely new flows

• Complies with 3GPP Online Charging System (OCS) standards

• Provides extension implementation to be flexible to meet different user requirements

• Enables fast provisioning of rating/pricing plans or products for new services or applications to subscriber

• Supports charging and rating of data, voice, and messages sent over the network

RTC supports a wide range use cases out of the box. Some examples:

• Bill-shock prevention—automatically notifies subscribers who have exceeded or will soon exceed their allowed usage

• Freemium—ability to offer zero rating for sponsored or “freemium” content

• Time-based plans—ability to rate based on the time of day

• Tiered services—ability to create tiered plans for variety of subscribers

• Shared plans—ability to offer closed group of users or multiple devices to share the same data quota

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Affirmed Network Mobile Content Cloud (MCC) Affirmed Networks MCC is a carrier-class virtualized solution that supports high performance (SR-IOV, DPDK), flexible deployment models, elasticity and independent scaling. It supports following packet core functions:

• 3GPP-compliant Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) and Mobile Management Entity (MME) functions to support large-scale network services for 2G, 3G, 4G, LTE, and VoLTE

• 3GPP-compliant Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN), Serving Gateway (SGW), and PDN Gateway (PGW) functions with broad protocol support for external networks

• Wi-Fi Access: Evolved Packet Data Gateway (ePDG) and Trusted WLAN Access Point/Gateway (TWAP/TWAG) functions for secure access to trusted and untrusted Wi-Fi networks, including support for Wi-Fi calling services, and EPC to Wi-Fi integration (also known as “Heterogeneous Networks” or “Het Nets”)

• Policy Control Enforcement Function (PCEF) that feature dynamic policy enforcement, real-time charging, and a multitude of revenue-generating services

• Gi-LAN services—Carrier Grade NAT, Per-subscriber firewall, TCP Optimization, Web/Video Optimization, DPI

• Service Workflow Orchestration—A services chaining framework that enables operators to create and launch customized multi-service offerings in days (and not months)

• IoT/NB-IoT—Comprehensive network support for 2G/3G, LTE, LTE-M and NB-IoT Services

• Intelligent vProbe and Analytics: Affirmed’s vProbe co-located with MCC functions i.e., MME/SGSN, SGW, PGW, GGSN, Wi-Fi reduces hardware costs, network complexity and the performance issues typically associated with legacy probe solutions, while providing real-time network analytics

• 5G-Readiness—5G core requirements such as network slicing, common composable core, optimized for IoT, simplified network operations and management, support of new mobile services are easily supported by MCC architecture

Few keys features of MCC are:

• Carrier-Class Performance: Using SR-IOV and DPDK.

• Flexible Deployment Model: The Mobile Content Cloud uses a clustered approach for Virtual Network Functions (VNFs). That is, instead of numerous independent VNFs, it collapses many VNFs into a cluster of dynamically scalable and specialized virtual machines (VMs). MCC supports single or multiple packet core and Gi-LAN elements. For example, a virtualized network element may contain multiple service instances such as the GGSN, PGW, and SGW, or each network function might be deployed in its own virtualized network element. This architecture enables a MNO to enable individual VNFs within the cluster, according to need, while the cluster itself is a single managed entity. Combining multiple VNFs into a composite VNF provides the following benefits:

– Packets are input, classified, processed, and output by a single network element rather than multiple network elements.

– Metadata is shared among the VNFs. For example, the IMSI, MSISDN, IMEI, and cell ID are advertised to all VNFs for incorporation into local policy, header enrichment, and so on.

– Deep packet inspection (DPI) is performed once and its conclusions are advertised to all VNFs.

– Independent Scaling of GGSN, PGW, SGW, and Wi-Fi Gateway (ePDG and TWAG).

• Independent Scaling and Elasticity: Provisioning for peak capacity is a waste of resources. Yet, with legacy EPC systems, MNOs are forced to do so in order to avoid running out of capacity during usage spikes. In contrast, Virtualized EPC solutions, such as the Affirmed Networks Mobile Content Cloud, enable scaling dynamically—in or out—as needed. And yet, all scaling is not created equal. Most vEPC solutions lump “capacity” into one large bucket. In reality, different use cases require different dimensions of scaling. M2M communications, for example, may need to scale sessions and signaling, while consumer broadband performance is affected by throughput.

The Affirmed Networks Mobile Content Cloud offers a flexible architecture that allows targeted scaling to increase capacity per call model dimension—so MNOs can accommodate changing workloads without having to over-invest in capacity. Different elements like signaling, proxy, content, and other service VMs can scale independently as needed, and per service function. It provides independent scaling of session, I/O, and signaling dimensions. With the Affirmed Networks Mobile Content Cloud, MNOs can quickly and seamlessly modify capacity for only the required dimension and avoid over-investing in capacity.

