Category: NGMN News

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NGMN Alliance seeks the rapid development of Option 4 as complement to 5G Standalone

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Frankfurt, Germany: Today, the Next Generation Mobile Networks (NGMN) Alliance releases its latest Operator Position Statement paper urging the development finalization of 5G architecture “Option 4” to support the full realisation of 5G. Its Option 4 recommendation will help many networks to bring new 5G-based services quickly and efficiently to market whilst also providing a future-proof evolution that maintains competitive user data rates for 5G users.

A migration to 5G Standalone is an important evolutionary step for 5G with the introduction of a new 5G core network and the transfer of the master radio interface technology from LTE to New Radio (NR) technology. To ensure the most cost and spectrum efficient use of the network which maximises the full 5G advantages, advanced 5G users should be able to connect in parallel via both NR and existing LTE technology. Otherwise new 5G Standalone users will sometimes receive lower data rates than existing Non-Standalone 5G and LTE-only users.

“Development completion of Option 4 is urgently needed to enable all operators to invest in a new 5G core network without compromising user data rate performance,” said Arash Ashouriha, Chairman of the NGMN Alliance. “Advanced 5G users using 5G Standalone should be able to access LTE on top of NR for a seamless service experience”.

NGMN concludes that Option 4 supporting a 5G core and dual connectivity with NR acting as a master is required so that baseline 5G NR radio performance can be enhanced through the use of LTE on top. 5G Standalone users can then access both NR and LTE spectrum in the lower frequency bands supporting wider coverage when it is beneficial to do so.

Raimund Walsdorf, Technology Architecture & Innovation Access & Home Networks, Deutsche Telekom and NGMN project lead said: “Option 4 development will support many network operators planning an initial 5G Standalone service launch today or a more widespread launch in the future. This option benefits operators to more efficiently migrate spectrum from LTE to NR, while also relaxing the pressure on operators to refarm from LTE to NR as long as spectrum remains dedicated to LTE”.

Anita Döhler, CEO, NGMN Alliance added: “NGMN is committed to support an efficient introduction of 5G Standalone (SA) networks to help the industry to deliver on the performance promise of 5G to end-users. Availability of Option 4 in addition to other options will help to better meet end-user demands in years to come.”

The white paper is a result of an ongoing NGMN project which aims to conduct a trial of Option 4 in 2021. This will encourage Option 4 development within the 5G ecosystem with the aim that 5G Standalone can be introduced in all networks in a timely manner. The support of network and terminal suppliers is sought to progress the trial.

The full White Paper titled, Option 4 as a 5G SA complement White Paper can be found here.

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NGMN and O-RAN ALLIANCE Sign Co-operation Agreement

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Frankfurt, Germany – Today, the Next Generation Mobile Networks (NGMN) Alliance and the O-RAN ALLIANCE have announced to strengthen their relationship and to foster a closer co-operation in the area of Radio Access Network (RAN) decomposition of 4G and 5G networks.

The newly signed co-operation agreement brings together two widely recognised industry organisations in the field of open and standardised 5G networks. NGMN and the O-RAN ALLIANCE aim to enable and to support the timely and successful delivery of 5G-based communication solutions for acceleration and adoption of open and intelligent RAN networks to the market with a global open ecosystem. Starting today, both parties intend to achieve this by initially working together in activities related to transport for disaggregated RAN architectures, eventually expanding the collaboration to other areas.

“NGMN and the O-RAN ALLIANCE share the mission to support the standardisation of 5G interoperable networks”, said Anita Doehler, CEO of the NGMN Alliance. “We are looking forward to a close co-operation with the O-RAN ALLIANCE and to exchange our views on the RAN decomposition for 5G networks, in particular the various RAN functional splits and the transport requirements to support the various deployment options. As a wide number of industry activities are related to this subject, we also look to encourage industry alignment.”

“Since its formation in 2018, the O-RAN ALLIANCE has successfully delivered new standards for an open and intelligent RAN,” said Alex Choi, COO of the O-RAN ALLIANCE and SVP Technology Strategy & Innovation, Deutsche Telekom. “As the transport is the glue that connects radio sites, edge data centres and centralised clouds in a disaggregated RAN architecture, significant effort is required to design and define a robust and scalable transport to meet stringent requirements of future networks. We look forward to working with NGMN to achieve this and we encourage industry alignment.”

