Ericsson is working to validate its cloud native-based 5G core to work as cloud native functions (CNFs) running on top of VMware’s Telco Cloud Platform. The move is the latest push to fully virtualize 5G network operations for telecommunication operators.

The validation work is targeted at providing operators with three different infrastructure platform and orchestration options for running 4G LTE and 5G networks concurrently.

The first is the most VMware-centric. It runs Ericsson’s CNFs through VMware’s Telco Cloud Automation (TCA) and container-as-a-service (CaaS) features running on top of its VMware Tanzu Standard platform. The VMware TCA handles the network orchestration, network function onboarding, deployment, lifecycle management, and the CaaS management.

The second option uses Ericsson’s Orchestrator running within a VMware-hosted CNF and using VMware Telco Cloud and CaaS automation. This allows for VMware to create and manage Tanzu Kubernetes Grid (TKG) worker nodes to support the Ericsson 5G Core CNFs. Ericsson’s Orchestrator Cloud Manager and Evolved VNF Manager deal with lifecycle management of the CNFs and clusters as well as tenant and capacity management.

The third option uses Ericsson’s orchestration and CNFs running directly on top of the VMware infrastructure. This integrates the Ericsson Orchestrator Cloud Manager NFVO with VMware Telco Cloud to create and manage TKG worker nodes through Ericsson’s orchestrator and manager platforms.

[caption id="attachment_117246" align="alignnone" width="1620"] Source: VMware[/caption]

“Having Ericsson’s robust network function portfolio validated to run on VMware’s infrastructure gives customers unprecedented control over their networks and confidence in their path forward,” explained Lakshmi Mandyam, ‪VP of service provider product management and partner ecosystem at VMware, in a blog post. “The clear guidelines we developed together will help CSPs modernize more rapidly as they embrace cloud-native, software-first networks.”

Ericsson has been advancing its cloud native ambitions through various agreements with cloud providers.

Last year it stuck a deal with Google Cloud to onboard its 5G services onto Google Cloud’s Anthos for Telecom platform. This allows network operators and enterprises to house network workloads and functions in the cloud, orchestrate network services with automation, and combine compute, storage, and networking at the edge.

The Ericsson work is the latest from VMware, which has been working on similar projects with the market’s other leading telecommunication equipment providers.

VMware certification efforts have been cited by ABI Research, which recently touted the vendor as a market leader. ABI Research analyst Kangrui Ling described VMware’s multi-vendor certification program as “diverse and robust,” and helped propel the overall platform to a slight market lead over rival Red Hat.

Ericsson, by comparison, was tagged with a “mainstream” label alongside vendors like Nokia, ZTE, Canonical, Huawei, Google, and Wind River. Those vendors provide more generic platform features, like multi-vendor capabilities, orchestration, “and telco-grade features for innovation, and the enablement of cloud native, modularity, and hybrid cloud/multicloud for implementation.”

Ling did acknowledge that these mainstream platforms have served the market well, but they lack aggressive development and demonstration of excelling in at least one of the market leaders’ emphasized criteria.