M-CORD – the ONOS project that seeks to define a white-box, distributed, edge-based mobile network architecture – has announced the impending availability of an Open Source disaggregated and virtualised Evolved Packet Core (EPC) after Radisys contributed its EPC framework to the project.
As M-CORD builds a reference architecture by integrating Open Source software platforms, merchant silicon, and commodity whiteboxes at the edge of the mobile network, Radisys has made the first Open Source contribution of EPC framework under the Apache 2.0 license, available from March 2017.
The aim of M-CORD is to combine capabilities such as a programmable RAN, a disaggregated and virtualised EPC, Mobile Edge Computing, and end-to-end slicing. In that way it is hoped that operators might be able to build more flexible networks that avoid, for example, the aggregation of data traffic through the mobile core can tax backhaul, backbone transport, and the EPC itself.
M-CORD is on its way to becoming a completely end-to-end open source platform
Radisys’ open source EPC provides Mobility Management Entity (MME), Serving Gateway (SGW) and Packet Data Network Gateway (PGW) elements in disaggregated and virtualised instances. A statement from M-CORD said that Radisys’ open source EPC contribution to M-CORD will “allow the community to explore and demonstrate innovative architectures that can take advantage of the modularity of EPC. For example, M-CORD is using EPC building blocks to demonstrate virtualization, slicing and mobile edge computing.”
“Until now, closed technologies have impeded the innovation needed for 5G,” said Guru Parulkar, executive director of the Open Networking Foundation and ON.Lab. “Today, with Radisys’ transformative open source EPC contribution, M-CORD is on its way to becoming a completely end-to-end open source platform that will deliver the fundamental value of 5G with economies of scale required in the mobile network and accelerate delivery of new services.”
Joseph Sulistyo, senior director of open networking solutions and strategy, Radisys Corporation said, “The integration of open source EPC enhances the M-CORD platform to provide boundless core service flexibility and brings us a step closer to unlocking the promise of 5G.”