Innovation for Infrastructure as a Service

英国电信业正面临几个挑战，包括快速的技术变化、监管和政策干预以及激烈的竞争，这些都在影响盈利能力和可持续性。目前在竖井中建设、拥有和维护网络的基础设施投资和所有权模式正在使5G投资无利可图，导致行业内收入下降或持平。为了应对这一挑战，该行业需要定义新的商业模式，以提供经济上可持续和有利可图的连接。该项目促进了电信协调软件的使用，以实现基础设施即服务(IaaS)。该解决方案可以在不同的基础设施提供商之间自动部署和管理网络功能和服务，从而更轻松地访问和利用IaaS资源。众所周知，基础设施共享模式可以帮助电信运营商减少其在物理基础设施上的资本支出，并通过使用协调软件来提高网络可扩展性和灵活性。总体而言，这一解决方案将使服务提供商能够更快地对不断变化的市场条件和客户需求做出反应。该项目扩大了Cell-Stack的范围，Cell-Stack是一种基于多代理软件架构的分布式网络管理和协调，用于数字化和管理电信资产：从电源管理到裸机或虚拟基础设施资产，再到被动资产，如塔楼或街道设施。该工具得到了进一步的改进，可以使用即服务模式实现对电信基础设施的机会主义访问。特别是，设计、集成和测试两个新的模块或代理：监测和身份识别。Cell-Stack监控模块，允许收集和管理实时基础设施和网络数据，这将利用来自共享基础设施的实时数据改进实时决策。第二个是Cell-Stack Identity模块，它集成了零信任以实现安全的按需“即服务”基础设施集成。因此，Cell-Stack将实现对存在于多个域中的网络的安全管理和集成。该解决方案将通过两个5G专用网络的整合进行测试。

The UK telecommunications industry is facing several challenges, including rapid technological changes, regulatory and policy interventions, and intense competition, which are affecting profitability and sustainability. The current infrastructure investment and ownership model of building, owning, and maintaining networks in silos is making 5G investment unprofitable, leading to declining or flat revenues within the industry. To address this challenge, the industry needs to define new business models that can deliver connectivity that is economically sustainable and profitable.This project advances the use of telecoms orchestration software to enable infrastructure as a service (IaaS). This solution can automate the deployment and management of network functions and services across different infrastructure providers, making it easier to access and utilise IaaS resources. Infrastructure sharing models are known to help telecom operators reduce their capital expenditures on physical infrastructure, and with the use of orchestration software these can be used to improve network scalability and flexibility. Overall this solution will allow service providers to respond more quickly to changing market conditions and customer needs.This project expands the scope of Cell-Stack, an already available distributed network management and orchestration based on multi-agent software architecture used to digitise and manage telecommunications assets: from power management, to bare-metal or vitualised infrastructure assets to passive assets such as towers or street furniture. The tool is further advanced to enable opportunistic access to telecoms infrastructure using as-a-service models. In particular, the design, integration and testing of two new modules or agents: Monitoring and Identity. The Cell-Stack Monitoring module, which allows gathering and managing real-time infrastructure and network data which will improve real-time decision making with real time data from shared infrastructure. The second is the Cell-Stack Identity module, which integrates zero trust for secure on-demand "as a service" infrastructure integration. As a result, Cell-Stack will enable secure management and integration of networks that exist in multiple domains. This solution will be tested with the integration of two 5G Private Networks.