Wind River Studio Operator Ranked #1, Leading the Competition in 5G Cloud-Native Platforms From Edge to Core

At Wind River, we are honored to be recognized as the #1 Overall Leader, as well as ‘Top Innovator’ and ‘Top Implementer’ in the ABI Research competitive ranking for 5G Cloud-Native Platforms: Kubernetes, Containers, and CaaS Layer. This recognition is a testament to our relentless commitment to innovation and excellence in delivering cutting-edge solutions for the telecommunications industry.  In this blog post, I'll be sharing some key insights from the ABI report that highlight why Wind River Studio Operator, inclusive of Studio Cloud Platform, Studio Conductor, and Studio Analytics stands out as the premier#1 CaaS platform on the market today ahead of Suse, Mavenir, Red Hat, VMWare, Ericsson, and Nokia. 

Innovation in Cloud-Native Solutions 

The ABI report praises Wind River for our significant contributions to the evolution of cloud-native architecture. Wind River has built a strong reputation for providing mission-critical software across various industries, including aerospace, defense, automotive, industrial, and telecommunications. Our cloud-native platform, Wind River Studio Operator, is a prime example of our dedication to innovation. 

Integrated Cloud Platform 

Wind River Studio Cloud Platform enriches CaaS-layer capabilities with a robust suite of features for automating and orchestrating network operations through a single pane of glass. The ABI report recognizes the comprehensive feature set that Wind River Studio Operator offers, as it “includes an integrated cloud platform, orchestration, and analytics capabilities for use at both the edge of the network and the core.” This wide-scale integration simplifies 5G network management, offering telecom operators an efficient and streamlined solution. 

Advanced Orchestration and Analytics 

The ABI report highlights Wind River Studio Conductor, stating that it "serves as an orchestration layer for E2E operations and may be used for intent-based deployments across all three layers of infrastructure, operations, and applications." This orchestration capability is further enhanced by Wind River Studio Analytics, which provides AI/ML-powered analyses and an Anomaly Explorer for assessing nodes. This ensures continuous optimization of network performance and proactive issue resolution. 

Self-Healing Networks 

Wind River Studio Operator is based on the open-source StarlingX project that offers a distributed cloud architecture, which is a unique approach on the market. The ABI report describes it as, "an innovative solution to self-healing networks by placing a master node with a control plane at every site, including edge sites." This ensures that even if connectivity between the core and edge is lost, edge sites remain fully functional and can update the core upon reconnection. This approach contrasts with typical Kubernetes architectures, where edge nodes idle when disconnected, requiring costly application restarts. 

Resource Efficiency 

The ABI report commends our resource efficiency, stating that "Wind River also innovates in its resource-efficiency solution because its cloud platform only requires a single core of overhead." This reduces the footprint and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), allowing more cores to be dedicated to application-layer workloads. Additionally, our solution for dynamically controlling processor P- and C-states to reduce power consumption is highlighted as a valuable 5G-Advanced feature. 

Exemplary Implementation and Execution 

Our success is not only driven by innovative solutions but also by exemplary implementation and execution. The ABI report underscores our ability to deliver practical, scalable, and efficient solutions that meet the rigorous demands of 5G networks. 

Comprehensive Deployment Platform 

The ABI report states, " Wind River Studio Operator offers a consolidated platform that contains its Deployment Manager, Conductor, Orchestrator, and Analytics hubs. The platform is used for E2E network management and can be used either for a private or hybrid cloud." This versatility allows telecom operators to deploy, monitor, and scale application workloads seamlessly, even within hybrid cloud environments. 

Genuine Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) 

The ABI report highlights our platform's automation capabilities: "The platform exemplifies genuine ZTP, from powering servers up and mounting images all the way to deploying applications." This automation reduces the complexity and time required for network deployment, enabling operators to scale their 5G networks efficiently. 

Industry-Leading Deployment 

Wind River is proud to be the only virtual RAN infrastructure in live commercial deployment at scale with global operators. The ABI report notes, "Verizon has deployed tens of thousands of virtualized cell sites with plans for continued major growth. Vodafone is building Europe’s first and largest commercial Open RAN using Wind River Studio Operator." Our collaboration with leading operators like Elisa, TELUS, NTT DOCOMO, and others further underscores our leadership in this space. 

Open Source and Community-Driven 

Our commitment to open-source development is another key strength. The ABI report highlights, "Wind River Studio Operator is fully open-source, originating from the StarlingX project, hosted by the OpenInfra Foundation. The development is 100% upstream." Through the collaborative development model in a vibrant open-source ecosystem, our platform can reach fast-paced innovation and be in the forefront to meet the demands of today’s telecom networks and emerging, future use cases alike. 

Summary of Scoring Criteria 

The ABI Research ranking is based on a combination of innovation and implementation criteria. For innovation, the criteria include: 

• Container Orchestration, Automation, and Add-Ons (62%): Evaluates the management of containers, automation capabilities, and integrated features that extend Kubernetes capabilities. 

• Continuous Integration, Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) (10%): Assesses platforms' CI/CD capabilities, looking for prepackaged GitOps integrations or equivalent solutions. 

• Support for 5G-Advanced (10%): Measures readiness for 5G-Advanced features such as network AI, cloudified RAN, and ultra-low latency. 

• Resource Efficiency (10%): Evaluates the platform’s resource consumption and efficiency, including CPU core usage and resource monitoring. 

• Container Security (8%): Assesses built-in methods for container encryption, access management, and threat protection. 

For implementation, the criteria include: 

• Deployment Status of Key Innovations (20%): Considers the commercial success and live deployment of key innovations like Zero-Touch Provisioning. 

• Consolidated Platform for Distributed Workload (15%): Assesses how well container orchestration solutions are integrated within the platform. 

• Platform Technical Openness and Versatility (35%): Evaluates compatibility with various cloud deployment types, third-party NFs, and API exposure. 

• Platform Commercial Openness and Accessibility (30%): Looks at market implementation, accessibility, and community support. 

Conclusion 

Being recognized as the #1 Overall Leader in the ABI Research competitive ranking for 5G Cloud-Native Platforms is a proud achievement for Wind River. This recognition validates our efforts and commitment to delivering innovative, scalable, and efficient solutions for the telecommunications industry. As we continue to lead the competition in the 5G revolution, we remain dedicated to driving innovation and setting new benchmarks for excellence. Thank you to our customers, partners, and the entire Wind River team for making this possible. Together, we are shaping the future of connectivity. 

About the author

Randy Cox is a Vice President of Product Management & Business Operations at Wind River