Europe’s 5G-PPP last week launched its latest project, 5GTango, with the goal of making it easier for operators to deploy industry-specific network services.
According to a presentation by Sonia Castro of Atos on June 1, the project has four objectives:
- Reduce the time-to-market for networked services by shortening the service development cycle and by qualifying those network services to be adopted
- Enable new business opportunities with the customization and adaptation of the network to vertical application´s requirements
- Reduce the entry barrier to 3rd-party developers and support the creation and composition of Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) and application elements as "Network Services"
- Accelerate the NFV uptake in industry via an 'extended' DevOps model and the validation at scale of Network Service capabilities of the 5GTango platform in vertical show cases.
According to the presentation, key 5GTango contributions include an NFV-enabled Service Development Kit (SDK), a store platform with advanced validation and verification mechanisms for VNFs/Network Services qualification, a modular service platform with an orchestrator in order to bridge the gap between business needs and network operational management systems and the methodology and tools to implement a modern DevOps workflow with a multi-4 organizational design.
The project has a 30-month work plan and is pursuing two vertical pilots, one on smart manufacturing and the other on immersive media.
5GTango is part of the 5G-PPP initiative with funding by the EU and 17 partners representing telecom operators, manufacturers, system integrators, service providers, academic institutions and more, including Nokia, Telefonica, Huawei and NEC, to name a few.
Related: Huawei talks up contribution to EU's 5G-PPP research programmes
The first phase of the 5GPPP was launched on July 1, 2015. A total of 19 projects were selected to address the research challenges that will lead to a 5G infrastructure by 2020.
In the U.S., the European 5G-Infrastructure Association, whose membership includes Nokia, Ericsson, Huawei and ZTE, works with 5G Americas, which represents North and South America.
A “Spectrum for 5G” workshop will be held this week in Brussels, Belgium, where research results will be presented on spectrum bands under consideration for 5G, from sub-GHz to millimeter. Bands in question are those listed by the Radio Spectrum Policy Group (RSPG) opinion, particularly 700 MHz, 3.4-3.8 GHz, and 24.25-27.5 GHz. The RSPG is a high-level advisory group that assists the European Commission on spectrum policy matters.