Huawei CloudEPC Solution

Part of Huawei CloudCore Solution

Company information (history, board of directors, recent financial intel)

Figure 1Huawei’s estimated wireless hardware &

services revenue, worldwide, 2013 - 2015

Figure 2Huawei’s estimated wireless NMS product

& services revenue by type, worldwide, 2015
Product portfolio
• Product portfolio: Huawei CloudEPC part of their CloudEdge
Solution. CloudEPC is an important part of the Huawei CloudEdge
solution and consists of the following network elements (NEs):
• CloudUSN: supports serving GPRS support node (SGSN) and
mobility management entity (MME) functions.
• CloudUGW: supports serving gateway (S-GW), PDN gateway
(P-GW), gateway GPRS support node (GGSN), evolved packet data
gateway (ePDG), and trusted gateway (TGW) functions.
• CloudCG: supports charging gateway (CG) functions.
• SingleEPC: The SingleEPC solution is a unified packet core
network that inherits EPC advantages. This solution supports multiple
MBB access modes and provides various services with simplicity, reliability, openness,
rapid revenue generation, and superior user experience. The final result is a system that
subsequently increases MBB network performance, bandwidth management, and O&M
efficiency to meet MBB development requirements.
• Optimal User Experience: Dual-HD user experience: Mobile video services are
accelerated to allow for high-quality videos that feature 3s buffering and zero
freezing. Optimizations are implemented to provide reliable, maintainable, and
high quality voice bearers to deliver HD voice services anytime anywhere
• Openness and Revenue-Generation: Open locations, QoS, charging, green
Internet surfing, and additional new services are rolled out to cultivate new
income sources. Backward income, directional charging, and mobile phone
game purchases are used to explore potential new sources of extra market
revenue. Anti-spoofing is adopted to reduce potential carrier charging-related
losses
• Multi-Mode Access: The MBB packet core network supports six access modes,
including GSM, UMTS, LTE, Wi-Fi, and CDMA, for the provision of reliable,
superb, and intelligent MBB services. Such a network possesses global-leading
performance and is quick to adapt to the rapid development of MBB services
• CloudEdge: Huawei CloudEdge is a new-generation mobile broadband (MBB) solution
developed based on Network Functions Virtualization (NFV), service oriented
architecture (SOA), and cloud architecture. The CloudEPC (evolved packet core),
CloudMSE (multimedia service engine), and CloudUIC (unified intelligence controller)
collectively form the CloudEdge solution, which involves the convergence of data from
multiple RAT modes.
• The CloudEdge solution optimizes and enhances the supporting application
software to provide cloud-based advantages, such as automatic deployment and
elastic scaling, to meet carrier-grade requirements of availability, performance,
and O&M. This solution possesses the prerequisite evolution capacity to be
readily applied towards future 5G networking.
• The CloudEdge architecture features three "D"s.
• Disaggregation: An evolution of the current layer-based cloudification of
network services will enable further decoupling of the control plane from
the user plane. The network can then benefit from increased simplicity,
while allowing for programmable network capabilities.
• Dynamic: Network deployment will no longer be static. Service-oriented
dynamic deployment will manifest as the mainstream practice, achieving
 application-driven E2E network slicing.
• Diversity: Business of carriers will be expanded from
telecommunications to OTT, IoT, enterprise, and other additional
diversified fields

CloudCore
• Huawei CloudCore solution follows industry standards, with a full cloud-
based architecture, rapid deployment, smart operation and maintenance,
and service innovation features, including the CloudIMS, CloudSDM,
CloudSBC, CloudPCRF and CloudSPS. It does not only support Huawei
common hardware FusionServer, common Cloud OS FusionSphere, but
also supports the multi-vendor hardware (such as HP, Cisco, etc.) and
Cloud OS (such as VMware, Red Hat, etc).

