28 June 2017, Shenzhen, China – ZTE Corporation (0763.HK / 000063.SZ), a major international provider of telecommunications, enterprise and consumer technology solutions for the Mobile Internet, today released its technical white paper on ElasticNet  OES(Openness Enabling System). Based on ZTE’s latest practices in global software defined networking (SDN)/network functions virtualisation (NFV) network deployment, and its latest research in operation and maintenance (O&M), the white paper, with “agile, intelligent, open” at its core, comprehensively describes the architecture, scenarios and solutions of operating systems for future cloud networks The white paper also elaborates on recent industry hotspots, which includes (O&M) solutions for typical scenarios, such as NFV deployment, on-demand network, 5G network segments and more.

ZTE believes that cloud networks are the future of network development, and summarises the core of future cloud network operating systems as “agile, intelligent and open”. ‘Agile’ means that users will be able to acquire services in real-time based on their demands; the network deployment can be achieved with one–click in real-time; and the service design/integration/release can be done online. ‘Intelligent’ in the sense indicates that the network will support autonomous O&M, optimisation and marketing. ‘Open’ means that the network and O&M capabilities can be exposed in a form of APIs, and through online development platforms and developer community, online development, testing, deployment, hosting, and operating are supported.

In the white paper, ZTE proposes that the future network operating system shall take orchestration as the core engine，take policy as the closed-loop driver, accelerate service innovation with the agile model of DevOps, reduce OPEX with intelligent and automatic O&M, and accelerate the transformation towards cloud operations from three major areas. These areas are service fulfilment, service assurance and service capability, effectively building the future end-to-end network operation system based on cloud-native architecture.

ZTE proposes a three-stage cloud operation transformation plan, and puts forward ideas and suggestions on the transformation of network operation, organisational structure, people’s capabilities and processes, in order to assist operators in their transformation towards cloud operation.

The white paper also introduces typical scenarios in cloud network transformation, including deployment of NFV and 5G network slicing. It thoroughly explains the important role of Elasticnet OES in the areas of telco cloud construction, service on-demand and applications that enable real differentiation in the 5G era and corresponding implementation paths, fully demonstrating the applicability and flexibility of the OES  solution.

ZTE SDN/NFV solutions chief engineer, Meng Xiaobin, said: “ZTE understands the network technology challenges faced by operators, fully grasp the business experience of users, and sets the trend in network technology. As early as 2013, ZTE released ElasticNet solutions based on SDN/NFV technologies, and put forward the principle of triple layer re-architecture: infrastructure re-architecture, network function re-architecture and operation re-architecture, and has constantly enriched and developed the principle. This white paper further interprets ZTE's vision of network re-architecture. Agile, intelligent and open have become the consensus of operators on network development, and SDN/NFV is gradually moving from system verification to commercial practice. ZTE will continue to support operators in cloud network transformation, and together with operators, create the innovation ecology of future networks.”

In the SDN/NFV field, ZTE has worked with dozens of mainstream operators and partners around the world. As of June 2017, ZTE has launched more than 240 SDN/NFV projects worldwide. In order to support operators to target the future of cloud network transformation, ZTE grasped network development trends close to user requirements, and quickly updated the white paper with the results of research and practice, continuously publishing to the industry and helping operators to speed up the construction of agile, intelligent and open next-generation networks.