With circuit switch (CS) legacy being phased out (sunset of 2G/3G), higher customer demand, and the need to provide faster connections, operators should evaluate the possibility of offering voice services over 4G and 5G networks. The standard for voice over 4G networks is called VoLTE and was introduced in our previous post. For voice on 5G networks, the new standard is called Voice over New Radio (VoNR), and utilizes a standalone architecture to offer significantly better sound quality and lower latency. This article gives an overview of what VoNR is, why it is important, and ng-voice’s VoNR solution.
Voice over New Radio (VoNR) is the process of encapsulating voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) by using 5G radio and core network architecture. This enables the transmission of media components over the new radio or 5G network. In simpler terms, it can also be mentioned that Voice over New Radio (VoNR) provides voice services for cloud-native 5G standalone networks. Both VoLTE and VoNR make use of the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) which integrates packet-based calls into a network infrastructure by using a mobile network as its source. The difference between VoLTE and VoNR is the underlying mobile network and radio architecture. Voice over New Radio (VoNR) establishes telephony connections and converts them into data packets which then are transmitted through 5G and the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS).
According to a white paper by Rohde & Schwarz, the increase in 5G deployments will drive major changes for voice service providers. When moving into 5G, it is essential for operators to deploy an easy to maintain and highly scalable IP multimedia communications network through an IMS system. A good starting point for 5G can be provided by IMS/VoLTE based architecture, allowing the future-proofing of new technologies. Since switching effort in the background is reduced, the VoNR becomes much faster due to the connection setup being linear. With the reduction of paths, message transmissions become shorter and when deployed, voice is leveraged through the IMS.
Deploying VoNR helps operators to meet customer demands as well as providing faster and better voice services. VoNR allows customers to make maximum use of the network and offers several advantages, such as:
Significantly lower latency
The demand for 5G is driven by an increased necessity for higher data speed as well as newer devices. Operators that need to modernize their infrastructure can benefit from moving into a cloud-native mobile infrastructure in 5G, deploying VoNR with a cloud-native IMS core.
We at ng-voice offer a VoLTE/VoNR solution that is truly cloud-native and fully containerized. ng-voice’s cloud-native IMS core is the first 100% containerized and Kubernetes-based fully-fledged IMS solution on the market, allowing deployment on bare metal (private), public, and hybrid cloud environments. Following the best practices in CI/CD and bringing a DevOps approach to telecommunications software, ng-voice’s IMS core has a high level of automation across the whole development, deployment, and operation processes. With a minimal resource footprint, it reduces voice production costs and optimizes the entire life-cycle management of the application.
Made-in-Germany, ng-voice’s solutions adhere to the highest security and data protection standards. To learn more about our solutions, please contact our team at info@ng-voice.com.