CloudDNS: supports domain Huawei CloudEPC

• Efficient Resource Usage
• Flexible Scaling
• Flexibility and Openness Based on the NFV Architecture
• Fast Service Deployment
Messaging: Efficient Resource Usage
A large number of sites build data centers to integrate hardware resources. Virtualized resource pools are
constructed on the basis of software integration and resource abstraction, thereby implementing
centralized management and flexible scheduling of the resources. Each application and each operating
system run on independent virtual machines (VMs). By sharing virtualized hardware resources, the
Huawei CloudEPC optimizes hardware resource utilization and reduces the types of hardware in use,
which enables carriers to quickly respond to market changes.
Flexible Scaling
The CloudEPC supports requirement-based application or release of virtual resources. This ensures
efficient resource utilization and complies with the concept of energy saving and emission reduction.
Huawei CloudEdge is a new-generation mobile broadband (MBB) solution developed based on Network
Functions Virtualization (NFV), service oriented architecture (SOA), and cloudified architecture. In
addition to traditional Packet Core Network (PCN) functions, the solution provides adjustable capacity
configurations for NEs through NE function virtualization and the sharing of standard hardware
resources among NEs. This helps improve scaling efficiency and service rollout efficiency. Include
CloudUSN and CloudUGW. The CloudUSN is a new-generation unified service node product developed
based on Huawei CloudEdge solution and can be used in EPC networks. The CloudUSN supports logical
product applications of various radio access technologies (RATs) to meet carriers' diverse networking
needs in different phases and scenarios. The CloudUGW is a unified packet gateway developed based on
Huawei CloudEdge solution. It supports 3GPP-based access in GPRS, UMTS, and LTE networks. The
CloudUGW can function as a GGSN, S-GW, or P-GW to meet carriers' diverse networking requirements
in different phases and scenarios.

Architectural information
EPC Competitive Landscape
Mobile vEPC
Competitive Landscape

IoT
Huawei’s “1+2+1” IoT Strategy

IoT Connection Management Platform

 • Huawei core network comply with the wave of development of the Internet of
Things (IoT), build an unified connection management platform with the abilities:
Access agnostic, Carrier grade, Flexible and Open.
• Huawei IoT connection management platform provides full connections between
people and things and between things and things. Fast integration of support for
multi vertical industry applications.
• It meets the requirements of carriers, enterprises, and direct sales customers for an
E2E IoT connection management platform, helping them integrate industry services,
accelerate service rollout, reduce integration costs, and increase revenue.
Flexible
• End to end innovation
• Self connecting & Self networking
• Fusion ICT technology
• Joint innovation center
• Plug & Play
Carrier grade
• Ideal user experience
• Immersed interaction
• High security and availability
Access agnostic
• Any Network: Fixed / Mobile / Cable and Unlicensed
• IoT Agent / LiteOS:
• Any sensor / Any device
Open
• Fast time to market
• Cloud-Based easy deploy
• Thriving Eco-System
• New services on fly
• Multiform APIs

Huawei’s NB-IoT Solution

In April 2017, Chinese conglomerate Huawei provided an update of its IoT strategy at its annual analyst
summit (HAS2017) in Shenzhen. To enable Huawei's partners and mobile network operator (MNO)
customers to meet their IoT needs, Huawei stated that its IoT activities will focus on the following:
 Wireless networks, enterprise IoT gateways, and IoT home routers.
 Cloud-based IoT connection management platform OceanConnect.
 IoT chipsets, featuring Huawei LiteOS operating system.
 Ecosystem development.

Huawei and Telefónica Announce to Launch NB-IoT Open Lab to Boost the Internet of Things
http://www.huawei.com/en/news/2017/6/Huawei-Telefonica-NB-IoT-Open-Lab

Huawei OceanConnect Wins the ‘Best IoT Platform’ Award at IoT World Europe 2017
http://www.huawei.com/en/news/2017/6/OceanConnect-Best-IoT-Platform-Award
At the same time, Huawei made it clear what it will not attempt to do in the IoT:
 IoT applications.
 IoT device development.
 IoT device reselling.
 End-to-end integration.

