ADVA unveils commercially ready disaggregated cell site gateway solution

ADVA (FSE: ADV) has announced the commercial readiness of its disaggregated cell site gateway (DCSG) solution at the Telecom Infra Project (TIP) Summit. Powered by ADVA’s Ensemble Activator network operating system (NOS), the integrated white box solution comes with a comprehensive bundle of installation, commissioning and monitoring services for rapid network deployment. The technology is currently on display in a 5G demo at the TIP Summit with ADVA’s software running on Edgecore’s new family of DCSG devices. The showcase highlights how mobile network operators (MNOs) now have an easy and cost-effective route to mass small cell deployment for 5G services. Already successful in a series of trials in global MNO networks, Ensemble Activator is the industry’s only true carrier-grade NOS for bare-metal switches.

“This is a landmark moment for mobile networks. Now that MNOs can leverage our DCSG solution as a simple and complete answer for evolving their infrastructure to 5G, the shackles are off. We’re empowering them to roll out widespread small cell networks in a way that’s simple, affordable and future-proof. Our technology and complete service bundle make the transition easy so that MNOs are free to focus instead on the business opportunities that 5G offers,” said Eli Angel, VP, product line management, Ethernet access, ADVA. “This TIP demo also highlights the value of openness and disaggregation in mobile networks. By enabling software to be separated from hardware, we’re giving operators the freedom to select the ideal technology combination for their needs and harness the latest and greatest innovation.”

We’re empowering MNOs to roll out widespread small cell networks in a way that’s simple, affordable and future-proof. Eli Angel, VP, product line management, Ethernet access, ADVA

The new DCSG solution has been engineered to TIP’s white box gateway specifications. By giving MNOs the power to move away from a closed proprietary system to an open, disaggregated and vendor-neutral infrastructure, it provides the opportunity to massively increase network efficiencies. What’s more, the new DCSG technology enables an open approach, accelerating innovation cycles and reducing CAPEX. As well as providing a NOS, protocol support, dynamic configurability, and manageability, the DCSG solution also delivers IEEE 1588 timing with optional SFP-based GNSS backup. Powered by Ensemble Activator, the DCSG technology is the second commercial offering ADVA has developed for TIP, following its successful rollout of a packet optical solution built around the Voyager optical white box.

“It’s great to see how rapidly this community has produced results. After only 12 months, our initiative has pushed DCSG technology from concept to reality and created a solution ready for deployment in live networks. With ADVA’s Ensemble Activator becoming generally available, operators have a clear roadmap to the next generation of mobile networks,” commented Luis MartinGarcia, co-lead, DCSG project group, TIP. “MNOs can now harness a complete and fully tested DCSG solution that enables them to address today’s key challenges. It opens the door to the deployment of the hundreds of thousands of cell site gateways needed to address the mobile backhaul demands of 5G.”

“What we’re presenting to the industry here at TIP ’19 is a new and innovative method of building and deploying telecom networks. We’re showcasing a way to tackle the most pressing challenges of 4G and emerging 5G mobile networks by enabling open technology choices and delivering the cost-efficiency of disaggregation. ADVA’s Ensemble Activator running on our cell site gateway family of products offers the ultimate route to lower costs and increased service flexibility,” said Matt Roman, VP, marketing and product management, Edgecore. ”The rapid success of this project is due to the close collaboration of our teams. Working together with ADVA, we’ve built an integrated technology which, when coupled with a rich set of supporting services, enables MNOs to utilize a truly cohesive open cell site solution.”