Technological advances and the acceleration of digital transformation have led to the consolidation of telecommunications networks as a pillar of societies, in an evolution that will not slow down in the coming years.
The new networks will not simply be an evolution of the existing ones, but rather a revolution whose scope is still difficult to imagine.
What will the networks of the future look like and what will they consist of?
Due to the needs that the digital society will have in the coming years, the future networks are emerging as a response to these demands.
These networks will have the particularities of being open architecture, automatable, flexible, customisable, programmable and virtualised.
But what does each of these characteristics imply?
Open architecture networks of the future
Networks will be open because they will offer the possibility for equipment from different vendors to function almost like PnP (plug-and-play) devices, those that work without the need for configuration or user intervention, as the system itself incorporates and installs the drivers.
We will no longer be talking about specialised equipment, but rather about generic equipment, which will make it possible to incorporate different suppliers. This will lead to an increase in both supply and competition.
Automatable networks of the future
Because the intelligence of the networks of the future will be software-based and because of their flexibility, as we will see in the next point, they can be automated.
What does this mean? It means that networks will have the capacity to self-configure themselves according to a series of pre-established principles, to which Deep Learning or Artificial Intelligence techniques can even be applied in order to optimise their use.
Flexible networks of the future
This capability will make it possible to place network functions where they are most needed at any given moment.
In crowded places at specific times, more processing capacity (hardware) in base stations can be dedicated to processing video or messaging. On uncrowded and uncrowded days, the same capacity can be used for edge computing.
Customisable networks of the future
The other features of these networks of the future will make them customisable, so that each industrial sector will be able to have a network adapted to its different needs. Some will require very low latency, others with millions of different accesses (IoT) or with high bandwidth requirements.
Programmable networks of the future
Virtualisation will allow networks to be programmed, incorporating new functionalities whenever you want without having to modify any physical equipment, since it will be sufficient to load new software, with no discontinuity in the service.
Virtualised networks of the future
Virtualisation is the use of software to make physical hardware more efficient, of which there are different types.
By decoupling hardware from software, all functions can be carried out programmatically and not on the basis of specialised equipment.
This will not only increase the range of usable equipment, but also make it interchangeable.
Telefónica, committed to the networks of the future
The company’s commitment to this type of network is reflected in the use of enabling technologies such as Open-Ran and the development of open standards, the dissemination of the advantages of open technologies and the implementation of the necessary open networks themselves.
Conclusion
All of these issues that we have discussed in this article will ensure that innovation will not only come from a few specialised companies, but that those specialising in software will be able to join in. Likewise, each operator will have the capacity to design the capabilities that it incorporates into its network, so the networks will not be identical.
