Nokia has joined the Software for Open Networking in the Cloud (SONiC) Foundation, extending the Finnish giant’s footprint in open source networks.

Mirza Arifovic, Nokia R&D Lead, will also join the SONiC Governing Board as the vendor becomes a Premier member of the Linux Foundation-hosted body.

Nokia’s membership builds on its SONiC contributions since joining the group in 2019, such as data center switching support for the platform and integration of SONiC NOS (network operating system) with Nokia’s Event-Driven Automation platform, which runs on Nokia’s proprietary SR Linux NOS.

The firm has also contributed chassis and multi-ASIC architecture designs, advancements in the Switch Abstraction Interface (SAI), enablement of ARM-based architectures, and optimizations for small-footprint implementations.

Rudy Hoebeke, VP, software product management, Nokia IP Networks Business Division, said the membership would “accelerate open source collaboration” and help its kit to power “the next generation of cloud and AI infrastructure.”

“Nokia has played a critical role in advancing SONiC from its early days to today’s AI-scale deployments. Their leadership in high-performance hardware, expertise in software development, and global-scale network engineering strengthens the community and accelerates the adoption of open source NOS across hyperscale, enterprise, and telecom markets,” added Arpit Joshipura, general manager, Networking, Edge and IoT at the Linux Foundation.

Nokia joins SONiC Foundation Premier member organizations, including Alibaba, Arista Networks, Broadcom, Cisco, Dell Technologies, Google, Intel, Marvell, Nvidia, and Microsoft, which originally developed SONiC NOS for its Azure cloud platform.

Juniper Networks recently joined SONiC as a regular member, with the Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)-owned firm last week launching the first commercial deployment of an AMD Helios-based AI rack-scale system, made possible by following SONiC open standards, as well as including SONiC compatibility on its new QFX5240 and QFX5250 switches.