Where is the Network Edge?MEC Deployment Options, Business Case & SDN Considerations
Ian Goetz, Chief Architect, Vodafone Global Account, Juniper Networks
August, 2016
Mobile Market Trends: The Customer Experience
Pervasive Coverage
Seamlessly Converged
Trusted Reliability
Application Optimized
• The Smartphone and Tablet, combined with 3G HSPA and 4G have driven the proliferation of applications for business,lifestyle and pleasure with most coming from OTT Web Companies
• Availability of those applications and the network latency impacting them is key to the end user experience which in turn impacts Churn and Market Share for mobile operators
• The drive to 5G Highlights latency and IoT as key areas to address for mobile operators with low latency and distributed application requirements inherent in the services.
OTTAPPLICATIONS
Mobile Backhaul Environment: Moving To Extensive 4G & Multi-Service Access
Site 3
Site 2
Site 1
Hub-Site
Hub-Site
Hub-Site
Hub-Site
Core-Site
• Mixed 2G, 3G HSPA, LTE, LTE-A Coverage• Macro Sites Used as Hub-Sites for surrounding Small-Cells• Hub-Sites Aggregate 10-20 Macro and associated Small Cells• All IP, MPLS Access Network• For 4G, IPsec Tunnels from Base Station (eNode B) to Core Site, terminated on SecGW• All data traffic is currently backhauled to the core – cost and latency impact• Accurate Timing (Freq & Phase) a key requirement with distributed security
Site 4
• Many operators centralise their EPC:• Usually to fewer sites than current 3G core (RNC, MSC etc)
• 3GPP CUPS (Control User Plane Separation) Allows EPC User Plane to move closer to the user
• Potentially as far as the base station.• This could reduce the Core Network Latency, placing the SGi close to the user BUT…..• Mobility issues and signalling volume are likely to drive a complimentary approach:
• CUPS allows centralised, NFV based vEPC Control Plane functions and distributed User plane – Former RNC/MSC Sites
• MEC allows applications to run cost effectively at hub sites.
Hub-Site
Hub-Site
5G Impacts : Distributed EPC .v. MEC
Telco CloudCore-Site
MX104
MX104
FormerRNC/MSC
Site
Other Core VNFs
AggregationRouter
Telco CloudBorderRouter
vEPCControl Plane
(GTP-C)
CUPS ControlInterface
(Sx a, b , c)
S1
S1
SGi
Mobile Edge Computing: Is The Device The Edge?
The Device (User or IoT) would be the logical network edge for MEC:
• Compute, Storage and Power Provided by the user• Minimum Latency• Known application distribution method
BUT:
• Content/Application security is an issue• Content/Application distributed for specific user is the
the same as current applications• User Privacy issues for operator “facing” applications• Many Device and OS Versions to manage
Hence, the network offers the scale and most of the latencyBenefits without the device management issues
C-RAN Site
Small Cell Hub Site
Enterprise Site
Pre-Agg/Hub Site
Core Network Site
Internet/
Roaming
Partner
MEC edge applications
MEC Server (Access)
MEC Gateway (Core)
MEC Deployment options
Small Cells
WiFi
Compute CPEOr
COTS Server
OutdoorSmall Cell Hub Router
Small Cells
Macro Cells
RemoteRadioHeads(RRH)
COTS ServerAdjacent to Pre-Agg
Router
COTS ServerAdjacent to C-RAN
Control Server
S1 SGi
LI
Charging
EPC
Core LTESecGW
SGiService LAN
Hub Site Deployment Offers Best Business Case:Compromise Between Quality, Cost & Speed Of Deployment
JUNIPER MODELLING CONCLUSIONS
• Faster rollout to hub sites leads to greater average improvement in customer experience (& revenue) due to
the faster rollout
• Direct costs includes normal opex costs from the business (e.g. sales & marketing, interconnect, etc…)
• Significantly higher compute costs at cell site, for limited additional backhaul savings
• Overall benefits higher at hub site with much greater ROI
