Over a year after the Nephio project was first announced by the Linux Foundation, the open-source cloud-native automation platform is getting its first big release.

Nephio was started in April 2022 with seed code from Google and the support of multiple telco vendors to help automate cloud-native operations for 5G. The Nephio community has grown to more than 70 organizations since its launch last year and the code is now ready for its first release (R1).

Nephio uses Kubernetes as a foundational layer to automate the deployment and management of cloud infrastructure and network functions.

"Thank you, Google, for providing the seed code, but now the community has built release one," Arpit Joshipura, general manager, networking, edge and IoT at the Linux Foundation, told SDxCentral. "It's basically taking Kubernetes and its simplified architecture into the telecom domain specifically for cloud-native automation."

According to Kandan Kathirvel, Nephio technical steering committee chair, the key focus of Nephio R1 is providing the basic building blocks to automate the deployment of cloud infrastructure and network functions using Kubernetes.

Kathirvel explained to SDxCentral that in recent years telco operators have moved toward container-based deployment for services.

"The full benefit of the container-based deployment would not be there unless and until there's a cloud-native approach for automating the network functions along with the global infrastructure," Kathirvel said.

The Nephio R1 update uses the Kubernetes Resource Model (KRM) approach to manage and deploy services, instead of relying on Helm Charts, which are often used to deploy applications in an enterprise context. The model for KRM package creation is based on a GitOps approach to enable a controlled approach to version management and updates.

Kathirvel also noted that Nephio integrates an intent-based automation model that will make a big impact for operators.

[caption id="attachment_133282" align="alignnone" width="1102"] Image credit: The Linux Foundation.[/caption]

"Basically, the user has to express the intent for what they really need and then the automation system is capable of identifying what configurations are needed in a declarative way and it actually goes and deploys that."

Kathirvel explained that Nephio is deployed as a separate Kubernetes cluster or instance that a telco can install. It acts as an automation engine that can then be used to automate existing workloads and Kubernetes clusters.

He added that Nephio can be used to automate almost anything in the network that a telco wants to automate, all the way down to the physical switch. All the telco needs to do is write a Kubernetes operator for the particular functionality that is needed. There is already a core framework in Nephio R1 for common cloud-native functions, and Kathirvel said that he expects the community will add their own new operators over time.

Looking forward, Kathirvel said the Nephio project will continue to grow to support a wider range of use cases beyond 5G. He also noted that the plan is to provide more out-of-the-box automation through additional operators.