Linux foundation & Meta launch new “LF Connectivity” project umbrella

The Linux Foundation, the nonprofit organization focused on fostering innovation through open source, announced LF Connectivity, a new open source project focused on advancing technologies to accelerate emerging network and connectivity applications.

Formed in collaboration with Meta, LF Connectivity’s vision is to create a robust and sustainable open ecosystem that will enable a wide range of communication service providers to leverage open source tools and technologies to help with the end-to-end performance and quality of experience (QoE) requirements of emerging applications.

“With 5G becoming more pervasive and NextG on the horizon, bandwidth and latency requirements will be higher than ever, with more applications leveraging augmented reality and immersive experiences that need to traverse networks,” said Arpit Joshipura, general manager, Networking, Edge, IoT, the Linux Foundation. “We are pleased to bring new open source tools to more organizations across the globe and welcome LF Connectivity to our growing number of networking projects working to improve digital transformation.”

Meta is contributing a rich set of technologies to the LF Connectivity project that was developed in collaboration with industry partners, including three initial sub-projects:

• Terragraph is a wireless technology solution that helps internet service providers deliver gigabit speed last-mile access to subscriber homes, enterprises, and multi-dwelling buildings easily and cost-effectively.
• Open M-Plane is a software component of Meta’s Evenstar hardware design for the configuration and management of the RAN. It is interoperable, hardware-independent, and aligned with O-RAN specifications to help enable mobile wireless connectivity by providing flexibility to operators looking to source hardware from different vendors as they deploy their own RAN solutions.
• Maveric enables the development and evaluation of cellular network optimization algorithms before their deployment on the network. It is a developer platform that leverages AI/ML approaches to provide realistic cellular network representations and examples that demonstrate its use.

“Meta is pleased to contribute our Terragraph, Open M-Plane, and Maveric technologies to the Linux Foundation’s Connectivity project,” said Shah Rahman, engineering director, Meta. “By sharing these technologies, we hope to further improve global connectivity by enabling other companies to participate and contribute to those projects.”

Project governance and infrastructure are in the works, but please visit www.lfconnectivity.org for more information and register for the webinar, “Introducing LF Connectivity,” happening Thursday, May 25 at 9:00 am PST.

Supporting organizations include AMD, Cambium Networks, Capgemini, Edgecore Networks, Siklu Communications, University of Delhi, VIAVI, and Virginia Tech.

CT Bureau