| .. |
| SPDX-FileCopyrightText: © 2020 Open Networking Foundation <support@opennetworking.org> |
| SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0 |
| |
| Introduction |
| ============ |
| |
| SD-Core™ is the Open Networking Foundation™ (ONF)’s open source, flexible, agile, |
| scalable, and configurable dual-mode 4G/5G mobile core network solution that enables a |
| cloud-based Connectivity-as-a-Service. SD-Core builds and enhances on ONF’s 4G Open |
| Mobile Evolved Core (OMEC)™ as well as the free5GC© core network platform to create a |
| dual-mode solution that supports LTE, 5G NSA and 5G SA services optimized for hybrid-cloud |
| environments. |
| |
| Its centralized dual-mode mobile core control plane has been designed to control many UPFs |
| distributed across many edge clouds around the world. This makes SD-Core the ideal open |
| source platform to offer cloud-based Private 4G/5G connectivity services to enterprises |
| as an enabler for Industry 4.0 transformation. |
| |
| SD-Core provides a rich set of APIs for runtime configurability of each of its services, as well |
| as supporting subscriber management via third party applications. These APIs provide |
| extensive telemetry capabilities that enable monitoring, logging, and alerts, with integrated |
| verification and closed-loop control solutions. With operator and customer facing portals, |
| SD-Core can be configured for dynamically programmable network slicing, subscriber, QoS |
| and policy management, providing precise access control for users, devices, data networks |
| and edge applications. |
| |
| Overview |
| -------- |
| |
| - Ensure only authenticated mobile devices have network access |
| - Provides IP connectivity for data & voice services |
| - Ensures connectivity adheres to QoS and network slice policies |
| - Tracks user mobility to ensure uninterrupted service |
| - Tracks subscriber usage |
| |
| .. image:: ../_static/images/SD-Core-Overview.png |
| :width: 700px |
| |
| SD-Core uses OMEC and free5GC as baseline components, integrates the two for dual-mode operation, and provides |
| significant new functionality to optimize delivery of Connectivity-as-a-Service from the |
| hybrid cloud. It is of course also possible to use SD-Core to provide 4G-only, or 5G-only |
| connectivity using standard 3GPP interfaces. |
| |
| In order to optimize for the hybrid cloud and to support emerging Industry 4.0 use cases, |
| SD-Core includes multiple user plane functions (UPFs) to handle different classes of |
| enterprise traffic: |
| |
| - A P4-based UPF offloads the packet processing and forwarding operations to a |
| programmable edge fabric to achieve significant performance with much higher |
| bandwidths, significantly lower latencies, and highly predictable very low jitter, albeit |
| for a relatively modest number of devices/flows |
| - A containerized, highly scalable solution provides high performance by leveraging |
| acceleration technologies like DPDK. |
| |
| SD-Core is an Integral Part of Aether |
| ------------------------------------- |
| |
| - SD-Core is an integral component of Aether, ONF’s 5G Connected Edge platform for |
| private mobile connectivity and edge cloud services. |
| - SD-Core provides the 4G/5G connectivity and the SD-Core control plane at the central |
| site controls multiple user plane components running at each Aether Edge site. |
| |
| .. image:: ../_static/images/Sd-Core-Aether-Integral.jpg |
| :width: 700px |