Page 111 - ITU-T Focus Group IMT-2020 Deliverables

ITU-T Focus Group IMT-2020 Deliverables 3

At each hop in this model, a FlexE connection is actually relayed or switched, i.e., a stream of FlexE client
enters the node through an ingress FlexE shim and exits the node through an egress FlexE shim on the same
node (refer to Section 7.2.3 of [Ref.6.1.7-1]).
References

[6.1.7-1] OIF-FLEXE-01.0, “Flex Ethernet 1.0 Implementation Agreement”, OIF, 2016.
[6.1.7-2] IEEE802.3, “IEEE Standard for Ethernet”, IEEE, 2012.

[6.1.7-3] NGMN Alliance document, “Description of Network Slicing Concept”, NGMN, 2016,
http://www.ngmn.org/.

6.2 Open source projects for network softwarization
6.2.1 O3 Project

The O3 project [Ref.6.2.1-1] has been conducted by NEC, NTT, NTT Communications, Fujitsu, and Hitachi, and
has delivered an SDN design and Operation guideline, a network orchestration and control framework OSS
(e.g., ODENOS), SDN-enabled WAN node control technologies (e.g., MLO: Multi-Layer Orchestrator as a
packet/optical integrated control), and SDN software switch OSS (e.g., Lagopus). As our published OSS,
Lagopus enables almost 20Gbps flow switching with over 1M flows, ODENOS provides network abstraction
model and operation capabilities such as network aggregation, network federation, and network slicing in
multi-layer, multi-domain, and multi-service networking environment. MLO provides a system-orchestration
function among multiple layers (e.g., between a packet network and an optical network). Technologies and
OSS delivered by O3 Project will contribute to end-to-end slicing also for 5G/IoT environment.

References
[6.2.1-1] O3 Project, http://www.o3project.org/en/index.html.

6.2.2 OpenAirInterface
EURECOM has recently created the OpenAirInterface (OAI) Software Alliance (OSA) –
www.openairinterface.org- as a distinct legal entity, which aims to provide an ecosystem for the core (EPC)
and access-network (EUTRAN) of 3GPP cellular systems with the possibility of interoperating with closed-
source equipment in either portion of the network. In the context of the evolutionary path towards 5G, there
is clearly the need for open-source tools to ensure a common R&D and prototyping framework for rapid
proof-of-concept designs. The current strategic partners include Orange Labs, Nokia Bell Labs, Ercom and
TCL-Alcatel. Many top research centers from around the globe are also contributing to this effort. The EPC
software is known as openairCN while the access-network software goes under the name of openair5G. The
combination of these two software packages currently provides a standard-compliant implementation of a
subset of Release 10 LTE for UE, eNB, RRH, MME, HSS, SGw and PGw on standard Linux-based computing
equipment (Intel x86 and ARM-based architectures) and a variety of off-the-shelf radio heads as well as some
commercially-deployable radio solutions. These components can be used as virtual network functions (VNF)
in both fully-virtual OpenStack or bare-metal deployments. Orchestration software such as Canonical JuJu
can be used to deploy OAI over different cloud platforms. The openair5G software is freely distributed by the
OSA under the terms stipulated by a new open-source license catering to the intellectual property
agreements used in 3GPP which allows contributions from 3GPP members holding patents on key procedures
used in the standard. openairCN is distributed with a standard Apache V2.0 license. The team is working
closely with ETSI to harmonize the software license with the intellectual property policy of 3GPP. Some key
areas for 5G development including network slicing, SDN concepts in both the core and access networks as
well as functional splitting between the radio-head components and access-stratum processing in data-
centers (CloudRAN) in order to optimize fronthaul bandwidth.
6.2.3 OPNFV

OPNFV – Open Platform for NFV- is a Linux Foundation Collaborative Project, OPNFV was envisioned to
address a number of challenges anticipated by network operators who are pursuing their own NFV strategies.
It is the only public forum with a broad community where the industry can pull together the components of

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