Guavus 5G-IQ NWDAF on AWS

Publication date: May 5, 2022 (Document revisions)

Abstract

This whitepaper introduces the concept of Network Data Analytics Function (NWDAF), covers the benefits of deploying NWDAF on Amazon Web Services (AWS), and explains how the Guavus NWDAF solution is architected on AWS.

The AWS Well-Architected Framework helps you understand the pros and cons of the decisions you make when building systems in the cloud. The six pillars of the Framework allow you to learn architectural best practices for designing and operating reliable, secure, efficient, cost-effective, and sustainable systems. Using the AWS Well-Architected Tool, available at no charge in the AWS Management Console (sign-in required), you can review your workloads against these best practices by answering a set of questions for each pillar.

For more expert guidance and best practices for your cloud architecture—reference architecture deployments, diagrams, and whitepapers—refer to the AWS Architecture Center.

Are you Well-Architected?

The AWS Well-Architected Framework helps you understand the pros and cons of the decisions you make when building systems in the cloud. The six pillars of the Framework allow you to learn architectural best practices for designing and operating reliable, secure, efficient, cost-effective, and sustainable systems. Using the AWS Well-Architected Tool, available at no charge in the AWS Management Console, you can review your workloads against these best practices by answering a set of questions for each pillar.

For more expert guidance and best practices for your cloud architecture—reference architecture deployments, diagrams, and whitepapers—refer to the AWS Architecture Center.

Introduction

Mobile network operators (MNOs) around the world are building 5G networks to usher in a new era of gigabit-speed, low-latency, and ultra-reliable mobile services. MNOs envision 5G powering a broad range of applications and uses for consumers and businesses that are simply not possible in today’s 4G LTE networks. 5G is designed to connect billions of devices through next-generation New Radio (NR) technology operating in new spectrum bands. 5G networks will also feature dense deployments of small cells, facilitating the delivery of high-bandwidth services in distance-limited, high-frequency bands.

All of this will be allowed by 5G cloud-native infrastructure that is disaggregated, virtualized, and software-defined. Using a cloud-native stack powers digital transformation, allowing 5G MNOs to benefit from the flexibility and speed afforded through adoption of modern DevOps techniques employed by the leading cloud service providers and cloud-based digital enterprises. The continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) approach allows MNOs to conceive, develop, test, deploy, and enhance 5G services at speed and scale, which holds the potential to unleash a wave of unprecedented service innovation in the telecom industry.

In a fully autonomous 5G network, where services are provisioned and enabled in a fully automated manner, without human intervention, all software components will be instrumented so that they generate the metrics, logs, and traces needed to monitor the state of the network and the behavior of connected devices. All of these data types will be standardized and passed between various software functions using standard application programming interfaces (APIs).

To make this happen, you first need to understand the Network Data Analytics Function (NWDAF).