Ericsson has launched a certification programme for the Open Platform for Network Functions Virtualisation (OPNFV) initiative, in a bid to create an environment where solutions and infrastructure can be tested with existing standards.
OPNFV was launched earlier this month and is hosted by the Linux Foundation. It sees operators such as AT&T and Orange and vendors such as Cisco, Ericsson, Huawei and Nokia Networks working together to help ensure “consistency, performance and interoperability” in virtualised products.
The platform will be a carrier-grade, open source reference tool allowing operators to speed up how long it takes to implement NFV products onto their networks, as well as reduce costs.
Ericsson said its new certification programme will “validate workload portability, flexibility, scalability, and full-stack interoperability of features, functions and interfaces”. It will also benchmark the performance of solutions where appropriate.
The vendor said it wanted its customers and other members of the OPNFV project to tell them what they want from the certification programme.
Paolo Colella, Vice President and Head of Consulting and Systems Integration at Ericsson, said: “The OPNFV certification programme will certify vendors for compliance with the NFV standards being developed on the OPNFV reference platform. Ericsson is a firm believer in the potential that NFV holds for telecommunications, and this certification programme is one of the concrete steps we are taking to hasten its adoption.”
Earlier this month, the Swedish vendor held an NFV proof of concept with Japan’s NTT DOCOMO, activating its virtualised Evolved Packet Core on a rival’s orchestration platform and vice versa.
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