From 8fe4bb68050fab5d8fd95f8d926bc580cf6eb887 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Harald Welte Date: Wed, 11 Apr 2018 21:52:49 +0200 Subject: osmodevcon: welcome, SD-E1, retrospective --- .../osmodevcon2018-2017_retrospective.html | 4503 ++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 4503 insertions(+) create mode 100644 2018/osmodevcon2018-2017_retrospective/osmodevcon2018-2017_retrospective.html (limited to '2018/osmodevcon2018-2017_retrospective/osmodevcon2018-2017_retrospective.html') diff --git a/2018/osmodevcon2018-2017_retrospective/osmodevcon2018-2017_retrospective.html b/2018/osmodevcon2018-2017_retrospective/osmodevcon2018-2017_retrospective.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ac205c0 --- /dev/null +++ b/2018/osmodevcon2018-2017_retrospective/osmodevcon2018-2017_retrospective.html @@ -0,0 +1,4503 @@ + + + + +Year 2017 Osmocom retrospective + + + + + + + + +
+

2017 - a year of change

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+

Osmocom CNI (Cellular Network Infrastructure) has changed a lot:

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    +
  • + +software changes + +
    • +
  • + +team / developer changes + +
    • +
  • + +sysmocom company focus changes + +
    • +
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2017 - CNI Software changes

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+
    +
  • + +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 + +
    • +
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2016/2017/2018 - Team changes

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+
    +
  • + +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 + +
      • +
    +
    • +
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+

sysmocom changes

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+
    +
  • + +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 + +
      • +
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    • +
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split NITB aftermath (the good parts)

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    +
  • + +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 + +
      • +
    +
    • +
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split NITB aftermath (the bad parts)

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    +
  • + +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 + +
      • +
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    • +
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split NITB aftermath (lessons learned)

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+
    +
  • + +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: + +
      +
    • + +testing, testing, testing, testing + +
      • +
    • + +testing, testing, testing, testing + +
      • +
    • + +some more testing + +
      • +
    • + +even more testing + +
      • +
    +
    • +
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Osmocom CNI testing (1/2)

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    +
  • + +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) + +
      • +
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    • +
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Osmocom CNI testing (2/2)

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+
    +
  • + +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 + +
      • +
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    • +
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Osmocom project health (CNI)

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+
    +
  • + +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 + +
      • +
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    • +
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Osmocom project health (other projects)

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    +
  • + +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 + +
    • +
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Osmocom project health (other projects)

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+
    +
  • + +gr-osmosdr very low commit ratio + +
    • +
  • + +rtl-sdr no commits in 2015-2017 + +
    • +
  • + +but it’s not that bad… (see next slide) + +
    • +
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Osmocom project health (other projects)

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+
    +
  • + +gr-gsm, fake_trx and trxcon a welcome change in OsmocomBB + +
    • +
  • + +osmocom-analog (jolly to the rescue) + +
    • +
  • + +osmo-fl2k (soon! now! this year!) + +
    • +
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Osmocom status (CNI)

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+
    +
  • + +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 + +
      • +
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    • +
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Osmocom outlook (CNI)

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+
    +
  • + +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 :( + +
    • +
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If we don’t manage to focus on 4G soon, interest in 2G will diminish soon

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Osmocom outlook (other projects)

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+
    +
  • + +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 :( + +
      • +
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    • +
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Personal Request

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+
    +
  • + +Osmocom needs you! + +
    • +
  • + +we’ve lost too many friends already + +
    • +
  • + +please don’t leave Osmocom; please don’t leave me + +
    • +
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Further Reading

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See my detailed 2017 review: +* http://osmocom.org/news/84

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EOF

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