Jio partners with Spirent to validate cloud-native 5G core network

Khevna.P.Shah, INN/Bangalore

@Shahkhevna1, @Infodeaofficial

Spirent Communications, a UK-based network testing and assurance company said it has collaborated with Reliance Industries Limited’s subsidiary, Jio Platforms, to validate its cloud-native 5G standalone (SA) core network for traffic conditions and real-world scenarios using the Spirent Landslide test system.

In close collaboration with Spirent, Jio used Landslide to undertake core network capacity tests, mobility scenarios, modelled a wide variety of end-user behavioural call models and measured device data throughput, according to an official statement.

“Jio needs to validate performance across its in-house 5G core network functions while supporting IMS interfaces and  LTE 4G,” said Peter Tan, Spirent’s  General Manager and VP for the APAC region. He further added that “The Landslide provided the ideal solution for supporting interfaces across the breadth of the 5G core and, thanks to Landslide’s built-in suite of test cases, reducing the time to test.”

The statement also added that Landslide successfully validated Jio’s cloud-native 5G core network for heavy signalling and data plane workloads using hardware acceleration technologies, as well as supporting fallback to LTE, while supporting the HD voice-over the New Radio (VoNR). This helped Jio in subjecting its “all IP Network” to 5G and VoNR-based adjacency and standalone tests. The landslide also legitimizes compliance to 3GPP functions.

“This amalgamation with Spirent is a crucial part of achieving this objective. Landslide is a golden reference globally for validating 5G core networks for performance and functionality, allowing us to successfully validate every aspect of the 5G standalone core network – including network slicing,uRLLC, eMBB, and MMTC service capabilities.  We are looking forward to leveraging Landslide capabilities for validating diverse 5G use cases with Jio 5G solutions,” Senior Vice President of Jio Platforms. Aayush Bhatnagar.

Today’s development follows Jio Platforms’ partnership with the  Dutch chipmaker NXP Semiconductors’ under which Jio will implement NXP’s Layerscape family of multicore processors in its 5G New Radio (NR) O-RAN small cell solution for powering advanced  RAN networks.

As per the Jio Platforms, the deployment of a 5G SA core network is vital to realizing the true potential of the fifth-generation wireless mobile technology. Jio has built a complete homegrown 5G stack for accelerating the rollout of next-generation network services.

“Jio’s engineers have successfully developed a 100% comprehensive and home-grown 5G solution which can be digitally managed, software-defined and cloud-native. Jio has taken enormous strides in maturing this state-of-the-art Standalone 5G technology, which signifies a quantum leap to the next frontier of wireless broadband,” said Ambani, the chairman of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) during the 44th Annual General Meeting of RIL.

 Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio recently switched on its 5G field trial network using its own indigenously developed 5G equipment and technology in Navi Mumbai. It had also applied for trials in Gujarat, Hyderabad, Delhi, and Mumbai.

Recently, The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had allocated the 5G trial spectrum in the 700 MHz, 3.5 GHz, and 26 GHz bands to Reliance Jio, Vodafone Idea (Vi), and Airtel to develop the next-gen fast wireless broadband technology.