A Word from our CEO - Laying the foundations of the next billion

The Broadband Forum meeting in Glasgow last week brought down the curtain on a year of enormous achievement and the significant milestone of reaching one billion broadband connections in the global market. You have all played a part in helping us to get there – congratulations!

As we look forward to the festive season and the new year ahead, we have a Broadband Forum which is transforming and thriving at an accelerating pace – staying ahead of the dramatic changes taking place in our industry.

Our transformation has been designed to ensure broadband technologies and their ecosystems are enhanced and developed further to meet the demands of the coming era of 5G, Internet of Things (IoT), automation, virtualization, and Artificial Intelligence (AI). We have seen new Work Areas launched, we have developed the increasingly successful BASe events around the world, we are co-operating with other industry forums and our interoperability pavilion at the Broadband World Forum in Berlin was our most successful yet. Most importantly, we have seen the breadth and scope of our work expand, not just in terms of addressing new and emerging technologies, but in our approach - with a number of ‘open source’ initiatives launched this year. I truly believe this represents how dynamic our work at the Forum is becoming and how we are ensuring the whole network is prepared for the future, from the Cloud to the Connected Home. 

With all these achievements, we can now look forward to 2019 with increasing confidence and commitment to our role in the future of broadband. Your work and effort is being increasingly backed in terms of supportive marketing and public relations and, very soon, an impressive new website we can all be proud of.

So, enjoy the celebrations ahead. Give yourselves a well-deserved pat on the back, and get ready for an exciting 2019 as we move the industry towards the next billion lines of broadband.

CEO 

As the Q1 meeting takes place, coinciding with the publishing of our 2018 Annual Report, I am struck by the continuing evolution of Broadband Forum. From the scope of our work to the reach our organization, both in terms of geography and business size, we are truly an egalitarian organization that continues to pioneer the broadband industry.

Among the progress at this meeting was important work around 5G. Having handed recommendations to 3GPP, the collaboration continues to ensure a smooth transition of the Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) work as the details are documented in specifications by both bodies. This highlights the important role Broadband Forum is taking in developing 5G by making recommendations for the connection points between the fixed and 5G mobile core networks, driving core convergence.

The recently-launched Broadband Quality Experience Delivered (Broadband QED) project is also flourishing, with Domos among the new companies to get involved, and work to produce the initial study document well underway. Addressing the trend of overall broadband quality of experience replacing speed as the most important element in consumer value perception, the project aims to help service providers deliver a superior broadband experience by addressing network latency, consistency, predictability and reliability, as well as proactively fixing issues before customers notice there is a problem.

Also inspiring much discussion was Deutsche Telekom’s demonstration of a NETCONF/YANG proof-of-concept for network management built on standardized APIs and data models. This highlighted the need for standardization in future broadband networks, as this will make it easier for operators to address and manage the ever expanding broadband market – both in terms of rising subscriber numbers and the proliferation of devices in an Internet of Things (IoT) era. The DT demo was extremely thought provoking, and shared significant alignment with the goals of Broadband Forum’s current  Open Broadband – Broadband Access Abstraction (OB-BAA) and User Services Platform (USP) projects.

Last but not least, I am delighted this meeting comes hot on the heels of an important milestone for Broadband Forum – the launch of our European Open Broadband Lab. Designed to accelerate network transformation and migration to a cloud-based broadband infrastructure, I very much look forward to seeing these labs take shape over the course of the next few months as the first testing begins – underpinning how industry growth and an open market still relies on standards-driven interoperability.

Image ModifiedA Word from our Chief Marketing Officer – Shaping the future of broadband as we accelerate into 2019

When I was first introduced at the Q3 Broadband Forum meeting in Montreal last September, I shared my view that the “Broadband Forum” was already one of the premier brands in broadband based on its rich history of contributions to the industry to date. My mission, I shared, was to build on this strong foundation.

What I’ve discovered over the last quarter as I’ve learned more about the Forum, its projects, and the dedication of its members, is that I underestimated the opportunities that exist to raise our profile and extend our brand. These are incredibly exciting times for the broadband industry, and as we showed the world with our events and announcements this last quarter, our work is a key a catalyst to this excitement … and we are just getting started.

Our major announcement in Q4 was that the world surpassed 1 billion fixed broadband installations in 2018, and the Broadband Forum was a major contributor to this achievement. This was significant news for our industry, and as Robin said above, it is something for which we, as a collective, should be extremely proud.

This milestone message provided the foundation for ramping up our profile at the 2019 Broadband World Forum in Berlin. Our “1 Billion” announcement and its close association to our TR-069 protocol provided a great backdrop for showcasing the evolution of TR-069 – User Services Platform, also referred to as USP – at our Interop Pavilion at the Broadband World Forum Expo. Other demonstrations that were showcased included our Broadband Access Abstraction project (enabled by our Open Broadband initiative) and a Gfast interoperability demo. These demonstrations were very well-received and were a clear message to the industry that the Forum is accelerating into 2019 with ground-breaking work ongoing across a variety of Work Areas.

Amplifying this message was our very own Executive Summit at the show, attended by more than 200 participants, from global operators, members of the trade media and top-tier analysts to vendors and fellow standard bodies. In addition, Q4 saw another great turnout for our BASe Series events – this one in Las Vegas, North America. This saw an additional 150 participants receive updates on the cutting-edge technologies and innovative work in our industry from leaders such as Google, Nokia, Corning Optical Communications, Huawei, and Calix.

The media and analysts also reacted very positively to other announcements leading up to Broadband World Forum during the quarter, including the announcement of two new projects – Open Broadband – Broadband Access Abstraction and our Wi-Fi Easy Mesh project with the prpl foundation – which were covered by multiple top-tier publications including SDX Central and Telecom TV.

As we accelerate into 2019, it’s essential that we keep this momentum going. To do so, we need your help in keeping us informed of any innovative work you are carrying out in your respective project areas. Even with what we are already aware of, the coming year is already shaping up to be our best yet, and with your help it can only get better. So, don’t forget to raise your glass as you celebrate the holidays at least once to the Broadband Forum and its fantastic achievements in 2018, and to our noble work in enabling the next billion lines of broadband in the year (and years) ahead! Have a great holiday season!

Congratulations from our Chairman

Our Q1 meeting is a time for both new beginnings and acknowledging past accomplishments for Broadband Forum as we conduct board elections and bestow our annual awards. It’s an honor for me to recognize these individuals and their accomplishments, and I look forward to their future contributions to Broadband Forum and the industry.

I am pleased to welcome two new board members - Helge Tiainen of InCoax and Ning Zong of Huawei – who emphasize how much Broadband Forum has evolved since it was the DSL Forum. Today, we work across the entire broadband ecosystem, with Helge bringing further expertise in emerging areas like the connected home/business and coaxial cable networks, and Ning confirming our truly international presence, especially in emerging markets.

In addition, three others were also re-elected to the Board of Directors, including Tom Starr of AT&T, Manuel Paul of Deutsche Telekom AG, and Aleksandra Kozarev of Intel.

The full leadership of Broadband Forum can be viewed here.

Broadband Forum has a long history of bestowing awards to our most deserving members who individually have gone above and beyond to push our noble work and agenda forward in the industry, and 2019 provided a strong cadre of standout contributors.  The following industry innovators were recognized for their long-standing contributions to broadband during the Q1 meeting.

