Nokia aims to stimulate fixed network innovation with Broadband Access Abstraction project

Nokia has teamed up with the Broadband Forum (BBF) to lead the new Broadband Access Abstraction (BAA) project, which aims to leverage open source software to drive the adoption of software-defined fixed access networks.

The BBA project, which was created within the BBF under its Open Broadbandprogram, will define a software reference implementation for an open BAA layer. This will eliminate dependencies on vendor-specific equipment and proprietary software functions by providing standardized interfaces and decoupling implementation from the underlying hardware, Nokia said in a statement.

Federico Guillén, president of Nokia’s fixed networks business group, said the BBA initiative is driving an agile and collaborative environment that produces reusable software for fixed access operators worldwide.

“Open source software is a powerful tool that can make us more efficient as an industry. However, one of the biggest hurdles is simply getting started. By opening and standardizing the common, generic part of the network software, we avoid the need to re-write that same software for every technology, every vendor and every node,” the executive said.

“In turn, we can now focus our efforts on developing new applications and capabilities that make the network faster, better, and smarter: for example, converging fixed and mobile networks; fronthauling 5G over fiber-access networks, automating operations and building self-healing and self-optimizing networks.”

Guillén said Nokia is the first vendor partner to contribute open source code under the BAA project. The open source code delivers common management functionality, making it easier to operate multi-vendor, multi-technology access networks and letting operators and vendors focus on developing new innovative cloud capabilities instead.

Robin Mersh, CEO of Broadband Forum, said the new initiative will help reduce the time and efforts needed to achieve interoperability and help operators to develop a framework for cloud infrastructure in the central office.

“By aligning open source code to industry specifications, the BBF can effectively collaborate with the open source community to aid in development and testing,” Mersh said.