If the car receives an instruction to turn off, stop, or accelerate, it must be clear that the command was sent and received.

The level of granularity in telemetry data packets required for these uses will become even more critical as other similar real-time applications emerge  

The new family of generic “White box” switches that AT&T has just tested* can help make this a reality.

On March 28, AT&T engineers successfully completed what can be considered a first in the telecommunications industry: live field testing of a generic, multi-vendor, open-software switch transmitting real customer traffic. This means that AT&T is using a common, uniform, open network operating system across multiple chip vendors to build network equipment that meets our stringent real-world data requirements.

Field tests and equipment demonstrated high performance in telemetry managed by AT&T's ECOMP platform for monitoring traffic between Washington, D.C., and San Francisco. While still in the early stages of development, AT&T believes this technology could accelerate innovation in virtually any device requiring connectivity. This is similar to how new applications and even entire industries emerged with the advent of reliable GPS location and navigation for smartphones.

Furthermore, this software capability is not limited by a specific hardware platform. Packets containing the same software can be sent regardless of the chip being used.

The creation of this generic switch was the result of intense teamwork. Several visionary companies helped AT&T bring it to life. Barefoot Networks, Broadcom, Delta Electronics, Edgecore Networks, Intel Corporation, and SnapRoute provided the standardized hardware and open-source software to create these new network switches.

Delta's Agema AGC7648A switch incorporating Broadcom Qumran silicon chips and SnapRoute's network operating system in one of the locations.

At a second location, Edgecore Wedge 100BF systems were installed using Barefoot Tofino 6.5 Tb/s silicon, employing the open-source P4 system for standard switching and routing, as well as In-band Network Telemetry (INT) functionality. SnapRoute's FlexSwitch open network operating system was used as the control layer and unifying operating system.

Intel architecture-based processors ran the SnapRoute operating system, managing the Barefoot and Broadcom chips as well as the various interfaces of the equipment.

“We’re in the early stages of this process, but we already see enormous potential to accelerate innovation, lower costs, and, most importantly, stay ahead of our customers’ needs,” said Andre Fuetsch, President of AT&T Labs and Chief Technology Officer of AT&T. “With this test, we’ve gone from using traditional switches the size of several refrigerators to a chip that literally fits in the palm of your hand. We believe that generic hardware will play a significant role in the future of telecom networks.”

Clearly, a more efficient switch is needed. Data traffic on the company's mobile network has grown by more than 250,000% since 2007. Self-driving cars, augmented and virtual reality, and much more will increase those numbers as new access technologies like 5G become available.

“A high-performance, fully programmable infrastructure layer puts the network owner in a position of control,” says Craig Barratt, CEO of Barefoot Networks. “We’re excited to see AT&T gaining visibility into its production network using its P4 programs with Tofino and In-band Network Telemetry.”.

"Broadcom is very pleased with the accelerated adoption of Jericho and Qumran products across several AT&T network segments," said Oozie Parizer, senior director of Broadcom's Switch Products Group.

“Transforming the network into an open and programmable innovation platform is key to meeting the demands of the new digital economy,” said Sandra Rivera, Vice President and General Manager of Intel’s Network Platforms Group. “Intel’s leadership in server, virtualization, and cloud technologies is accelerating network virtualization today. Through our contributions to open source, open standards, and the enabling of broad ecosystems, we will continue working with leaders like AT&T to bring new solutions and services to market faster and more cost-effectively.”.

“SnapRoute is excited to partner with AT&T on this large-scale field test,” said Jason Forrester, CEO and founder of SnapRoute. “New applications such as video streaming, self-driving cars, and telemedicine are driving unprecedented network demand. This creates an opportunity for our modular and extensible FlexSwitch software to give operators much greater control over their networks.”.

These new switches are tightly integrated with AT&T's ECOMP platform. AT&T recently donated ECOMP to the Linux Foundation for open-source integration into the Open Network Automation Platform (ONAP). The industry is rapidly adopting ONAP as the standard platform for software-centric network orchestration. AT&T is also using its internally developed TORC software suite on these switches.

Additionally, AT&T is exploring generic hardware options for other network equipment. One area it's testing is replacing proprietary routers in its mobile base stations with routers based on generic hardware. The company believes this can dramatically increase the capacity of each tower while keeping costs under control. This is especially important given that AT&T's network is highly distributed, with more than 5,000 central offices and 60,000 towers.

“Open environments, like Linux, leverage community contributions to create and design new, high-performance operating systems. Similarly, the networking ecosystem has reached a similar tipping point,” says Chris Rice, senior vice president of network architecture and design at AT&T. “This allows us to build a new networking paradigm that disaggregates hardware and software for greater simplicity and delivers higher performance and faster innovation.”.

*AT&T Inc.'s subsidiaries and affiliates provide AT&T products and services using the AT&T brand, but not as AT&T Inc.