Automated Assurance for Managing 5G SA Complexities

Learn why Automated Assurance is key to cross-domain monitoring of 5G SA services and how it aligns with TMF ‘s Autonomous Networks Model.

Automated Assurance is Key for Advancing in the TMF Model

New 5G SA-based services bring new complexities that demand new ways of delivering assurance: automated assurance. They also require automation in general, in-line with the TMF ‘s Autonomous Networks Model. Learn why automated assurance is key to cross-domain automation for complex 5G SA services.

Why Does 5G SA Require Automation to Support Service Delivery?

Imagine that you have delivered a dedicated slice for a 5G Standalone (5G SA) service – let’s start with your core eMBB proposition for retail mobile broadband. Then imagine adding a further slice, perhaps for a private network that you have enabled. You then launch another, for a specific business service. Suddenly, you have essentially three virtual networks, running in parallel, across the same physical infrastructure.

The process will continue, because, in order to realize the potential of 5G SA, you need to deliver and monetize new service offers – some of which will be dedicated slices, but others might be enhancements to services in existing slices – such as new gaming experiences for your consumer offers.

This flexibility creates complexity. It’s not just the individual complexity of a given service and the multiple components that are orchestrated in its delivery, it’s the sum of all available services. Previously, our networks were dedicated to a handful of services, with differentiation provided across a single network. Now, we can offer an ever-growing range of services, with considerable potential for differentiation – across multiple parallel virtual networks.

Data is key to automated assurance for complex telecom services

Data is Key to Automated Assurance for Complex Services

In turn, this complexity generates a constant output of data. Data from the control and user plane transactions, performance management data – and much more, even down to the observations generated by users after they have experienced a service. All of this paints a picture of what’s really happening, in real-time, as well as historically – and the more we collect, the more we can complete that picture.

Advanced Services Promise Enhanced Experiences

The problem is, this makes network assurance still more complicated. Advanced services that promise enhanced experiences create new levels of expectation (hardly a new theme).

Yes, we’ve used assurance systems and monitoring probes for decades to understand network data and to identify anomalies. And, we’ve also used this data intelligently, parsing it for trends with AI and ML tools to predict new incidents and potential issues.

But, what is a new theme is that response times to anomalies and errors need to be accelerated to keep pace with both the volume of data and the performance requirements of the applications delivered over 5G SA investments.

New 5G SA Service Performance Goals Set New Benchmarks for Experience

If a service depends on a specific level of latency, then issues that can impact this need to be curtailed (if not avoided) before they influence the experience of the service consumers. Not only does this affect consumer services (which will evolve to include the integration of technologies such as AR/VR, enhanced multi-media interaction and more), it will also affect a new wave of services offered to businesses – which will be backed by SLAs.

So, delivering service dynamically and optimizing and maintaining them – in other words, providing the necessary assurance – will be more demanding than ever, across the entire (growing) service portfolio. Each of these services may have very different performance indicators, experience goals and KPIs.

How do we achieve this? The only realistic answer is automation. We need the information from network probes, performance management systems and other potential sources to be made available, not just for interpretation (showing me what is happening now, and what might happen in the future) but as triggers for actions to retain control of a service during its lifecycle. But how far does the automation need to extend?

Climbing the Automation ladder to realize complex 5G SA services

– automated assurance is a prerequisite

Well, the thing is, what we really need is end-to-end automation across different domains. 5G SA services will span the network, transport and core domains — perhaps edge resources, too — so we must take all of these into consideration. Assurance must cover each, bringing together all of the data inputs that can help us to ensure we deliver optimal experiences for the service consumers, alongside the functional automation of any given service.

The TMF Model

And, therein lies a further challenge. As STL Partners analyst, Tilly Gilbert noted in our recent webinar, The State of Automation in Telecom – Aspiration vs Reality, single domain automation can be achieved with Levels 0 – 3 of the TMF model, but cross-domain automation requires Level 4 to be attained – which remains an aspiration for many.

An end-to-end slice is a perfect example of such a service that depends on Level 4 automation maturity.

This is where the analytics and assurance automation functions come into play – it is the incorporation of these inputs with the feedback and trigger-driven loops that we have described that will really enable new services like end-to-end slice orchestration (for whatever use case) to be realized.

Not only does the new slice service demand Level 4 automation, according to what have become industry-standard definitions, the automated assurance is integral to achieving that goal. The two go hand-in-hand. Automated assurance is not only demanded to realize the complexities of 5G SA services, but it is also a key part of the overall goal of ascending the automation ladder. You won’t be able to go beyond single-domain slice services without it – or to reach the desired goal of Level 4 or Level 5 compatibility.

Ascend the Automation Ladder with Automated Assurance

Not only does the new slice service demand Level 4 automation, according to what have become industry-standard definitions, the automated assurance is integral to achieving that goal. The two go hand-in-hand. Automated assurance is not only demanded to realize the complexities of 5G SA services, but it is also a key part of the overall goal of ascending the automation ladder. You won’t be able to go beyond single-domain slice services without it – or to reach the desired goal of Level 4 or Level 5 compatibility.