Ericsson and South Korea’s SK Telecom are teaming up in R&D to drive the evolution of next-generation 5G stand-alone core networks technology, architecture, implementation and operations.
A three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the companies focuses on possible enhancements and optimisation enabled by cloud native micro-services-based principles, according to an official announcement by Ericsson.
The Ericsson MoU with SK Telecom comes as increasing focus is being placed on the need for more agile and programmable 5G standalone core network that efficiently manage growth with automation and simplified operations
Peo Lehto, Head of Solution Line Packet Core at Ericsson, said in a written statement, “Cloud-native micro-services architecture gives simplified and more granular software life-cycle management, higher degrees of automation, and more robust operations based on common mechanisms like container-based light weight virtualisation and orchestration such as Kubernetes.”
Lehto added SKT and Ericsson will work closely to build solutions for predictable performance and high availability, enabled by state optimised design and the micro services architecture
“This will relieve requirements on the infrastructure by allowing better handling of multiple failures, better infrastructure utilisation with more flexible and granular scaling, as well as increased rate of innovation with independent lifecycles and in-service software upgrade for each service,” he says.
“Ericsson and SKT have been cooperating closely for many years around 5G innovation. With the new MoU we can accelerate the necessary evolution of 5G core networks the profitable introduction of 5G-based services and use cases.”
Jong-kwan Park, SVP, Head of 5GX Labs, SK Telecom, said, “After the successful launch of 5G NSA network, SK Telecom is preparing to migrate towards 5G SA networks to provide the latest and greatest technology and services to its customers. This joint collaboration with Ericsson on the next generation 5G SA Core and cloud native principles will not only enable us to introduce new services faster while at the same time improve our operational efficiency but also support higher availability through simplified operation.”