LG U+ announces commercial carrier grade NFV based virtual router

LG U+ announced that the company partnered with global network company Juniper and Wind River to successfully commercialise a carrier grade NFV (Network Functions Virtualisation)-based virtual router for application in service networks.

NFV is a technology that decouples network functions from hardware so that they can run in software. A key advantage is that it is capable of reducing CAPEX and OPEX while increasing network flexibility. For this reason, it is recognised as a technology necessary to advancement the future of 5G networking. However, industry-wide technology maturation, especially in the areas of carrier grade performance and reliability still present major challenges. As a result, there are few examples of real-world applications, many of which are only in the research and development stage.

Recent NFV technology introduced and commercialised by LG U+ has applied the world’s best technologies, through the help of Juniper and Wind River, to help dispel NFV skepticism, and provide highly reliable services that are superior in quality compared to existing equipment.

The new Virtual Router technology commercialised by LG U+ is capable of detecting system errors, and the event of an error, it automatically creates another virtual router with identical features, a process that takes a mere 1-2 seconds. This feature minimises service interruptions, which impacts carrier grade operation time and reliability necessary for communication networks. Furthermore, it offers a log analysis feature that prevents errors and is capable of implementing an auto healing network that isn’t available on existing physical routers. It can also provide features and operating environments identical to those of existing physical routers, which allows easy commercialisation of virtual routers without having to change the service networks.

Through the application of this advanced technology, LG U+ is able to achieve NFV’s network flexibility advantage as well as carrier grade stability, durability, and easy availability. As a result, implementation of an optimum NFV infrastructure is anticipated.

LG U+ will primarily provide IP channels to accommodate IPv6 subscribers, provide IP information to block attack traffic, replace hardware-based routers used for main services such as client IP routing information status checks, etc., with NFV-based virtual routers, and progressively expand the range of applications to other network equipment requiring high levels of flexibility.

Jung Ho Kang, the Head of the Network Technology Department at LG U+, said, “Together with Juniper and Wind River, we have developed a foundation for network automation by establishing a highly reliable NFV technology suitable for communication networks and applying it on Internet service networks,” and added, “We will continue to lead the development of future networking technology to advance the IoT and 5G generation.”

News originally published from LG here.