/ 5G and Beyond /
5G is here; these CORTEX use cases are part of the enablement of 5G for the modern Telco. Whether you are 5G or 5G Standalone (SA), as you scroll down our page we hope to identify some of the Use Cases you will likely be considering, all of which are also documented on our automation map, and the business case elements we can successfully deliver with you.
As operators roll out 5G and beyond services the Order Decomposition use case will become more complex. Firstly, the business and technical rules around which customers can be sold 5G and beyond services will need to account for the geographic availability of those services, at least until they become widespread.
Some products purchased by customers may require decomposition into both 4G and 5G (and beyond) component services, as long as the operator continues to offer multi-G services; and the nature of 5G services – especially where bespoke network slice selection or configuration is required – makes the decomposition more complex. Roaming requirements may also result in complex partner selection scenarios.
Business and technical rules around which customers can be sold 5G and beyond services will need to account for the geographic availability of those services, customers may require decomposition into both 4G and 5G component services.
5G services should take account of the network slice(s) on which the customer service will be provisioned, and this may affect, for example, the selection of xNFs used by the slice that are to be configured: some may be local to the operator, others may be provided by the customer’s employer, or by a third party.
The Logical Design & Assign activities for 5G services should take account of the network slice(s) on which the customer service will be provisioned, and this may affect, for example, the selection of xNFs used by the slice that are to be configured: some may be local to the operator, others may be provided by the customer’s employer, or by a third party.
Once complete, the necessary changes to the xNFs are applied as part of the Network Configuration activities. Again, some of these may be “on-net” but others may be “off-net”, under the control of the customer’s employer; there may be partner-specific Order Processing use cases to support these.
The need to appropriately synchronise updates across a wide number of xNFs complicates this part of the process, and consideration should be given to appropriate error handling strategies for when some xNFs cannot be updated successfully. Additionally, the dynamic nature of the xNFs may also complicate the network configuration process.
Selection of appropriate hardware that is able to use the selected technology is an important aspect of the Stock use case. It may be that the customer will select a specific User Equipment that is compatible with their service, restricted in the commercial product catalogue, but this may not always be the case. There may be situations where there is 4G hardware and 5G hardware available, and the selection will depend upon the specific mobile technology available at the desired location.
As well as porting numbers between service providers, numbers may also be ported between 4G and 5G services, unless a regulator has allocated specific number ranges to specific technologies, in which case this would need to be an additional check to be performed prior to accepting a porting request.
Number Porting in 5G and beyond is expected to follow the same regulatory procedures. As well as porting numbers between service providers, numbers may also be ported between 4G and 5G services unless a regulator has allocated specific number ranges to specific technologies.
Invoice Handling for 5G and beyond may need to cater for slice-specific usage information by User Equipment when roaming, which may need to be allocated to different usage accounts in the billing systems.
Capacity Management use cases must include consideration of and planning for rollout of 5G and later technologies; this will be driven by strategic priorities and market demand. Rules for scaling of the 5G VNFs must form a part of this activity, but the actual decision to scale within those rules will be the responsibility of the VNF MANO function.