211 projects were submitted to the “Fast Track for Mazowsze” project announced by NCBiR. The 56 initiatives recommended for funding included SDNcore by EXATEL. It received 22 out of 25 points. As a consequence, the Polish telecommunications operator will design and construct an original network device intended for an aggregation and backbone network, within 36 months of signing the contract. The value of the entire project is PLN 22.8 million, of which 14 million will be co-financed by NCBiR.
“The advantage we have of being a technologically minded company is that we can offer more advanced, cheaper, better and safer solutions to our clients. The research and development projects we are implementing are a solution to a specific business challenge. In this case, it is the constantly growing number of Internet users, which in 2019, expanded by over 9% year-on-year and now amounts to 4.39 billion users, as reported by Global Digital. This trend continues. EXATEL, as a domestic B2B operator and an important player on the international transit market, must provide its clients with increasing storage and bandwidth. These are Polish solutions that increase our cybersovereignty. This is why we decided to construct the SDNcore. This way we are assembling an ecosystem of SDN solutions within our network.” – said Rafał Magryś, Vice-President of the Board at EXATEL.
What is SDNcore?
It is a device developed with the operators of telecommunications networks in mind. It will be constructed according to the SDN (Software Defined Networking) philosophy. The item will operate at key points of any transport network – the aggregation and backbone layers, and will cooperate with other such devices, such as the SDNbox constructed by EXATEL.
“The basic reason behind developing SDNcore is to manage the transport network and the services we provide therein in a faster and more effective manner. The SDNcore device will also enable the provision of telecommunications services to clients demanding large bandwidths (up to 100 Gb/s). In the long run, they will allow us to replace conventional equipment with SDN-based devices. This, combined with the use of SDNbox appliances, opens up the road to constructing a homogeneous network, the development of which we will be able to fully manage. This, in turn, will translate into improved efficiency in the provision of our services.” – said Michał Szczęsny, Director of the Network Planning and Architecture Office at EXATEL.
Flexibility and security
The solutions applied through use of SDNcore technology will provide a vast range of possibilities for managing devices and the network itself. In practice, this means a fast and easy-to-implement security update, as well as putting in place new protocols or innovative services that will be adapted to the changing needs of our clients.
“The most secure Polish network is not just a slogan. These are specific actions that follow it. As part of the innovations we developed, we continuously supervise the entire process of hardware manufacturing, and, as source code authors, the software itself. This translates to the security of our clients – particularly those from the banking, energy and public sectors, and operating within the so-called critical infrastructure.” – added Patryk Biskupski, p.p. Director of the Project Management Office at EXATEL.
Key to 5G connectivity
When talking about SDNcore, its role in the upcoming 5G revolution cannot be ignored. Such solutions will determine whether 5G wireless connectivity is quickly introduced into everyday use.
“5G does not only mean greater data transmission rates on our mobile devices, it is primary about supporting millions of devices in small spaces, as well as providing extreme reliability and low terminal-network communication latency. If we want to achieve that, we have to significantly modernize the currently applied technologies. Solutions utilizing SDN, NFV (Network Functions Virtualisation), or automatic process management (so-called orchestration) are a must. Devices like the SDNcore are the answer. Importantly, this solution will also enable supporting network slicing – a key element in the implementation of the #Polskie5G common network and wholesale operator.” – stressed Michał Szczęsny.
EXATEL – innovation in practice
SDNcore is not the only R&D project at EXATEL. As part of a European-Japanese RAPID5G consortium, in July 2017, we conducted the first European 5G technology tests in a public space. This success resulted in the establishment of a stand-alone research and development team within the company’s structures. Today, this includes on a daily basis, scientists, software developers, architects, analysts, network engineers and people dealing with project management. It was their effort that enabled us, at the beginning of November, to complete 18 months of work on our original solution protecting against volumetric attacks – TAMA. The outcome was a Polish operator-class anti-DDoS, which is scheduled for commercialization in December this year.
A year ago, on 28 August 2018, we also signed a contract for the construction of a programmable edge device – SDNbox. Unlike SDNcore, this solution is intended to handle communication between an operator network and client infrastructure (its office, shop, manufacturing plant). Depending on the software installed on an SDNBox, it will be able to play radically different functions – it can be a router, switch, edge network computing power point or an element of cyberthreat security. The entire process will see its completion in 2021.