Tim Carey of Nokia received a Distinguished Fellow Award in recognition of his significant, long-standing contributions to the worldwide development and advancement of broadband.

Two Circle of Excellence Awards were also presented. The first went to Marco Spini of Huawei Technologies for technical excellence and outstanding contributions to the fixed mobile convergence work and fruitful cooperation with 3GPP. The second was given to Ning Zong of Huawei Technologies for technical excellence and outstanding contributions and Project Stream leadership to Cloud Central Office (CloudCO) and to Open Broadband, where he led effort to drive forward the architectural framework and instantiate the Open Broadband Labs.

Outstanding Contributor Awards were presented to Ken Ko, of ADTRAN, Tim Spets, of Greenwave Systems, Vincent Buchoux, of LAN, Stephane Bryant, of MT2, Kota Asaka, of NTT, Herman Verbueken, of Nokia, Dean Cheng, of Huawei Technologies, Mauro Tilocca, of TIM and Kenneth Wan, of Nokia. Les Brown, of Huawei Technologies, also received a Leadership Award.

A full list of 2019 winners as well as past winners can be found here.

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Amazon Alexa Voice Services keynote evangelizes industry collaboration highlights productive Q4 Broadband Forum meeting

Amazon Alexa Voice Services UK General Manager Theunis Scheepers keynoted Broadband Forum’s fourth quarter meeting last week in Glasgow, Scotland, UK, where he told the packed audience that device compatibility is essential in order to maximize the selection of available devices, which in turn drives mass adoption of the connected home market.

Scheepers’ keynote kicked off a busy week that saw another keynote from Huw Saunders, Director of Network Infrastructure at the UK’s broadband regulatory and competition authority Ofcom, a Birds of a Feather (BoF) session focused on “Powering in an Ultra-Fast World”, and major progress made within projects across all work areas and Open Broadband initiatives, including in areas like 5G, the User Services Platform (USP) and CloudCO.

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Ofcom keynote opens Broadband Forum Q4 Meeting

Leading UK communications regulator Ofcom opened the packed-out plenary session at the Broadband Forum quarterly meeting in Glasgow this week.

The keynote session, delivered by Ofcom Director of Network Infrastructure Huw Saunders, discussed the challenges of delivering high-quality broadband services and the potential gaps in broadband customers’ knowledge.

The presentation covered the momentum behind fiber roll-out developments across the UK, including the UK government’s goal of connecting 15 million premises to full fiber by 2025, with coverage across “all parts of the country” by 2033.

Saunders told the audience of Ofcom’s plans to keep up with this demand, by exploring possible new broadband measurement solutions, approaches and data sources, the potential to charge operators for service interruptions, as well as proposing a new holistic solution to improve broadband measurements.

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BASe OFC call for papers

The highly popular BASe series continues to thrive and expand with the addition of a new format called BASe-POINT. A half day focused seminar, BASe-POINT OFC will focus on one of the optical industry’s hottest topics – NG-PON – and explore compelling new use cases and emerging trends, including the technology’s use for 5G backhaul.

Join companies including Verizon, Nokia, Calix, Go-Foton! and PICadvanced and others for this exciting seminar.

For more information, or to find out more about our BASe sponsorship opportunities for 2019, please contact: info@broadband-forum.org.

Work Area Updates from Glasgow, Scotland

What’s next for the Architecture and Migration Work Area

• Target: The Architecture and Migration Work Area maintains primary architectural work of the Broadband Forum. This work reflects the control, management and data plane aspects of the Broadband Forum’s defined architectures. These architectures are augmented to leverage new industry practices, while protecting the investment in broadband networks already deployed.
• Progress: The Work Area formed a new project, addressing the use of quality attenuation methods in broadband networks. Work also began on a new market report, which addresses how challenges can be overcome when deploying fiber in the broadband network.
• Outcomes: The Application Layer Testing (ALT) project stream (MD-433) addressed all straw ballot comments received in the ALT architecture straw ballot (WT-421) held at the meeting. 

After the Q3 meeting in Montreal, long standing Chair David Thorne left the Broadband Forum to enjoy retirement. David Sinicrope is now the acting Work Area Director leading into 2019.

The Architecture and Migration group began work on a new market report (referred to as “Multi access broadband - performance networking on demand – today”), highlighting industry challenges of deploying fiber in the broadband network and how they can be overcome with multiple technologies, including Wi-Fi, 4G and 5G and satellite. This will enable faster deployment of high-speed access to end-users which will deliver the capacity and bandwidth required for demanding user applications, as well as provide resiliency for mission critical applications. The target for completion of the document is scheduled for Mobile World Congress 2019.

The Work Area started a new project – referred to as quality attenuation - which addresses the use of quality attenuation methods. This is a new approach to system analysis, giving far greater insight than traditional measurements (e.g. bandwidth) to gauge quality of experience and of application outcomes. The analysis decomposes a round trip time into six separate constituent components allowing the network performance to be analyzed for design and trouble-shooting. This permits service providers to carry out a root cause analysis that considers factors such as performance degradation (packet loss/delay), structure (architecture/design), network dimensioning (link speeds etc.) and network load and scheduling.

ALT project stream (MD-433) addressed all straw ballot comments received in the recent ALT architecture straw ballot (WT-421).  As a result, the editors have some homework to do to integrate the comment resolutions and are aiming for publication in early Q2 2019. Work also continued on the ALT data models (WT-424) and the implementors guide (WT-422). ALT defines how test traffic is specified and generated at the application layer. It supports specification of test traffic that exhibits the complexity resulting from multiple types of applications and subscribers aggregated in a common network.

Work resumed full speed on the performance measurement Customer Equipment (CE) to IP edge architecture document (WT-390I2). This work defines the capabilities required in Customer Equipment and the IP Edge for service assurance of broadband subscribers using Simple Two-way Active Measurement Protocol (STAMP) performance measurement, including architectural and nodal requirements.

For more information about the Architecture and Migration group, please see: https://wiki.broadband-forum.org/display/BBF/Architecture+and+Migration.

BUS empowers Connected Home with USP update and new Wi-Fi performance metrics

Image AddedARRIS: When it comes to connectivity, security and reliability are just as important as speed 

Consumers want a seamless broadband experience that is secure and reliable, as well as fast.

That was the message delivered by ARRIS as its Global Marketing Director provided new insight into the company’s 2018 Connectivity and Entertainment Index.

Speaking during a first-of-its-kind presentation, Christine Rickett said that 89% of consumers think that constant connectivity is important.

Drawing on the 2018 Index – which surveys more than 20,000 consumers worldwide – Rickett also highlighted the growing pressure on broadband networks, with the report revealing 90% of consumers say high-speed internet is important in every room in the house. This grew from 70% in 2017.

Analyzing various broadband usage trends across the world, Rickett also said that while speed remained a priority, consumers’ attitudes were shifting so that security and reliability are becoming just as important. This means, said Rickett, that ensuring carrier grade Wi-Fi will become critical for Service Providers.

The presentation was the first State of Broadband report to be held as part of a Broadband Forum quarterly meeting, with the new feature designed to provide a quarterly update on different areas of focus within Broadband Forum. This will ensure its work is aligned with the market and will potentially highlight new use cases in ongoing projects.

