Introduction

It would be possible to write a book about Weightless without much discussionabout the network. This is partly because the network is not included within thespecification and partly because the network is relatively simple.

The Weightless specification covers the interface from the base station into thenetwork. However, unlike cellular networks there are no defined interfaceswithin the network. This is because it is envisaged that all the networkfunctions can be run on a virtual machine within the cloud. The interface fromthis machine to the base stations is well defined. The interface from thismachine to the client networks will likely be bespoke for each client networkand therefore not appropriate for specification. Hence, there are no furtherinterfaces to standardise.

It might seem rather incredible that the core network of a cellular systemconsisting of many large and expensive computing platforms can be collapsed intoa single virtual machine within Weightless when a machine network is likely tohave many more subscribers than a cellular network and further much of theintelligence typically found in a base station in a cellular network has beentransferred to the core.