Closed loop assurance technology assures and orchestrates dynamic, on-demand 5G network slices for the Tour de France experience of the future
London, UK – 19th April 2018 – MYCOM OSI, the leading independent provider of Assurance, Automation and Analytics solutions to the world’s largest Communications Service Providers (CSPs), today announced its participation in two TM Forum 5G Catalyst Proof of Concepts (PoCs) that use the world famous Tour de France cycle race to demonstrate the power of 5G to deliver innovative immersive subscriber experiences, fast and reliable connectivity for broadcasters and efficient automated, Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven operations for CSPs.
Providing connectivity for the Tour de France – to broadcast 6,300 hours of video to 190 countries on 100 channels – is a huge challenge. The massive span and scale of the event requires a new network to be created on each of the 21 days of the race, as the race moves along 3,535km of often hostile terrain, making traditional planning obsolete. In 2017, 4 motorcycles and 2 helicopters broadcast live video that was transmitted to hovering helicopters then to circling planes and from there to a ground station in a temporary technical facility that moved daily with the tour. The feeds were then connected to 120 broadcaster trucks using 20km of fiber optic cable. 750 temporary mobile antennas, 26 relay vehicles, 8 Wi-Fi networks per tour village and 24-hour video surveillance completed the network infrastructure. With 5G technology, CSPs can deliver a new range of enriched experiences and capabilities that existing networks cannot offer whilst greatly simplifying the complex task of connecting the race to the 12 million on-the-ground spectators and millions of broadcast viewers around the world.
The TM Forum 5G Catalyst PoCs ‘5G Intelligent Service Planning and Optimization’ and ‘5G Intelligent Service Operations’ will demonstrate new experiences and capabilities that have the potential to be applied to other major sporting events and future networks in general, including:
- Immersive fan experience with on-demand 4K video streaming from multiple cameras, real time 3600 VR/AR and real time rider statistics from Internet of Things (IoT) sensors for an unprecedented sports fan experience
- Dynamic network planning, optimization and operation of a moving network using drones, edge computing, network slices, closed loop automation and Artificial Intelligence to predict cyclist, spectator and network behavior
- Dynamic network slice management and closed loop assurance to guarantee quality of slice-based services, including on demand 4K video to individual subscribers, rider telemetry, IoT-provided statistics, drone-based cameras and emergency services
In the Catalysts, MYCOM OSI’s Experience Assurance and Analytics™ (EAA) solution will provide closed loop, automated, real time assurance to guarantee Quality of Service (QoS) and Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for multiple 5G network slices with different service quality requirements. They include enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) for broadcaster video, subscriber video and telemetry slices, and ultra-reliable low latency communications (uRLLC) for rider telemetry and emergency services slices. These 5G network slices will be dynamically created in response to rider, spectator and network behavior, either reactively or proactively through predictions based on AI/Machine Learning (ML) to anticipate demand.
MYCOM OSI will also demonstrate how its closed loop assurance uses policy-based and KPI-driven automation that integrates AI/ML based predictive and prescriptive analytics, to ensure that QoS and SLAs are continuously delivered in dynamic 5G network slices. The capabilities include automated root cause analysis across all domains and from network through service, customer and device.
It integrates with 5G RAN and core networks, Service Orchestrators, Domain Orchestrators and Service Platforms, using TOSCA and TM Forum Open APIs, including TMF 628 and TMF 642, to demonstrate simplification and speed of integration with any ecosystem.
“Network slicing is a key 5G capability that offers significant business opportunities for CSPs to deliver new digital and IoT services within new business models, but this is wholly dependent on guaranteeing the quality of service for each slice,” said Mounir Ladki, President and CTO of MYCOM OSI. “The challenge is how to assure QoS and SLAs whilst managing the complexity of highly dynamic, real time, on-demand network slices. We are delighted to show in these TM Forum 5G Catalysts how we address these challenges with our automated closed loop assurance solution.”
A TM Forum Catalyst is a PoC project developed collaboratively by TM Forum members with the aim to create innovative solutions to common challenges.
- The ‘5G Intelligent Service Planning and Optimization’ Catalyst is championed by AT&T, BT, NTT, Orange, and Telecom Italia and demonstrates how a movable 5G network that enables new immersive experiences can be dynamically planned, optimized, integrated and assured during the Tour de France. It will show dynamic service creation and planning along with reactive and proactive closed loop automation in conjunction with AI to provide optimal experience. Ecosystem participants include Ericsson, MYCOM OSI and Wipro.
- The ‘5G Intelligent Service Operations’ Catalyst is championed by AT&T, BT, KDDI Research, NTT, Orange, Telecom Italia and Telenor and demonstrates how CSPs can enable new revenue streams by managing and launching 5G slice-based services, including 4K video streaming, drone-based broadcasting and IoT–provided statistics at events like the Tour de France. The catalyst showcases end-to-end slice management, dynamic service orchestration, reactive and proactive assurance and policy management that assure SLAs and customer experience using multi-level closed loop automation. Ecosystem participants include Huawei, MYCOM OSI, Netcracker, Tech Mahindra, TEOCO and ZTESoft.
The 5G Catalyst PoCs will take place at TM Forum’s Digital Transformation World conference and exhibition (14-16 May, Nice, France), where MYCOM OSI will also co-present with Three UK on the topic of ‘Assuring the World’s First Telco Cloud’ and participate in a panel discussion around ‘Next Generation Service Assurance Enablement’, both part of the Zero-Touch NFV/SDN track.
MYCOM OSI is Silver sponsor of the event and exclusive sponsor of the CTIO Summit running in parallel. At the event, it will demonstrate and launch new products and automation solutions within its cloud native Experience Assurance and Analytics™ (EAA) suite of applications, and present its latest research and developments in AI/ML.
To pre-arrange a meeting with MYCOM OSI, please click here or contact the marketing team at info@mycom-osi.com. MYCOM OSI will be located in its exclusive terrace on the top floor next to the Catalyst pavilion.