The next presentation will take place at the Q2 meeting in Seoul, Korea, and is expected to focus on 5G.

Broadband Forum showcases Deutsche Telekom’s vision for NETCONF/YANG standardization in future broadband networks at quarterly meeting

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The importance of standardization within future broadband networks has been highlighted by Deutsche Telekom at Broadband Forum's Q1 Meeting as it demonstrated a NETCONF/YANG proof-of-concept for network management built on standardized APIs and data models.

Enabling faster time-to-market for new services, increased efficiency and lower operating costs, this network configuration and management with service delivery aims to address existing and emerging networking challenges. These sometimes include complex and slow interfacing between different management systems and vendors’ protocols, inflexibility as a result of proprietary management systems and M2M management which often lags behind features.

With Deutsche Telekom now looking to expand the architecture’s applicability, Demonstration Leader Mikael Abrahamsson said it must be standardized ‘as much as possible’ to ensure that automated networks can be built at scale. According to Abrahamsson, this will potentially allow operators to manage every aspect of their networks via a single protocol stack, enabling greater flexibility and efficiency, saving time and money.

“We are fully supportive of standardized APIs and models like NETCONF/YANG as they will allow operators to configure and manage many different things,” said Abrahamsson. “As we continue this work, we are working towards having standardized modules as much as possible and with open source development and cooperation between vendors and operators becoming more crucial, we believe Broadband Forum has an important role to play.”

Deutsche Telekom is now looking for more collaboration with other operators, Standards Defining Organizations (SDOs) and vendors.

“We were delighted to host this Deutsche Telekom demonstration at our Q1 meeting and as expected, many of our members were interested in these proposals due to its close relationship to projects like OB-BAA and USP,” said Broadband Forum CEO Robin Mersh. “The more you can standardize data models and protocols, the easier it will be for operators to address the expanding market they are working in – both in terms of rising subscriber numbers and the proliferation of devices in an Internet of Things (IoT) era. Of course, that is what OB-BAA and USP are also trying to do and Deutsche Telekom’s initiative aligns with this approach.”

A video summary of the demonstration can be seen here.

Registration open for Broadband Forum’s 2019 Ultra-fast Broadband Acceleration Seminar (UFBB BASe) – 25-27 June in Den Haag

Image AddedThe latest breakthroughs in next-generation access technologies, the current state and future of the broadband market and best practices in advanced services deployment and monetization are the hot topics that will be explored in depth at the upcoming 2019 Ultra-fast Broadband Acceleration Seminar (UFBB BASe), on 25-27 June in Den Haag, The Netherlands.

Hosted by Broadband Forum, which has recently taken the reins of this highly regarded event, the 2019 UFBB BASe will build on the former TNO-led Ultra-Fast Broadband Seminar which developed, over the course of a decade, a stellar reputation for thought leadership, high quality speakers, technical acumen and a collaborative and energetic vibe.

Taking place at the Hotel NH Den Haag, the three-day event will build on TNO’s successful recipe by combining the event with the best elements of BASe to provide a unique balance of vision, real-world experience, and technical/operational insights into next-generation broadband networks, as well as a host of networking and social activities.

“Over the last decade, the Ultra-fast Broadband Seminar has become a world-class event and I’m delighted that Broadband Forum and TNO can continue to work together and build on the event’s success going forward,” said Kevin Foster, Chairman of the Broadband Forum. “The venue is locked in, and the agenda is shaping up to be extremely compelling and timely, with a number of leading industry luminaries already confirmed. We look forward to having you join us for this “can’t miss” event of the summer.” 

To register for the event, click here and to view the full agenda, click here.

For sponsorship opportunities, visit: https://www.broadband-forum.org/about-bbf-sponsorship. 

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Work Area Updates from Warsaw, Poland

For a full list of all Technical Reports published by Broadband Forum, click here. Please feel free to share this information with your colleagues, so they are engaged and aware of the developments of this work. For additional insight and to get involved, sign up for the members-only Broadband Forum tools and access your member-only account using your company email address.

New scalable BNG architecture and testing to ensure quality experience

• Target: The Architecture and Migration Work Area maintains primary architectural work of the Broadband Forum. This work reflects the control, management and data plane aspects of the Broadband Forum’s defined architectures. These architectures are augmented to leverage new industry practices, while protecting the investment in broadband networks already deployed.
• Progress: Significant technical work was under taken on the new Disaggregated Broadband Network Gateway (BNG) project and Broadband QED.
• Outcomes: The Application-Layer Test Traffic Architecture and Requirements (WT-421) was sent for final approval.

The Access and Transport Architecture Work Area progressed a range of work during the Q1 meeting. Much of the work revolved around the testing methodologies and specifications that Broadband Forum is developing to ensure a quality end-user experience. A new work item on Disaggregated BNG saw significant progress in its first meeting.

New technical work made significant progress on the new Disaggregated BNG (WT-459) project, which was agreed and started on 20 February 2019. A number of member companies contributed to the document in the first meeting after the New Project Initiation Form (NPIF) approval.

The Broadband Forum’s BNG Disaggregation project addresses the increased bandwidth demands being placed on BNGs – a result of the exponential growth in broadband demand and acceleration in video consumption across devices, as well as the incorporation of additional bandwidth-hungry functionalities. BNG Disaggregation also simplifies network operation, as without it operators are forced to deploy and manage multiple BNGs across numerous locations closer to the network edge to address load spreading. These factors have created challenges in control plane and user plane scaling, as well as geographical-related issues such as fragmented IP pool management, under-utilized control plane and complex operation and management for software upgrades and service provisioning.  To solve these challenges, BNG Disaggregation will define the architecture and requirements for a disaggregated BNG control plane and user plane which separates the control plane and data plane. This will bring benefits such as centralized locations for configuration and IP address management, leading to faster delivery of new services. The work will also ensure the control plane and user plane can be easily scaled according to customer demand. Click here for a press release announcing the commencement of this project. A video summary of this project can be seen here.

In the Application Layer Testing group, it was agreed to send the Application-Layer Test Traffic Architecture and Requirements (WT-421) for final approval. The Quality of Experience (QoE) perceived by network services’ customers is dependent on both the design of the network, and on the behavior of the traffic sent over the network by the applications used by those customers. Different types of applications generate traffic with very different characteristics. This Working Text (WT) defines an architecture and requirements for the specification of test traffic generated at the application layer. It supports specification of test traffic that exhibits the complexity resulting from multiple types of applications and subscribers aggregated in a common network and competing for resources. The WT also enables test traffic to be specified using consistent, unambiguous parameters that support repeatable test results under complex scenarios across different test labs, service providers, and vendors.

The Broadband QED (SD-452) project continued the substantial contribution on SD-452 that started before the meeting. The Broadband QED project is developing a new Quality Attenuation (∆Q) method to capture packet network performance that may be applied to analysis of both deployed networks and in laboratory testing. ∆Q is an approach to systems performance analysis that has applicability to broadband networks. It uses statistical distributions as a proxy for QoE and application outcomes. ∆Q can decompose a round trip time into separate constituent components, corresponding to various sources of performance degradation (packet loss/delay), be they structural (architecture/design), network dimensioning (link speeds etc.) or network load/scheduling related. It is this mathematical tractability that makes the technique so powerful for reasoning about systems (network) performance and facilitates “performance by design.” A video summary of progress in this project area can be seen here.