• Long term service improvements from cell site deployment do not outweigh additional costs and time to deploy
$412
$32
$349
$37
$150
$2 $127
$12
$291 $246
$-$50
$100$150$200$250$300$350$400$450
Revenue Directcosts
Compute& Storage
Backhaul Netbenefit
Revenue Directcosts
Compute& Storage
Backhaul Netbenefit
5 y
ea
r to
tal (M
illio
ns)
Positive Negative Total
HUB SITE CELL SITE
~6x ROI of cell site
Mobile Backhaul Environment: MEC & SDN Enablement
• MEC Enables applications to be deployed at the mobile network edge
• SDN Enables the chaining of MEC Applications and the Life-cycle Management of MEC Application VNFs using automation
• Juniper CONTRAIL & Contrail Service Orchestrator SDN Control automates the creation of service chains in the Telco Cloud DC and MEC Eco-system
• VNF Orchestration, such as Juniper Service Maestro, can be used to instantiate VNFs and manage their Life-Cycle
• Service chaining is needed to automate the link of IPsec termination (vSecGW) and MEC Server
• With appropriate subscriber awareness, different MEC service chains can be applied to different customer traffic, enabling monetised service bundles
Hub Site Small Cell Hub Enterprise uCPE
HubSite
WiFi & Smallcell HetNet
OS
VM1
vSecGW
JunipervSRX
Hypervisor (KVM)
x86 COTS Server
Juniper SDN Service Chaining
S1-U IPsec
VM2
MECSERVER
SDN Control Link
VM3
MECApplication
1
VM.. N
MECApp
N
Hub Site: SDN Enabled MEC
Enterprise uCPE
Juniper MX104
S1-U IPsec
Subscriber A
Subscriber B
VM5
MECApp
2
VM4
vSecGW
JunipervSRX Internet/
Roaming
Partner
S1 SGi
LI Charging
Core LTESecGW
SGiService LAN
Core Network Site
EPC
SDNControl&VMOrchestration(ETSI NFV)
Virtualised NetworkFunctions
e.g.• EPC, MGE/MSC Server• HLR/HSS, IMS• IN, PCRF• SBC, CMTS• NAT, Gi LAN
MEC Gateway
Mobile Backhaul Environment: MEC In The Backhaul Network:Enterprise uCPE Use Case
HubSite
CSR
SDN Control Link
SDN Enabled Enterprise uCPE
EnterprisePremises
Small Cell Hub Router
Enterprise uCPE
JUNIPER NFX250: Enterprise Compute CPE
EnterpriseLTE Small
Cells
• Enterprise deployments of small cells allow LTE Coverage and
capacity to be delivered to high value corporate users on
premises
• SDN enables and automates the ability to provide enterprise
VNFs on a customer premises and the routing of VPN services
through the network
• These capabilities are termed vCPE and uCPE:
• vCPE deploys CPE services as VNFs on x86 compute in
the network
• uCPE allows VNFs to be deployed on the customer site
and the automation of VPN routing
• As LTE Small Cells are deployed the uCPE platform can be
used to host the MEC server and vSecGW
• This allows enterprise and customer specific applications to be
hosted on the customer site
• Hence a CPE with compute capability and SDN Service
Chaining is needed
S1-U IPsecOS
VM1
vSecGW
JunipervSRX
Hypervisor (KVM)
JuniperSDN Service Chaining
VM2
MECSERVER
LTESecGW
Subscriber A
Subscriber B
VM3
MECApplication
1 …… N
VM4
vSecGW
JunipervSRX
S1-U IPsec
S1-U IPsec
LTESecGW
x86 COTS Server
S1-U IPsec
MEC Use Case 1: Saves Network Resources, Fast
P2P Traffic, Analyze, Store, Control at the Edge
SHORT TRANSACTIONS EXTENDED BATTERY LIFEBased on Microsoft cloudlet research by Dr. Victor Bahl
Core NetworkRadio Access Network (RAN) Internet
SGiS1MEC RAN Solution
MEC Core SolutionLocal IoT Gateway
MEC Use Case 2: Software Defined Secure Networks
• Policy defined in Policy Engine• “Attacks from infected mobile
devices should be blocked in the Mobile Hub site”
Policy
• Sky Infected Host feed• 3rd party feeds• SRX data to Sky
Detection
• Contrail provisions vSRX in the Service Chain
• Traffic from infected mobiles dropped by vSRX
Enforcement
Mobile Hub Site
SDSN Policy
EngineSD
Contrail
Service
Orchestrator
Policy update for Service Chain requirements
