Alcatel-Lucent said Telefonica Business Solutions took a major step towards automating the delivery of value-added services after a successful test of NFV in a multi-vendor SDN environment.
Telefonica Business Solutions, the Spain-based company's wholesale business unit, evaluated and tested service chaining of NFV in conjunction with Nuage Networks, Alcatel-Lucent's SDN-focused venture.
The companies utilised Nuage Networks virtualised services platform and Alcatel-Lucent's 7750 service router and virtualised service router during the trial, which Alcatel-Lucent said would enable Telefonica Business Solutions to improve time to market for delivering value-added services to its enterprise customers.
In a statement announcing the test, Alcatel-Lucent explained that service chaining allows for the automatic insertion of physical or virtual network service appliances into cloud-based services. The appliances come pre-configured, with Nuage Networks automating the insertion process to allow Telefonica Business Solutions to adapt its cloud services on demand.
Alcatel-Lucent said the evaluation and test removes one of the most time-intensive and error-prone tasks in deploying applications, namely the provisioning of network and application services including firewalls and security gateways.
The vendor added that the companies also demonstrated seamless integration with Telefonica's existing third-party IP Edge routing platforms in the roles of data centre gateway and provider edge. This element included integration between the automated value-added applications in the data centre and WAN connectivity services.
Separately, Alcatel-Lucent also revealed it has commenced shipments of a residential small cell product. The announcement covers a multi-standard device for residential users that the vendor developed in conjunction with Qualcomm subsidiary Qualcomm Technologies.
The vendor said its 9961 Multi-Standard Home Cell will enable operators to enhance voice and data access over 3G and 4G LTE networks into residential properties, removing the need to supplement access via Wi-Fi.
Connectivity for both wireless technologies is handled on a single chipset, Qualcomm's FSM9900 series. Alcatel-Lucent explained it chose the chip because it enables low-power and small form factor equipment that can handle 3G and 4G simultaneously.
The vendor added that Qualcomm's chip enables it to offer consumers 'plug and play' capability, and that the 9961 multi-standard home cell offers seamless connectivity with the macro network as users leave their home.
For more:
- see Alcatel-Lucent's NFV test announcement
- view the company's small cell release
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