KDDI Helms 5G-Focused DCSG Trial

Japan’s KDDI is launching an interoperability trial of open and disaggregated radio access network, transport, and core equipment for 5G networks that taps into the Telecom Infra Project (TIP) push that began last year. The trial will use TIP’s disaggregated cell site gateway (DCSG) equipment with aggregation transport equipment and core equipment. Japan’s KDDI is launching an interoperability trial of open and disaggregated radio access network, transport, and core equipment for 5G networks that taps into the Telecom Infra Project (TIP) push that began last year. The trial will use TIP’s disaggregated cell site gateway (DCSG) equipment with aggregation transport equipment and core equipment. The trial will test interoperability between DCSG equipment within a KDDI TIP Community Lab in Japan and transport and core equipment from Mongolian mobile operator MobiCom sitting outside of a TIP Community Lab. The participants are evaluating the ability to use open and disaggregated equipment to support multiple combinations of hardware and software vendors in constructing a 5G network. “TIP sees the trials of the DCSG and aggregation transport equipment … as a significant step toward the introduction of open and disaggregated network solutions,” noted TIP Chief Engineer David Hutton, in a statement. “The DCSG and TIP’s open optical and packet transport solutions will help to provide the capacity within the transport network required to make 5G a success in satisfying the requirements of consumers, operators, and enterprises.” The DCSG model is comprised of a white-box cell site gateway based on open and disaggregated architecture for 3G, 4G, and 5G networks. Telefónica led the first large-scale deployment of the technology in its German network in late 2019. That deployment used equipment from Infinera and Edgecore to provide IP/MPLS functionality for cell site gateways, and to allow for the connection of multiple gateway elements to double node capacity while operating under a single routing framework. Other operators have since launched trials, including Vodafone. The initiative is similar to AT&T’s Disaggregated Network Operating System (DANOS) that it contributed to the Linux Foundation in late 2019. DANOS was the open source version of AT&T’s Vyatta code that it acquired from Brocade in mid-2017. It’s an operating system for individual white boxes that make up a network, including support for AT&T’s growing 5G network.