Nokia has announced the completion of interoperability tests for its 5G Standalone (SA) Packet Core’s User Plane Function (UPF) in the open-source cloud software environment of Project Sylva. These groundbreaking tests took place at the Project Sylva Validation Center in France, operated by telecom giant Orange.
Project Sylva, launched at the end of 2022 under the Linux Foundation Europe, aims to provide a reference open-source cloud software framework tailored to telecommunications and edge requirements. Nokia and Orange, among other supporters, have contributed to the initiative to address the technical challenges of the industry.
The validation tests mark a crucial step toward offering a flexible cloud-native solution capable of supporting large-scale deployments of 5G SA Core Network functions. Particularly for 5G private wireless enterprise customers, Project Sylva seeks to provide an efficient way to deploy Industry 4.0, IoT, and B2B2X use cases at the edge.
Fran Heeran, Senior Vice President & General Manager of Core Networks, Cloud, and Network Services at Nokia, expressed enthusiasm, stating, “Nokia’s Core Network portfolio is designed to support the evolving telco cloud environment through open, flexible deployment options with greatly reduced integration and advanced automation capabilities.”
Laurent Leboucher, Group Chief Technology Officer at Orange, emphasized the significance of the successful test with Nokia, considering it a crucial step toward adopting Sylva as an industrial standard reference implementation for demanding telco workloads. He highlighted the potential of Sylva in addressing various use cases, such as industrial campuses, IoT, and computer vision.
Luis Velarde, Head of Cloud & Infrastructure at Telefonica, stated, “The validation program is intended to demonstrate that cloud-native workloads can deploy in a reference Telco cloud stack, promoting standardization to reduce fragmentation. The validation of Nokia UPF in the platform provided by Sylva is a milestone for the adoption of a cloud-native designed ecosystem.”
This successful collaboration between Nokia, Orange, and Project Sylva marks a significant advancement in the pursuit of a standardized and efficient cloud-native ecosystem for the telecommunications industry. As 5G technology continues to evolve, such milestones pave the way for seamless integration and deployment of advanced network functions.
