White box

Operators are looking to deploy agile services on demand, based on generic white box platforms and a rich assortment of powerful virtual network functions (VNFs) that can be dynamically added, removed and chained to deliver differentiated service offerings without the risk of vendor lock-in. The beauty of white boxes is that they are general purpose, low-cost and easy to commoditize. However, the problem is that they lack many of the specialized functions and interface options that cannot be virtualized.
Pluggable physical network functions (P-PNFs) with the required physical interfaces, programmable hardware capabilities, and specialized components can help close these gaps on an “as needed” basis and in a consistent manner, across multiple vendor white box platforms.