Edgecore exploits telecom's open-networking opportunity
Edgecore Networks is expanding its open networking portfolio with cell-site gateways and passive optical networking (PON) platforms.
The company is backing two cell-site gateway designs that aggregate traffic from baseband units for 4G and 5G mobile networks. One design is from the Open Compute Project (OCP) that is available now and the second is from the Telecom Infra Project (TIP) that is planned for 2019 (see table).
Edgecore has also announced PON optical line terminal (OLT) platforms addressing 10-gigabit XGS-PON and GPON.
Source: ADVA, Edgecore Networks
Edgecore is a wholly-ownedsubsidiary of Accton Technology, a Taiwanese original design manufacturer (ODM) employing over 700 networking engineers that reported revenues exceeding $1.2 billion in 2017.
Open networking
Edgecore is a leading proponent of open networking that first data centre operators and now telecom operators are adopting.
Open networking refers to disaggregated designs where the hardware and software comes from separate companies. The hardware is a standardised white box developed in an open framework, while the accompanying software can be commercial code from a company or open-sourced.
"Our focus is on all those attributes of open networking: disaggregation, the hardware and software design of standard platforms, and making those designs open"
Telecom networks have traditionally been built using proprietary equipment from systems vendors that includes the complete software stack. But the leading telcos have moved away from this approach to avoid being locked into a systems vendor's roadmap. Instead, they are active in open frameworks and are embracing disaggregated open designs, having seen the benefits achieved by the internet content providers that pioneered the approach.
“The IT industry for years have been buying servers and purposing them for whatever application they are designated for, adding an operating system and application software on top,” says Mark Basham, vice president business development and marketing, EMEA at Edgecore. “Now we are seeing the telecom industry shift to that model; they see where the value should be.”
White-box platforms built using merchant silicon promise to reduce the number of specialised platforms in an operator’s network, reducing costs by simplifying platform qualification and support.
“Our focus is on all those attributes of open networking: disaggregation, the hardware and software design of standard platforms, and making those designs open,” says Bill Burger, vice president, business development and marketing for North America at Edgecore.
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