The document discusses the transition from traditional hardware-based network functions to Network Functions Virtualization (NFV), highlighting its efficiency, scalability, and reduced costs. It outlines how NFV allows for dynamic service provisioning, improves operational efficiency, and enables faster time-to-market for innovations, while emphasizing the importance of open standards and collaborative platforms. Additionally, it covers the role of Orange Silicon Valley in leveraging NFV to enhance telecommunications infrastructure and support startups through its innovation programs.

1. Christos Kolias
Orange Silicon Valley
NFV
Empowering the User
Linaro Connect USA – LCU14
Burlingame, September 2014

2. 2
BRAS
Firewall
DPI
CDN
Tester/QoE
monitor
WAN
Acceleration
Message
Router
Radio/Fixed Access
Network Nodes
Carrier Grade NAT
PE Router
SGSN/GGSN
The NFV Concept & Vision
Classical Network Model:
Hardware Appliances
Network Functions are based on specialized hardware
One physical node per role. Physical install per site
Static. Hard to scale up & out
Inefficient: sized for peak loads or cannot handle spikes
Session Border
Controller
standard servers, storage, switches
The New Network Model:
Virtual Appliances
Orchestration & Automation
Network Functions are SW-based
Multiple roles over same HW. Remote operation
Dynamic. Extremely easy to scale
Scalable number of VMs
EPC

3. 3
Fields of Application
•Mobile networks:
 HLR/HSS, MME, SGSN, GGSN/PDN- GW, eNodeB, vEPC
•NGN signalling:
SBCs, IMS
•Switching elements:
BNG, CG-NAT, routers
•Home environment:
home router, set top box, picocell
•Application-level optimization:
CDNs, Cache Servers, Load Balancers, Application Accelerators
•Security functions
Firewalls, virus scanners, intrusion detection systems, spam protection
•Tunnelling gateway elements:
IPSec/SSL VPN gateways
•Converged and network- wide functions:
AAA servers, policy control and charging platforms
•Traffic analysis/forensics:
DPI, QoE measurement
•Traffic Monitoring:
Service Assurance, SLA monitoring, Test and Diagnostics

4. 4
EVA principle: elasticity, velocity, agility + scaleability
‒Flexibility to easily, rapidly, dynamically provision and instantiate new services in various locations (i.e. no need for new equipment install)
‒Increased speed of time-to-market by minimising the typical network operator cycle of innovation. More service differentiation & customization. Great for BC/DR.
‒Improved operational efficiency by taking advantage of a more homogeneous (physical) network platform
Reduced equipment costs through equipment consolidation, leveraging the economies of scale. Eco-friendly.
Reduced operational costs: reduced power, reduced space, improved network monitoring
Software-oriented innovation (including Open Source) to rapidly prototype and test new services
IT-oriented skillset and talent (readily available in global geography, flexible). Convergence of IT & NetOps.
NFV: a Value Proposition

5. 5
ETSI NFV ISG
•Launched November 2012. First plenary January 2013
•37 Tier-1 global operators/carriers
•> 225 member organizations
•4 WGs, 2 EGs
•4 specs published (Oct. ‘13) : architectural framework, virtualization requirements, use cases, terminology
•24 POCs
•Quarterly face-face meetings, 7 so far, next in Arizona, Nov. 2014
•15 work items; 2 white papers (authored by operators, not ETSI)
•Tens of individual contributors and hundreds of contributions
•Working on Phase II
•www.etsi.org/nfv

6. Computing
Hardware
Storage
Hardware
Network
Hardware
Hardware resources
Virtualisation Layer
Virtualised
Infrastructure
Manager(s)
VNF
Manager(s)
VNF
OSS/BSS
NFVI
VNF
VNF
Execution reference points
Main NFV reference points
Other reference points
Virtual Computing
Virtual Storage
Virtual Network
EMS
EMS
EMS
Service, VNF and Infrastructure Description
Or-Vi
Or-Vnfm
Vi-Vnfm
Os-Ma
Se-Ma
Ve-Vnfm
Nf-Vi
Vn-Nf
Vl-Ha
Orchestrator
NFV MANAGEMENT & ORCHESTRATION
VNFs
The E2E Reference Architecture