OceanConnect
OceanConnect IoT platform and Boudica NB-IoT chipset is the differentiator for Huawei's IoT strategy.
Huawei's proprietarily-developed IoT connectivity management platform OceanConnect, and its Boudica
narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) chipset family are the areas where Huawei has done the most original research
and development. They provide powerful points of differentiation for Huawei.
The cloud-based OceanConnect platform does a lot. It provides connectivity, device, and application
management, in addition to data analytics, and offers the ability to integrate with vertical applications.
Compared to other platform-as-a-service (PaaS) offerings that Huawei says are either connection, or
analytics or industry centric, OceanConnect works with fixed and wireless networks, with licensed and
unlicensed radio technologies, and can be integrated with cloud services from other providers. It is
modular (meaning Huawei customers can select different configurations depending on their specific
needs).
The impression is of a compelling proposition, especially when OceanConnect is combined with
Huawei's Boudica NB-IoT chipset family. Huawei says IoT devices or modules with Boudica can be
monitored by OceanConnect to closely monitor device battery status. This is something that is
purportedly a big deal for NB-IoT, to make sure that all connected devices fulfil their service level
agreement (SLA) obligations. Huawei is strategically wise to invest in IoT platforms and chipset as they
have the greatest potential to scale and are crucial elements of any IoT solution. Although later to
market, Huawei claims IoT platform deployments with more than 10 MNOs.

IoT devices have no place in Huawei's plan

Huawei has no desire to make IoT devices for enterprises. Huawei knows from its smartphone business
that life as a device maker and seller is tough. Commodization kills margins in the consumer world and
one is never quite certain if the next smartphone will resonate with consumers or be a complete flop.
In most enterprise IoT solutions, less value is usually attributed to IoT hardware and connectivity relative
to application development, platforms, and professional services. But the bigger problem with IoT
devices is the variety. It makes sense for Huawei to provide components that sit across as many
potential device types as possible – and to leave application-specific device development to other IoT
device makers. This maximizes Huawei's opportunity for achieving scale. There is no point in
prospectively conjuring IoT devices that there may be no eventual demand for.
With its 80,000 strong R&D team, Huawei now has its own IoT components at the chipset, embedded
OS, platform management levels, as well as solutions for wireless networks and gateways. Huawei
expects to spend $10–20bn annually on overall R&D in the future, on top of the more than CNY310bn
($45bn) that it has invested over the past 10 years. We can expect these R&D investments to translate
to future IP and innovations in Huawei's IoT components and solutions.

Huawei will not offer IoT application development or end-to-end integration

Huawei has made a conscious choice to stay away from offering IoT applications development and end-
to-end integration. These two areas are the most complex due to the varied and specific requirements
of each enterprise use case. As with application-specific IoT devices, Huawei has avoided the temptation
to carry out custom development. Application development is not in Huawei's make-up, as the vendor
has always focused on networks and hardware that have the greatest horizontal application,
accomplishing other tasks with partners.
Huawei's proposition for addressing the diverse IoT application and end-to-end integration needs of
enterprises in various vertical industries is, therefore, a partner ecosystem. This IoT ecosystem now has
more than 500 partners, comprising more than 180 application development and more than 300 device
manufacturing partners. Huawei's customers access these partners through the vendor's OpenLabs
around the world. Four OpenLabs are run by Huawei alone, seven are jointly operated with regional
MNO partners, and 11 are jointly operated with enterprise partners.
Huawei claims the chief benefits of OpenLabs are the reduction of their customers' time-to-market for
IoT services from years to months, and driving innovation in vertical industries as a result of face-to-face
collaboration between the vendor's customers, partners, and Huawei itself. We are impressed with
OpenLabs' model and expect Huawei to keep expanding its pool of partners, especially in the verticals
that Huawei targets (public utilities, connected car, industry 4.0, and smart home), and communicate
the benefits to more customers so that Huawei remains one of the top choices for enterprise IoT
projects.

