Huawei Debuts iMaster NCE's Real-Time Digital Map for IP Networks at UBBF 2022

At the Ultra-Broadband Forum (UBBF) 2022 in Bangkok on October 27-28, Huawei unveiled its iMaster NCE IP network real-time digital map.

The solution quickly became a major conference focus, with operator feedback indicating how the map could improve the value of their IP private lines and help attract higher-value customers.

Figure 1 IP network real-time digital map at the cloud-network private line booth

The IP private line is a mainstream private line product provided by global operators. As enterprises accelerate digital transformation and industries migrate production systems to the cloud, IP private lines must be more agile so as to match the rapid development of services. And to deliver a high-quality service experience, IP private lines demand differentiated SLA assurance. However, due to invisible network quality, traditional IP private lines are handicapped by long provisioning periods and slow fault responses.

Therefore, they fail to meet the requirements of high-value industries such as finance, government, and healthcare.

At UBBF, Huawei iMaster NCE provided the IP network real-time digital map as the foundation of IP network automation. This map boasts real-time visualization of network quality and self-healing capabilities that will help operators build high-quality IP private lines, seize market opportunities, and boost business value.

Figure 2 Three key capabilities of iMaster NCE’s IP network real-time digital map

Similar to the GPS maps we use for navigation in daily life, the IP network real-time digital map is a digital twin of the physical network. By detecting network changes in real time, it also visualizes network SLAs in real time and automatically adjusts paths to continuously guarantee service SLAs.

Three major capabilities

One-stop visualization of network SLAs

Interconnected through standard protocols such as TWAMP, BGP-LS, and telemetry, the IP network real-time digital map collects link protocol status, delay, bandwidth utilization, and more in real time. It uses these to draw multidimensional views, including real-time delay and bandwidth utilization views. Regardless of the changes that occur on the network, operators can immediately learn of changes to the map. Understanding network delay and bandwidth utilization enables operators to precisely foresee capacity expansion needs early in the planning phase.

One map for the entire network

• Multi-vendor support: Thanks to standard protocols and an open multi-vendor framework, the IP network real-time digital map can be quickly adapted to devices from different vendors so as to build a complete network topology. Thus, the entire network can be managed using just one map.
• User experience similar to using a navigation map: The IP network real-time digital map is integrated with GIS so that devices can be accurately located based on GIS information. The map also supports path pre-computation and multiple path selection policies, such as bandwidth balancing and minimum delay.

One-click automatic optimization in minutes

• Flexible combination of 15+ path computation factors: The adoption of the Huawei-developed cloud-map algorithm enables the IP network real-time digital map to compute paths based on combinations of 15+ factors such as bandwidth, delay, traffic, and availability. All factors can be flexibly combined to compute the optimal path according to service intent. This also helps operators with refined classification of services and opens up more possibilities for provisioning diversified network products.
• Automatic path optimization: The IP network real-time digital map continuously monitors network quality such as delay, packet loss rate, and bandwidth utilization, and detects network congestion and delay/packet loss deterioration in real time. Based on this information, paths are automatically adjusted to guarantee service SLAs.

So far, the IP network real-time digital map is in use at 100+ commercial sites around the world, helping top operators in Asia Pacific, South Africa, and West Europe build next-generation automated networks. Huawei will continue to provide operators with an efficient path to evolve to L3 and gradually realize fully autonomous networks.

Further Reading

• Agile IP Private Line Solution [solutions page]
• iMaster NCE Autonomous Network Management and Control System [success stories, products, uses cases & more]
• L3 All-Optical Networks: Boost Customer Satisfaction with Next-Level Automation [article]

Disclaimer: Any views and/or opinions expressed in this post by individual authors or contributors are their personal views and/or opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views and/or opinions of Huawei Technologies.