Vodafone, Huawei Demo Agile ISSU Solution for Cloud Native Network Functions

Vodafone and Huawei have successfully demonstrated the industry's first carrier-grade Agile In-Service Software Upgrade (ISSU) based on Cloud-native architecture.

The Agile ISSU was performed for the Huawei CloudEdge network technology which serves VoLTE users. An upgraded CloudEdge software version was created in the same Virtual Network Function datacenter using only a few extra resources; subscriber data was synchronized batch by batch from the old version to the new version, until all VoLTE services were migrated to the new version. Performance and service quality tests were performed at each step as an integral part of the Agile ISSU procedure.

The entire Agile ISSU process was successfully finished without affecting existing VoLTE services. No manual intervention was required during this process although steps are constantly monitored by a system operator (i.e. an operations team in a live service environment).

Huawei CloudEdge uses Cloud Native architecture and features elasticity, agility, robustness, and efficiency.

Global operators aim to shorten the time to market (TTM), reduce cash operation, maintenance and administrative costs (O&M costs) and achieve superior experiences for end users with Cloud Native architecture. Agile ISSU is one of the most important practices of DevOps which is an advanced development and O&M mode in Cloud Native. Agile ISSU replaces the long and complex traditional upgrade modes while providing the following benefits:

1. Enables hitless upgrades of services with minimum required extra resources.
2. Automates the upgrade process and enables Zero Touch operation (no manual intervention).
3. Allows the upgrade of specified services by making use of the micro-service technology. The TTM of new services is shortened from months to days, thereby facilitating agile operation.

Dai Jisheng, President of Huawei Cloud Packet Core, said, "As strategic partners, Huawei and Vodafone have maintained in-depth and constructive collaboration in NFV and 5G-oriented cloud evolution, achieving many remarkable feats in joint innovation. The PoC success of Agile ISSU once again shows Huawei's in-depth understanding and continuous investment in the Cloud Native field. Huawei will help Vodafone achieve continuous business success."