Cloud applications and services are driving CSP networks

Like most new technologies, 5G has also been heavily hyped since the launch. A large amount o factual misrepresentation and exaggeration of the actual capability that 5G technology holds go hand in hand with some of this hype.

One assertion, however, is universally accepted that 5G will have significantly more capacity than previous technologies including 4G and 3G and will operate at blazing speeds. With is transition in speeds, the underlying IP and optical transports that are utilized to carry mobile traffic will also need to be improved and redesigned due to these increasing bandwidth requirements.

Vach Kompella, Vice President, IP Networks Division, Nokia, shared some insights with V&D on Nokia's IP portfolio, Metaverse and much more. Have a look:

1. How is Nokia’s global IP portfolio strategy going forward?

Vach Kompella: The IP Networks team’s focus has always been on delivering quality solutions and expertise to solve the world’s IP networking challenges. Today, our expertise and technologies are building the world’s most critical IP networks. We are building today’s networks to enable the applications of tomorrow.

The IP Networks team are committed to working to help our customers not only address the performance, scale, reliability, and programmability of their IP networks, but equally as importantly manage the environmental impact of their IP networks. We are helping our customers through the delivery of three foundational elements for their mission-critical IP networks: software excellence; automation and tools; and silicon and systems. 

• What can we expect from Nokia towards supporting bandwidth for a seamless Metaverse experience?

Vach Kompella: We are meeting the new demands placed on networks through a next evolution of networking where networks meet cloud with ‘networks that sense, think and act’. These networks go beyond connecting people and things, bits, and bytes. They’re adaptable, autonomous, and consumable. They’re alive with intelligence and enable people, machines, and devices to interact in real time, like never before.

The transformative benefits of ‘networks that sense think and act’ for businesses and society are two-fold. First, this next evolution in networking makes high performance connectivity more consumable and sustainable. Second, ‘networks that sense, think and act’ are opening up networks for innovation and collaboration, securely.

Nokia is uniquely positioned to lead this evolution in networks through our technology leadership and best of breed portfolio across fixed, mobile and cloud. Our innovation is propelled by Nokia Bell Labs, winner of multiple Nobel Prizes and global leader in disruptive research on networks, software, AI, automation and IoT.

It’s this expertise that enables us to pioneer the future where networks meet cloud, amplifying the potential of digital in every industry.

• How can CSPs utilise metaverse and what are the opportunities that lie here?

Vach Kompella: Cloud applications and services are driving CSP networks whether they be 5G, ongoing digital transformation in the Enterprise, or the migration to the consumer, enterprise or industrial Metaverse.

Connectivity and digitalization – supported by CSPs - play a key role in this evolution making industries and communities more productive, resource efficient and equitable, with currently around 5 billion global active Internet users, and this number continuing to grow.

As this connectivity and digitalization continues, they will increasingly rely on the resilience, performance, and flexibility CSP networks, working with cloud, can deliver.

CSPs can make high performance connectivity more consumable and sustainable - enabling their existing and new customers in new industries to tap into the full power of their network.

Opening their networks for innovation and collaboration - enabling new technologies and players to create transformative business models and applications only possible from harnessing real-time data and network intelligence.

Realizing the potential of connectivity and digitalization will hinge on networks ability to meet these demands, presenting an opportunity for CSPs to help deliver a future where more people and industries have access to the performance of digital.

• How is the Nokia IP team helping India with the continued growth in data capacity?

Vach Kompella: India in 2022 saw around 14.4 exabyte of traffic which is expected to continue to grow combined with the predicted growth of data center deployments. So, through our portfolio breadth we provide our customers with the choice to suit their application and network roles, across the WAN (including edge, core, access, aggregation), as well as within and between data centers. Our portfolio gives customers technology choices that incorporate a balanced approach for platforms to meet network requirements using ‘fit for application’ silicon technologies, designed for optimal performance, power, features, scale, and physical footprint. We have network operating system software with a common software base, with a proven quality history that deliver ‘cloud’ management capabilities, developed through a pipeline with a heavy investment in test automation to simplify and reduce operational and integration costs.

We continue our silicon innovation with the FP5, which is our 5th generation of IP network processor silicon. This is industry’s most advanced IP network processor silicon specifically designed and optimized to meet stringent network operating requirements. With full features enabled on FP5, we reduce power consumption by 75% from the previous generations. With intelligent aggregation (IA), power consumption drops even further. At the same time as reducing power consumption, there is more than 3X increase in capacity in the same power envelope. Built-in highly scalable and programmable line rate security helps to secure critical IP networks, while further reducing both network power consumption and physical footprint.

Through our system design innovation, our systems already support high-density 400G coherent optics, but with the recent availability of 800G digital coherent pluggable optics, we deliver the industry’s highest density 800GE routing that can be deployed into existing 7750 SR systems today. In a recent study, the application of our silicon innovation with FP5 and 800GE routing can help our customers deliver sustainable traffic growth with better energy and space efficiencies combined with FP5’s balance of deterministic performance and services without compromise.

• How are you helping India balance this capacity growth in a sustainable manner?

Vach Kompella: From an environmental perspective, we are working with our Indian customers to helpthem master the sustainability challenge for their critical IP networks through a lens of energy efficiency, maximizing network lifespan, and product circularity.

We are working with our customers to help reduce energy consumption to reduce both energy costs and Scope 3 Green House Gas (GHG) emissions in the face of continued growing network capacity demands, scaling of the network infrastructure, diverse and granular SLAs, and IP network security threats. As we believe in the competitive advantage of industry-leading solutions, we aim to lead in the energy efficiency of IP network products, silicon, software, and systems. Our continued silicon and system design innovation that I have previously talked about are examples of this.

However, with this commitment to innovation, we have established a history of investment protection and system deployment longevity. Not only does this improve network reliability and the total cost of ownership of the network, but it also offers several sustainability benefits. For example, over the life of the network there will be a reduction of natural resource extraction for replacement parts, a reduction of network components destined for landfills or otherwise potentially carbon-intense processing, as well as a reduction in embodied emissions associated with the lifecycle of new parts and deployment. Not only does network longevity contribute to a circular economy, but it also adds direct value to customer networks.

Our IP routing silicon is highly programmable and has demonstrated longevity and functionality upgrades beyond what merchant silicon allows.  A highly programmable network processor gives us the ability to pivot as the market, standards, and protocol needs – from MPLS to EVPNs, from segment routing to 5G transport networks. We have demonstrated that we can re-purpose the same hardware to numerous use cases with no compromise to performance or function and extend its network deployment lifespan.

With the future in mind the FP5 has been designed with capability to support up to 1.6T clear channel interfaces. This enables the support for 400G and 800G today, and 1.6T clear channel in the future. Each generation of our FP silicon technology has been designed with backwards compatibility in mind. This backwards compatibility preserves the lifespan of deployed services, line cards, and systems. Combined with flexible licensing, this provides economic scaling to meet evolving needs.

After 25 years of implementing well-established circular practices, we are still continuously looking at how we can enhance our existing circular approach to our operations. We are proactively looking to increase product take back from our customers, and to ensure the quality of our remanufactured products. In 2022 we saw a 31% increase in customers of our circular products and a 17% increase in the number of remanufactured products. We also continue to increase the amount of recyclate in our products, while products and modular components that cannot be reused or repurposed at end-of-life are sent to recycling and recovery vendors to generate reclaimed material for another application or industry.

Technology plays a key role in fighting climate change and its impacts both directly by function and indirectly through handprint benefits. Nokia and the IP Networks team is committed to combatting climate change through industry leading IP innovation combined with continuous engagement with our customers, to deliver a sustainable IP networking portfolio.