Technical white paper Page 11

Figure 6. Affirmed Networks Mobile Content Cloud Flexible Architecture

Virtual Network Function Managers (VNFMs) The following VNF Managers are employed within the solution:

• HPE NFV Director Embedded VNF Manager: To manage the lifecycle of Affirmed Networks MCC and HPE I-HSS

• HPE eIUM VNF Manager: To manage the lifecycle of HPE SNAP RTC and UPM

Element Management Systems (EMS) The following EMS products are employed within the solution:

• Real Time Management System (RTMS): To manage faults/KPIs of HPE I-HSS

• eIUM EMS: To manage faults/KPIs of HPE SNAP RTC and UPM

• Acuitas EMS: To manage faults/KPIs of Affirmed Networks MCC

Network Functions Virtualization Orchestrator (NFVO) NFV Director provides the central MANO functionality outlined in the ETSI ISG’s E2E architecture diagram. Its main use is to orchestrate network services based on VNFs. Specifically for vEPC solution, NFV Director Fulfillment integrates with external VNF Managers to manage the lifecycle of VNFs. It also plays the role as Generic VNF Manager for some of the VNFs that are part of the solution. It integrates with Helion OpenStack Carrier Grade to orchestrate VNF resources. NFV Director Assurance collects faults and performance matrices from NFV System PIM, Helion OpenStack Carrier Grade, Element Management Systems, and VNF Managers to provide single pane of glass.

NFV Director can provide a fully automated approach to VNF based deployments. Some examples:

• Instantiation of VMs and creation of virtual networks (using OpenStack API) to provide a single abstraction point for multiple instances of OpenStack

• Interaction with SDN controllers like HPE OpenSDN

Automation

Wireless local loop Enterprise Consumer Internet of Things

High throughput per sub no mobilitysome high-touch services millions ofsubscribers distributed deployment

Medium throughput per sub highmobility mostly high-touch services10’s of millions of subscriberscentralized deployment

Low throughput per sub high mobilitymostly high-touch services 100’s ofmillions of subscribers centralizeddeployment

Very low throughput per sub lowmobility no high-touch services billionsof things highly distributed deployment

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Service orders for a given network service are sent to NFV-Director via its northbound API’s. Once NFV-Director receives the request, it will decompose customer facing network services into resource facing network services and instantiate required workflows to reserve the resources in the data centers, create and connect the networks, create the VMs within the VNFs and attach them to the networks (as defined in the network service descriptors).

Some key features of NFV Director are:

• Model-based coordination and control

• Agent-less monitoring

• Dynamic topology based correlation

• Rule-based autonomous actions

• Network Services & VNFs catalogue

• Network Service & VNFs instances

• Offline modeling tool for network services and VNFs

• Integration with external analytics engines

• Integration with external VNF Managers

• Embedded VNF Manager

• Global resource management

• Supports multiple sites

• Embedded VNF Manager functionality

• Open APIs support

• Multi-VIM support

• Interworking with SDN controllers

Technical white paper

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4AA6-8334ENW, October 2017, Rev. 4

Figure 7. HPE NFV Director

Conclusion HPE and Affirmed Networks have collaborated closely to bring a pre-integrated end-to-end vEPC solution to the market—enabling mobile networks to increase service agility and service velocity and empowering operators to cut costs while pursuing new revenue streams. The 5G-ready open solution includes best of breed field proven solution components from both HPE and Affirmed Networks and provides telco-grade reliability, high availability and performance. Professional services and global support ensure that CSPs journey towards deploying production Virtualized EPC networks is smooth.

Contact HPE to learn more about the vEPC solution at hpe.com/csp/contactus.

Learn more at hpe.com/dsp/infrastructure affirmednetworks.com hpe.com/dsp/automate

HPE NFV Director• Ensures consistent management and behavior of VNFs and NSs

– Orchestrates and manages the end-to-end network service spanningacross multiple VNFs, PNFs

– Supports multiple VNF across multiple sites– Automated provisioning and monitoring with feedback

• Designed to meet the evolving ETSI specifications– Full NFV orchestrator functionally, interfaces, and interaction models– Includes VNF manager functionality and works with external

(VNF-supplied) VNF managers• Supporting the journey to NFV

– Handles virtual and physical network functions and hybrid services– Supports network consisting of traditional and SDN domains

• Open and multi-vendor– Supports integration with any VNF, VIM, and OSS using Open APIs– Multi-VIM support (both OpenStack and non-OpenStack)

• Modular and extensible– Start small and grow– Flexible integration with OSS, EMS, VNF, and infrastructure– Telco-grade performance and reliability

Model-driven NFV Orchestrator with embedded VNF Manager

NFV Director

NFV Director

Fulfillment Assurance

Policy management

Service fulfillment Service monitoring

External VNF ManagersEmbedded VNF Manager

VNFfulfillment

VNFmonitoring

VNFfulfillment

VNFmonitoring

Globalresource

fulfillment

Globalresource

monitoring

NFC M

anagement and O

rchestration

Virtualized Infrastructure Manager

Catalog

Instanceinventory

Globalresourceinventory