7. 7
Network Functions Virtualisation Infrastructure as a Service (NFVIaaS)
‒Network functions go to the cloud
Virtual Network Function as a Service (VNFaaS)
‒Ubiquitous, delocalized network functions
Virtual Network Platform as a Service (VNPaaS)
‒Applying multi-tenancy at the VNF level
VNF Forwarding Graphs
‒Building E2E services by composition
An E2E View: Architectural Use Cases
NVFIaaS Example

8. 8
 Mobile core network and IMS
‒ Elastic, scalable, more resilient EPC
‒ Specially suitable for a phased
approach
 Mobile base stations
‒ Evolved Cloud-RAN
‒ Enabler for SON
 Home environment
‒ L2 visibility to the home network
‒ Smooth introduction of residential
services
 CDNs
‒ Better adaptability to traffic surges
‒ New collaborative service models
 Fixed access network
‒ Offload computational intensive
optimization
‒ Enable on-demand access services
An E2E View: Service-Oriented Use Cases

9. 9
physical
switch
vDPI
vCDN
vCDN
vDPI
vLB
vFW
vADC
vSwitch
SDN
Controller
Network Functions Forwarding Graph
Provides logical description of interconnecting the VNFs and traffic flow between them (aka Service Chaining)
Nested FGs a possibility
Need for new visualization & monitoring tools

10. www.etsi.org/nfv-poc
ETSI NFV PoC Zone @ SDN & OpenFlow World Congress (Oct. ‘14)
NFV POCs and ARM
Two PoCs that ARM participates in:
•POC#19: Service Acceleration on NW Functions in Carrier Networks
‒Showcase an orchestrator that is able to setup multiple functions to be offloaded from the network element avoiding any back and forth traffic delays between the network element and the external COTS servers either before or after completing each network function.
‒ARM, Avago Technologies, Ericsson, Tieto, Procera, AT&T,
‒Accepted. Start date: June 1, 2014
•Demonstration of vEPC Applications on AMD 64bit ARM and x86 platforms and Enhanced Resource Management
‒ARM, AMD, Aricent, Vodafone
‒Submitted.

11. POC#19
Proposed PoC
•PoC Goal #1: verify Acceleration of Virtualized NW functions (VNFs) that work on carrier networks utilizing commoditized white box hardware.
•PoC Goal #2: demonstrate VNF disaggregation from a given network element.
•PoC Project Goal #3: demonstrate performance difference when VNFs get disaggregated onto COTS servers vs when the COTS servers get augmented with network function acceleration SoCs.
Axxia is a specific ARM- based SoC from Avago Technologies (LSI) intended to be used for this POC

12. Creates competitive supply of innovative applications by third parties
Strategic Networking Paradigms
•NFV and SDN are highly complementary, they are mutually beneficial but not dependent on each other.
•Software is common denominator
Creates abstractions to enable faster innovation
Software
Defined
Networking
Leads to agility, Reduces CAPEX, OPEX,
Network
Functions
Virtualisation
Open
Innovation

13. 13
What should be open?
‒Open Source (software)
‒Open Design (hardware)
‒Open Standards
‒Open Interfaces, APIs (plugins)
‒Open SDKs
Open Community (not controlled by single vendor)
Decoupling of software and hardware. Programmable network functions
Benefits
‒modularization: best of breed, flexibility
‒customization (mix & match)
‒reduced costs
‒easy to upgrade, no vendor lock-in
Open Networking & NFV
Network Operating System
Application / Tools / Services
Hardware (switch/server))
Virtual Switch
API
API
API
API

14. 14
Issues:
‒(harmonious) integration and consistency
‒for operators: carrier-grade (HA & five 9s, DR/BC, SLAs, reliability)
‒security, testing & interoperability, certification, licensing, regulation
Creating a sandbox of open source tools would be ideal
Open VNFs
‒Open-sourced firewalls, load balancers, DPI
Emergence of virtual switches and routers as vital block elements
Disaggregation of switch hardware/software supports
‒dynamic/programmable QoS (selective per application/user/virtual network, etc)
‒monitoring/analytics tools
‒run many NOS on same system (group of physical/virtual ports)

