Cloud-Native 5G Deployments: Kubernetes and Microservices in Telco Networks

Authors: Varinder Kumar Sharma

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37082/IJIRMPS.v10.i3.232706

Short DOI: https://doi.org/g92nvv

Country: United States

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Abstract: The telecommunications sector is being transformed at its core by the worldwide implementation of 5G networks. Compared to past generations of cellular networks, 5G requires significantly more agility, scalability, and operational efficiency for future applications, such as ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC), massive machine-type communications (mMTC), and enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB). Telecom infrastructures are conventional, relying mainly on monolithic architectures and hardware-centric network functions, which are insufficient when facing the evolving requirements of 5G. To address the issue, the industry is rapidly transitioning to cloud-native architectures, which comprise microservices, containers, and orchestration platforms such as Kubernetes.
This paper discusses cloud-native principles—specifically, microservices and Kubernetes orchestration—as relevant to the deployment of 5G networks. The book offers an in-depth look into how telecommunications networks will be able to transform into fully-functioning, highly dynamic, and automated networks of the future which will be operationally ready for deployment and will enable adaptation of new services that meet the demands and expectations of the 5G architecture: deploying innovative services at a faster pace with massively reduced costs. This is achieved by dividing network functions into small pieces of software code (microservices architecture) that are loosely coupled and that can be independently updated, scaled up, and scaled down. This differs from classical VNF-based architectures, as VNFs (although more potent than hardware appliances) are essentially still monolithic applications. The transition to CNFs offers several advantages for automation, lifecycle management, and platform portability.

Keywords: -

Paper Id: 232706

Published On: 2022-05-07

Published In: Volume 10, Issue 3, May-June 2022

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