Using A Digital Twin for Verification of Automatic Fulfillment Procedures in Telecom Services

The paper presents the transformation of a conventional system into a CI/CD (Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery) automated software delivery process. This transformation is achieved by leveraging the concept of a digital twin and utilizing Azure Pipeline. SPRO, an operational support system (OSS) of Chunghwa telecom company, is designed to provide one-stop automatic service fulfillment on a hybrid telecom network for customers. It works in conjunction with a business support system (BSS) that handles more than 600 application items and a large volume of daily orders. The complexity of service fulfillment and installation can lead to potential issues and consequences if the process verification coverage is insufficient. To mitigate these risks, SPRO leverages a digital twin [6], Azure Pipeline, and continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) practices to ensure the quality of programs during system deployment. SPRO creates virtual replicas of simulates different scenarios to optimize network design, resource allocation, and service provisioning. To ensure the simulation successful, SPRO integrates real-time data into the simulation model to make it more accurate and reflective of the current system conditions. Test the simulation against a large volume of orders to ensure it can correspond to the expected result. Compare the simulation results with the actual outcomes to identify any discrepancies and refine the model accordingly. This helps identify potential issues and bottlenecks before deploying the system in the actual network environment and minimizes the risk of encountering them during live operations. The simulation must pass all test cases before automatic deployment to the online environment. SPRO utilizes Azure Pipeline to streamline the software delivery process, ensuring that the programs are thoroughly tested and validated before deployment. SPRO adopts CI/CD principles to automate the software delivery process, enabling faster and more reliable deployments. This approach secures that any code changes are thoroughly tested and validated, reducing the likelihood of errors or issues in the deployed system [1].