15. 15
SDN can play a key role in the orchestration of the infrastructure (physical, virtual)
‒Provisioning and configuration of VNFs
‒Allocate and manage resources (e.g., bandwidth)
‒VM mobility
‒Automation & programmability
‒Security & policy control
‒Centralized network control. Unified control & management plane?
Service composition (NFV Forwarding Graphs)
‒Directing traffic flows to VNFs
‒Traffic flow characterization very important (especially for mobile, E2E scenarios)
NFV+SDN

16. 16
NFV creates a very dynamic environment
‒SDN can present an overall logical view, map
‒SDN’s programmability is key aspect (i.e., for automation)
Ad-hoc, on-demand, secure virtual tenant networks
Extend M&O to include Network Management
SDN could enable and accelerate the virtualization of the network and the “cloudification” of the carrier (COs/PoPs become DCs)
Challenges in “dovetailing” SDN with NFV
‒Hybrid virtualized/non virtualized environment
‒Mixed SDN/non-SDN (legacy) network elements/domains
‒SDN across NFV boundaries
‒NFV across SDN boundaries (this may require some sort of SDN federation)
NFV and SDN together can create greatest value

17. 17
Mapping to Open Source communities
NFVI
NFV M&O
Hardware Resources
Computing Hardware
Storage Hardware
Network Hardware
Virtualization Layer
Virtual Compute
Virtual Storage
Virtual Network
VNF
VNF
VNF
EMS
EMS
EMS
OSS / BSS
Service, VNF & Infrastructure Description
Virtualized Infrastructure Manager
Orchestrator
VNF Managers
VNF
OpenStack
CloudStack
KVM
XEN, LXC
new for generic VNFs
Open Daylight
ONOS, ONF
DPDK
ODP (Linaro)
OCP
OpenStack
CloudStack

18. 18
Open Platform for NFV (OPN): collaborative (vendor/carrier) community supported by Linux Foundation for supporting NFV
Scope: NFV Infrastructure and M&O
Goals
‒Create an open platform for integration, testing and validation
‒Build new open source components
‒Use open implementations to drive an open standard and open ecosystem for NFV solutions
‒Develop code for E2E solutions
Benefits
‒Faster solutions (time-to-market)
‒Lower development cost
‒Feedback to ETSI ISG NFV
Open Platform for NFV

19. 19
NFV & ODP
•ODP provides cross-platform support for APIs to the network dataplane
•Supports SoC abstraction (allows APIs to access SoC resources, accelerators, etc)
•Execution in Linux user space

20. Managed Virtual Network Function Apps
Next-Gen Virtualized Network Software Platforms
Network Operators Get…
Optimum use of network resources
Increase network agility
Unleash service innovation
Accelerate service “velocity”
Extract business intelligence
Enable dynamic, service- driven virtual networks “NaaS”
Better economics
Service Creation
Monitoring
Analysis
Security
Management Layer
Control Plane
Services Layer
Abstraction &
Network
Elements
Forwarding Plane
Physical Layer
Virtualization Layer
API
API
API
API
API
API
API
API
API
API
API
API
Source: Heavy Reading analyst perspective, drawing upon
various carrier & vendor views- modified for use here
Operators
OEMs
ISVs
SoC Vendors
Community
Driven
Open
NFV Platforms
Open VSwitch
DPDK
VNF 1
VNF 2
VNF 3
…
VNF n
source:ARM

21. 21
APIs: important for plug-n-play, especially for open platforms
Google, FB, Microsoft, eg. WebRTC
They can enable plethora of innovative (eg, ad-hoc/customized) services and lead to new business models for the telcos
‒Monetization opportunities (eg., consumers, enterprise, VNOs, etc)
SPs: From function/service-based to app-based models
‒Deploy resources (including VNFs on-demand) as an app/user needs them
‒Example: different mobile apps may require different connectivity mode (4G, WiFi, multiple WiFis, etc)
‒Example: customer-tailored, brokerage-based services (eg., VoIP calls)
‒Managed services (the evolution of VPNs)
Integrate (network and business) intelligence: write your own VNF!
The Role of APIs
Smart mobile devices and IoT will precipitate the adoption of APIs for telco Apps

