Product Specification  25.07 (v6.1)

Overview

The solution is an AI-powered software platform installed in an operator’s network core. It enhances network efficiency through a suite of applications focused on Network Intelligence, Network Optimization, and Energy Reduction. By utilizing advanced vector packet processing (VPP) and AI/ML, it processes packets at line rates to provide real-time insights and control, improving network performance and reducing operational costs.

Software Specification

Deployment Models

• Inline - on Cisco NCS router or on dedicated servers

• Mirrored

Optimization

• Downlink

Layer 2 and Layer 3 Compatibility

• IPv4 and IPv6

• VLAN/QinQ

• MPLS

• GTP

Supported Protocols

• TCP

• UDP

• QUIC

• HTTP

• HTTPS

• SSH

• FTP

• SNMP

• VoIP

• VoLTE

• ViLTE

Application Detection

• Adobe

• Apple

• Discord

• Facebook

• Google

• Instagram

• Microsoft

• Netflix

• Roblox

• Snapchat

• Sony

• Spotify

• Steam

• Tiktok

• Whatsapp

• YouTube

Flow Categorization

• Audio / Music

• Cloud Access

• Commerce / Marketplace

• Conferencing

• Gaming

• Messaging

• Social Networking

• Video

• Web Browsing

• Other

Supported Throughput

Up to 320Gbps total downlink throughput capacity (Depending on licensing and hardware configuration) per hardware unit with:

• 16Mpps limit uplink traffic

• 32Mpps downlink traffic

Redundancy

• Failover/bypass path

Customer OSS integration

• SNMP v2 trap alerts for existing OSS

• SMTP (email) alerts to configuration mailing list

• REST API for deep integration

Supported Browsers

• Chrome version 140.0.7339.128 or later

• Firefox version 143.0 or later

Supported 3GPP Interfaces

• S1-U

• Gn

• SGi

• S11

• S1-MME

Hardware Specification

Physical Servers

Each server needs to have SD card 64GB to store a bootable ISO image for the Operating System.

Base hardware

• System Throughput: 160Gbps

• Downlink Packet Rate: 16Mpps

• Uplink Packet Rate: 8Mpps

Traffic Processor

Plus hardware

• System Throughput: 320Gbps

• Downlink Packet Rate: 32Mpps

• Uplink Packet Rate: 16Mpps

Traffic Processor

Management System

Virtual Servers

The following virtual machine specification supports up to 25Gbps of downlink traffic. To support other traffic throughput, contact Cisco.

Traffic Processor

Management System

Control Traffic Processor

This server processes S11 and S1-MME traffic and can be combined with either Traffic Processor or Management System servers.

Supported NICs

• NVIDIA ConnectX-4/5/6

• Intel X710, XL710, X722, XXV710, E810

Note: For best performance, the server’s riser configuration should evenly distribute used PCI slots across all processors (NUMA nodes). Each slot used must have sufficient bandwidth in terms of dedicated PCI lanes and PCI generation given the NIC to be used in that slot.

Platform Features

Management Server (MS)

• Web-based UI (HTTPS): Redesigned graphical web application for product management, configuration and analytics.

• User Role Management: Provides ability to add and remove user accounts and access levels.

• License Management: Graphical interface to load and view licenses and reports.

• Software Management: Graphical interface to view and update software versions and create optimizer groups.

• Customer OSS Integration: SNMP v2 trap alerts for existing OSS and SMTP (email) alerts.

• API: Allows for deep integration with third-party data sources and systems (e.g., NWDAF, rApps, xApps).

Analytics & Dashboards

• System Throughput Dashboard: Layer 2 and layer 4 downlink/uplink throughput.

• Performance & Usage Dashboard: System health relative to traffic load.

• Management Server Resource Usage: Memory and disk usage.

• License Dashboard: Current downlink throughput vs max licensed throughput.

Network Intelligence Features

Provides real-time, actionable data about customer, application, and network performance by observing every data packet for all customer data sessions. Data is ingested in the Provider Connectivity Assurance Analytics platform for near-real time correlation of User Experience data with network KPIs from active monitoring or streaming telemetry

Customer Experience (CX) Score

• A proprietary 0-5 scale measurement providing real-time KPI data for network flows.

• Calculated using a weighted combination of metrics like Round Trip Time, Burst Throughput, Congestion Ratio, and Retransmission Percent.

• Enables a flow-based view of network performance rather than relying on heavily averaged RAN KPIs.

Deep Dive Flow Analytics

• Allows detailed per-data-flow metrics to be collected.

Application Breakdown

• A measure of network traffic by most popular user applications.

Find Heavy Users

• A view of your customers that consume the most data - ideal for upsell or custom traffic policies.

AI Drive Test

• An analysis of your network that replicates 3rd party benchmarking drive tests - find the specific parts of your network that might result in a negative assessment.

Customer Experience by Cell Site

• Get a top-down view of how each cell in your network is performing from a customer experience perspective.

Subscriber Lookup (requires Control Traffic Processor)

• Understand how a subscriber is experiencing the network. Discover recent data session details, and understand long-term trends.

Network Optimization Features

Improves network efficiency and delivers faster user speeds by addressing network congestion.

Elephant Flow Optimization

• Identifies large data sessions (“Elephant Flows”) that consume the majority of network resources.

• Optimizes the network by micro-shifting the delivery of these flows away from moments of contention into moments of surplus capacity.

Flow Resiliency

• Protects mission-critical, interruption-sensitive UDP applications (e.g., video conferencing, gaming).

• Monitors UDP sessions and adapts other Elephant Flow traffic to ensure sufficient bandwidth for sensitive applications during congestion.

Dynamic Policy Enforcement

• Applies specific rules to traffic in real-time.

• Policies can be set per customer, application, traffic type, or network location to align network behavior with business objectives.

Optimization Control

• Traffic optimization enablement rules to include:

  • IP v4/v6 source/destination address

  • protocol, port, host, DSCP

  • eNodeB, ECI, APN, QCI

Analytics & Dashboards - accessible locally on Management Server for Network Optimization use case

• Network-Wide Traffic Metrics Dashboard: Aggregate view of all traffic with network-wide maps showing performance at the access endpoint level.

• Customer Experience (CX) Dashboard: Real-time user performance visualizations and detailed breakdowns of traffic by application, type, and domain.

• Optionally integrated with PCA Analytics platform: If combined with the Network Intelligence use case license.

Energy Reduction Features

Delivers significant energy savings by intelligently managing the power consumption of the Radio Access Network (RAN) in a closed-loop system.

Smart Energization

• Matches energy consumption to real-time traffic load instead of keeping spectrum layers energized 24/7.

• Identifies and powers down cells during periods of low demand to reduce energy use.

CX Assurance Engine

• Provides a safeguard by continuously monitoring the customer experience on remaining active cells.

• Re-energizes spectrum automatically if performance degrades, ensuring a seamless user experience.

RAN Sustainability Engine

• Uses ML models to analyze user redistribution and performance regression.

• Identifies opportunities to de-energize spectrum without negatively impacting customer experience.