Unleashing the power of cloud-network convergence with smart operation system

Cloud-network convergence is the essential feature of new digital information infrastructure. It breaks the boundary between cloud and network, and promotes them from independent development to comprehensive integration. The cloud-network operation system is an important part of the cloud-network convergence architecture, and it is also the key to unlocking the value of cloud-network convergence. China Telecom was an industry leader when it came to promoting the concept of cloud-network convergence and actively developed it, and it strives to build a cloud-based, decoupled, integrated, automatic and intelligent new-generation cloud-network operation system. China Telecom pays great attention to the technical research, and continuously optimizes cloud-network intelligent and agile operation capabilities. China Telecom continuously enhances the end-to-end intelligence level of cloud and network operation to ensure customer experience.

The value of smart operation system for cloud-network convergence

The cloud-network operation system is a system for unified control, operation and management of cloud and network resources. It can shield the difference of underlying hardware between cloud and network, and abstract the unified capabilities and services to support the real-time, on-demand, and dynamic deployment of business system. Smart refers to the self-adaptation, self-learning, self-correction, and self-optimization of cloud-network convergence through the application of big data, AI and other technologies.

The smart cloud-network operation system is the key to release the value of cloud-network convergence, and enable the digital transformation and upgrading of industry activities. First, the smart cloud-network operation system manages and dispatches the basic resources of the cloud and network, and supports the digital platforms of various industries. It is the key to realize the integrated supply, integrated operation and integrated service of digital information infrastructure. Secondly, the smart cloud-network operation system helps operators simplify the service deployment, enhances the network's self-service, self-provisioning, and self-assurance capabilities, and provides customers in vertical industries with a zero-waiting, zero-contact, and zero-fault experience. In a true sense, "leaving complexity to suppliers and bringing simplicity to customers".

Key feature and development trends of smart operation system

The smart cloud-network operation system includes the following key technologies: The first is cloud and network orchestration technology, focusing on building cloud and network integrated resource and service scheduling capabilities, and building flexible design and orchestration of capabilities in a large-scale heterogeneous cloud and network environment. It can support the dynamic arrangement and scheduling of various computing ability and network resources. The second is cloud-network digital twins capability, focusing on digital twins such as multi-modal cloud-network dynamic perception, intelligent autonomous processing of physical differences, digital characterization of all elements of “cloud-network security”, and the dynamic evolution of cloud-network digital twins. The third is the self-controllable intention autonomy capability, which aims to tackle key technologies such as cloud network and future network multi-scenario business intention analysis, cross-domain and cross-professional end-to-end cloud network operation, and heterogeneous multi-vendor network element intention execution.

China Telecom’s best practice in smart operation system

China Telecom is actively building a smart cloud-network operation system. At present, it has the basic cloud and network resource management capability. It has realized end-to-end automatic service provisioning, and has increased the service efficiency by 4 times. The order delivery success rate is in the top level. At the same time, key technologies such as AI-based business automation deployment and digital twins are applied to cloud-based 5GC, in order to realize the automation of the whole process of 5G network slicing deployment, order acceptance and provisioning. The deployment time was decreased from one month to several hours. China Telecom has upgraded the network smart level from L2.1 to L3.0 according to the TM Forum standard. In 2022, China Telecom plans to further promote the online design, orchestration, and full service of the entire network, realizing the comprehensive integration of cloud and network data, and the visibility. It will greatly improve the level of end-to-end automation.

Conclusion

We hope that under the organization of TM Forum, international operators will take cloudification, decoupling, integration, automation, and intelligence as the target characteristics, and comprehensively cooperate to promote the development of the smart cloud-network operation system, and truly realize the value of cloud and network infrastructure in the wave of digital transformation and upgrading.