How Generative AI is Revolutionizing 5G Standalone Networks and Service Assurance

Imagine a world where your mobile network not only meets your current demands but anticipates future needs, seamlessly adapting to ensure the best possible experience. Welcome to the era of 5G Standalone (5G SA) networks, supercharged by the power of Generative AI (GenAI). In this dive into the cutting-edge, we’ll uncover how GenAI is propelling 5G SA to new heights, transforming network operations and service assurance.

The Rise of 5G SA: Paving the Way for Innovation

The rise of 5G standalone (5G SA) continues its ascension as the gateway to new innovative applications, services, and solutions through open APIs, differentiated connectivity, and service-based architecture. According to the Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA), out of the 261 commercial 5G services available today, 47 are provided by 5G SA networks, with 89 more planned for deployment soon. This surge highlights 5G SA as one of the most significant IT advancements in recent years.

Key Business Needs for Sustaining 5G SA Advancement

1. Assurance as Part of AIOps Service Orchestration

The importance of end-to-end service orchestration processes that fulfill a customer’s requirement for a new service is critical. This encompasses order handling through service design, service/resource provisioning, and assurance. Service orchestration must interact with the assurance system to notify it about the new service, such as how network functions are chained together and the Key Quality Indicators (KQIs)/Service Level Agreements (SLAs) to be monitored.

            Leading vendors already demonstrate AIOps assurance models forecasting expected performance against KQIs, with projected future confidence bands for metrics such as device-level and end-to-end downlink throughput.
        

2. The Need for Observability – Within Domains, Across Domains, and Across Vertical Stacks

The service assurance market is fueling new revenue strategies for mission-critical services requiring guaranteed performance levels. This is particularly relevant for 5G mobile cores as 5G SA deployments take root, blurring the line between enterprise IT and traditional telco networks.

            Leading vendors are demonstrating their ability to provide assurance both horizontally and vertically, such as pinpointing the root cause of service issues to underlying resource issues in the cloud infrastructure.
        

3. The Need for Observability – Across Customers

Recent improvements in network resilience, driven by virtualization and automation, have enabled a shift in observability focus towards service assurance and customer experience. Data from various sources, including test measurements, weather patterns, and customer sentiment, is essential in service assurance.

            AI & ML models are being leveraged to handle the increasing volume of data and implement advanced capabilities like anomaly detection, prediction, and automated root cause analysis.
        

Initial Impacts of Generative AI

GenAI is making significant strides in IT operations, particularly in enhancing customer experience. According to a TM Forum survey, 87% of respondents report GenAI positively impacting customer experience, while 85% see high potential for its impact on network operations. GenAI’s integration with digital assistant capabilities is emerging as a key interface for service assurance solutions.

The Future of Generative AI in Network Operations

Enhanced Automation and Documentation

Looking beyond 2024, Gen AI’s potential contributions to the network, based on service assurance data, remain a topic of discussion. In the next few years, we expect GenAI to provide simple code and script generation capabilities, allowing faster real-time network adjustments. Its ability to generate text may also enable it to manage and update documentation related to network assurance, potentially automating help files for enterprise clients.

Additionally, GenAI is likely to significantly impact how operator and enterprise operations teams interact with their observability tools. This includes the potential for GenAI-based smart assistants, user persona-customized UIs and workflows, and alternative means of interaction, such as voice-driven commands.

Key Developments to Monitor

Complex Self-Healing Capabilities

The prevalence of 5G SA and related innovative applications poses increasing challenges in supporting these dynamic networks. While simple self-healing capabilities have existed for years, more advanced capabilities enabling complex functionality are still emerging. The creation of multiple nested closed loops, polling in near-real-time to address issues or deploy the next-best configuration, is expected to become a reality with active assurance using AIOps models.

Ensuring Service Assurance Data Reaches the Right Destination

To meet enterprise customer requirements for new services, telcos must integrate their data and operations across diverse ecosystems. Delivering the right mix of assurance, inventory, and third-party data to the appropriate stakeholders at the right time will provide new visibility and automation to support these services.