From purpose-built to cloud – is that the right RAN move?

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The traditional telco way to deploy and operate purpose-built mobile networks is being challenged, and the question is: how will the 5G network architecture evolve going forward, and at what pace? Will purpose-built radio access networks, as we know them, continue to dominate, will cloud-based solutions quickly take over, or will we see a combination of both depending on the deployment use cases and market needs? Join us on this exploration of the key considerations for a successful mobile network architecture evolution.

Network deployment and management is taking the first steps in moving from a traditional telco way of working and into cloud-native principles from the IT world. Here, the ecosystem around servers, processors, and cloud infrastructure is driving innovation and economies of scale in both infrastructure and operations at a growing speed. Following the migration of core and IT applications to the cloud, a key question on the agenda of many service providers now is regarding what this cloud-native network evolution will bring, if and why it makes sense to also bring cloud-native practices into the radio access network (RAN). After all, the distributed deployment of radio sites is quite different from the centralized Core network and from how cloud data centers are traditionally deployed. Let’s go over that in a bit more detail.

First of all, a substantial part of the investment in purpose-built RAN is tied to physical infrastructure - radio sites and backhaul - and spectrum, by this RAN differs from the Core and IT domain because it contains elements that cannot easily be replaced by cloud solutions in the same optimized and specialized fashion. Additionally, in order to achieve high performance and efficiency, RAN functions rely on real-time critical processing, which is not a common requirement in the cloud computing world. Moreover, the features provided by the RAN are nowadays critical for large parts of our society, and the most well-managed networks already provide a very high reliability while providing extensive coverage and capacity. So, even though cloud-native principles will have an important role to play also in RAN, we are still left with the questions of if, why and how to move to a Cloud RAN deployment. To answer these, let’s start by looking into the potential benefits this network architecture can deliver.

Cloud RAN, beyond the hype

So, what can you really get out of Cloud RAN? By using cloud technologies in the RAN, the Cloud RAN, CSPs can achieve:

Cloud economics - Scaling, flexibility, and pooling
Cloud RAN allows for flexibility in deployment options and scalability of compute resources due to the separation of software (SW) and hardware (HW). As a result, CSPs have the option to choose the hardware and cloud infrastructure that fits them best. The RAN functions can be placed in a distributed deployment or moved into their existing data centers, either centrally or at the edge, where CSPs can scale compute resources as needed and share capacity with other types of applications.

Common, unified and automated network operations
With Cloud RAN, CSPs can create a more unified and common operations model across all network elements and vendors, built on cloud-native principles and with an increased level of automation of network operations. Such a common operations model will help CSPs to improve operational efficiency and give them capabilities to manage growing network complexity through the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation, both embedded in cloud-native ways of working.

Enable the development of new enterprise business
Cloud RAN will also help CSPs to expand their offering to enterprises and industries, with solutions for private networks as well as cost optimized 5G indoor coverage. Since Cloud RAN has the potential to run on the same type of hardware and use operational processes that enterprises already use, it becomes a good fit for these types of services. Enterprises will be able to flexibly decide how to operate such a network - either on their own, with a third party or together with a CSP. For cases where data security, sovereignty and low latency are important, the 5G core network can also run locally on the same “on-premises” infrastructure as the RAN software.

However, contrary to the cloudification of IT and Core networks, Cloud RAN cannot easily replace purpose-built RAN everywhere, and therefore does not imply the end of this architecture. The tightly integrated architecture of radio, baseband hardware, and software, as well as the embedded operational tools for purpose-built infrastructure will continue to evolve and be a competitive alternative for optimized performance, energy efficiency and size.

In fact, while the benefits of Cloud RAN will start to materialize in the coming few years, purpose-built RAN, for many deployments, holds all the capabilities that CSP’s need for the typical deployment use cases - for example, for traditional distributed RAN macro sites. These capabilities include driving the 5G network evolution and capturing the commercial benefits of 5G such as high bandwidth, low latency and security on the existing network infrastructure.

That is why we support bluefield deployments, a new way of approaching network evolution. Unlike brownfield deployments, in which we expand the capacity of an existing network, or greenfield, in which we deploy sites in a new network, bluefield rollouts represent a deployment middle ground – introducing cloud elements into an existing network, which means it is not an overlay or a replacement of all the existing network architecture with a new one. It therefore gives CSPs the flexibility to gradually introduce Cloud RAN where needed, across all deployment scenarios – including existing sites using the Ericsson Radio System portfolio.

