With 5G, network operators are evolving to a cloud-based network model that will reduce costs, scale rapidly and speed the development of new services. However, as we move cloud technologies out of the data center and into the wide area network, traffic engineering becomes essential. The mechanics of moving packets around a WAN in a deterministic way requires an end-to-end smart network fabric that scales efficiently across multiple network domains. The signaling protocols currently used to reserve IP network resources, LDP and RSVP-TE, are simply not scalable for the 5G era.
