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diff --git a/2018/osmodevcon2018-2017_retrospective/osmodevcon2018-2017_retrospective.adoc b/2018/osmodevcon2018-2017_retrospective/osmodevcon2018-2017_retrospective.adoc new file mode 100644 index 0000000..eb25f1f --- /dev/null +++ b/2018/osmodevcon2018-2017_retrospective/osmodevcon2018-2017_retrospective.adoc @@ -0,0 +1,180 @@ +Year 2017 Osmocom retrospective +=============================== +:author: Harald Welte <laforge@gnumonks.org> +:copyright: 2018 by Harald Welte (License: CC-BY-SA) +:backend: slidy +:max-width: 45em + +== 2017 - a year of change + +Osmocom CNI (Cellular Network Infrastructure) has changed a lot: + +* software changes +* team / developer changes +* sysmocom company focus changes + +== 2017 - CNI Software changes + +* OsmoBSC migration from SCCPlite to 3GPP AoIP +* OsmoMGW as integral part of both BSC and MSC +* NITB split into separate MSC, HLR, BSC +* 3G (IuCS, IuPS) goes mainline + +== 2016/2017/2018 - Team changes + +* Q1 2016: Jacob Erlbeck leaves sysmocom +** unfortunately a complete loss to Osmocom, particularly OsmoPCU +* 2017: Holger Freyther leaves sysmocom +** unfortunately also shift of focus away from Osmocom :( +** immense loss to the project in terms of skill and capacity +* Q1 2018: Max Suraev leaves sysmocom +** another loss of lots of Osmocom knowledge + +== sysmocom changes + +* we used to have to do lots of non-Osmocom work to cross-subsidize Osmocom +** big distraction of resources in 2014/2015, now gone +* we used to cross-subsidize Osmocom development by hardware sales +** not happening as much anymore +* we now work almost 100% on Osmocom +** R&D projects, support contracts and grants + +== split NITB aftermath (the good parts) + +* biggest architectural change since we started in 2008 +* lots of good reasons and design improvements +** finite state machines with proper timeouts / clean-up +** proper 3GPP AoIP with interoperability tesing +** no synchronous HLR database access +** HLR access from OsmoMSC and OsmoSGSN +** 2G/3G authentication over GERAN and UTRAN + +== split NITB aftermath (the bad parts) + +[role="incremental"] +* never-ending list of breakage +** actual regressions of things that used to work before +** things that were _known omissions_ during the restructuring +* some commercial users stuck with SCCPlite and thus old @osmo-bsc-sccplite@ +** almost none of the new features or bug fixes there +** no automatic testing +** back-ports time-consuming + +== split NITB aftermath (lessons learned) + +* overall complexity of Osomcoom cellular is quite stunning now +* absence of proper functional testing has caused massive fall-out +* the split architecture allows for betteer testing of smaller parts of the system +* my personal main focus of the last 5+ months: +[role="incremental"] +** testing, testing, testing, testing +** testing, testing, testing, testing +** some more testing +** even more testing + + +== Osmocom CNI testing (1/2) + +[role="incremental"] +* unit test (autotest, like we always had) +** test individual functions / APIs of libraries / programs +** executed during "make check" and hence before any patch can get merged +* automatized functional tests in TTCN-3 +** test _external_ visible behavior on interfaces such as Abis, A, GSUP, GTP, MNCC, PCUIF, CTRL, VTY, ... +** executed nightly by Jenkins (could be more frequently) + +== Osmocom CNI testing (2/2) + +[role="incremental"] +* osmo-gsm-tester +** tests entire Osmoocom network with BTS/BSC/MSC/HLR/PCU/SGSN/GGSN/... +** uses real BTS + MS hardware (over coaxial cable) +** automatic execution multiple times per day +* interop tests +** against NG40 RAN + CN simulator from NG4% (A / Gb / Iu level) +** not fully automatized yet + + +== Osmocom project health (CNI) + +[role="incremental"] +* lots of funded developments, *but* +** primarily _enterprise features_ required by professional users +* dominance of sysmocom is problematic +** sustainable FOSS has no single point of failure! +* we need more contributions from third parties +** particularly those that benefit commercially from Osmocom + +== Osmocom project health (other projects) + +[role="incremental"] +* OsmocomTETRA dead since 2012, occasional small fixes +* No OsmocomBB ports to other PHY/chip yet +* OsmocomDECT completely dead +* Erlang core network projects dead +* Smalltalk projects dead (AFAICT) +* SIMtrace dead for years, about to be resurrected + +== Osmocom project health (other projects) + +[role="incremental"] +* gr-osmosdr very low commit ratio +* rtl-sdr no commits in 2015-2017 +* but it's not that bad... (see next slide) + +== Osmocom project health (other projects) + +[role="incremental"] +* gr-gsm, fake_trx and trxcon a welcome change in OsmocomBB +* osmocom-analog (jolly to the rescue) +* osmo-fl2k (soon! now! this year!) + +== Osmocom status (CNI) + +[role="incremental"] +* CS RAN (BTS, BSC) is quite strong/complete these days +** ready to be used with 3rd party CN +* PS RAN (PCU) suffers from lack of attention +** lack of automatic testsuite with decent coverage +** lack of uplink multi-slot any many EGPRS features +* CS CN (MSC, HLR) +** in halthy state, but lack of TCAP/MAP interface limits us to non-roaming networks +* PS CN (SGSN, GGSN) +** in good health, now with IPv6 supoprt and kernel GTP acceleration + +== Osmocom outlook (CNI) + +* 2G still in demand by lots of use cases (rural, maritime, ...) +** if we had TCAP/MAP interface, many more deployments possible +* 3G has some users but lack of FOSS RNC limits us to femtocells +* 4G is deployed in parallel to 2G in many scenarios +** Osmocom 2G stack needs 2G-4G integration (SGs, DIAMETER) +** Osmocom needs to contribute to FOSS 4G projects (nextepc, srsLTE) +* irony: Now that it's possible to do properly funded Osmocom development, we have less people involved than in the early days :( + +If we don't manage to focus on 4G soon, interest in 2G will diminish soon + +== Osmocom outlook (other projects) + +[role="incremental"] +* activity of original/traditional Osmocom developers decreased +* without attracting more developers, a lot of projects will remain dormant and/or never realize their potential +* I'd love to work on TETRA, DMR or other mobile communications technology +** but lack of developers and contributors even for 2G makes me stuck in 2G CNI land :( + +== Personal Request + +[role="incremental"] +* Osmocom needs you! +* we've lost too many friends already +* please don't leave Osmocom; please don't leave me + +== Further Reading + +See my detailed 2017 review: + +* http://osmocom.org/news/84 + +== EOF + +End of File |