Telecommunications network management, optimization and maintenance have become increasingly complex as new and emerging technologies open up innovative use cases and revenue opportunities in the traditional telco domains, the Internet of Things and beyond.
This is set to continue as operators successfully implement new products and services that get the most out of 5G today and the further advances of the future. Thus, telcos need advanced tools to ensure networks run smoothly. This entails automation and artificial intelligence, with digital twin technology playing a key role.
In essence, a digital twin is a virtual copy of a telecommunications network that mirrors everything in the physical and logical domains from infrastructure to connectivity and services. It gives operators a safe space in which to train and test artificial intelligence based on real-time, accurate network data without affecting the operations of the network itself. What’s more, a digital twin is flexible enough to handle all aspects of a modern 5G network while being both future-proof and backwards compatible with all telco technologies back to 2G.
So, what gains can telcos expect to make from implementing digital twins in their networks?
A digital twin is an integral driver of automation. In any autonomous network, digital twins optimize processes such as self-configuration, diagnosis, healing and optimization – bringing advanced predictive analytics into play. In addition, digital twins give telco operators an overview of all network operations and requirements, from traffic optimization and antenna placement to demand forecasting and efficient scaling. This means that real-time network load can be simulated in the digital twin environment, bottlenecks can be avoided and configurations can be tested and optimized before deployment in the live network, keeping customer experience at the maximum level possible. Another benefit is that a digital twin can provide the foundations for transformation and modernization of legacy networks where resources may be split between unwieldly silos and network elements from various vendors may not be fully integrated.
Of course, these advantages don’t come without a cost. Beyond the financial weight of implementing digital twin technology, there are technological and operational challenges too.
A major issue is ensuring that the digital twin has real-time, accurate data with which to work. This can be a particular problem with legacy networks such as those mentioned above, where data can be dispersed throughout a complex environment and may not have been maintained. It’s also common for such networks to suffer from a lack of integration, and to be unprepared for planning and supervision processes that can support the real-time simulations that digital twins deliver. Moreover, networks may need to be adapted to handle the AI potential of digital twins in order to take full advantage of realistic network planning scenarios, which may be based on accurate analysis of historical network data.
Comarch’s digital twin products address all the challenges faced by any kind of operator seeking to deploy this cutting edge technology, and help telcos maximize the benefits. With Comarch OSS, you can be sure of a robust platform based on TM Forum’s SID framework – guaranteeing complex data collection, analysis and interpretation across multi-vendor and multi-technology networks and providing the digital twin with a full network overview. Data are collected continuously from across the network thanks to the Real-time Network Discovery and Reconciliation module which helps streamline and optimize planning, deployment, maintenance and operations for improved network performance. Meanwhile, the Network Planning and Design module handles automated physical, logical and virtual resource allocation on the basis of Comarch’s own innovative and unique MIRA solution.
Once a plan has been created in the digital twin, it can be transferred to the live network with no interruptions or outages via the Comarch Configuration Management module. Thanks to this, telcos can ensure robust network designs, faster time to market for new services, greater reliability and lower operational costs. Comarch Inventory is another key module in the digital twin package, as it not only provides a single source of truth based on real-time data for end-to-end visibility, but also gives operators the chance to simulate network issues within the digital twin environment, and test automated solutions. Finally, Comarch’s solutions for digital twin deployment ensure that the accuracy and reliability of AI algorithms can be rigorously tested and verified. This removes issues associated with problems in AI training and gives network operators maximum confidence that decisions they delegate to artificial intelligence are both accurate and trustworthy.
Comarch has developed this suite of digital twin capabilities within its products and solutions on the basis of close cooperation with customers in Poland, the wider European region, and internationally, and using the knowledge and expertise of leading technicians and developers in telco and IT. Thus, you can be certain that deployment of the company’s solutions will ensure your digital twin implementation is robust, comprehensive, and free from vendor and domain lock-in.
But don’t just take our word for it. Contact Comarch to arrange your personal video demo of Comarch’s digital twin solutions – and find out how we can help drive your telco transformation.