Work also progressed on Performance Measurement from IP Edge to Customer Equipment using STAMP (WT-390i2). Reliable and well-performing network services are becoming critical for broadband subscribers, as their lives increasingly rely on a ‘connected world’. In this demanding and competitive environment, service providers are looking for insight on how their networks are performing but cannot currently use standardized mechanisms for measuring the performance of the access network, which provides services to residential and business subscribers. This WT defines the capabilities required in the customer equipment and the IP Edge for service assurance of broadband subscribers using Simple Two-way Active Measurement Protocol (STAMP) performance measurement, including architectural and nodal requirements.

For more information about the Architecture and Migration group

The Broadband User Services (BUS) Work Area has been pushing forward on its mission to improve the in-home Wi-Fi experience for subscribers and allow service providers to deliver "carrier grade" In-Home networking. It is pleased to have resolved final comments on its Wi-Fi In-Home Performance Metrics (WT-398) document, giving clear expectations for developers of Wi-Fi equipment. In addition, the group is finalizing Wi-Fi network service elements (for mesh and repeater systems) in its Device:2 data model, enabling users to on-board, manage, and monitor these components in their deployments.

Following the success and buzz around the USP (TR-369, the evolution of TR-069) at Broadband World Forum, the group also made great strides towards version 1.1 of the protocol, incorporating feedback from interested developers and service providers and results from group testing events held so far. The next USP Plugfest is scheduled for April 1, 2019 and will help the Work Area gain feedback on version 1.1 of the protocol. An associated certification program for the protocol is also expected to be completed shortly after the 2019 Q2 meeting, taking place in Seoul, Korea.

For further updates from BUS, please see: https://wiki.broadband-forum.org/display/BBF/Broadband+User+Services.

Common YANG scores a hattrick at Q4!

• Target: Specify YANG modules that are applicable to multiple Work Areas, NETCONF/YANG test plans and certification for the defined YANG modules, and maintain YANG Best Current Practices, processes, procedures and tools.
• Progress: Continued work on managing the Access Node Control Protocol (ANCP) and alarm management, enabling additional functionality for network troubleshooting and data analysis.
• Outcomes: Amendment 2 of the YANG Modules for Fiber-to-the-distribution-point (FTTdp) Management was approved for straw ballot, updating existing models to align with the latest revisions of underlying ITU specifications.

Since the last meeting, Amendment 2 of the Common YANG Modules for Access Nodes (TR-383a2) was approved. This amendment is just one achievement within the Work Area and prepares the work for applicability beyond copper-based access by enhancing the YANG Modules for reuse in Optical Line Terminations (OLTs), providing ultrafast broadband over a Passive Optical Network (PON).

Secondly, the group approved the creation of an Amendment 3 which will further enhance the suite of YANG Modules, focusing on aspects such as alarm management, managing the Access Node Control Protocol (ANCP), and hardware management. These developments will meet service provider requirements, enabling additional functionality for network troubleshooting and data analysis.

In addition, Amendment 2 of the YANG Modules for FTTdp Management (WT-355a2) was approved to proceed to straw ballot. This Amendment adds Reverse Power Feeding support for Distribution Point Units (DPUs) and updates existing models to align with the latest revisions of underlying ITU specifications.

Last but not least, many of the Work Area participants also took part in an IETF ad-hoc meeting which discussed aspects related to IPFIX-based bulk data collection. This turned out to be a very interactive discussion, allowing the authors of the draft-boydseda-ipfix-psamp-bulk-data-yang-model to further enhance their work. It is expected this IETF activity may well be referenced by Common YANG in future work.

In summary, the Work Area made significant progress and maintains its leading role in the overall YANG standardization ecosystem.

For an overview of the Common YANG Work Area’s work, please visit: Common YANG Work Area.

Full steam ahead for OB-BAA, as it prepares for its second release

Image RemovedFollowing the success of the first release of the Open Broadband – Broadband Access Abstraction (OB-BAA) project earlier this year, the group successfully demonstrated an updated version of the release for the first time to the world at this year’s Broadband World Forum, in Berlin.

The demo highlighted how OLTs and DPUs from multiple vendors can be managed and controlled using the same commands and messages based on the NETCONF protocol and the associated standard YANG data model, using OB-BAA.

Following this, the team is now hard at work on the second release which is scheduled for February 2019. This work aims to support additional functionalities for existing access network elements to be virtualized for management and control purposes in Cloud Central Office (CloudCO) implementations. In addition, the second release adds more examples to manage and control network elements using the standard YANG data models specified in the Broadband Forum’s TR-413 technical specification.

For more information on OB-BAA, please visit: https://www.broadband-forum.org/projects/ob-projects/ob-baa. 

FAN collaborates to drive next-gen fiber access networks

• Target: To move forward with the straw ballot of the ITU-T PON YANG data model (WT-385).
• Progress: Work on the NETCONF requirement for access nodes was carried out jointly with the SDN NFV Work Area group.
  • Outcomes: Final ballot of the PON abstraction use cases for time critical functions, such as Dynamic Bandwidth Assignment (DBA) and definition of the open interface for time critical API functions was completed during the meeting. Several test plans were also brought forward across XGS-PON and NG-PON2 for final ballot.

Since the Q3 meeting, the Fiber Access Networks (FAN) Work Area has been busy progressing a number of key documents that will bring a range of benefits to global service providers.

Following the passing of the Functional Model for PON Abstraction Interface document (TR-402) at the Q3 meeting, this work has proven to provide the capabilities to define the PON abstraction use cases for time critical functions, such as DBA on PON systems. This will in turn allow service providers to reduce costs and accelerate development of PON systems by disaggregation of time critical functions. 

Progress on the PON Abstraction Interface Specification (WT-403) was also made prior to the meeting, with final ballot confirmed in early December. WT-403 defines the open interface for time critical API functions.

In addition to this, several test plans were brought forward for final ballot as part of the work of the Interoperability Project Stream, which include:

• The NG-PON2 TC Layer Test Plan (WT-426), which defines the NG-PON2 Transmission Convergence Layer Test Plan.
• The XGS-PON TC Layer Test Plan (WT-309, Issue 2), which defines the XGS Transmission.  
• The XG(S)-PON and NGPON-2 PON PMD Layer Test Plan (WT-423).

Work also continued on the GPON/XG-PON1 test plan development (ID-247 Issue 4) project, including the ongoing development of test cases, as well as industry collaboration with the ITU-T Q2 group.

Collaboration with the ITU-T is also being carried out in other areas, as well as the FSAN, as part of the NGPON2 Wavelength Management project stream (WT-352 Issue 2).

A liaison letter to send to the IEEE group was also reviewed during the meeting, in regard to the Work Area’s EPON/IEEE PON YANG work.

For the latest updates from the FAN Work Area, please visit: https://wiki.broadband-forum.org/display/BBF/Call+Agendas+and+Minutes+-+FAN.

Physical Layer Transmission sees light at the end of the tunnel for Gfast Issue 2 certification  

• Target: To carry out work which will help service providers deploy equipment that will give a better quality of experience for their end users.
• Progress: The Physical Layer Transmission group work continued on its Gfast Performance Testing document, Reverse Powering Feeding, Wi-Fi Performance Testing and many more projects.
• Outcome: Gfast Issue 2 certification has been sent to final ballot. Dates for Gfast Plugfests in 2019 have also been set. 

