The LFN community is comprised of a diverse set of member organizations that work collaboratively across software and projects to provide platforms and building blocks for Network Infrastructure and Services across Service Providers, Cloud Providers, Enterprises, Vendors, and System Integrators that enable rapid interoperability, deployment, and adoption. This blog series highlights LFN members and the role they play in contributing to open source networking that will benefit the entire ecosystem.
Name: Anuradha Gupta, Chief Executive Officer, Amantya Technologies, Inc.
Please tell us a little about your organization.
Amantya Technologies is a USA based Product Engineering Services Company. Amantya specializes in Wireless (4G/5G), IoT, Cloud, MEC, V2X and Automotive Solutions working closely with Operators, OEMs and Enterprises. Amantya’s development and integration expertise span from hardware, firmware, embedded to applications, with right relationships with ODM / SOC vendors to support any device manufacturing requirements. Amantya has developed Accelerators (software module that can be integrated into customer solutions) to enable 5G development / deployment for its customers and reduce time to market. The core focus is to pioneer the 5G journey with competencies and rich experience ranging from 5G Core Network, RAN, PHY, Drive Test Tool, Edge Computing, Network Orchestration, CV2X, 5G Applications & Use Cases Development.
Why is your organization adopting an open source approach?
There is increasing emphasis on a software-centric approach towards building of components (that make up a product/system/solution) and we believe this mandates a vendor-neutral approach. Open source facilitates this. Furthermore, an open-source approach allows us to innovate faster on top of already existing implementation and helps us focus on areas within a domain where we feel we can add maximum value. Using open source cuts down on the product development cycle times and helps in getting to market faster with a customer-facing, commercially-supported product.
Why did you join LFN and what sort of impact do you think LFN has on the networking industry?
We have identified certain areas that we want to focus on and these include 5G, AI/ML, Cloud and Edge. LFN projects OPNFV and ONAP, along with projects run at Acumos and ORAN-SC, would be a good fit for us from a contribution standpoint. We also want to ensure that as we build out our offering, we do so with a bigger picture in mind so that our contribution to the ecosystem is relevant and adds value. Working within an alliance and collaborating with the industry expert insights provides us with that big picture.
What do you see as the top benefits of being part of the LFN community?
Different organizations will see different benefits of being a part of such a community as LFN. We expect to benefit by being connected with a large and diverse group of organizations, and participating in such forums will help us shape our offering into something that is relevant. Furthermore, LFN provides a platform where products and solutions are showcased which helps build recognition and credibility. Also, there is an added benefit of access to exclusive, invite- only resources which may help further understanding of the current industry landscape and help drive our product strategy.
What contributions has your team made (or plans to make) to the community/ecosystem through LFN participation?
As an organization, we are focusing on the Wireless (among others) with 5G and Open RAN being prominent use cases. We do have offerings across RAN, Edge and Core. We are creating an Intelligent RAN solution leveraging AI/ML- driven closed loop automation for 5G networks. We are leveraging the LFN projects ONAP and OPNFV, along with Acumos and ORAN-SC projects, to build out our offering. We plan to participate actively in the Acumos, ONAP and ORAN-SC Linux Foundation projects, particularly in integration and deployment PoCs.
What do you think sets LFN apart from other industry alliances?
One of the most striking aspects of LFN is the diversity of the projects that are present under its umbrella. Right from data plane development to open network automation to cloud networking and edge – there are projects for all of these aspects. Another point of note is the list of collaborating SDO bodies that are tied up with LFN, which ensures that projects and activities within LFN are cross-pollinated with developments within these SDOs. This keeps LFN projects more recent and relevant. Within LFN there is an intent to certify products that are being developed within its projects – the OVP program, and this helps build industry confidence in such products.
How might LFN help your business?
The LFN open source licensing allows us the convenience to assimilate relevant development from various projects within our offering to make it a more compelling and useful one for our customers. We can also get creative with business models as we have the flexibility to tailor as per the customer’s specific requirements. Furthermore, there is ample opportunity to seek out partners and customers from the alliance.
What advice would you give to someone considering joining the LFN community?
The only advice that we would have is to go ahead and join immediately. Whether you are an experienced contributor or a novice, the project does have mechanisms to ensure that you are able to navigate from a starting point that works best for you. The one thing that will help before joining such a community is to have a general idea of which domain/area you want to be involved in and that has to play to your organization’s strengths and objectives. The alliance has so many projects that it can be a bit overwhelming. Though LFN has partner managers who are super helpful, some ex-ante analysis will help derive tangible benefits quicker.