(https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/huawei-presents-focused-iot-strategy-confusing-vendor-tz-wong)

Sales pitch

Strategic direction
• Huawei is at the forefront of enabling Communication Service Providers' wireless transformation
through its MBB2020 strategy. The strategy is driven by quality of service, delivering mobile
broadband to connect the unconnected and providing service experience with 1 Gbps access
speeds.
• Huawei believes 4.5G will serve as the bridge to 5G allowing step- by-step network
improvements towards the MBB2020 goal. Huawei advocated a 4.5G technology standard, which
has been formally approved by the 3GPP standardization body as LTE Advanced Pro.
• To address CSP needs for a better and more efficient wireless network, delivering high download
speeds and quality of service, Huawei has made clear strides at redesigning the architecture
towards a mobile cloud architecture. As part of this strategy, earlier in 2016, Huawei announced a
cloud-based solution called CloudRAN. Huawei believes deploying CloudRAN will enable CSPs
to improve their existing 4G performance and only simple air interface upgrades will be needed
to support 5G when it’s rolled out.
• CSPs understand that virtualization of network functions such as RAN is important to reduce cost
per bit and deliver customer satisfaction on the path from 4.5G to 5G.
• Figure 2: Huawei’s estimated wireless NMS product & services revenue by type, worldwide,
2015
• Virtualization also opens up the control layer, so that the network can be programmed and
orchestrated by the higher application layers. Huawei is a top player in the Network Management
System space, adding to its strength as an end-to-end solutions provider.
• Efficient Resource Usage: A large number of sites build data centers to integrate hardware
resources. Virtualized resource pools are constructed on the basis of software integration and
resource abstraction, thereby implementing centralized management and flexible scheduling of
the resources. Each application and each operating system run on independent virtual machines
(VMs). By sharing virtualized hardware resources, the Huawei CloudEPC optimizes hardware
resource utilization and reduces the types of hardware in use, which enables carriers to quickly
respond to market changes.
• Flexible Scaling: The CloudEPC supports requirement-based application or release of virtual
resources. This ensures efficient resource utilization and complies with the concept of energy
saving and emission reduction. In addition, the virtualization technology enables software and
hardware decoupling and therefore optimizes the utilization of hardware resources.
• Flexibility and Openness Based on the NFV Architecture
• Service-layer software: Third-party apps can be integrated to the CloudEPC so
that carriers can provide innovative services.
• Standard interfaces: Various virtualization software is supported.
• Flexible hardware selection: Various hardware devices are supported, and the
hardware devices and virtualized cloud platform constitute the telecom cloud
• infrastructure layer to provide virtual resources and services for the service layer
• Fast Service Deployment
• Dedicated tools are used in the CloudEPC for automatic service deployment.
This shortens the service deployment period by more than 80%..
• Huawei is courting pre‐5G and IoT customers leveraging its 4.5G strategy, built on the LTE‐
Advanced Pro standard
• While the end state of a 5G infrastructure deployment is becoming less vague — broadly defined
as an end‐to‐end virtualized ICT stack designed to support a standardized air interface — the path
to 5G remains less defined. Leading telecom vendors, including Nokia, Ericsson, ZTE and
Huawei, are building 5G road maps for customers in preparation for full 5G deployments closer
to 2020, while also enhancing existing LTE services now.
• Strength: LTE‐Advanced Pro (LTE‐A Pro) forms the basis for Huawei’s 4.5G strategy and is an
accepted standard by the 3GPP.
• Weakness: Huawei cannot provide infrastructure to U.S. Tier 1 operators in the U.S., where pre‐
5G investment is rising.
• Opportunity: Target engagements in Japan, South Korea and Europe, where interest in pre‐5G
technology is highest.
• Threat: Devices will need to be configured to function on LTE‐A Pro networks, slowing overall
adoption.

• Huawei advances its 4.5G strategy (known as LTE‐A Pro according to 3GPP), which includes
new technology deployed over existing LTE infrastructure. Early proof points include an
engagement with TeliaSonera to deliver its solution. Huawei positions its solution as an IoT
enabler among its telecom customer base, as current LTE networks are unable to handle the
expected surge in endpoint connections over the next couple of years.
• 1H16 Addition to 4.5G Portfolio
 • GigaRadio: Huawei introduced new base stations designed to deliver throughput of 1Gbps and
support high- definition (HD) voice and video transmission. GigaRadio also supports
Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) services.
• To date, over 40 operators are trialing, deploying or commercially launching LTE‐A Pro;
however, not all are working with Huawei. Still, Huawei’s decision to shape its 4.5G strategy
around LTE‐A Pro and IoT will drive traction as the market moves toward broader commercial
adoption. While traction among operators is rising, device makers are only beginning to update
chipsets to enable 4.5G functionality, which will prevent broad adoption in the near term.
•

