Network functions virtualization (NFV) is becoming the norm for deploying network functions and managing their lifecycles. While the vast majority of NFV deployments so far have been focusing on hosting virtualized network functions in virtual machines managed by hypervisors, container-based virtualization is gaining momentum in the NFV ecosystem and has become the technology of choice for virtualizing 5G networks. This article provides an overview of the evolution of ETSI NFV Management and Orchestration standards to cope with the rise of container technologies.

In this paper we assess the compatibility between the NFV-MANO framework and the O-RAN architecture and solutions specified by the O-RAN Alliance. Before monetizing the benefits of virtualizing the radio access network (RAN), several challenges and impediments need to be addressed, especially about orchestration and management. To this end, we identify common technical areas related to orchestration and management and assess the potential relevance of standardization activities performed by ETSI NFV and the O-RAN Alliance. Key challenges are also analyzed for the case where the NFV-MANO architectural framework is leveraged to support the orchestration and management of the virtualized RAN.

This article presents a proposed an evolution of the Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) architectural framework towards a Service-Based Architecture (SBA), where management and orchestration services can be dynamically registered and discovered.

Network functions virtualization (NFV) is a major transformation that the telecom industry is undergoing, where network functions traditionally hosted on dedicated physical appliances are virtualized and run on pools of commodity servers. NFV leverages cloud computing technologies and complements them with a dedicated management and orchestration system. This article provides an overview of the application programming interfaces (APIs) exposed by the components of this system. It explains how the Representational State Transfer design style has been applied to specify these APIs in the European Telecommunications Standardization Institute. The article also provides many examples illustrating how these APIs are used to manage the life cycle of virtualized network functions and network services.

Network slicing is one of the most discussed concepts for designing 5G networks. It is intended to enable operators to slice a single physical network into multiple virtual networks optimized according to specific services and business goals. Network Functions Virtualization (NFV), a technology developed by the European Telecommunication Standards Institute (ETSI), will play a prominent role in implementing this concept. This paper reviews the options that the NFV technology offers to enable network slicing and highlights areas that may require further studies and standardization work.

NFV is a paradigm shift in the telecom industry, where the functions traditionally hosted in purpose-built equipment become virtualized and run on pools of standard IT servers. NFV creates a twofold challenge for the telecom and IT industries: virtual appliances must deliver high performance while being portable across commodity servers. This article proposes an approach to address both requirements at the same time, relying on the notion of synthetic devices abstracting hardware-dependent acceleration functions.

Le monde des telecommunications connait une transformation sans precedent avec l'introduction de modeles issus du monde informatique, largement adoptes aujourd'hui par les acteurs industriels majeurs. Deux concepts essentiels sous-tendent cette evolution sont introduits : la softwarisation des reseaux et la webification des services. Cet article se propose d'analyser l'impact de ces concepts sur les architectures de reseaux et leur conception d'une part, et sur l'exploitation des reseaux qui devient ineluctablement automatisee d'autre part. Cette transformation majeure ameliore egalement l'agilite des modes de deploiement des nouveaux reseaux. Les processus de standardisation sont aussi quelque peu bouleverses par l'arrivee de ces nouvelles technologies.

This document describes a set of scenarios in which complications when identifying which policy to apply for a host are encountered.This problem is abstracted as "host identification".Describing these scenarios allows commonalities between scenarios to be identified, which is helpful during the solution design phase.This document does not include any solution-specific discussions. IESG NoteThis document describes use cases where IP addresses are overloaded with both location and identity properties.Such semantic overloading is seen as a contributor to a variety of issues within the routing system [RFC4984].Additionally, these use cases may be seen as a way to justify solutions that are not consistent with IETF Best Current Practices on protecting privacy [BCP160] [BCP188].

Enterprise networks are in the process of a major and rapid evolution toward IP. At the same time, the 3GPP IP multimedia subsystem is gaining momentum in the telecom industry as the target architecture for delivering and controlling multimedia services in carrier-grade IPbased networks. As a logical consequence, standards are emerging that enable the support of business trunking and hosted enterprise services using the IMS. This article provides insight into the benefits of this approach and takes an in-depth look at related ETSI standards.

The interest in Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) services is increasing as these are perceived as a potential source of new revenues by telecommunications service providers. IPTV services are already being deployed by many of them around the globe and tend to be packaged as triple play solutions, including telephony and Internet or even quadruple play with wireless aspects.