Rakuten Mobile, enhanced 5G base with Cisco's SRv6 and Routed Optical Networking

　With the popularity of 5G (fifth generation mobile communication system), the efforts of domestic mobile operators have become increasingly active. Rakuten Communications Platform (RCP), the world's first fully virtualized cloud-local mobile network, aims to improve the market competitiveness in the use of 5G services. Solutions that introduce Cisco systems are beginning to really strengthen the network.

　"when the idea of RCP was revealed at Cisco headquarters in the United States in 2018, everyone was alone." Tariq Amin, chairman and vice president of Rakuten Mobile and CTO, looked back at the time. The key to the commercial use of 5G to meet the needs of enterprises is the virtualization of the entire platform, including the core network. Through virtualization, an open and flat network foundation with excellent scalability and flexibility is achieved.

Mr. CTO Tarek Amin (Tareq Amin), chairman and vice president of Rakuten Mobile and CTO, executive director of Rakuten Group.

　On June 25, 2021, Rakuten Mobile announced the launch of Cisco's Segment Routing over IPv6 (SRv6) solution and "Cisco Routed Optical Networking".

　SRv6 is a segmented routing technology on IPv6 networks. The router / node and the neighbor relationship are defined as segments, and the state information is written to the header of the packet, so that a valid path can be selected in the segment and transmitted at the same time. In addition, functional information can also be added to the header. For example, if you add network limiting as an additional function, you can overlap to provide services with different requests such as "high-capacity communication" and "multiple simultaneous connections". And can be integrated into IPv6, from IoT to mobile terminals, data center servers can be integrated management.

　Rakuten Mobile focuses on private 5G and open RAN. In order to support wireless access networks such as base stations, Rakuten Mobile has launched about 50 regional data centers and more than 4200 edge sites with the central data center as the main axis.

　"in this sense of scale, a fully virtualized IPv6-compatible architecture on the cloud can be established because we have a partnership with Cisco," Mr. Amin said. In particular, by completely corresponding to the IPv6, the planar network excluding complexity is completed, and the operation efficiency is also improved.

Cisco Routed Optical Networking changes the economy of communications infrastructure

　Another Cisco Routed Optical Networking is a concept advocated by Cisco, which combines IP and optical transport networks.

　"currently, more than 3 billion people around the world do not have access to the Internet or are unable to ensure adequate communications. One reason is the profitability of communications operators. Generally speaking, communication equipment is expensive. As a result, even if a communications infrastructure is established, if densely populated areas, such as multi-user cities, profits can be expected, sparsely populated land will not lead to infrastructure laying, as it cannot do so. Cisco also attaches great importance to this challenge and is committed to trying to address the sense of cost. " Jonathan Davidson of Cisco explains the background to the concept.

Mr. Jonathan Jonathan Davidson, head of EVP and GM, Cisco Trout Infrastructure Group

　As a result, Cisco is embarking on a radical reform of the Internet architecture.

　"the architecture of the Internet has not changed for more than 30 years. Very complex, silo technology is divided into multiple layers and connected to the state. For example, in order to exchange electrical signals and optical path signals well between IP network and optical network, multiple devices must be used to connect IP routing and OTN (optical transmission network) and optical (ROADM) layers. To reorganize this is Cisco Routed Optical Networking's idea. "(Davidson)

　To address this problem, Cisco has designed a pluggable, integrated SDN transport. By installing directly on the router, previously needed intermediate devices can be removed at once, and multiple networks can be aggregated into the public infrastructure. This will cut CapEx by up to 35%, and by 57%, by 57%, and by up to 46%, which "will greatly change the economics of the Internet," Davidson said.

Exclude complexity from Internet Architectur

Suppose that CapEx, OpEx and TCO can be greatly reduced through the implementation of Cisco Routed Optical Networking

　Another thing is that Cisco is committed to developing a network silicon architecture. The company released its network silicon architecture "Silicon One" in 2019. The IP routing specialized programmable architecture corresponding to the speed and capacity of the 5G era has evolved into a network chip that supports the switching market on the scale of Web this year.

　"70% of the network equipment investment of mobile operators is related to wireless communications. Due to the upgrading of dedicated hardware, it also costs a lot of budget. No one doubts that it is such a thing, and it has not been done for many years. " So says Amin of Rakuten Mobile, he points out that existing concepts must be removed to achieve a 5G core network that separates hardware and software and virtually ensures interoperability. It is reported that in the mobile communications industry, where a culture of continuous innovation with speed and agility has not yet taken root, 5G is expected to become a paradigm shift.

　Amin commented that by introducing two Cisco solutions, "upgrading the existing IP network to a world-class 5G network platform gives us the confidence that we can do whatever you want."

　For Cisco, which is strong in the field of enterprise IT, Davidson said: "I think when enterprises roll out private 5G, in most cases they will go through mobile operators." In this sense, it is of great significance to be able to cooperate with operators like Rakuten Mobile.