Canonical announces the availability of Real-time Ubuntu for Amazon EKS Anywhere

Collaboration to benefit communication service providers and business application vendors at the telco edge

Barcelona, Spain. 28 February 2024. Canonical today announced an expansion of its relationship with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to make Real-time Ubuntu available to Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service Anywhere (Amazon EKS Anywhere) customers for use in Open radio access network (RAN) commercial deployments. With Real-time Ubuntu and Amazon EKS Anywhere, customers can benefit from ultra-reliable low-latency operating system performance and simplified Kubernetes cluster management.

The need for ultra-reliability and low latency in data processing

Open RAN enables distributed deployment of mobile networking software that runs an operator’s RAN across edge clouds, making it possible to bring data processing closer to where devices and end users are located. Low-latency compute at the edge is required due to the stringent real-time processing of RAN workloads. Open RAN software requires agility in packet processing at the operating system level, so that the networking software stack can deliver information with bounded latency levels.

Besides Open RAN system software, business services that are sensitive to time delay, such as factory control systems, enterprise resource planning, and passenger information systems, also require low-latency and reliable communications quality. This means that the time delay in delivering information between a service and the devices that consume that service must be bounded throughout the lifetime of the service. This is necessary for operators to be able to meet application service level agreement (SLA) requirements given to business customers, so they can have the desired quality of experience.

Amazon EKS Anywhere

Amazon EKS Anywhere allows users to create and operate Kubernetes clusters on their own infrastructure. It builds on the strengths of Amazon EKS Distro and provides open source software that’s up to date and patched, so that users can have an on-premises Kubernetes environment that’s more reliable than a self-managed Kubernetes offering. These features make Amazon EKS Anywhere an ideal deployment option to run cloud-native Open RAN functions on Kubernetes at the telco edge.

Real-time Ubuntu

Real-time Ubuntu provides bounded low latency in the Linux kernel to applications that are sensitive to time-delay. By assigning a higher priority to such applications when scheduling system resources, Real-time Ubuntu can guarantee uninterrupted processing of latency-sensitive applications, minimising the time to process them. Real-time processing is an essential feature for telco clouds where Open RAN and edge computing workloads run.

“We are pleased to mark another milestone in our continued collaboration with AWS by bringing real-time data processing, required by advanced Open RAN workloads, on Amazon EKS Anywhere with Real-time Ubuntu,” said Arno Van Huyssteen, CTO of Telco at Canonical. 

“By continuing our joint innovation with AWS to provide cutting-edge capabilities and total cost of ownership benefits, this partnership delivers further value to our shared telecom customers. We take pride in making the most powerful Linux platform on the market accessible to all Amazon EKS Anywhere and Open RAN consumers. Drawing on Ubuntu’s renowned open source prowess and AWS’s cloud services, we strive to satisfy the performance and adaptability required for virtualised RAN and edge computing transformation in telecommunications. Together, we aim to supply the technical bedrock to propel the next wave of advancement.“

Ubuntu with real-time kernel on Amazon EKS Anywhere: A technology enabler for 5G telco edge

By working with AWS, Canonical will make it possible to offer real-time processing capabilities to Amazon EKS Anywhere customers. Operators deploying Open RAN software components, such as distributed unit (DU) and central unit (CU) on Amazon EKS Anywhere platforms can then boost the performance of their radio access networks, and get the benefits of Open RAN.

The technology also opens up the possibility to deliver real-time capabilities to application workloads on Amazon EKS Anywhere platforms, such as 5G industrial applications and location-based services among many others.

Join the discussion at MWC 2024

Canonical’s CTO for Telco, Arno Van Huysteen, will join industry leaders in a panel discussion at MWC 2024. The panel, titled “A roadmap to successful O-RAN deployment on cloud” and hosted by AWS, will take place on 28 February 2024 at 14:00 – 14:30 CET at the Inspiration Zone, Room CC1.4. Join the round-table discussion on how Open RAN on cloud computing systems will play a role in the future of telecommunications.

Learn more about Canonical’s solutions for telco

To learn more about Real-time Ubuntu and how it benefits telecommunication networks and applications, read our blog. If you would like to learn more about the telecommunication services we provide, visit https://ubuntu.com/telco.  

About Canonical

Canonical, the publisher of Ubuntu, provides open source security, support and services. Our portfolio covers critical systems, from the smallest devices to the largest clouds, from the kernel to containers, from databases to AI. With customers that include top tech brands, emerging startups, governments and home users, Canonical delivers trusted open source for everyone. Learn more at https://canonical.com/.