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NGMN Alliance Publishes Final Deliverable on 5G Architecture Framework

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Frankfurt, Germany – Today, the Next Generation Mobile Networks (NGMN) Alliance has announced the latest requirements for a 5G End-to-End (E2E) Architecture Framework. It aims to advance the 5G ecosystem to enable heterogenous access, virtualisation, autonomic capabilities, forward-looking service enablers, and emerging usage scenarios that support 5G’s full potential. The content of this publication builds on the architectural concepts and directions described in the first NGMN 5G White Paper, and further related NGMN publications.

“This is an important development and another step in our efforts to support SDO’s in standardizing 5G technologies. NGMN encourages the development of interoperable and market enabling specifications, which will ultimately allow for realisation of emerging use case scenarios,” stated Sebastian Thalanany, UScellular, and NGMN project lead of the 5G E2E Architecture Framework project.

Essential to an evolving 5G ecosystem, the latest requirements from NGMN describe the next steps needed to advance forward-looking technologies and use cases that will enable network service providers to offer new capabilities and enhance the customer experience. With many new 5G use cases to deliver, diverse service deployment from an end-to-end perspective is a challenge. NGMN addresses this by looking at agile service deployment as one of the objectives of a cognitive Platform as a Service, with a focus on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning data models.

This White Paper outlines the requirements in terms of entities and functions that characterise the capabilities of an E2E framework. Architectural perspectives and considerations underscore the definition of the E2E framework requirements. This goes in hand with the service categories – Enhanced Mobile Broadband, Massive Internet of Things and Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communications – envisioned for 5G.

Furthermore, the document analyses in detail autonomic networking, which provides a scalable, customisable, and self-organizing model for system-wide automation. Here, virtualisation and programmability are adopted in an end-to-end manner. Self-organization is an integral aspect of autonomic networking for automation that dynamically learns and adapts to changing conditions in the system and its environment, while satisfying service KPIs and the quality of service experience.

“This is another important milestone for NGMN to enable the 5G ecosystem to deliver on its promise and demonstrates the excellence of our Partnership,” commented Anita Döhler, CEO NGMN Alliance.

The published results of its 5G End-to-End (E2E) Architecture Framework project can be found on the NGMN website.

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NGMN Alliance Launches Green Future Networks Project

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Frankfurt, Germany – With its Green Future Networks project, the Next Generation Mobile Networks (NGMN) Alliance will introduce aligned green targets to address climate action demands across the telecoms ecosystem. Working towards improving energy efficiency, reducing carbon emissions and increasing the use of recyclable materials, the project strives to address the industry’s social responsibility in regard to the impact of the mobile ecosystem on the environment.

The NGMN 5G White Paper 2 has already touched on this subject and will be used as a basis to guide the project, which will have a particular focus on four main topics:

  • End-to-End services footprint, considering not only the energy consumed during service but also the production and disposal of equipment used to provide the service
  • Eco-design of equipment and products
  • Network energy efficiency, e.g. to define the next steps on advanced sleep modes and to explore the on-line network dimensioning by using AI techniques
  • On-board metering in order to provide means to control the energy consumption.

“NGMN is in a unique position to consolidate a common view in the operator’s community to foster the adoption of green solutions, including a common methodology for end-to-end life cycle analysis and eco-design of products. This shared view is essential for enabling a coherent and common green strategy among Telcos, and to fulfil the requirements of regulators and the next customers’ generation,” stated Ana Maria Galindo Serrano, responsible for Green ITN Performance & Communication at Orange, and lead of the Green Future Networks project.

Increasing the usage of green technology and enabling networks with greater energy efficiency is fundamental for operators, since the number and type of customers, connected devices and traffic will continue to grow significantly over the next few years, which may result in an increase of network energy consumption. To tackle this topic, the project will look into the use of renewable energy to reduce the energy carbon footprint and discuss insights on the reduction of the environmental footprint of networks.