Having completed the resolution of straw ballot comments on Issue 2 of ID-337 (Gfast certification) arising from the ongoing BETA test program, the group agreed to send the document to final ballot. Issue 2 addresses 212MHz operation, Gfast over coax (profiles 106c and 212c) and increases performance requirements. Progress was made on Gfast Performance Testing (WT-380) in specifying test cases for multi-line testing with non-collocated Customer Premises Equipment (CPE).

Work progressed on WT-338 Issue 1 Amendment 1 and Issue 2 – the Reverse Power Feed test plan. This allows for testing of remote powering of access network equipment from the customer premises. The plan is to send Issue 1, Amendment 1 to straw ballot in February 2019.

A new project stream, FANCE (Fiber Access Networks - Copper Extensions), was established to work on WT-301 Issue 3, which includes FASTBACK - copper backhaul from a DPU using bonded Gfast. In addition, a new project, WT-419, was initiated to address extending fiber access over existing local copper infrastructure. This will include technology-agnostic use cases taken from SD-419 along with descriptions of technology specific ways to address these use cases based on G.hn, MoCA and Gfast.

In conjunction with BUS, the group completed the resolution of straw ballot comments on Wi-Fi Performance Testing (WT-398), which is now entering final ballot. Work progressed on the analysis and requirements for video support in-premises (SD-410), and performance testing of in-premises video support over Wi-Fi (WT-434). This will help service providers deploy equipment to give a better quality of experience for their end users.

Work progressed on the Infrastructure for Testing Mitigation of Interference between Power Line Communications (PLC) and Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), also known as WT-425.

Work also continued on performance requirements for long reach VDSL2 and work on measurements that will set performance targets will now begin. VDSL2-Long Reach (VDSL2-LR) is the technology of choice for operators to migrate their aging ADSL network towards a single technology vectored VDSL2 network. Vectored VDSL2-LR provides ADSL2 plus like rates on long loops (10Mb/s at 4km), while providing VDSL2 performances on shorter loops. 

Dates for Gfast Plugfests at the University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL) in New Hampshire for the first half of 2019 have been set as follows:

• March 11-15, 2019
• May 13-17, 2019

To gain further insight into what the Physical Layer Transmission Work Area is doing, visit: https://wiki.broadband-forum.org/display/BBF/Physical+Layer+Transmission.

5G Transport Architecture looks towards 2019

• Target: To form industry-agreed specifications of the routing and transport network infrastructure for applications such as mobile backhaul/transport infrastructure, video distribution and data center interconnect.
• Progress: Work continued on the market drivers and the transport architecture for 5G.
• Outcomes: The Ethernet Virtual Private Network (EVPN) which was carried out at Q3 has now been made publicly available on the Forum’s website as TR-350 Issue 2. This work will provide the architecture and equipment requirements for cloud services, video distribution and mobile backhaul.

Progress was made during the meeting on the market drivers and the transport architecture for 5G and work will carry on into 2019. The use of Segment Routing was introduced at this meeting, which builds on the use of deterministic transport and helps to integrate Software Defined Networking (SDN) into the transport architecture (SD.5GTransport).

Deterministic transport, in the form of IEEE Time Sensitive Networking (TSN) and IETF Deterministic Networking (DetNet) are technologies that augment existing packet networking, providing deterministic latency, latency variation and loss for applications that demand these stringent constraints.

The EVPN work discussed in the Q3 newsletter has now been published and is available on the public website. This work provides the essential architecture and equipment requirements for using the EVPN technology developed in IETF and IEEE for providing cloud services, video distribution and mobile backhaul. EVPN provides scalability, resiliency and operational enhancements over previous technologies used to provide Ethernet services such as PBB, VPWS and VPLS. These enhancements help meet the higher performance and more versatile needs of today's networks and, in particular, transport for 5G networks, both fixed and mobile. 

Planning for 2019 was also carried out, with potential new projects suggested. This information is available on the wiki.

To find out more about the Routing and Transport Work Area’s work, see: https://wiki.broadband-forum.org/display/BBF/Routing+and+Transport.

Innovation Group empowers an ultra-fast world with BoF session

A BoF session on ‘powering in an ultrafast world’ was held on the first day of the quarterly meeting in Glasgow this week. The jam-packed session addressed the issues and challenges operators and equipment providers are facing when building ultrafast access networks. 

Presentations were given by AT&T, Openreach, Huawei, InCoax, Nokia and VoltServer and were followed by discussions on how the Broadband Forum can overcome key hurdles in enabling rapid and remote broadband deployments. Several suggestions for future work were made and the first step will be to look deeper into common operator challenges, particularly around battery back-up under local power fail and how they can be improved to support high availability broadband services and DPU powering (both forward and reverse).

Architecture+and+Migration.

Broadband User Services Work Area strengthens connected home business model

• Target: Help service providers control the connected home business model.
• Progress: Work on the next version of USP and a robust service element for Wi-Fi mesh networks continued. 
  • Outcomes: The next USP Plugfest will take place on April 1-5, 2019.

The Broadband User Services Work Area made great strides in enabling service providers to control the connected home business model. With new participation from leading gateway application vendors, the group pushed forward with the next version (1.1) of USP, slated for release this summer. Implementations continue to expand and improve with participation in ongoing Plugfests – with the next one starting on April 1 – and a certification program for USP Agents targeted for July 2019.

BUS is also finalizing a robust service element for Wi-Fi mesh networks in its standardized Device:2 data model. Combined with USP, this empowers providers to offer real carrier grade Wi-Fi. This is helped along by the recently published TR-398 Wi-Fi Performance Test specification, allowing vendors to demonstrate that they can meet the requirements of carrier grade Wi-Fi.

A video summary of updates in BUS can be seen here.

Anyone interested in attending the next USP Plugfest can register here.

For more information on BUS’ ongoing work, visit: https://wiki.broadband-forum.org/display/BBF/Broadband+User+Services. If you are interested in attending a new webinar, titled ‘Deliver on the promise of the connected home: An expert panel webinar on USP/TR-369’ will take place on Thursday, April 4 at 10am Eastern Time.

Common YANG to publish revamped FTTdp YANG model next month

• Target: Specify YANG modules that are applicable to multiple Work Areas, NETCONF/YANG test plans and certification for the defined YANG modules, and maintain YANG Best Current Practices, processes, procedures and tools.
• Progress: High interest in both vendor and service provider community; continued work on managing the Access Node Control Protocol (ANCP) and alarm management, enabling additional functionality for network troubleshooting and data analysis.
• Outcomes: Amendment 2 of the YANG Modules for Fiber-to-the-distribution-point (FTTdp) Management to proceed to Final Ballot on April 8; creation of YANG Modules for Broadband Network Gateways (SD-460).

Since the last meeting, work continued on Amendment 3 of the Common YANG Modules for Access Nodes (WT-383a3), which will further enhance the suite of YANG Modules, focusing on aspects such as alarm management, managing the Access Node Control Protocol (ANCP), and hardware management. These developments will meet service provider requirements, enabling additional functionality for network troubleshooting and data analysis for ultrafast broadband over VDSL, FAST and Passive Optical Networks (PON).