22. 22
Load Balancer
WAN Acceleration
DPI
Switch
Firewall
Load Balancer
WAN Acceleration
DPI
Switch
Firewall
Load Balancer
WAN Acceleration
DPI
Switch
Firewall
Infrastructure today
Collection of heterogeneous networks
(with lots of duplication)

23. 23
ETSI NFV
FW
LB
DPI
OSV
SDN CTR
FW
LB
DPI
OSV
SDN CTR
FW
LB
DPI
OSV
SDN CTR
VM
VM
VM
VM
VM
VM
VM
VM
VM
VM
M&O
NV
SDN CTR
EMS
OVS
NFV removes the physical boundaries and constraints in your infrastructure. It breaks the barriers and opens up unlimited opportunities.

24. 24
Orange, a worldwide presence
Orange Silicon Valley (OSV), a wholly owned subsidiary of Orange, is its Silicon Valley presence
Orange is one of the major telcos, in 5 continents, 32 countries, 232 million customers, 6 million business customers
Internet, Fixed, Mobile, IP TV provider
180,000 employees and ~ $ 55 b revenues in 2013
 Other assets: Dailymotion, Orange Business Services (OBS)
Orange Fab: a startup accelarator
Orange Silicon Valley

25. 25
Orange Silicon Valley
•Virtualizing the EPC goes beyond virtualizing a single function
•Virtualize nodes (MME, SGW, PGW, SecGW), functions (attach/registration, bearer, PCRF, ANDSF, HSS)
•Benefits:
‒Elasticity, agility, scalability: launch VMs to handle traffic spikes
‒Remote operations. Eliminates physical distances between nodes
‒Portability: “EPC in a briefcase”, e.g, deploy next to eNodeB
‒Easier to integrate other functions such as IMS, vDPI, caching
•Complete decoupling of control & data planes
•Flexible allocation & deployment of resources
•Challenge: delivering carrier-grade performance
vEPC @ OSV

26. 26
EPC Virtualization – verticalized
S1
eNB
MME
VM
HSS
VM
PCR
F
VM
S-GW
VM
P-GW
VM
Attach
Auth.
Bearer
Contex
t
Mobility
Data
Attach Policy
Auth.
Policy
Bearer
Contex
t
Mobility
Policy
Data
Bearer
Mobility
Contex
t
SGi
Internet
• A physical box /node is mapped to a VM
• Inefficient: still uses many processes and requires encoding/decoding
across interfaces
• Inflexible: high-availability requires duplication
Orange Silicon Valley

27. 27
S1
eNB
Cloud EPC
• Consolidation of multiple physical network infrastructures into one
• Node disaggregation:
‒ obscures boundaries between functional boxes
‒ can lead to less complexity
• Achieves better service scalability, flexibility. Multi-tenancy (eg, MVNOs)
Attach
Auth.
Bearer
Context
Auth.
Data
Policy Policy
Mobility Mobility
Attach Policy
Bearer Bearer
Context Context Data
Management & Orchestration
Orange Silicon Valley

28. 28
SmartEPC: NFV+SDN PoC
•Easier to integrate SDN-based solutions, such as “smart traffic offloading”
‒Offload traffic based on various & different criteria (e.g., per customer, traffic)
‒Embed OF agents in VNFs (running on VMs)
•Better management of EPC. Mobile flow characterization
•Does not require vendor to make drastic changes
Orange Silicon Valley
ANDSF
Evolved Packet Core
SDN CTRL

29. Orange Fab Startups
Orange Fab is a three-month accelerator program that supports
U.S.-based start-ups with an existing product which changes the
way people connect and communicate
For more information:
orangefab.com
@orangefab
In Silicon Valley, France, Poland, Japan
New activity: Orange SV GigaStudio – a gigabit lab for startups to innovate
Orange Silicon Valley

30. 30
NFV will be profoundly transformative

31. christos.kolias@orange.com