Policy Enforcement on vSRX
SKY ATP
3rd Party
Feeds
Mobile SP Network
Dynamic Service Chain w/ vSRX
MEC Use Case 3 Unified Enterprise Communication: Local Break Out
• Deliver a unified customer experience
• Segregate public 4G/3G access from enterprise services: Private Mobile LAN
• Reduce costs for enterprise mobile users
• VoLTE & Mobile Data Break Out from MEC – straight to the corporate LAN
Private Enterprise Voice & data Network
Core Network Site
Internet/
Roaming
Partner
SGi
LI
Charging
SGiService LAN
Enterprise Site
Small Cells
WiFi
Compute CPEOr
COTS Server
Core LTESecGW
S1EPC
Partner Open-RAN Architecture
Mobile Edge Computing Platform
• RAN Vendor and Mobile Operator independent
• Operates inside the Radio Access Network; as close as possible to mobile users
• Runs 3rd party applications serving content directly to mobile users
EPCRadio Access Network (RAN)
InternetSGi
S1MEC Server
MEC Gateway
• Enable certified MEC applications to run on the MEC server
• Provide real-time information regarding cell congestion, location,
user and application
• Replay content to the core network
• Steer traffic to the appropriate app
• Accelerate webpage loading with DNS caching
• Preserves core functionality for RAN-generated traffic: LI,
Charging and policy control
• Manages handover for RAN-generated traffic
SRX3XX & SRX1500
Juniper Cloud CPE :Enterprise SDN VPN
Operator Access Network
CPE
Enterprise Customer 1
Enterprise Customer 2
Enterprise Customer 3
CPE
CPE
Juniper MX/vMX/SRX5K
x86 Appliances
PE
PEP
PP
PPE
PE
VPN Network
PE
PEP
P
P
P
PE
PE
Internet Peering Network
ExistingL3 CPE
ExistingL3 CPE
Existing or NewSimplified L2 CPE
ServiceOrchestration
Universal CPE (uCPE)
Cloud Service Providers
EnterpriseCustomer 5
NFX250
EmbeddedSDN Chaining
NATvFirewallJuniper vSRX
Contrail vRouter
Overlay VPN via LTE, ISP Broadband &/Or SP Access Possible
vCPE & IW GW
Contrail Cloud
SDN Controller,
CSO NSC &
Service
Orchestrator
Openstack VIM 3rd PartyVNFs
Internet Connection
x86 Appliances
Laboratory (UK)
NAT
NFV Orchestrator
NCSOvFirewall
Contrail vRouter
MWCBarcelona
SDN Controller
Contrail
Openstack (VIM)
vSRX
MWC16 Multi-Vendor SDN-VPN POC- JUNIPER NFX Now Used for Operator MEC POCs
SCOPE:• Overlay VPN and Cloud Service Chains Using Zero Touch Deployment Compute CPE
COMPONENTS:• Amdocs Orchestration (NCSO) - Service Orchestration• Juniper Contrail - SDN Controller• Juniper MX PE - vCPE Gateway• Juniper NFX250 CPE - Compute CPE• Juniper vSRX FW - Security VNF• RedHat Openstack - VIM
MX480
Enterprise CPE
NFX250Overlay VPN
SDN Control
MEC and Contrail Service Orchestrator Automated Catalog Driven Network Service
End User
ePCSP InfraNFVI
MEC GWCloud Hosted
Aggregation/Edge Mobile Packet Core Gi DC/CloudRAN and Backhaul
Contrail Service Orchestrator Programmable Network Service Layer (REST API)
Portal
Network Service Abstraction of MEC and Gi-LAN services for best E2E experience
Network Service Abstraction
Catalog
Driven
Services
Contrail SDN
Controller
DevOps/NetOps
Network
Designer
Network Facing
Self Care
OSS/BSS
Radio Access Network
Gi-LAN
Internet
vSRX MEC App
MEC Server
Infrastructure
SecGW
SRX LTE SecGW
EPC
S1
S1
SGi
MEC SDN Environment
NFX250
S1 IPsec
S1 GTP
VNF OnNFX250
LocalSecGW
MEC Application(Access Side)
MECGateway
4G Small Cell
4G Small Cell
MECApp Device
Non-MECApp Device
S1 IPsec
BroadbandConnection
S1 IPsec
S1 IPsec
S1 IPsec
HubSite Router
MEC Server
VNF OnNFX250
S1 (User & MME)
MECApplication
(SGi/Cloud Side)
NFV Orchestrator
SDN Controller
Contrail
Openstack (VIM)
NetworkServicesController
MX104
Core
Access
• Juniper is enabling the SDN/NFV Environment for Mobile Network MEC Deployment:• Automated Set-Up of MEC Infrastructure• Security Gateways for secure LTE networks