Product comparisons
Top Use Cases

• Reduction in OPEX: NFV implemented through Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) servers reduce
hardware and software OPEX by more than 70 percent and 40 percent, respectively, based on
software reconstructions that support cloud-based features.
• VNF as a Service: Carriers using Huawei’s solution can offer third-party partners a service-
hosting platform that provides exposure to NFV-based capabilities.
• DevOps for Network Services: The Huawei CloudCore Solution encapsulates communication
capabilities — including access to location, bandwidth, and data parameters — into Application
Programming Interfaces (APIs) and Software Development Kits (SDKs).
Feature comparison

Product and services pricing/TCO

Customers
Partners

Strengths/weaknesses

Figure 3 Source ABI Research 2017

Figure 4 Source TBR 2016

The Huawei CloudCore Solution implements an advanced software architecture with a suite of Virtual
Network Functions (VNFs), including IP Multimedia Subsystem (vIMS), Subscriber Data Management
(vSDM), Session Border Controller (vSBC), Policy and Charging Rules Function (vPCRF), Diameter
Routing Agent (vDRA). The Management and Orchestration (MANO) package includes the NFV
Orchestrator (NFVO), Virtual Network Function Manager (VNFM), and Virtual Infrastructure
Management (VIM).
Top Use Cases
1..Reduction in OPEX: NFV implemented through Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) servers reduce
hardware and software OPEX by more than 70 percent and 40 percent, respectively, based on software
reconstructions that support cloud-based features.

2..VNF as a Service: Carriers using Huawei’s solution can offer third-party partners a service-hosting
platform that provides exposure to NFV-based capabilities.
3..DevOps for Network Services: The Huawei CloudCore Solution encapsulates communication
capabilities — including access to location, bandwidth, and data parameters — into Application
Programming Interfaces (APIs) and Software Development Kits (SDKs).

Claims/counter claims messaging

Future offerings – where are they headed?

SERVICE-Oriented CORE NETWORK 


. Two modes are under development that will enable operators to deploy 5G radio access: non-
standalone (NSA) mode, using a 4G Evolved Packet Core (EPC), and standalone (SA) mode, using
a new NG Core. There is no clear consensus regarding which will prove most popular for early
deployments – both have their merits – but there is agreement that, over time, 5G will require a
new core network. NG Core is being designed to serve the range of services envisioned for 5G
and therefore too fulfil the service-oriented core network remit. Network slices with specific
characteristics to support mission-critical communications or massive-scale IoT, for example, will
require a highly automated, highly configurable, cloud- based infrastructure. And ultra-high
throughput from 5G and fixed access will necessitate a new architecture that distributes user-
plane processing closer to the edge. 


. Cloud-Native NG Core 
 The new NG Core should be "cloud native" for agility and programmability
reasons. A new core network offers an opportunity to design virtual network functions (VNFs)
that operate under a cloud management and service orchestration system. Some of the main
differences between classic VNFs derived from virtualized appliances and "cloud native"
networks are shown in Figure 2. 

.

. Figure 2: Cloud-Native VNF Design Principles 
 Source: Heavy Reading 


. This is a major transformation for operators, because it changes how they operate services. In
particular, it moves some of the key resiliency and failover mechanisms from the network
equipment (typically deployed in N+N hardware configuration) to the cloud. In service provider
networks, which are mission-critical infrastructure, this is far from trivial; however, success will
open the door for far greater use of cloud technologies across the network.

There are already several vendors and operators deploying cloud packet core for 4G. In combination
with new architectures, such as control and user plane separation (CUPS), experience with a cloud-
based 4G core can give operators an advantage in the deployment of NG Core. Specifically, factors such
as service automation, resource orchestration and resiliency will transfer from cloud EPC to NG Core.

Network Slicing & Automated Lifecycle Management

One of the important commercial objectives of 5G is to enable operators to support multiple service
types on a common physical network infrastructure. In this way, 5G will act as an enabler to growth
markets, such as Industry 4.0, connected car, VR, and so on. As noted above, each of these services has
specific performance requirements.