As a result, we see that future radio access networks will be cloud-based, purpose-built, or a combination thereof, depending on service providers’ needs and use cases. Each service provider will have a unique network evolution path and depending on their starting point - for example in terms of network installed base and operational efficiency -, business strategy and overarching cloud strategy, different considerations need to be taken into account.

Carve your own network evolution path

Based on several years of network evolution engagements with service providers globally, we have identified three types of service providers and defined the most important actions and considerations for each on the next steps of their 5G network evolution:

Cloud-native telcos - these CSPs are early-adopters who are willing to take the necessary steps in terms of investments in research and development (R&D), operational tools, organizational setup and skillset to rapidly adopt Cloud RAN and stay ahead of the curve. The end goal is to become cloud-native, but since this is a long-term journey, they will be in a bluefield environment, with both architectures in their network, for some time. These CSPs understand cloud-native is not yet another technology, but a wider process of change management to set the baseline for a more efficient business and operating model.

The curious explorers - these CSPs want to selectively deploy Cloud RAN where it is most beneficial for them and their customers, while keeping purpose-built as their main choice of architecture. Even though their end goal is different from that of cloud-native telcos, they will also be in a bluefield deployment, capturing the benefits of what they already have installed while adding new, cloud-based technologies. These CSPs are exploring and assessing the change management process in order to identify the best potential setup for their business. They want to proceed with caution on the required changes for an optimal business environment.

Purpose-built optimizers - these CSPs have the main focus of evolving the purpose-built RAN, optimizing network performance and operational efficiency with an increasing degree of automation. Additionally, they are looking to efficiently leverage their installed base, while adding capacity as traffic grows and more spectrum is deployed.

Below is an outline of what each type of CSP will have to consider across the areas of infrastructure, network automation and organization to evolve according to the specific path chosen.

We help you get there, your way

Ericsson recognizes the diversity of network evolution paths that CSPs may follow and is constantly working to support them and ensure their success. We have therefore introduced Ericsson Cloud RAN to bring cloud-native innovation to our portfolio and complement the proven and highly-optimized purpose-built RAN Compute portfolio.

Innovation with the Ericsson Cloud RAN portfolio

Ericsson Cloud RAN is built to work seamlessly with our RAN Compute portfolio, and is designed to provide the same quality, features and performance that CSPs expect from us in the purpose-built area. With Ericsson Cloud Link, service providers the best out of both RAN worlds - features such as Ericsson Carrier Aggregation and Ericsson Spectrum Sharing work across both architectures. This means that even if the RAN architecture changes over time, deploying Ericsson radios and RAN infrastructure, whether purpose-built or Cloud RAN, will always be a low-risk investment.

On top of that, the Ericsson Intelligent Automation Platform (EIAP) brings AI-powered automation to the network across both Cloud RAN and purpose-Built. With a common system for both architectures and strong automation capabilities, we help CSPs to keep OPEX in check as they transition towards Cloud RAN (read more about the EIAP here).

Evolution of purpose-built into the future

Our RAN Compute portfolio is powered by our custom-made Ericsson Silicon, a System on a Chip solution that handles the massive compute load that comes from 5G. The tight co-design of Ericsson Silicon with hardware and software enables the creation of high-performing, energy-efficient and light-weight products for a wide range of deployment scenarios, today and in the future.

Ericsson will continue to evolve this portfolio with even greater capacity, energy efficiency and performance in the same footprint – meeting service providers’ deployment needs. While innovation in automation will certainly be led by the cloud-native Cloud RAN, the purpose-built solution will also, over time, become more automated, allowing for zero-touch deployment and operations of hardware and software with built-in security and 99,999% up-time reliability through tight HW and SW co-design.

Ericsson supports CSPs’ with a flexible 5G network evolution, enabling the introduction of Cloud RAN in parallel with the continued evolution of the purpose-built architecture. The seamless interworking of both architectures using the Ericsson Cloud Link also ensures a low-risk investment in the long run. Optimize your purpose-built, selectively deploy Cloud RAN or go all-in on Cloud RAN, while using the same cloud-native management and orchestration across Core, IT and RAN. Reinvent purpose-built and innovate with Cloud RAN with Ericsson as a partner in your 5G network evolution journey.

Browse further on the links below or reach out to us at Ericsson and we are, as always, ready to support you on your network evolution!

Related content:

Download paper: What’s next for RAN? Cloud RAN innovation and purpose-built innovation

Ericsson Cloud RAN