Copenhagen, September 20th, 2023
The TM Forum Autonomous Networks Summit 2023, held in Copenhagen, Denmark, brought together global communications service providers, industry experts, and leading suppliers to explore the latest developments and future potential of Autonomous Networks (AN).
Carsten Rossenhoevel, Co-Founder & CTO of EANTC, delivered a keynote speech on EANTC’s test strategies for autonomous networks and announced the completion of the first independent AN test in the IP Domain, evaluating the Huawei SRv6 solution. He emphasized the key testing objectives and initial findings for autonomous networks, such as operational tasks for large-scale networks, including deployment, provisioning, and optimization. Discussions also centered on optimizing the use of network resources, reducing the need for infrastructure expansion, and accelerating issue resolution through autonomous network-driven troubleshooting.
Carsten explored future challenges facing the autonomous network industry, primarily focusing on establishing Level 4 objectives across various use cases, including mobile, fixed, and optical networks. Emphasizing the need for equitable and universally applicable testing and certification methods for vendors and service providers, he highlighted the pursuit of multi-vendor interoperability and industry-wide consensus on assuring autonomous network levels and closed-loop improvements emerged as significant challenges.
One of the key points discussed was the roadmap for deploying autonomous network solutions in production networks. Certification and benchmarking were highlighted as essential prerequisites. Based on international draft standard ETSI GR ENI 0035 v0.0.2, EANTC provided insights into its 2023 evaluation, spotlighting IP Segment Routing Service Automation and Network Automation of Ethernet/IP VPN Services.
Carsten showed the Network Digital Map solution of Huawei iMaster NCE-IP and introduced the User Interface Sample from network analysis and network optimization testing.
First Independent EANTC AN Level Test for Huawei iMaster NCE-IP:
EANTC revealed the results of its first independent evaluation of Huawei’s autonomous network technology, showcasing remarkable automation achievements and the final score reaching L3.8 in specific scenarios, including:
- L4.0 for Provisioning and Configuration: Streamlined deployment of SRv6 policies incorporating latency constraints driven by EVPN services.
- L3.6 for Fault Management: Leveraging AI, the system clusters alarms and identifies root causes efficiently, optimizing paths using Digital Twin data to reduce service disruption.
- L3.8 for Network Optimization: Automated path optimization, considering service bandwidth balancing, latency, and packet loss thresholds. Historical path data playback enhances network efficiency.
In summary, Huawei’s solution reached an Average Automation Level of 3.8, in line with the vendor’s claims, which is an excellent result at this early time of the Autonomous Networks ecosystem.
The Autonomous Networks Summit marked a pivotal moment in the evolution of autonomous network technology and catalyzed collaboration, innovation, and the exchange of visionary ideas among industry leaders. The Autonomous Network White Paper 5.0 release and the insights that EANTC and other conference participants shared helped advance autonomous network solutions.
The detailed EANTC test report is available here.