Cloud-Native computing uses an open-source software stack to deploy applications as microservices, packaging each part into its own container, and dynamically orchestrating those containers to optimize resource utilization. Cloud-native technologies enable software developers to build great products faster”.
But this the definition for Cloud-Native, What about its importance for 5G?
5G was developed for an extremely mobile and hyper-connected society and to accommodate the need for emerging use-cases and business models. The evolution from 4G to 5G is significant and unlike previous evolution journeys for Mobile operators. 5G is not only affecting the consumer, enterprise and industrial space with new use cases and business cases allowed by enhanced capabilities, it’s also encouraging operators and vendors to re-think and re-architect how the network will be built and managed.
So 5G will need Cloud Native in the Core domain due to the below reasons (from Ericsson point of view):
- Improve granularity and increase the speed of software upgrades and releases.
- Automate through embedded features in the NFVI layer (cloud infrastructure for NFV).
- Adapt software architecture to make much better use of cloud data center resources.