In addition, Amendment 2 of the YANG Modules for FTTdp Management (WT-355a2) was approved to proceed to Final Ballot on April 8. This Amendment updates existing models to align with the latest revisions of underlying ITU specifications. A two-week review will be done on the latest YANG model changes. 

The group agreed to kick off a Study Document, YANG Modules for Broadband Network Gateways (SD-460). The intention of this work is to work through the project scope that would feed a future WT covering BNG YANG Modules. The group is aiming to complete the study prior to the Q2 meeting so that a well-informed decision can be taken at that point in time. The aim of this work is to smoothen interop for BNG deployments.

For an overview of the Common YANG Work Area’s work, please visit: https://wiki.broadband-forum.org/display/BBF/Common+YANG+Work+Area

A video summary of updates in Common YANG can be seen here.

FAN moves forward with several documents, collaborates on next-gen networks

• Target: At the end of 2019 Q2, FAN is aiming to have a Straw Ballot Readiness meeting on PON PMD Test Plan (WT-423) and Inter-Channel Termination Protocol (WT-352).
• Progress: Work is continuing on PON PMD Test Plan (WT-423), with the addition of several test cases.
• Outcomes:  TR-385 ITU-T PON YANG has been finalized and work on WT-385 Issue 2 has begun.

Since the Q4 2018 meeting, the Fiber Access Networks (FAN) Work Area has continued to update several key study documents that will bring a range of benefits to service providers.

The PON Management Project Stream – which is dedicated to the development and testing of NETCONF management models to manage ITU-T and IEEE PON YANG models – has progressed ITU-T PON YANG (TR-385) through to straw ballot, with the document passing final ballot in February. Work has also started on a contribution on how to manage Inter-Channel Termination Protocol (ICTP) and IP Flow Information Export (IPFIX) through WT-385. This work will become part of WT-385 Issue 2 if passed.

Within the Interoperability and Test Project Stream, work continued on PON PMD TP (WT-423), with the addition of several test cases, for example, optical path penalty test cases, based on the NPIF that was previously approved. The Optical Network Unit (ONU) transmit power pass criteria was also modified, resulting in the WT-423 NPIF moving from an Amendment to an Issue.

ID-247 GPON & XG-PON1 ONU Conformance Test Plan Collaboration has seen significant progression over the last quarter. An ad hoc group working on this has several test cases including (but not limited to) to multicast bandwidth, dying gasp, VLAN operations, and ONU Management and Control Interface (OMCI) reboot.

In the Wavelength Management Project Stream, the following categories of changes were incorporated:

• Editorial fixes
• ICTP through NAT
• ICTP IPFIX clarifications
• Inventory Type–Length–Value (TLV)
• Vendor extensions
• ICTP IPFIX IE descriptions to be added to Broadband Forum’s website were discussed.

This new section will detail ICTP IPFIX IEs previously published in TR-352 Issue 1 ICTP Technical Report.

The FAN Work Area also held two joint sessions with the SDN/NFV Work Area. The first item discussed was Virtualized OMCI (vOMCI) on issues and questions surrounding the virtualization of OMCI, as well as how vOMCI is implemented. The SDN/NFV Work Area will now continue this work in vOMCI Interface Specification (WT-451).

The second session with the SDN/NFV Work Area focused on YANG Modules for Access Network Map & Equipment Inventory (WT-454). The groups agreed that WT-454 should include Optical Network Units (ONUs) and that the metadata that was needed for this particular module was going to be stored in the SDN manager. The SDN/NFV Work Area will now take on this work and continue to move it forward.

A video summary of the latest updates in FAN can be seen here.

Easy as one, two three! OB-BAA publishes second release, starts work on third

OB-BAA has issued its second release, opening the door for service providers to achieve dramatically simplified service provisioning and faster time-to-market 

Building on the functionalities enabled by Releases 1.0 and 1.1, which were demonstrated to wide-acclaim at Broadband World Forum last October, the OB-BAA project released its second major version that expands the types of proprietary access nodes that can be managed and controlled via the BAA layer. This includes enabling additional adaptation of access nodes to meet individual network needs and providing examples of common functions that service providers are likely to perform when automating and managing their networks.

Taking accelerated migration to cloud-based access networks to the next level, this Open Broadband reference implementation expands the breadth of vendors and network configurations capable of leveraging its ability to facilitate co-existence, seamless migration and adaptation to an increasingly wide variety of software defined access technologies and implementations.

The next release is scheduled for August and will include additional enhancements for service monitoring, including performance monitoring and alarm notifications, as well as control plane relay experiments. This will give Service Providers the functionality needed to effectively manage the access nodes in a software defined access network.

View the press release announcing this release here.

A video summary of OB-BAA release 2 and other Open Broadband initiatives can be see here.

OB-MAP prepares for Release 1

Broadband Forum launched the leading-edge Open Broadband Multi-AP (OB-MAP) project to ensure that the software of open-source innovators, like prpl Foundation, and their mesh software projects will be scalable to large service provider deployments via carrier grade manageability.

Together, the two organizations are fostering a vibrant open-source community to define requirements and create a reference implementation. 

At the Q1 meeting, work continued on understanding the use cases and requirements, while anticipating software from the prpl Foundation for the EasyMesh MAP Release 1 implementation.

Physical Layer Transmission finalizes Gfast Issue 2 certification  

• Target: To carry out work which will help service providers deploy equipment that will give a better quality of experience for their end-users.
• Progress: The Physical Layer Transmission group work continued on its Gfast Performance Testing document, Reverse Powering Feeding, long reach VDSL2, Fiber Extension, and many more projects.
• Outcome: Gfast Issue 2 certification and copper cable models have been sent to final ballot. 

Having completed the resolution of straw ballot comments on Issue 2 of ID-337 (Gfast certification), the group agreed to send the document to final ballot. Issue 2 addresses 212MHz operation, Gfast over coax (profiles 106c and 212c) and increases performance requirements.

Work on WT-338 Issue 1 Amendment 1 – the Reverse Power Feed test plan is near complete as most straw ballot comments have been resolved. This allows for testing of remote powering of access network equipment from the customer premises. The plan is to send Issue 1, Amendment 1 to final ballot in Q2 2019.

The Fiber Access Networks - Copper Extensions (FANCE) project stream initiated work on WT-301 Issue 3, which includes architectures and requirements for FASTBACK - copper backhaul from a Distribution Point Unit (DPU) using bonded Gfast. In addition, Projects WT-419/SD-419 made progress on use cases and requirements for extending fiber access over existing local copper infrastructure.

In conjunction with BUS, the group published a technical report on Wi-Fi Performance Testing (TR-398). Work progressed on performance testing of in-premises video support over Wi-Fi (WT-434). This will help service providers deploy equipment to give a better quality of experience for their end-users.

WT-208 Issue 3 on Performance Test Plan for In-premises Powerline Communications Systems was sent to straw ballot. In addition, work progressed on the Infrastructure for Testing Mitigation of Interference between Power Line Communications (PLC) and Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), also known as WT-425.

Work also continued on functional and performance requirements for long reach VDSL2.

A Gfast Plugfest at the University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL), in New Hampshire, has been scheduled to take place from May 13-17, 2019.

To gain further insight into what the Physical Layer Transmission Work Area is doing, For more insight into the Innovation group’s work, please visit: https://wiki.broadband-forum.org/display/BBF/Innovation+GroupPhysical+Layer+Transmission.  

