ABSTRACT
This chapter will examine the general characteristics of access networks and how those characteristics create challenges for implementing network functions virtualization (NFV) and software-defined network (SDN). It will then describe the general solutions that the network cloud architecture uses to address those challenges. Finally, the chapter will provide more concrete examples of these concepts by describing Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) access technology and wireless 5G access technology in more detail, and showing how the network cloud alters the evolution of access networks.
