Edge routers have been an essential part of the Internet for decades, connecting access networks (enterprise LANs, mobile and broadband networks) to the global backbone. These devices often have cryptic names—MPLS VPN Provider Edge routers, S/P-Gateways in the case of mobile cellular networks, and Broadband Network Gateways (BNG) in the case of fiber networks—but they are, at their core, IP (L3) packet forwarders
I'd also really like the 5G folk to set a very simple goal - be able to provide a steady packets per ms, sufficient to have a quality Quake experience, where a gamer can play for hours without lag, and just as effectively as they would do over a dedicated wired connection.
Y'all do that, and the wired market vanishes. Cloud gaming would be next, but, full first person shooter support would be easier to aim for.
So long as the data plane does queue management *right* e.g. rfc7567, rfc8290, rfc7806, rfc8033 - on every step down transition from fast to slow, I'm all in favor of unification. However the history of disaggregation so far especially in 5G has been dismal in support of saner queue management, so I am not hopeful. Certainly there have been some good things on these fronts appearing in p4 lately, however.
Makes a lot of sense to me. Rather than focusing on access technologies and their nuances, this approach would free operators/enterprises to focus on services/policies for their end customers. - Anil
That's exactly right. Abstract away the differences in access technologies, and you make it possible to define unified policies across any-and-all of them.
Totally agree. We take it a few steps further with a protocol and system, SPAN-AI https://gtsystems.io/
I'd also really like the 5G folk to set a very simple goal - be able to provide a steady packets per ms, sufficient to have a quality Quake experience, where a gamer can play for hours without lag, and just as effectively as they would do over a dedicated wired connection.
Y'all do that, and the wired market vanishes. Cloud gaming would be next, but, full first person shooter support would be easier to aim for.
So long as the data plane does queue management *right* e.g. rfc7567, rfc8290, rfc7806, rfc8033 - on every step down transition from fast to slow, I'm all in favor of unification. However the history of disaggregation so far especially in 5G has been dismal in support of saner queue management, so I am not hopeful. Certainly there have been some good things on these fronts appearing in p4 lately, however.
Makes a lot of sense to me. Rather than focusing on access technologies and their nuances, this approach would free operators/enterprises to focus on services/policies for their end customers. - Anil
That's exactly right. Abstract away the differences in access technologies, and you make it possible to define unified policies across any-and-all of them.