Components of Scalable Network Automation | AcropolisDocs
Autonomous Networks · Level 4 · Wireless Operator

Building Scalable Level 4 Autonomous Networks

Level 4 networks sense, decide, and act across RAN, Edge, Core, Transport, and Infrastructure with minimal human intervention. Getting there is a data problem first, an automation problem second — the reference framework below names the structural components a wireless operator needs so every intent and every anomaly can close the loop in near-real time.

L0
Manual

Human-driven operations, planning, and maintenance across every domain.

L1
Assisted

Tools accelerate specific tasks; humans still own every decision and action.

L2
Partial

Automation executes repeatable workflows under continuous human supervision.

Current
L3
Conditional

System senses, decides, and acts within well-defined scenarios; humans oversee exceptions.

L4
High Autonomy

Self-configuring, self-healing, intent-driven across most domains; minimal human intervention.

Target
L5
Full Autonomy

Closed-loop across every domain, every scenario, every lifecycle stage.

01

Unified Data Fabric

Normalized telemetry, inventory, catalog, and topology — one source of truth that every analytics, AI, and orchestration loop can trust.

Data Mgmt · Inventory · ETL
02

Event-Driven Backbone

Streaming event bus with schema governance so every alarm, KPI deviation, and ticket is observable in real time and can trigger a closed loop.

Event Bus · Streaming · Pub/Sub
03

AI & ML Decisioning

Non-real-time learning plus near-real-time inference — NWDAF, rApps/xApps, and applications co-located with the data that feeds them.

NWDAF · rApp/xApp · Applications
04

Closed-Loop Orchestration

Custom and packaged orchestrators translate intent into element-level change via SON, SMO, and NEMs — across every domain, every vendor.

SON · SMO · Orchestrators · NEM
05

Operational Readiness

Ticketing, deployment, log and event monitoring wired back to the same bus — humans stay in the loop only where judgment is required.

Ticketing · Deploy · Assurance
DATA MANAGEMENT DATA OPERATIONS CHANGE IMPLEMENTATION NETWORK ESTATE CHANGE MANAGEMENT & ASSURANCE DATA BUS ETL Extract / Transform / Load CM · PM · FM · Logs · UP/CP CDRs · Charging · Infra Crowd + Geo telemetry Standardized, monitored ingestion Near-RT AI Engines Sub-second to seconds inference Probes (CP/UP) · Security Configuration · Fault Linkage User Experience · Anomaly O-RAN Near-RT RIC pattern, extended AI/ML Non-RT Engines Strategic horizon AI/ML Forecast / Prediction Impact / Simulation ChatOps / GenAI · Correlation Multi-step planning agents live here Data Stores CM · PM · FM · Logs · Probes CDRs · CMS · WOs · GeoTrace · Crowd Persistent layer, multi-modal Network Inventory Topology · Connects · IP Mgmt Discovery · Software · EMS-911 Operational source of truth Event Monitoring Notification · Isolation Alarm correlation · Dedup Severity / priority scoring Cross-domain alarm correlation Log Management Normalization · Validation Retention · Indexing Schema enforcement Unstructured logs / GenAI surface Network Catalog Functions / Services / Schemas TM Forum ODA / 3GPP NRF aligned The agent's tool registry Network Event Bus Pub/sub backbone REST Webhooks Kafka TMF 688 Event Mgmt API CloudEvents-compatible Trigger layer for reactive agents Applications Visualization GIS APIs Analytics Management CRM Consumer Democratized data » higher application leverage SON Self-configure / optimize / heal Vendor SON apps (e.g. Nokia) RAN-centric today 3GPP TS 28.313 — bridge to rApps SMO [Future] Service Mgmt & Orchestration RIC (Non-RT) rApps · A1 policy Assurance Closed-loop O-RAN WG2 — A1 / O1 / O2 Custom Orchestrators Open / configurable workflow engines Apache Airflow — DAG workflows Salt Project — event-driven config StackStorm — ChatOps / auto-remediation Long-tail and cross-vendor automation Packaged Orchestrators Vendor orchestration platforms Nokia · Ericsson (and peers) Tightly coupled to vendor NFs Lower in-domain cost, limited cross-vendor portability NETWORK ELEMENT MANAGERS Device UE / IoT / CPE / handsets RAN eNB / gNB / DU / CU / RU EDGE MEC / on-prem / private 5G Core 5GC NFs (AMF/SMF/UPF) · IMS Infrastructure Compute / Power / Site / DC Transport IP/MPLS · DWDM · microwave Ticket Management Initiation » Action » Validation » Closure 1 Initiation 2 Action 3 Validation 4 Closure Network Deployment Mgmt Procurement · Supply Chain · SLAs Process · QA · Assurance Network Automation Monitoring Log Analysis · Alerts (meta-observability) LEGEND Data & Inventory Event / Data Bus AI / ML Engines Orchestration Applications Element Mgrs (NEM) Event / Change Mgmt Self-Organize / SMO Catalog Network Nodes Data Bus Single-click to focus inputs & outputs · double-click for details.