Network slicing is proposed to support these services on a common infrastructure – although in

practice, it is likely that discrete equipment optimized for the use case may also be used in some cases.
This requires the performance parameters associated with the slice to be supported across the network,
from the user equipment (UE) and radio to the cloud-hosted application, as shown in Figure 3. In some
cases, this will involve bringing the application closer to the users (for example, using edge computing);
in other cases, the RAN or transport network will require a particular configuration. NG Core, which
manages sessions, quality of service (QoS), security, policy, etc., sits at the heart of the process.

Figure 3: End-to-End Network Slicing

There is some precedent for "slicing" in mobile networks with APNs and DECOR, but there is a need for
greater granularity and flexibility in 5G, and specifically for network slice lifecycle management. Cloud
and network functions virtualization (NFV) provide a reference with plat- form automation and service
orchestration. And on the network side, SDN-controlled micro- segmentation and virtual network
overlay techniques used in the data center will evolve to the wide-area network (WAN).

The details of how slicing will work in NG Core are being determined during the normative phase now
underway; however, the broad outline is that slice selection is network-controlled, but with the UE able
to provide network slice selection assistance based on policy. The UE may belong to more than one slice
on the same RAN and core network.

Mobile Service-Oriented Core:

Announced Service-Oriented Core 2.0 (SOC 2.0) (at MWC 2017). Huawei claims this “will show
commercial use cases” (SOC 1.0 announced in 2016 which was a prototype).

Features:

 CUPS - Network functions are deployed at the central DCs and local DCs based on service
requirements or deployed at edge DCs that are closer to subscribers through the Mobile Edge
Computing (MEC) technology.
 Service Based Architecture (SBA) - Network elements are decoupled according to their
functions to form independent and modularized functions. Through on-demand service
methods, these functions are organized in the unified architecture according to the service
requirements. Multiple access modes and service requirements are agilely supported. Every
function can be independently iterated and updated to quickly meet new service requirements.
  Network slicing - To enable all services, a network must provide mutually isolated pipes to serve
each vertical industry. Cloud-based network slicing is the precondition for intelligent allocation
of service-oriented pipe resources and capabilities. In this way, operators can provide
differentiated services in various scenarios.
 Access Agnostic - It allows operators to use multiple access modes to provide excellent service
experience. For example, when the network bandwidth is insufficient in hotspot areas,
operators can bind mobile networks and Wi-Fi signals to enable high-speed Internet access.

 Huawei’s SOC Solution Wins ‘Best 5G Core Development’ Award

http://www.huawei.com/en/news/2017/6/SOC-Best-5G-Core-Development-Award

Heard on the Street:

• XL Axiata insights (from Dec 2016):
o Huawei VEPC still relies on purpose built components for their interface, i.e.
they are using Huawei COTS with some specific module, which is not
available in other COTS
o Per node limitation is 50 Gbps, and XL needs to expand more compared to
Cisco vEPC Huawei uses small VMs compared to Cisco’s huge VMs
configuration
o Huawei is already able to do automatic one click deployment through their
management console for VEPC node

• Telkomsel insights (from Nov 2016):