“Creating a cleaner and more sustainable mobile network ecosystem is of the utmost global importance and therefore, one of our main goals. We are proud to bring together the entire NGMN Alliance to jointly work on taking action to contribute our share in reducing the risks and effects of climate change, while at the same time achieving significant cost savings for our operator partners as well as many other industry players,” commented Anita Döhler, CEO of the NGMN Alliance.

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NGMN Board has launched a project focussing on the Vision and Drivers for 6G

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Frankfurt, Germany – The Next Generation Mobile Networks (NGMN) Board has launched a project focussing on the Vision and Drivers for 6G.
The NGMN Alliance has provided industry-wide guidance on 4G and 5G, supporting global alignment as well as ensuring that next generation mobile networks meet the ecosystem requirements and, ultimately, satisfy customer demand and expectations.A prominent example of NGMN’s deliverables is the first 5G White Paper published in 2015, which had substantial impact on 5G’s standardization and paved the way for 5G Commercialization, followed by the second 5G White Paper (5GWP2) published just recently in July 2020.The NGMN Work Programme focuses on reaching the full 5G potential and supports the industry on delivering and following through with its 5G promise. Drawing on the recommendations of the second 5G White Paper, the NGMN Alliance continues to work on existing 5G activities as well as launching new activities such as the Green Future Networks project, Vertical Industry Engagement and Network Slicing Requirements for Operating System of 5G Smartphones. These activities will ensure 5G continues to evolve and support customers and industry for the next 10 years and beyond.With its new “6G Vision and Drivers” project, NGMN intends to provide early and timely direction for global 6G activities, which will develop the mobile network technology for operation in the future. In this context, NGMN will also facilitate an information exchange within its internal partnership and relevant external stakeholders. NGMN is very excited to be working on this future vision project and to set the footprint for generations to come.Arash Ashouriha, SVP Group Technology Innovation, Deutsche Telekom and Chairman of the Board of NGMN said: “As we continue to implement and further develop 5G to maximize the benefit of its potential, our goal as NGMN is to remain at the forefront of next generation mobile networks. It is therefore essential that we start anticipating the future societal needs and elaborate the drivers for mobile communications in the future.”Anita Döhler, CEO of NGMN said: “The NGMN Board is committed to further drive the implementation of 5G. At the same time, we are looking at the future with our new work on 6G. Our organisation with its network operators, vendors and research associations has played such an important role for the requirements setting of 4G and 5G, and we will continue to provide guidance also for the next generation mobile networks beyond 5G. Interested parties are welcome to contribute to the “NGMN 6G Vision and Drivers” activity.”

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NGMN Announces new Chairman and Board Members

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Frankfurt, Germany – The Next Generation Mobile Networks (NGMN) announces its new Board Chairman and changes to the Board Members for the new term 2020-2022.

Emmanuel Lugagne Delpon, Group CTO of Orange and former Chairman of the NGMN Board hands over the reins to the new Chairman Arash Ashouriha, SVP Group Technology Innovation, Deutsche Telekom.

Under Emmanuel Lugagne Delpon’s direction, NGMN successfully initiated the enhancement of 5G within the ecosystem, and among others, initiated and published the 5G White Paper 2. Emmanuel Lugagne Delpon, said:”It has been a pleasure heading the NGMN Alliance as many operators launched 5G. As we continue to deploy and further develop 5G to maximize the benefit of its potential, our goal is to remain at the forefront of next generation mobile networks. Therefore, I gladly hand over the leadership to my highly respected colleague Arash Ashouriha, who will continue to strengthen and drive the NGMN Alliance forward.”

Arash Ashouriha said: “I am honoured to be taking over as NGMN Board Chairman during theses challenging but very exciting times for our industry. My goal is to continue enabling network operators to unleash the full 5G potential and to lead the Alliance into the future of next generation mobile networks.”

Anita Döhler, CEO, NGMN Alliance said: ”I would like to thank Emmanuel Lugagne Delpon for his great leadership and dedication over the past 2 years. We have a lot of work ahead of us and are confident that we will continue to follow the successful path with Arash Ashouriha’s direction and Deutsche Telekom as a strong member partner.”

