DISH Wireless recently announced it selected Oracle to enable a Service-Based Architecture (SBA) for its 5G core. DISH, which is building the nation’s first cloud-native, OpenRAN-based 5G network, will use SBA to enable network services to be quickly incorporated into its new applications (or its customers’) through automated, intelligent configuration between network functions. Selection Oracle will also help DISH as it looks to build a 5G network in the cloud.
The technology will also allow DISH Wireless to provide enterprise customers with more control of the software and services they use as well as leverage their individual “network slice.” The “network of networks” will enable enterprises to configure dedicated, logical network instances and policy management for different applications and customer experience models, such as manufacturing or telehealth.
“Oracle’s capabilities will essentially serve as the control tower of our network core, enabling our customers to consume software on demand and facilitating the advanced core functions required to power a truly automated network,” DISH Wireless Chief Network Officer Marc Rouanne said in a statement. “While many carriers may claim to have 5G, there are certain attributes only possible with a cloud-based standalone network, and our working with Oracle will yield results that will unleash the power of true, fully-optimized 5G.”
Working with the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF), Oracle’s 5G core control plane includes network functions that will help operators automate and scale to meet the expected growth in 5G subscribers and connected devices. DISH Wireless will use a number of Oracle’s network functions such as policy control function (PCF), which routes low-latency applications to edge data networks.
DISH will also leverage Oracle’s network repository function (NRF), which serves as a central repository for all of the network functions in DISH’s 5G network and network exposure function (NEF), which acts as a centralized point for service exposure and plays a key role in authorizing all access requests originating from outside the DISH network. NEF enables cellular IoT (Internet of Things), edge computing and API gateway use cases for DISH and its enterprise customers.
Additionally, DISH will utilize Oracle for 5G Service Communications Proxy (SCP), Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF), Security Edge Protection Proxy (SEPP) and Binding Selection Function (BSF).
A network built for 5G
Oracle’s network control functions will allow DISH to easily create and manage custom, service-specific network slices, deliver powerful policy control and provide granular access to third party-enterprises and web applications. These features will support use cases such as enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communication (uRLLC), Mobile Internet of Things (mIoT), and User Equipment (UE) policies. Additionally, Oracle’s cloud-native architecture will enable DISH to reduce operational expenses and time to market for these new services.
“DISH Wireless is completely disrupting the wireless industry,” Andrew Morawski, senior vice president and general manager, Oracle Communications, Networks said in a statement. “Using Oracle’s 5G cloud-native technology to automate their network, DISH will be one of the most agile operators in the world enabling enterprise digital transformation journeys across many diverse industries.”
Joe Dyton can be reached at joed@fifthgenmedia.com.