o Huawei failed POC running on HP and Openstack

A bit of background
• Back in ~2008-2009 TAG made selected Starent Packet Core (ST40, aka ASR5000) for
GGSN/S/PGW and E/// SGSN/MME.
• In 2014 Telekom Austria Group (TAG) has started VPC RFQ process to select new
Packet Core vendor for the whole NW (including Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia,
Belorussia, Slovenia and Serbia). RFQ was for VPC SW only.
• As the result of this RFP in summer 2015 Huawei got selected for all the affiliates to
cover complete Packet Core (SGSN/MME and S/PGW/GGSN). Huawei won with
3.5M Euro offer (+1M euro for all-inclusive option if I am not mistaken) where Cisco
was at about 12M Euro.
• First Huawei deployment was expected to happen in Bulgaria in Q1’2016.
Unofficially we got to know, that Huawei instead of deploying its SW on 3 rd party
HW, instead shipped a complete PoD including Huawei’s x86 HW and SW. We also
know, that lab tests and live deployment were late there and it didn’t happen in
Q1’2016 as was initially planned. Here is the unofficial feedback as of End of Nov
2016 on Huawei progress in TAG Bulgaria:
o FYI Huawei PoC in Mtel is not going very well. First of all, Mtel were very
surprised to see that Huawei solution is 5 racks fully loaded with equipment
o They have 2 sites, that means 10 racks. Second, Huawei have no migration
plan, no design.
o They requested from Mtel to provide Cisco+Ericsson design, Mtel rejected.
o In spring 2016 after competitive pressure on Austrian market A1 (Austrian
affiliate of TAG) has launched sort of Fixed Wireless Access offer (hybrid
ADSL/4G modem with integrated WiFi AP) which has triggered uncontrolled
traffic growth.
o In summer 2016 Cisco came back to A1 with so called “traffic assurance”
offer to swap two out of four exiting ASR5000 with new ASR5500/DPC2 to
ensure they have enough capacity to come up with spiking traffic. Huawei at
that time was still doing some lab tests in Bulgaria and wasn’t ready for
commercial deployment.
o In August 2016 A1 made exec decision to purchase those 2xASR5500 for
$1.1M. Those have been deployed in a very short time and by Nov 2016 were
operational and carrying live traffic.
o During Fall/Winter 2016 Cisco negotiated with A1 extension of SW contract
(old was expiring at the end of 2016) and finally a new EPC SW Subscription
contract was signed for 2 years with estimated revenue of another ~$1M+
including TS services for mobility, etc.
o We also know that TAG decided on deploy ZTE PC in Belorussia (along with
IMS and Radio by ZTE) finally which was deployed and currently operational.
o E/// also is having conversations and making offers to TAG deploy new VPC
instead of Huawei in other regions
o During all this time TAG was periodically coming back asking to provide some
PSC2 here and there (Serbia, Bulgaria, etc.) and in March 2017 TAG asked
from us 2 years EPC TCO for Bulgaria and Austria (we delivered, no feedback
yet).
o Recently A1 guys mentioned that Hu is more or less ready to be commercially
deployed in Austria, but their footprint and power consumption makes it
very difficult for A1. Also Huawei doesn’t have 100% feature parity with Cisco
EPC, especially in corporate connectivity area (L2TP, etc).
Implications for Cisco VSS

http://carrier.huawei.com/en/products/core-network D

Huawei

PUBLIC | PRIVATE http://www.huawei.com

Description of Product: The Huawei Cloud Core Network Product Line provides a series of products
and solutions to help operators implement future-oriented transformation. It focuses on 4G
communications evolution, Smart Pipe, convergent subscriber data, IoT Connection Management
Platform, open communication network capabilities, and cloudification for the communication network
infrastructure.

VNF Form Factor

Mixed / Multiple Product Solution
Value Proposition
The Huawei CloudCore Solution implements an advanced software architecture with a suite of Virtual
Network Functions (VNFs), including IP Multimedia Subsystem (vIMS), Subscriber Data Management
(vSDM), Session Border Controller (vSBC), Policy and Charging Rules Function (vPCRF), Diameter
Routing Agent (vDRA). The Management and Orchestration (MANO) package includes the NFV
Orchestrator (NFVO), Virtual Network Function Manager (VNFM), and Virtual Infrastructure
Management (VIM).
Top Use Cases
1..Reduction in OPEX: NFV implemented through Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) servers reduce
hardware and software OPEX by more than 70 percent and 40 percent, respectively, based on software
reconstructions that support cloud-based features.

2..VNF as a Service: Carriers using Huawei’s solution can offer third-party partners a service-hosting
platform that provides exposure to NFV-based capabilities.
3..DevOps for Network Services: The Huawei CloudCore Solution encapsulates communication
capabilities — including access to location, bandwidth, and data parameters — into Application
Programming Interfaces (APIs) and Software Development Kits (SDKs).
Key Customers

April 4, 2017: M1 to deploy vEPC solution from Huawei (https://www.telecomasia.net/content/m1-

deploy-vepc-solution-huawei)

