A Cloud Native Journey for Telecommunication Networks: Components, Applications and Open Challenges

Cloud-native computing is a software development approach that uses cloud computing to build and run scalable applications by leveraging best practices and technologies in the field such as DevOps, general unified architectures (e.g., based on serverless functions, containers, container orchestrators, sidecar, service meshes, microservices), agile software development and so on. It is also used for application development environments that enable an abstraction layer on top of non-cloud provider services. Cloud-native is expected to increase the efficiency of development, operation, and verification of 5G and beyond network functionalities along with automated service upgrades and deployments, and ultimately reduce vendor lock-in so that applications can be easily migrated to other environments seamlessly. In this article, we provide a state-of-the-art overview of existing cloud-native approaches for telcos, their key features, the role of open-source and Linux Foundation projects, and all associated standardization efforts. After presenting key findings of the recent research studies and related implications under “Lessons Learned”, we highlight the potential challenges, current issues, and future directions of cloud-native computing for telecommunication networks.