The voting occurred unanimously during the Board meeting.

Notes to Editors

NGMN Board for 2020-2022:

Chairman: Arash Ashouriha

SVP Group Technology Innovation, Deutsche Telekom

Wolfgang Fleischer

Head of Network Virtualization, A1 Group

Bruce Rodin

VP Wireless Networks, Bell Canada

Howard Watson

Group CTIO, BT

Huang Yuhong

Deputy General Manager China Mobile Research Institute, China Mobile

Hey-Chyi Young

VP of Chunghwa Telecom Labs, Chunghwa Telecom

Joachim Gross

VP Planning & Engineering, 1&1 Drillisch

Paul Berriman

Group CTO, Hongkong Telecom

Tom Poelhekken

CTO, KPN

Anita Döhler

CEO, NGMN

Naoki Tani

EVP,CTO, EGM of R&D Innovation Division, NTT DOCOMO Inc.

Emmanuel Lugagne Delpon

Group CTO, Orange

Mark Chin Kok Chong

Group CTO, Singtel

Takki Yu

Head of Access Network Development Team, SK Telecom

Arvin Siena

VP and Head of Technology Strategy and Transformation Office of PLDT and Smart

Andrea Calvi

Head of Technology Evolution & Innovation, TIM

Thomas Helbo

CTO, EVP Technology, Tele2

Bernard Bureau

VP Network and Architecture Strategy, Chief Technology Office, TELUS

Ulf Ewaldsson

SVP, Chief Network Officer, T-Mobile US

Gediz Sezgin

Chief Network Technologies Officer, Turkcell

Michael Irizarry

EVP & CTO Engineering and Information Services, UScellular

Luke Ibbetson

Group R&D Director, Vodafone

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NGMN Alliance Publishes Second 5G White Paper

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Frankfurt, Germany – The Next Generation Mobile Networks (NGMN) Alliance published its second 5G White Paper and has launched further projects based on its conclusions.

After the highly recognised NGMN 5G White Paper published in 2015, the NGMN Alliance followed up with another leading message to the mobile industry demonstrating how NGMN continues to drive the ecosystem forward.

Whilst initial 5G services have been launched, there is much more underway to realise the full potential of 5G. The NGMN White Paper lays out how 5G is expected to increasingly enable new business models and many new use cases, and gives its recommendation on how to realise the full benefits of virtualisation, cloud, edge computing and more.

One of the obvious conclusions is, that the industry must avoid fragmentation by adopting global standards with open, interoperable interfaces and application programming interfaces, thereby delivering the promise of agility and scalability.

Some of the key elements the 5G White Paper 2 highlights are:

  • A common Operator platform architecture is desired in order to allow edge computing to be used on a global scale.
  • Mobile Network Operators are uniquely placed to provide a fully integrated solution for Verticals that encompasses networks, clouds and platforms, with dynamic customisation, partnerships, end-to-end management, carrier-grade security and efficient spectrum use. Mobile Network Operators and Verticals should increase their engagement to develop meaningful, mutually-beneficial partnerships and business models in order to fully deliver the 5G potential.
  • Increased focus needs to be given to further improving energy efficiency, sustainability, social wellbeing, trust, and to digital inclusion.

Drawing on some of the challenges and actions identified in the White Paper, the NGMN Alliance recently launched two projects: Future Networks Cloud Native Platform, to create a holistic view on how network cloudification should be exploited, and Future Green Networks, to drive energy efficiency and carbon footprint reduction.

Nick Sampson, Director, Wireless Access and Core Network Standardisation, Orange, and co-editor of the White Paper, mentions: “Building on NGMN’s first 5G White Paper, this document emphasises key actions to support the continuing delivery of the 5G promise, in terms of enabling new business models and opportunities, and achieving the required agility to meet a myriad of requirements from existing and new users.”

