Radisys Corp. has unveiled Connect Open Broadband, a cloud-based platform for open software-defined, disaggregated PON architectures. The software platform, based on building blocks within ONF’s SDN Enabled Broadband Access (SEBA) reference platform and capable of enabling introduction of the Broadband Forum’s OB-BAA architecture (see “Broadband Forum, ONF pair OB-BAA, SEBA/VOLTHA for automated, open virtualized broadband access networks”), will work with a range of white-box optical line terminals (OLTs) and support direct and evolutionary implementation scenarios.
The platform comprises ONOS controller, VOLTHA, and OpenOLT Adapter building blocks from SEBA along with proprietary Radisys technology, including microservices for control and management. REST/Open API northbound interfaces provide integration with the Management for Access Platform (MAP), while Open OLT interfaces southbound enable connection to white-box OLTs and potentially proprietary platforms with the appropriate interfaces. The platform is architected to support distributed control plane approaches, where Connect Open Broadband could reside within the white-box hardware, as well as fully centralized control architectures where the software is part of the common management cloud. Either way, the platform enables service providers to take advantage of the disaggregation of hardware and software to leverage rapid innovation, Radisys asserts.
For example, according to the Rajesh Chundury, vice president, customer solutions at Radisys, use of Connect Open Broadband opens the door for using the horsepower within a white-box OLT to accommodate other virtualized functions, such as BNG-U via Control & User Plane Separation (CUPS), for streamlined support of broadband and wireless backhaul applications. The platform is applicable to GPON, XGS-PON, and NG-PON2 architectures and has been demonstrated to work with hardware from vendors such as Edgecore Networks (see, for example, “Edgecore Networks touts disaggregated 10G PON, GPON OLTs”).
Chundury says the company has co-development partners for the platform, which should see lab and field trials with potential service provider customers this year.
“Radisys has been a Partner Member of ONF for many years and has been one of the most active supply chain members working directly with our operator partners. Radisys has helped drive ONF open reference designs and open source platforms and is among the first to commercialize solutions based on ONF platforms,” said Guru Parulkar, executive director, ONF, via a Radisys press release. “Radisys’ Connect Open Broadband combines open architectures, software innovation, and white-box hardware to facilitate service agility.”
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