Landslide Core Network Testing

Service providers expect 5G to help power critical business transformation by diversifying and growing revenue streams. The right strategy will support rollout of new services in weeks versus months, with always-on, high-performance, and expansive coverage attracting and delighting customers.

This whitepaper details a case study of how Telefónica uses Landslide to deliver enhanced automation with a 3x faster test and assurance process for ensured performance of 5G private networks.

The telecommunication industry is undergoing the most transformative phase in its 200-year history. A transition in part predicated on adoption of fifth generation mobile technology is heralding a massive shift for public, private, and societal use cases. By some analyst estimates, mobile operators will spend around $1 trillion on 5G infrastructure between 2019 and 2025. Unlike earlier generations of network upgrades, 5G welcomes an opening up of the supplier ecosystem to embrace software defined network functions that bring with it agility and innovation.

We’ve entered the era of 5G, with blazingly fast speeds, vast coverage density, large area traffic capacity, and super low latency. 5G is more than a step up from 4G; it’s a radical leap that dramatically improves mobile broadband services and empowers the Internet of Things (IoT) by enabling connectivity to billions of global devices. Most providers are taking an evolutionary approach to 5G, starting with 4G evolved pack core (EPC) control / user plane separation (CUPS), then migrating to 5G non-standalone (NSA), and finally deploying full native 5G or adopting Open RAN (O-RAN). Assuring a successful journey from 4G to native 5G requires the ability to test and assure every phase of the journey and every stage of the service lifecycle. Spirent solutions test and assure your evolution to 5G across the service lifecycle — from the lab to the production network. Download our poster depicting 5G network functions for a quick look at the overall structure of the 5G network and associated services.

With demand for 5G growing across South Korea, operators are moving quickly to augment their non-standalone (NSA) and standalone (SA) capabilities. But ensuring reliability, maximum availability, and high-performance connectivity amplifies the need for rigorous testing before deploying new systems. To enable a more versatile, competitive 5G network, a leading Korean wireless operator sought to expand its network infrastructure. A global communication technology provider was positioned to deliver a 5G NSA platform as a Proof of Concept (PoC), which, if successful, would lead to both NSA and SA implementations. However, testing of the NSA system proved challenging using the operator’s existing test suite. Spirent partner ERK Solution Co. teamed with the technology provider to define and deliver a solution that could meet the operator’s stringent performance demands.