Javan Erfanian, Distinguished Member of Technical Staff, Bell Canada, and co-editor of this White Paper indicates: “Following our 5G launch, we are pleased to continue working with the global industry and the entire ecosystem to drive and realise the full 5G vision for the benefit of all our customers. The NGMN White Paper 2 targets the next phase in this journey both to outline key requirements and success factors, including the new and extended value created and delivered by the mobile network operators working together with a broad partner ecosystem.”

“The 5G White Paper 2 provides a guideline for the 5G evolution with new visions, new use cases and new challenges. Engagement with Verticals is identified and highlighted to fully realise the NGMN’s 5G vision. This document further describes the unique and expanded role of the mobile network operator as a network and services provider. It is worthy of being the reference for producing 5G specifications and promoting the 5G ecosystem,” says Nan Hu, Lead Researcher and Manager of 5G Standardisation, China Mobile Research Institute, China Mobile, and third co-editor of the White Paper.

Anita Döhler, CEO, NGMN, points out: “The NGMN White Paper 2 describes the 5G objective of enabling and contributing to prosperity and productivity with significant energy and resource efficiency, sustainability, social wellbeing, trust and inclusion and promotes the engagement with the wider ecosystem to fully address the 5G outreach.  I would like to thank everyone who worked on this position paper, which is a very valuable asset for the overall industry. As stated above, our White Paper kicked off several new activities already. This is an exciting time to be joining the NGMN Alliance and I look forward to continuing on the journey to 5G success and beyond.”

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NGMN Alliance Announces: Ms. Anita Döhler as New CEO

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The Next Generation Mobile Networks (NGMN) Alliance announces Ms. Anita Döhler as new CEO and Board Director. She will take over her new role from Dr. Peter Meissner, who will retire from this position on June 30, 2020.
Since its incorporation in 2006, Dr. Peter Meissner acted as founding director and CEO of the NGMN Alliance. Under his leadership, NGMN grew from a handful of operators to a group that consists of 100 operators, vendors and research institutions – plus over 20 cooperation partner organisations – and has successfully guided and shaped the evolution of 4G and 5G. Peter Meissner will remain active as Senior Advisor to the NGMN Board.
Emmanuel Lugagne Delpon, Group CTO of Orange and Chairman of the Board of NGMN said: “Peter has been at the helm of NGMN as CEO for nearly 14 years. He led NGMN through the development of the 4G White Paper, the subsequent LTE-based Work Programme, the 5G White Paper and the following 5G Work Programme and, recently, the initiation of “Beyond 5G”. These activities have substantially impacted the developments in standardisation and the industry to meet the ambitious requirements of the global telecommunication community. Peter drove the growth of NGMN to an active and impactful organisation with a strong global presence. We thank Peter for his leadership and relentless drive for the success of NGMN and the partnership and wish him all the best for his well-deserved retirement.
At the same time, we welcome Ms. Anita Döhler as our new CEO and Board Director. She is a long-term telecoms industry executive, with hands-on operator and vendor experience. Her qualifications are outstanding, and we are looking forward to working with Anita to drive the next step of the evolution of telecommunications technology in a dynamically growing ecosystem and with new requirements, that are not only technically driven, but have become an integral part of the ecological and societal challenges of the future.”
“I am proud to be leading NGMN as one of the major driving forces of the telecommunications industry,” said Anita Döhler. “This industry has become a solid backbone of the day to day life of global society, which was proven during the recent COVID-19 crisis. I am looking forward to contributing to the future of communication together with the leading operators, vendors and research institutions of the world, as well as new players from other industries that are joining the telecommunication ecosystem. With 5G on a quite successful growth trajectory, NGMN is now going to accelerate the full 5G realisation in our Work Programme. You can expect to hear more from us soon.”
Anita Döhler will take over from Dr. Peter Meissner on July 1st, 2020, joining the NGMN office team in Frankfurt.

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NGMN Green Telco Activities

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In its conference call on 22nd April 2020 the NGMN Board of Directors unanimously decided to engage on activities towards carbon neutrality.

A new team will be established shortly to analyze and determine 5G energy consumption, renewable energy sources, and other related topics.

In a first step all operator partners are invited to discuss and outline the objectives of the initiative, while in step two also all industry partners and researchers will join and complement.

