Service providers are working to replace customer premises equipment (CPE) appliances with software running on a standard platform referred to as universal CPE (uCPE). They also want to minimize the steps required for setting up uCPE, both in the supply chain and at the customer site. In an ideal situation, the deployed uCPE would not require user intervention, and there would be no need for a technician on site. This is what we refer to as zero touch.

Prayson Pate 

Chief Technology Officer for Ensemble at ADVA Optical Networking

Layering is a well-known strategy for security. By using layers, we increase the difficulty of penetration and reduce the impact of a failure at any given layer.

Here are some guidelines for applying layered security to universal customer premises equipment (uCPE) deployments. The uCPE layers include the platform layer (including management, virtualization, and networking), the application layer, and the management and orchestration (MANO) layer.

Prayson Pate 

Chief Technology Officer for Ensemble at ADVA Optical Networking

We are all moving to the cloud – our apps, our pictures, our entertainment. Telcos are doing the same thing. They want to get the benefits of the cloud. These include low-cost hardware, multi-vendor systems, rapid development and deployment of services, and automation. But getting to the cloud is about more than technology. It’s also about the way we work. In particular, telcos have to change how they roll out new services. They have to move from “waterfall” methods to agile development and DevOps.

Prayson Pate 

Chief Technology Officer for Ensemble at ADVA Optical Networking

Network virtualization is the overarching concept for the move to NFV and telco cloud. This evolution hasn’t been easy. Poor performance, high cost and lack of interoperability have all been impediments. Now we’re seeing breakthroughs that are knocking down yesterday’s barriers. In this blog, I describe some requirements for success in this evolution. I also include some success stories about real-world deployments.

Prayson Pate 

Chief Technology Officer for Ensemble at ADVA Optical Networking

Software-defined WAN (SD-WAN) got its start as a way for end users to save money. SD-WAN let users create their own virtual private networks (VPNs) using low cost broadband connections. Users quickly learned that being their own network operator brought a lot of unwanted complexity and headaches. Now, these same enterprises are asking service providers to offer managed SD-WAN services. (See my earlier SD-WAN blog post for more on this trend.)

Prayson Pate 

Chief Technology Officer for Ensemble at ADVA Optical Networking

Universal customer premise equipment (uCPE) is getting a lot of attention. Service providers such as AT&T and Verizon see uCPE as a way to gain the full benefits of NFV. 

Service providers invented NFV to gain the benefits of the cloud. We had to solve many issues to achieve this goal. With uCPE, we have a practical implementation of NFV. uCPE enables rapid development and deployment of services, as well as open multi-vendor systems. The time for NFV – and uCPE – is now!

Prayson Pate 

Chief Technology Officer for Ensemble at ADVA Optical Networking

SD-WAN is gaining popularity as a way for enterprises to cut networking costs and gain control over the usage of their network bandwidth. Today’s SD-WAN solutions achieve those benefits, but they have two big drawbacks: 1) they are deployed as appliances, and 2) they are managed by the enterprise.

Prayson Pate 

Chief Technology Officer for Ensemble at ADVA Optical Networking

With so much buzz in the SD-WAN community, it is easy to forget that the "S" in SD-WAN stands for software. Given the availability of software virtual network functions (VNFs) for SD-WAN, why would we use closed hardware-centric appliances to deliver an innovative service

Prayson Pate 

Chief Technology Officer for Ensemble at ADVA Optical Networking

Discussions around 5G tend to focus on radio technologies and frequency bands. As with any innovation, the technical aspects are important, but they are a means, not an end. Furthermore, the deployment of 5G will require a tremendous expenditure of time and money. Why will operators invest their precious resources in 5G? The answer is applications and revenue. 

Prayson Pate 

Chief Technology Officer for Ensemble at ADVA Optical Networking

Many of the predictions included technologies that are predicated on a move to software, open systems and an overhaul of the access network. These are big changes, and telcos don’t make big changes quickly. Will they take place next year? I believe that the winning operators will need to drive to quick adoption of these innovations in order to thrive in the new cloud-centric mobile-powered world.

Prayson Pate 

Chief Technology Officer for Ensemble at ADVA Optical Networking