VIAVI Solutions recently announced advanced of a joint testbed as a service (TBaaS) with VMware – recently acquired by Broadcom – which combines VIAVI’s TeraVM RIC Test with the VMware RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) to create a “digital twin” for the evaluation and performance benchmarking of applications. TBaaS has been validated with multiple app vendors and consortiums, including at the i14y Lab, underscoring expanding industry demand due to its ability to speed deployment and agility. Digital twin modeling, based on AI and enabling new predictive capabilities, is emerging as a vital solution to fortify increasingly complex networks, said the companies. By creating a virtual model of a network in the lab, service providers can more quickly and effectively model network behaviors and disruptions. TBaaS provides a cloud-based digital twin via a set of tools that enable communication service providers to streamline evaluation of rApps and xApps prior to selection of partners, continuous CI/ CD efforts, deployment and secure operations in the network. With TBaaS from VIAVI and VMware, RIC applications address the need for simulations using realistic data. VIAVI provides geolocation intelligence and xApps/rApps, with real RAN data over the VMware RIC platform. This allows a CSP to capture information once and emulate it with multiple other applications, reducing the overhead of repeatedly capturing, processing and transmitting data. In addition, the RAN Scenario Generator within the TeraVM RIC Test allows developers and operators to model scenarios in the lab, either prior to launch or in environments where large volumes of real data are unavailable. Data captured can also be used for training AI/ML models. According to a survey of 3,000 U.S. business owners and managers, the majority of respondents successfully realized AI’s potential to reduce cost. Perhaps, more interesting, the findings from software vendor AIPRM showed where companies are applying AI to save money. And among respondents that were able to reduce costs by using AI, the number one place they applied the technology is to replace activities regarding “predicting customer behavior.” According to analysts from Dell’Oro Group, worldwide data center capex is forecast for a CAGR of 18 percent, as investments shift toward AI. The research firm anticipates accelerated computing that optimizes AI workloads will account for a quarter of the data center capex. “Accelerated computing optimized for domain specific workloads such as AI is forecast to exceed $200 billion by 2028, with the majority of the investments deployed by the hyperscale cloud service providers,” said Baron Fung, senior research director at Dell’Oro Group. “In order to drive longterm sustainable growth, the cloud service providers will seek to streamline general-purpose computing infrastructure costs by transitioning to next-generation server platforms and rack-scale architectures.” Fung also anticipated increased vertical integration efforts by the hyperscalers to control costs and bring further optimizations for their full stack. Meanwhile, the enterprise segment faces near-term headwinds related to economic uncertainties and will adopt a hybrid cloud model for AI and traditional IT workloads, explained Fung. Dell’Oro’s findings also showed that by 2028, the top four U.S.-based cloud providers — Amazon, Google, Meta, and Microsoft — will account for half of global data center capex. Testbed-aaS to Advance Digital Twin Environments Where AI’s Applied to Reduce Cost Accelerated Computing Pushes Data Center Capex Spend EMERGENT 8 CHANNELVISION | MARCH - APRIL 2024 Most Common Tasks Replaced with AI Task % replacing task with AI Predicting customer behavior 83% Automating repetitive tasks 76% Budget planning 76% More accurate forecasting 73% Improving customer experience 67% Source: AIPRM survey of U.S. businesses
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