Not Provided
Product Positioning
. 3GPP PCC Architecture
. UPCC
3GPP PCC Architecture
The fast changing mobile broadband (MBB) market forces carriers to face challenges of
increasing revenue, personalized service requirements, and network efficiency. The
traditional "rough" operating mode for data volume cannot adapt to these fast market
changes. Business transformation is inevitable for carriers. A refined operation for data
volume is an efficient operation strategy that can prevent carriers from becoming a
dump pipe provider and instead help them achieve service and value breakthroughs.
In the Policy and Charging Control (PCC) architecture defined by 3GPP standards, the
policy and charging rules function (PCRF) controls QoS for subscribers and services,
implements differentiated service for subscribers, and provides bearer resource
guarantee and charging policies. The PCRF helps carriers implement service- and
subscriber-specific refined service control and charging mode. It improves network
resource usage, which maximizes return on investment (ROI). Figure 1 illustrates the
3GPP PCC architecture.
Figure 1 3GPP PCC architecture
AF: application function BBERF: bearer binding and event reporting functio
OCS: online charging system PCEF: policy and charging enforcement function
TDF: traffic detection function -
The following interfaces are defined in the 3GPP PCC architecture:
. Gx: A basic interface providing the PCC function. The Gx interface supports
interworking between the PCRF and PCEF and provides policy control for GSM,
UMTS, CDMA, LTE, xDSL, and LAN network subscribers.
. Gxx: The Gxx interface supports interworking between the PCRF and BBERF and
provides policy control for eHRPD subscribers.
. Sd: The Sd interface supports interworking between the PCRF and TDF and provides
service-level policy control.
. Sy: The Sy interface supports interworking between the PCRF and OCS. The PCRF
obtains subscriber quota status from the OCS and provides subscriber-level
policy control.
. Sp: The Sp interface supports interworking between the PCRF and SPR. The PCRF
obtains subscriber data and service profiles from the SPR and provides
subscriber-level policy control.
. Rx: The Rx interface supports interworking between the PCRF and AF and works with
the Gx interface to provide policy control for IMS subscribers (for example, QoS
guarantee for VoLTE services).
UPCC
Complying with 3GPP standards, the Huawei UPCC is a policy control server that
implements intelligent broadband network management. The UPCC provides QoS- and
charging-related solutions for broadband networks. It allows flexible policy control for
fixed, mobile, and IMS services. The functions of the UPCC include policy, service,
subscription, quota, and bearer resource management as well as admission control.
Over 10 years of continuous R&D improvements and successful serving of more than
50 top carriers around the world make the UPCC a star product of the PCRF. With
powerful policy control, the UPCC is the optimal choice for carriers to redefine their
operation strategies.
To meet complex service requirements, the UPCC enhances standard PCRF functions.
• Integrating with the SPR function to support data storage, access, and management
• Supporting the RESTful Rx interface to interwork with third-party application servers
(ASs) and guarantee network resources for services rendered by third-party ASs
• Supporting the notification interface to interwork with the short message center (SMC)
and email server for a better service experience
• Supporting the OM interface to interwork with the operations support system (OSS)
and provide unified maintenance and management for network elements (NEs),
reducing OPEX
• Supporting the provisioning interface to interwork with the provisioning system and
provide unified management for subscriber data, reducing OPEX
Figure 2 shows UPCC networking. For details on the interfaces used for this
networking, see Protocol Interfaces.
Figure 2 UPCC networking
BE: back end
BTS: base transceiver station
eAN: evolved access network
GGSN: gateway GPRS support node
IMS: IP multimedia subsystem
MME: mobility management entity
PDSN: packet data serving node
S-GW: serving gateway
xDSL: x digital subscriber line
The UPCC consists of the FE and BE.
• The FE functions as the PCRF. It supports protocol processing, service provisioning,
and policy data management.
BRAS: broadband remote access server
CDMA: Code Division Multiple Access
E-UTRAN: evolved universal terrestrial radio access network
GSM: Global System for Mobile Communications
LAN: local area network
PCF: packet control function
P-GW: PDN gateway
UMTS: Universal Mobile Telecommunications System
-
The BE, also known as the Unified Subscriber Center Database (USCDB), functions as
the SPR. It supports subscriber data storage, access, and management.

Figure 5 July 2016