All NGMN partners will work together to introduce aligned green demands to the ecosystem.

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Autonomic Framework for 5G and Beyond

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Sebastian Thalanany
by Sebastian Thalanany
U. S. Cellular

Context and Challenge

Virtualization, combined with a decoupling of the control plane and the user plane, together with a plurality of access networks, and disaggregated radio networks with assorted capacities and coverage footprints, provides unprecedented levels of customization and flexibility for the Network Service Provider, for the deployment of a 5G and future systems. These directions in turn demand correspondingly higher levels of distributed computing, storage, and networking capabilities to augment the service experience and quality for a human or a machine interface.

Beyond this ever increasing demand for enhancing the computing, storage, and networking capabilities of next generation wireless access systems, while satisfying the constraints of smaller, faster, and cheaper, there is a critical system-wide requirement that must be met for satisfying a rich and diverse service paradigm. This critical system-wide requirement is the management of complexity, across interconnected and interdependent constituents of a system operating within a given environmental context of humans and machines. While decentralization and distribution, together with appropriate levels of localized computing, storage, and networking resources, provide enhancements in terms of system and service related KPIs and the quality of service experience, the pivotal challenge is to effectively and efficiently manage complexity associated with increasing levels of system-wide interdependence and interconnectedness involving humans and machines.

The management of exponentially increasing levels of system-wide interdependence and interconnectedness, in terms of configuration, administration, operation, fault isolation, security, privacy, performance, optimization, availability, reliability and service experience, demands a dynamic, rapid, adaptive, and agile system-wide decision-making scheme. Such a scheme exceeds the human response limits, and piecewise automation strategies, associated with traditional system management.

Inspiration

With these unprecedented emerging challenges, a scheme for the management of system-wide complexity is inspired by the human autonomic nervous system, which maintains a dynamic system-wide awareness and regulation, by embedding self-managing entities distributed throughout the physiological and psychological system. As one example, among a myriad of complex scenarios, the autonomic nervous system balances the heart rate, breathing rate, and blood pressure for sustaining life. In another example, the complex feedback loops, between the brain as a controller and its widespread interconnections with self-managing entities (e.g. organs, glands, muscles etc.), maintain system-wide harmony automatically, without any conscious intervention.

Relevance and Applicability

The self-governance principles embodied in the autonomic nervous system reveal essential characteristics realized in terms of an end-to-end autonomic framework for 5G and future systems. The autonomic principles of self-management and governance are particularly relevant for managing the growing complexity associated with high-levels of distribution and decentralization in terms of computing, storage, and networking resources. Virtualization enables these resources to be arranged in flexible deployment specific modalities, consisting of a core network, assorted radio access networks, and spectrum, together with human and machine type interfaces (e.g. handhelds, actuators, sensors, wearables, customer premise equipment etc.). At the same time, the computing, storage and networking resources are likely to owned and operated by a federation of distributed entities that are enabled to cooperate and collaborate for rendering a customizable service paradigm.

An end-to-end autonomic framework consists of embedded self-managing capabilities, distributed across the entire 5G and beyond infrastructure. This capability provides a dynamic system-wide awareness and self-governance, which obviates the need for human intervention from an operational perspective. The autonomic framework realizes this significant benefit by dynamically and adaptively adjusting to system-wide environment changes (e.g. traffic patterns, capacity, coverage, software, new service integration, fault prediction, fault mitigation, fault isolation, security threats, privacy safeguards, energy conservation etc.), while optimizing system-wide behavior, performance, and service experience. The embedded self-managing characteristics of an end-to-end autonomic framework are delineated in terms of self-Configuration, self-Healing, self-Optimizing, and self-Protection attributes[1]. These cognitive attributes embedded within cooperating entities, pave an evolutionary path to a zero-touch (no human intervention) automation of operations on a system-wide basis, well-beyond the limits of automation afforded by just a collection of self-managed entities.

Reference

  1. ETSI, “Autonomic network engineering for the self-managing Future Internet (AFI); Generic Autonomic Network Architecture”, GS AFI 002 V1.1.1, April 2013