A video summary of the latest work in PHYtx  can be seen here.

Making milestones: SDN/NFV Work Area ends successful year with newly published application notes and significant progress in CloudCO and FANSmakes good progress on new projects

• Target: To drive the migration of SDN and NFV into broadband networks to facilitate the agile deployment of new customized distributed broadband services and applications.
• Progress: The Work Area gained significant momentum, with a new project stream confirmed - Automated Intelligent Management. This work will explore how machine learning and AI can improve service providers’ operations, as well as management of access and home networks. A document on FANS interfaces (WT-386) also reached final ballot, with its associated white paper also entering straw ballot.
• Outcomes: The Work Area published seven of its 14 application notes that have been authored, these form the basis of the use cases that drive the interfaces and test cases for CloudCO. These use cases were demonstrated for the first time at this year’s Broadband World Forum and are now publicly available on the Broadband Forum website.

During the Q4 meeting, a new project stream within the Work Area was launched – “Automated Intelligent Management”. In light of this, work on the first working text (WT-436: Access & Home Network O&M Automation/Intelligence) of the project stream began. This project will focus on how machine learning and AI can be applied to data to improve the operations of service providers and help manage access and home networks. It was agreed at the meeting to add several use cases which will be worked upon in the future, with the aim to help drive automation into network operations, while reducing Operational Expenditure (OpEx) costs and improving customer experience.

First contributions to a new working text (WT-435: NETCONF Requirements for Access Nodes and Broadband Access Abstraction) were also discussed and agreed. This builds on a study document previously produced within the FAN group to help provide the necessary management capability between the CloudCO and any management and control elements that need to interact with them. 

Continuing this momentum, the group also agreed to start work on a new specification for management of a virtual OMCI interface. This work will consider the virtualization of PON OMCI functionality and the related standardization that is required to achieve interoperability between various management functions.

The group’s work on CloudCO Interfaces (WT-411) made a leap in progress following an agreement to significantly restructure the document, including the addition of models to support access network maps and equipment inventories. Moving forward, collaboration will be carried out with the Common YANG group to develop these models into YANG models.

The FANS Project Stream also made great progress, as it entered its final documentation on FANS interfaces (WT-386) into final ballot and its associated technical marketing whitepaper entering straw ballot. This delivers the first issue of a suite of documents that will enable the industry to share a single physical network infrastructure between multiple Communication Service Providers (CSPs), allowing them to differentiate their products which are offered over the infrastructure.

Lastly, work on the group’s co-existence and migration document (WT-408) saw several contributions discussed, which led to the agreement that the editor would undertake a clean-up of the document to align with new guidelines that were agreed during the meeting. This will help provide a clearer direction for the document to enable contributors to progress its development.

More information about the SDN/NFV Work Area can be found at: https://wiki.broadband-forum.org/display/BBF/SDN+and+NFV.

WWC continues to execute on 5G

• Target: Address the needs of converged operators, which have both wireline and mobile networks deployed and are in a position to leverage all their assets with combined subscriber offerings.
• Progress: The Wireline-Wireless Convergence Work Area (WWC) completed its study on Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) and its inputs contributed to the finalization of the 3GPP study work. The group also progressed to defining the document structure and plan to execute on the necessary specifications to make FMC a reality.
• Outcomes: Complete solutions to FMC will be delivered in the release 16 timeframe as originally planned.

Work in the WWC Work Area continued to gain pace, addressing the needs of converged operators with both wireline and mobile networks deployed who are in a position to leverage all their assets with combined subscriber offerings. This will allow converged operators to provide a uniform experience to their customers irrespective of the access or appliance they are using. This will be supported by a common and streamlined back office systems and control plane.

On the journey to making this happen, the study work on 5G fixed access concluded at the Q4 meeting. The study, being carried out jointly with 3GPP, outlined the necessary changes to 5G core specifications and to Broadband Forum specified networks. This puts the work on track to deliver a family of specifications on FMC, coordinated with 3GPP’s release 16 efforts.

The Forum is taking an important role in developing 5G, making recommendations for the connection points between the fixed and 5G mobile core networks in order to drive core convergence. This work, led by the 5G project stream, is detailed in SD-407 5G FMC. 

Joint sessions were held across the Technical Committee examining other aspects of 5G where the Forum’s expertise could be applied. In particular, with BUS, which saw the go forward plan to execute CPE changes for FMC firmed up. This will enable USP, and its predecessor, TR-069, to also contribute to the value proposition of FMC and 5G.

WWC is now entering the normative phase of this work with the specifications set to be finalized by the end of 2019.

• new customized distributed broadband services and applications.
• Progress: The new work items (vOMCI, Automated Intelligent Management & YANG models for Access Equipment mapping & inventory) stimulated a good number of contributions on the new topics. These generated good discussion with progress on all three topics.
• Outcomes: The new Access & Home Network O&M Automation / Intelligence under the new Automated Intelligent Management Project Stream resulted in all contributions for use cases being agreed in principle.

The SDN/NFV Work Area had good debate on the vOMCI specification project, with key contributions allowing the group to answer and agree some of the fundamental questions which will help shape exactly what the scope includes. Even though some of the questions posed appeared very simple, they exposed some potential complexities that will now need to be worked around and where the group could make use of the discussion tools on the Wiki. This work will define how the virtualized ONUs delivered from a single Optical Line Terminal (OLT) are managed by multiple operators. The WT YANG Modules for Access Network Mapping and Equipment Inventory (WT-454) took shape providing a definition of the metadata needed within the automation / big data analysis systems.

After some stagnation in the development of the group’s Application Notes, two new notes were approved for publication. The group also injected new life into a number of others that hadn’t been progressed for the last few meetings, with the expectation that these should be agreed for publishing soon. These should help drive the testing within the new European Open Broadband Lab.

Several new use cases under the Access & Home Network O&M Automation/Intelligence (WT-346) were discussed and agreed in principle. These will now be enhanced before inclusion into the document. This led to the template for the use cases being changed so the required information will immediately be available in the future.

The group agreed it should work on delivering an Issue 2 of the Fixed Access Network Sharing (TR-370). This will help align that document with both FANS Interfaces (TR-386) and CloudCO Framework (TR-384). This should be a simple update and will ensure that all the documents are consistent.

More information about the SDN/NFV Work Area can be found at: https://wiki.broadband-forum.org/display/BBF/SDN+and+NFV.

A video summary of the latest updates in the SDN/NFV work area can be seen here.

WWC continues collaboration with 3GPP for FMC

• Target: Address the needs of converged operators, which have both wireline and mobile networks deployed and are in a position to leverage all their assets with combined subscriber offerings.
• Progress: The Wireline-Wireless Convergence Work Area (WWC) has started populating the documents that will provide the normative specifications for the equipment that will connect wireline to the 5G core and the CPE it will serve.
• Outcomes: Complete solutions to FMC will be delivered in the release 16 timeframe as originally planned.

Work in the WWC Work Area is now increasingly focused on the technical details that require specification, addressing the needs of converged operators with both wireline and mobile networks deployed who are in a position to leverage all their assets with combined subscriber offerings. This work will allow converged operators to provide a uniform experience to their customers irrespective of the access or appliance they are using. This will be supported by a common and streamlined back office and control plane.

