Virtualization is a very popular topic these days. To that end, a white paper was recently prepared on behalf of Mavenir Systems by Gabriel Brown, Senior Analyst at Heavy Reading.
This paper discusses virtualization in IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) core networks, and why virtualization should be central to mobile operator IMS technology and investment decisions. Specifically, it examines how software-based core networks, in which applications are abstracted from hardware, provide operators with a model that leverages the economic benefits of cloud infrastructure and enables them to rapidly create and scale services.
IMS Virtualization for Mobile Operators
The IMS core network is a collection of software applications that typically are pre-packaged in hardware, whether on a commercial server platform, or an in-house vendor platform. This model is rooted in the classic nodal deployment architecture familiar to mobile core network engineers.
Now, however, the model is evolving to the point where IMS applications can be abstracted from hardware and run as software on commercial-off-the-shelf server hardware. The goal is to break the link between a logical function and hardware by running IMS applications in virtual machines (VMs) in the cloud. This change is market-driven, but is also being formalized through work on Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI).
The “Network Functions Virtualisation” introductory white paper, published in October 2012, provides the background for the operator motivation for virtualization. As applies to the IMS core, the advantages of NFV can be summarized as follows:
- Operators can take advantage of the higher-volume, faster-moving data center ecosystem. No longer will brand-new equipment be years out of date the day it is deployed in the network.
- Vendors can accelerate their own product cycles because extensive hardware integration and testing is no longer needed. This is beneficial to smaller software-centric vendors and will encourage innovation.
- For mobile operators, IMS is a new investment. A cloud-oriented, software-centric model is an opportunity to establish a foundation capability for the future.
- Increased service velocity. Software-centric IMS will reposition mobile core architects and engineers as “service enablers” that are more responsive to the demands of the business, enabling them to be more innovative.
![Deploying VoLTE]()
VoLTE as a Foundation Service
Mobile operator investment in the IMS core network is driven by the desire to support voice over LTE (VoLTE). This is a foundation service that will underpin a range of more advanced real-time (as well as store and forward) communication services and is critical to all-IP mobile networks.
Figure 1 shows the results of a survey of telecom operators carried out in the summer of 2012. It indicates a very strong intent to deploy IMS-based VoLTE, with only 7 percent of respondents saying they have no plans for VoLTE, with the largest response hoping to launch within two years of the initial LTE rollout.
Learn about Virtualization solutions, includingMulti-Tenant Models for the IMS Core, and request the White Paper here.
