Fraunhofer FOKUS offers with OpenBaton the first open-source ETSI NFV standard-compliant platform for the virtualization of network functions. It addresses both network-operators as well as cloud computing service providers and is suitable for the virtualization of 5G and critical networks, as well as M2M and multimedia platforms.
There are many diverse networks such as fixed and mobile, large-scale operator networks and specialized enterprise ones. They consist of many hundreds of network functions which are currently running on physical components incurring high maintenance costs. With ETSI NFV (Network Functions Virtualization) these functions are transferred to software based implementations running on top of cloud infrastructure. Fostering the NFV environment, Fraunhofer FOKUS offers with OpenBaton the first open-source ETSI NFV standard-compliant platform for the virtualization of network functions. It addresses both network-operators as well as cloud computing service providers and is suitable for the virtualization of 5G and critical networks, as well as M2M and multimedia platforms.
Software based network deployments on top of cloud infrastructures are currently the main paradigm changing in a revolutionary way the network deployments. The network virtualization technology brings immediate benefits for dynamic adaptation of networks to new requirements, all-purpose hardware can be used, new network services can be introduced quicker and overall network operational costs can be highly reduced. A crucial point in the success of the NFV technology is represented by the network management and orchestration functionality (MANO: Management and Orchestration) as being the main management interaction layer between the virtual network functions and the specifics of communication technology and the cloud-based infrastructure environment.
The researchers of the Competence Center Next Generation Network Infrastructures (NGNI) at Fraunhofer FOKUS offer with OpenBaton the first open source ETSI NFV standard compliant platform for the management and orchestration of virtual network functions. OpenBaton enables virtual services deployment on top of cloud-infrastructure and thereby builds a bridge between cloud computing service providers that have to understand network functions and network function providers which require the appropriate infrastructure support for the virtualization.
OpenBaton is based on the ETSI specification NFV Mano v1.1.1, that was published end of 2014. The platform can be easily installed on existing cloud-infrastructures like OpenStack and consists of:
- a NFV Orchestrator that dynamically orchestrates carrier-grade network functions and services as well as infrastructure resources,
- a generic Virtual Network Function Manager (VNFM) that dynamically manages the functions,
- a set of libraries for the creation of customized VNFM,
- as well as a user-friendly dashboard through which the platform can be administrated.
“NFV is still in the early stages. With OpenBaton we aim at connecting the worlds of cloud computing and of network functions, so that businesses can profit from cost effective virtualized network infrastructures. Our open source platform provides a dynamic service life cycle with a just in time resource allocation and the possibility of system slicing, the cornerstones for the common understanding of NFV”, explains Prof. Thomas Magedanz, director of the Competence Center (NGNI).
OpenBaton was developed with the support of the Technische Universität Berlin and is the result of three years of development of the orchestrator within the Fraunhofer FOKUS OpenSDNCore. OpenBaton is enabling dynamic deployments of 5G network environments, like Open5Core or M2M and multimedia platforms likeOpen5GMTC.
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