China Mobile and Huawei Release Technical White Paper on Cloud-based BNG with Control Plane and User Plane Separated Architecture

[Barcelona, Spain, Feb 25, 2017] China Mobile and Huawei jointly released the industry's first technical white paper on cloud-based BNG with control plane and user plane(C/U) separated architecture in Barcelona. This white paper demonstrates that China Mobile and Huawei have developed a systematic theoretical and practical foundation for metro network evolution and cloud architecture innovation.

As a gateway for home broadband users, the BNG is a key component for metro networks. This white paper describes challenges that traditional network devices face. Current metro network devices have coupled control and forwarding planes, leading to problems such as performance interference and inefficient resource utilization. Provisioning new services requires per-site upgrades, long service TTM, and complex O&M.

This white paper describes cloud-based BNG with C/U separated architecture and the related technologies. This new architecture provides a number of advantages, such as centralizing the control plane on the cloud, making full use of the cloud's powerful computing power, and enabling a single rack to manage tens of millions of users. Additionally, with high-performance hardware, the forwarding plane can process high-bandwidth low-latency services, and a single rack can achieve a Tbps forwarding capacity.

The white paper states that the cloud-based architecture can fully combine the advantages of CT and IT technology and provide for a new generation of metro networks that feature resource pooling, service agility, automated operation, and open platforms.

"Cloud-based BNG with C/U separated architecture can help carriers solve problems with traditional network devices, such as low resource utilization, slow service provisioning, and complex management and maintenance, and lay the technological foundation for future fixed-mobile convergence. This transformation of device architecture is led by carriers, focusing on actual network requirements, and co-developed by carriers and industry vendors. It represents an important step towards ICT convergence," said Yang Zhiqiang, deputy general manager of the China Mobile Research Institute.

"A cloud-based metro network architecture can cope with the unknowns brought about by the rapid development of diversified services. It can also help carriers tackle problems and challenges facing live networks. In addition to these advantages, the architecture can also provide an on-demand LEGO-style service provisioning capability and help carriers achieve rapid service integration and innovation," said Gai Gang, President of Huawei's Router & Carrier Ethernet Product Line.

Currently, cloud-based BNG with C/U separated architecture is still in the exploration and pilot phase. The release of this white paper is expected to promote the implementation of architecture, interface protocol, and data model standards. It is also expected to help more carriers, IT integrators, and equipment vendors construct future metro networks.

MWC 2017 will be held between February 27 and March 2 in Barcelona, Spain. Huawei will showcase products and solutions at booth 1J50 in Fira Gran Via Hall 1, booth 3130 in Hall 3, and the Innovation City zone in Hall 4.

White paper download link:http://www-file.huawei.com/~/media/CORPORATE/PDF/News/CU-Separated-BNG-Architecture_EN.pdf