On the journey to making this happen, the study work on 5G fixed access concluded at the Q4 meeting. Broadband Forum and 3GPP are now collaborating to ensure a smooth transition of the FMC work to the normative phase as the details are documented in specifications worked on by both bodies.

Broadband Forum is taking an important role in developing 5G, making recommendations for the connection points between the fixed and 5G mobile core networks in order to drive core convergence.

Joint sessions were held across the Technical Committee examining other aspects of 5G where Broadband Forum’s expertise could be applied. In particular, with BUS, which saw the go forward plan to execute Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) changes for FMC firmed up. This will enable USP, and its predecessor, TR-069, to also contribute to the value proposition of FMC and 5G. SDN for 5G (known as CUPS or control user plane separation) is another important topic under intense exploration. This will greatly enhance the deployment options available to carriers that embrace 5G and the overall transition to NFV.

WWC is now settling into the normative phase of this work with the specifications set to be finalized by the end of 2019.

For more on the Wireline-Wireless Convergence Work Area, please see: https://wiki.broadband-forum.org/display/BBF/Wireline-Wireless+Convergence.

A video summary of the latest updates in the Wireless-Wireline Convergence Work Area can be seen here.

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NG-PON2 creates buzz at BASe OFC

Broadband Forum hosted a packed-out Broadband Acceleration Seminar (BASe) seminar at OFC, in Las Vegas, from March 3-7, sharing the latest views from pioneering operators such as Verizon and SK Broadband, as well as thought leaders OVUM and Fiber Broadband Association.

Covering four tracks – Worldwide Access Market Overview, Component Market Update, Ecosystem Overview and Best Practices, and Integration and Applications – BASe POINT delved explored the NG-PON2 roadmap and evolution and how it could provide a universal platform for residential, business and wireless and 5G networks.

For a video overview the latest BASe seminars, click here.

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Join broadband pioneers at Broadband World Forum!

Following another successful show in 2018, Broadband Forum is once again bringing its hugely popular Interoperability Pavilion to Broadband World Forum, taking place in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, October 15-17, 2019.

Now in its 19^th year, Broadband World Forum provides the perfect opportunity to connect with the entire fixed network ecosystem and bring the latest broadband technologies together.

As an organization at the leading edge of broadband developments and trends, Broadband Forum members are encouraged to take part in the Interoperability Pavilion – and will gain access to a discounted rate for their pod. The first ten applicants will also receive a full access delegate pass for the conference.

“Exhibiting at Broadband World Forum is an excellent opportunity to position your company as an innovator in the space and provides the ideal event to meet potential partners, learn about current challenges, and get a 360-degree view of the industry in one place,” said Geoff Burke, Broadband Forum Chief Marketing Officer.

Anyone interested in taking part in the Interoperability Pavilion should contact Tamas Szuts at tamas.szuts@knect365.com or on +44 (0) 207 017 4260For more on the Wireline-Wireless Convergence Work Area, please see: https://wiki.broadband-forum.org/display/BBF/Wireline-Wireless+Convergence.

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Welcome to new and returning members! 

We are pleased to welcome new and returning members to the Q4 meeting, including Furukawa Electric, Predictable Network Solutions (PNSol), BQ and TQ Delta.We would like to welcome PNSol, Talk Talk Group, Domos and our newest Principal member, Telstra, to their first quarterly meetingwelcoming a host of new members to this quarterly meeting, including Telecom, Benu Networks, F-Secure, Humax, KAON, Pico, Roqos, Spirent, Support Robotics and TQ Delta.

Are you interested in becoming the next member of the industry’s leading standards body in defining Broadband Networks - the ? Broadband Forum ? Membership membership will not only accelerate your company’s progress but enable you to become a key influencer in developing 5G, the Cloud, the Connected Home and Access Networks. Those who are interested in joining before the end of 2018 are invited to apply for a five Quarter Membership. 2019 Annual Memberships are also now being accepted. 

To learn more about the benefits of Membership, please contact Rhonda Heier, Membership Development Manager, at rheier@broadband-forum.org. 

Documents:

• WT-384 - passed final ballot
• WT-331: Using PON for Mobile Backhaul – passed final ballot
• WT-338i1 (Reverse Power Feed) – in final ballot
• WT-416 - out for final ballot
• WT-114i3a4 (BA17ade RTX): VDSDL2 - going to final ballot
• WT-347 (CPE SELT Calibration) - - going to final ballot

For a full list of all work in progress, click here. Please feel free to share this information with your colleagues, so they are engaged and aware of the developments of this work.

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Broadband Forum in the news

The Broadband Forum’s CEO Robin Mersh has contributed a number of articles to well-known publications over the past quarter, including Pipeline magazine’s October edition on 5G transport. An article on ALT and USP is scheduled for publication in Telecom Tech Outlook in December, as well as a by-line on OB-BAA in InterComms magazine. 

The Forum made a number of major announcements in the month of October, including the results of its latest USP Plugfest, the launch of its new open source WiFi Mesh project with the prpl foundation, its plans to take the ‘reigns’ on the highly regarded Ultrafast Broadband Seminar from TNO and also a piece on the Forum’s new approach to combining the best of open source and open standards, live from the renowned Broadband World Forum. These announcements attracted attention from a number of top-tier publications, including Optical Connections, Advanced Television, Telecompaper and Telecom TV.

For all of the Forum’s latest news and updated, make sure you are following the Broadband Forum on LinkedIn.

are interested in joining before the end of 2018 are invited to apply for a five Quarter Membership. 2019 Annual Memberships are also now being accepted. 

To learn more about the benefits of Membership, please contact Rhonda Heier, Membership Development Manager, at rheier@broadband-forum.org.

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Broadband Forum in the news

It’s been an active and exciting month for Broadband Forum, with 10 news releases published – all of which were met by a great response.

The year started with the launch of Broadband QED, inspiring coverage in RCR Wireless, Advanced Television and ISPreview. This was followed by an update on Gfast and an article on BASe OFC, with coverage in Comms Business, Pipeline Magazine and Telecompetitor.

Next up, in quick succession, was the publication of landmark specifications TR-402 and TR-403, a collaboration with 3GPP, the release of the industry’s first Wi-Fi performance test standard, the launch of OB-BAA Release 2, and a look at the future of broadband with Point Topic. Coverage ranged far and wide with Lightwave, Mobile Europe, RCR Wireless, 5G.co.uk, telecompaper, Telecom TV, and Telecom Asia among the list. The 3GPP news release was particularly well-received and following an interview with Robin Mersh, Telecom TV produced this article about the work.

More recently, news releases on Broadband Forum’s European Open Broadband Lab and new 212 MHz Gfast certification have been published.

Alongside this, longer, more detailed features are also been produced. Silicon Republic featured a Q&A with Robin Mersh, while Telecom Tech Outlook produced this detailed overview of the connected home and the role TR-069 has to play. Broadband World News also created this round up for Broadband Forum’s work following an interview Robin Mersh and Geoff Burke. With additional features already secured in Intelligent CIO and Fibre Systems, Broadband Forum is well and truly in the spotlight.

And don’t miss a great article covering the launch of Broadband Forum’s Disaggregated BNG project form Broadband World News. 

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Events Calendar 

2019 Broadband Forum Meetings

And don’t Don’t forget to save the dates for next year’s meetings. Here’s a first glance of what the calendar looks like: