Rakuten's mobile network architecture is fully virtualized and cloud-native, utilizing an open RAN approach with Altiostar's vRAN and Nokia's cloud-native core network functions. The initial network will use 4G LTE with the addition of 5G planned for early 2020. This disruptive architecture allows Rakuten to deliver a variety of consumer and enterprise services leveraging mobile edge computing for low latency. Rakuten has partnered with leading technology companies to collaborate on technical challenges in building this innovative software-defined network.
2. Rakuten 4G/5G is all IP, Software-defined, Cloud controlled, simplified transport-IPV6 , and edge servers network
Radio Access network initially will be with 4G LTE (Macro and Small Cells) and Wi-Fi using Altiostar VRAN with Nokia’s AirGile cloud-native
core network (Nokia software functions, including IP Multimedia Subsystem, shared data layer, session border controller, and approximately
25 cloud-based virtual network functions), with the addition of 5G planned for early 2020, subject to government licensing approval & NEC
quality 5G RU which is equipped with a 3.7 GHz frequency band massive MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) antenna in a compact,
lightweight form factor with low power consumption
This disruptive architecture will enable Rakuten Mobile Network to deliver a suite of services including consumer mobile, 5G fixed wireless
Access, NB-IOT, connected everything, rich media, low latency services like augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR.) All these services
will leverage the innovative Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) architecture to enable the best possible user experience.
Rakuten Mobile Network has brought together leading partners to collaborate on the most challenging technical problems in the mobile
industry. Partners includes Cisco Systems, Nokia, Altiostar Networks, Intel, Red Hat, OKI, Fujitsu, Ciena, NEC/Netcracker, Qualcomm, Mavenir,
Quanta Cloud Technology, Sercomm, Tech Mahindra, Allot, Innoeye, and Viavi.
Open RAN architecture and virtualization are key to building software-centric networks that can scale and adapt to meet an explosion of
devices and applications driving service velocity and profits.It provided improved transport and Edge reduces latency by 20-40 ms & 5G today
is only a 10 ms improvement.
Rakuten using the newborn data network to conduct voice and video calls over the Viber messaging platform-RCS Based Platform provided by
Mavenir systems
Rakuten’s extensive ecosystem of over 70 services in e-commerce, fintech and digital content to offer customers a value proposition without
parallel in the market. The power of Rakuten’s brand with consumers and its existing customer base of over 100 million registered members
will provide a robust foundation for rapid growth.
INTRODUCTION-RAKUTEN MVNO –Mobile Virtual Network Operator
3. RAKUTEN- Making Impossible-Possible
NFVI: Network functions virtualization is a network architecture concept that uses the technologies of IT virtualization to virtualize entire classes of network node functions into building
blocks that may connect, or chain together, to create communication services.
SKU is short for 'Stock-keeping-Unit'. I
4. The diagram illustrates the architecture, with its key attributes and benefits highlighted below:
1. Open, Virtualized and Disaggregated RAN – Decoupling hardware and software in the radio access network – This innovative approach
enables deployment of very lean cell sites, with only antenna and remote radio heads, which in turn maximizes opportunities for successful
acquisition of cell sites. An increase in spectral efficiency is also being seen with coordinated radio processing through vRAN, scale
out architecture and cost reduction with open APIs that are enabled by a multi-vendor ecosystem.
2. Fully virtualized with common and distributed Telco Cloud – Shifting away from reliance on hardware and legacy infrastructure – Rakuten
Mobile Network will deploy a common, carrier-grade telco cloud for all virtualized applications from RAN to Core. This will include a common
orchestration layer on top and will be deployed in a highly distributed manner across thousands of locations. This foundation will enable high
efficiency from the converged infrastructure, reduce cost and drive operational simplicity and ability to repurpose, as well as increase the
speed of adding new apps and optimal scale out capability.
3. Mobile Edge Computing – Putting server-like devices closer to the computing need – Rakuten Mobile Network’s
innovative xEdge architecture, leveraging vRAN, Control & User Plane Separated (CUPS) packet core and distributed telco cloud, will enable
Mobile Edge Computing for both infrastructure functions and a variety of low latency services. Examples of such services include optimized
content delivery, live TV, connected cars, AR and VR, online gaming, connected stadiums and many more. While many players in the
telecommunications industry are looking at a similar capability with 5G, Rakuten Mobile Network will have the ability to offer services like this
with both 4G and 5G, enabling an optimal user experience.
4. 5G systems architecture based design from launch – Rakuten Mobile Network plans to deploy 5G systems architecture from launch. 5G
systems architecture elements such as Virtualization/NFV, vRAN, SDN, automation, Control-User Plane Separated (CUPS) packet core, edge
computing, slicing, scale & capacity etc. are all part of the launch-phase architecture. This creates the foundation for making the addition of
5G a simplified exercise that can be mostly completed through software upgrades, bringing unprecedented time-to-market benefits.
5. 5G enabled IPv6 transport/Mobile Backhaul Architecture – The mobile backhaul transport network is being built for launch with the capacity
and scale of 5G taken into account. The core of the network will have multi-terabit capacity and multiples of 100G of bandwidth will be made
available to the cell site pre-aggregation network, in stark contrast to existing global industry standards for deployment with either a 1G or
10G based network. Moreover, this network will be based on IPv6, enabling device scale in extremely large numbers to connect “everything,”
and avoiding address translation functions that are expensive and complex to operate.
RAKUTEN- Network Architectute
5. 6. SDN Enabled Centralized and Regional Datacenter Fabrics for 5G – The Central and Regional Software-Defined Data Center fabrics, where a
wide array of core and edge services will be hosted, are built for deployment from launch with 5G taken into account. With tens of terabits of
capacity, horizontal scale, automation and analytics, these data centers will become hubs of service delivery with unprecedented agility.
7. Common Hardware SKUs – Standardization and Simplification – A common problem for operators across the telco industry is maintenance of
hundreds of SKUs. Rakuten Mobile Network has less than 10 SKUs in order to enable infrastructure standardization, easy scale-out, simplified
operations and easier spares management, while maintaining a delicate balance between cost and performance.
8. End-to-End Infrastructure and Service Automation – Automation as a key part of the Rakuten Mobile Network strategy – Every network
infrastructure component and service will be automated to perform initial deployment and ongoing lifecycle management. This will minimize
operating expenditure and the labor required to deploy and operate the network in comparison to traditional operators. This will also remove
issues caused by human error and allow faster response to problems, eventually paving the way to auto-remediation.
9. Unified OSS/BSS – OSS silos are another common problem faced by traditional telco operators. Rakuten Mobile Network has adopted a
unified OSS strategy where one single OSS layer with next generation capabilities will be leveraged to enable true cross-domain service and
function management.
10. New Business Models – Opening up new ecosystems – By leveraging open and disaggregated architecture, Rakuten Mobile Network is
creating the foundation for the launch of new business models and the creation and expansion of ecosystems. The edge computing
architecture will also allow Rakuten Mobile Network to deliver Rakuten Group services in a new and innovative manner.
RAKUTEN- Network Architectute
7. Media
Media Solutions
Business Area
Managed Services
Business Area
Digital Services
Business Area
Networks
Group Functions
Finance & Common Functions
Technology
Human Resources
Legal Affairs & Compliance
Marketing & Corporate Relations
North America
Europe and Latin America
Middle East and Africa
North East Asia
South East Asia, Oceania and India
Red Bee Media
Business Area
Technologies &
New Businesses
RAKUTEN Radio Innovation- NEC 5G RU
8. Altiostar announced that it is launching the world’s first container-based, cloud-native 5G radio
access network (RAN) software. The solution was developed in collaboration with Intel and will
be deployed with Rakuten Mobile in Japan.
The server platforms that drive the virtualization technologies in Rakuten Mobile’s network are
based on high-performance Intel® Xeon® Scalable Processors. As part of this project, Intel will
release various Kubernetes plugins that facilitate RAN and MEC application containers to be
deployed on Intel architecture.
The conversion from a virtual network function (VNF) to container network function (CNF) brings
additional flexibility and scalability. Each vRAN CNF provides scalability thereby allowing MNOs
to introduce Control Plane User Plane Separation (CUPS) architecture into their network, which
then allows them to size their deployments for the best economics knowing that they can easily
grow as their customer base grows or change or scale their network to accommodate user traffic
patterns.
9. Media
Media Solutions
Business Area
Managed Services
Business Area
Digital Services
Business Area
Networks
Group Functions
Finance & Common Functions
Technology
Human Resources
Legal Affairs & Compliance
Marketing & Corporate Relations
North America
Europe and Latin America
Middle East and Africa
North East Asia
South East Asia, Oceania and India
Red Bee Media
Business Area
Technologies &
New Businesses
RAKUTEN- Network Architecture- Cloud Native Platform
10. Media
Media Solutions
Business Area
Managed Services
Business Area
Digital Services
Business Area
Networks
CEO
Börje Ekhlm
Group Functions
Finance & Common Functions
Technology
Human Resources
Legal Affairs & Compliance
Marketing & Corporate Relations
North America
Europe and Latin America
Middle East and Africa
North East Asia
South East Asia, Oceania and India
Red Bee Media
Business Area
Technologies &
New Businesses
RAKUTEN- Network Architecture- Cloud Native Platform
12. Media
Media Solutions
Business Area
Managed Services
Business Area
Digital Services
Business Area
Networks
CO
Brje Ekhlm
Group Functions
Finance & Common Functions
Technology
Human Resources
Legal Affairs & Compliance
Marketing & Corporate Relations
North America
Europe and Latin America
Middle East and Africa
North East Asia
South East Asia, Oceania and India
Red Bee Media
Business Area
Technologies &
New Businesses
RAKUTEN- Cloud Native Rich Communication Solution
Rakuten is leading ecommerce player in Japan like Alibaba in China & Amazon in US.
Like AWS and Alibaba Cloud Services Rakuten wants to deploy MVNO(mobile virtual network operator) to leverage network /cloud and OTT to become leader in next generation innovation,
Altiostar has partnered with major Commercially-Off-The-Shelf (CoTS server manufacturers to optimize datacenter type, fully virtualized baseband solutions using bleeding-edge Intel processors and FPGA technologies.This solution is built to be on-boarded on carrier grade Network Function Virtualization (NFV) platforms which is one of the key enablers to build the network of the future. This leads to disaggregation of the hardware and software, thereby transforming the notion of operators requiring proprietary hardware solutions while also providing a more flexible, agile and cost-effective deployment strategy.
Altiostar’s RAN software is optimized to run efficiently on industry standard CoTS (Commercial Off the Shelf) hardware platforms.
Altiostar’s cell site optimized solutions support a flexible range of carrier configuration requirements, LTE bandwidths, and MIMO (multiple input multiple output) capabilities running on flexible server options, scaling from a single CPU to multiple CPU for different processing needs. Altiostar software fully realizes the capabilities of the underlying hardware resources, matching custom ASIC based performance on industry standard commodity hardware platforms.
Network timing and synchronizationfunctions provides synchronization sources for the4G/5G network through timing circuitry and holdover capable oscillators. The timing synchronization needed for 4G and 5G networks can be achieved using GPS in the case of outdoor scenarios or using 1588v2 in the case of indoor scenarios. The radio interface to the cellsite baseband can be using open standard CPRI or eCPRI base d interfaces. To support a wide variety of radio vendors, Altiostar has designed innovative solutions that serve as the radio interface function to COTS hardware.
Altiostar is world’s first container-based, cloud-native 5G radio access network (RAN) software. The solution was developed in collaboration with Intel and will be deployed with Rakuten Mobile in Japan.
Altiostar as the first company to virtualize the RAN, including the lower layers of the protocol stack, is again leading the industry with the development of cloud-native containerized radio access technology.
The server platforms that drive the virtualization technologies in Rakuten Mobile’s network are based on high-performance Intel® Xeon® Scalable Processors. As part of this project, Intel will release various Kubernetes plugins that facilitate RAN and MEC application containers to be deployed on Intel
Solution takes the open virtualized RAN concept, pioneered by Altiostar, and further decomposes the network functions into containerized applications that are fast to deploy, can be individually upgraded and offer better network scalability. The new vRAN software dramatically improves the economics, deployability, and scalability of 5G RANs for mobile network operators (MNOs).
“This new architecture will allow service providers to develop 5G services that are even more responsive to consumer needs over their entire network deployment lifecycle.”
The conversion from a virtual network function (VNF) to container network function (CNF) brings additional flexibility and scalability. Each vRAN CNF provides scalability thereby allowing MNOs to introduce Control Plane User Plane Separation (CUPS) architecture into their network, which then allows them to size their deployments for the best economics knowing that they can easily grow as their customer base grows or change or scale their network to accommodate user traffic patterns.
As an example, an IoT network with tens of thousands of devices, each executing micro-transactions, will lead to high control plane traffic compared to the total aggregate user plane data.
MNOs can easily adapt to support this traffic pattern while accommodating video streaming users, which require more user plane and less control plane resources.
Altiostar’s vRAN CNFs provide a high degree of resiliency and redundancy as they can be run in architecture across many nodes while being managed by an orchestrator that selects the best node depending on availability. This allows for efficient utilization of resources with scaling and load balancing across the many nodes where MNOs can adopt a pay-as-you-grow approach for hardware infrastructure for deploying 5G.
One way to ensure they are providing the low latency and QoE requirements of these networks, is by pushing content, applications and network resources closer to the user in as part of a Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) architecture. By moving to an architecture that moves key resources in closer proximity to the user, mobile operators can quickly develop and deliver new, innovative services designed to support the new breed of applications, such as IoT and autonomous driving that will represent the next phase of growth for the industry.
As part of this effort, mobile operators should consider some of the key requirements for moving to a MEC architecture capable of delivering the Quality of Experience needed, some of these include:
Low Latency
Virtualized Management and Operations of Network Resources
Embracing an Open Approach and Ecosystem for applications
Adopting a Solution in line with ETSI standards for Mobile Edge Computing
As part of this effort, mobile operators should consider some of the key requirements for moving to a MEC architecture capable of delivering the Quality of Experience needed, some of these include:
Low Latency
Virtualized Management and Operations of Network Resources
Embracing an Open Approach and Ecosystem for applications
Adopting a Solution in line with ETSI standards for Mobile Edge Computing
