Samsung Network, Intel, Ericsson Drive 5G Network Transformation Initiatives

While this year’s Mobile World Congress trade fair is expected to be a completely modest event, it’s clear that many companies in the telecommunications industry are still making important announcements using the tournament time frame. Of particular interest is the range of news related to network infrastructure equipment, the chips that power it, and the software-based transformation of this often esoteric and little-understood world of network infrastructure.

Intel started things with an event called the Edge of Wonderful. Meanwhile, the company described the continued evolution of 5G networks and the potential to enhance critical edge computing applications. As part of the big picture discussion, Intel also announced some specific new products aimed at enabling some of these new features. The latest addition of FPGA chips to the Agilex line accelerates encryption for keeping data encrypted over 5G networks, and is part of the company’s Ethernet 800 series, the new SyncE Ethernet. Network cards are designed for timing-sensitive network applications.

Intel also announced several software-based products, including a new software architecture called the Intel Network Platform, helping service providers and network equipment manufacturers take full advantage of the full capabilities of their various silicon and software components. increase. The Intel Network Platform consists of software drivers, building blocks, blueprints, and a reference architecture, designed to facilitate the transition to a software-defined network infrastructure. Intel Smart Edge is a new combination of two existing software components (formerly known as OpenNESS) designed to facilitate the creation of software for applications such as private networks and edge computing. .. In essence, it’s a set of developer tools, but the goal is to get started with the originally promised advanced 5G applications (smart factories, new cloud-based services, etc.) right away, but the arrival is delayed. ..

Intel and Ericsson also participated in Ericsson’s announcement on the expansion of Cloud RAN products, especially for the midband spectrum (“CBRS vs C Band: Understanding Midband 5G“For many). One of the interesting facts that arose from the announcement is that midband 5G deployments clearly require 150 times more computing power than 4G and twice as much response time, of course. That said, it puts a lot of strain on the computing infrastructure needed to power that task, which is why Ericsson chose to take advantage of Intel’s latest Xeon scalable server CPUs and dedicated accelerators.

For Ericsson, a new initiative is an extension of a software-based virtualized RAN tool designed to accommodate a more flexible array of physical radio and network architectures. This is part of the company’s growing commitment to move into the world of cloud-native software-based network infrastructure, but Ericsson enables software-defined cloud RANs to interconnect and co-exist with large-scale bases. It also works in conjunction with CloudLink. Of an existing Ericsson hardware-based dedicated network. For most existing carriers around the world, this real-life scenario, sometimes referred to as the “blue field,” will be faced over the years to come.

Finally, as part of an event called Samsung Networks: Redefined, Samsung announced several key new silicon components and network infrastructure equipment designed to enhance coverage of 5G networks. .. The event provides a quick and impressive overview of all the work the company’s networking department has done for 5G, including advances in 5G modems, virtualization infrastructure, software, small cells, millimeter waves and more. did. The company used this event to bully some of the advanced R & D work currently being done in 6G.

Now here, Samsung Networks has announced two new products at this event. Both are expected to enable advances in 5G network infrastructure in 2022. First, the company announced a series of new chips that meet the requirements of 3GPP. Release 16 documentation (“Be careful, here is 5G, Phase 2“For many). New versions of 3rd generation millimeter wave RFICs, 2nd generation 5G modem SOCs, and their DFE-RFICs (Digital Front End / Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits) are special for network infrastructure equipment. Designed for Samsung, Samsung plans to use them in its own branded network equipment such as Massive MIMO radios, Compact Macro Cells, and next-generation baseband devices. In particular, these chips are faster. Supports a wider range of millimeter-wave and sub-six frequencies with high throughput and supports with less power, enabling smaller, lower power, yet faster 5G network installations. ..

Similarly, the company’s second announcement was about the One Antenna Radio, which combines a mid-band Massive MIMO radio with a traditional passive antenna at frequencies below 3GHz. The result is an integrated solution that is physically small and easy to install, reducing operating costs for the telephone company.

Individually, each of these different vendors’ announcements is arguably relatively modest, but in summary, represents another important step towards the transformation of 5G networks that began a few years ago. I am. The simple truth is that the process of fully building the infrastructure needed to power 5G networks and the functionality they enable is a relatively long process. As a result, such announcements are an important part of the progress needed to move 5G forward.

Disclosure: TECHnalysis Research is a market research and consulting firm in the technology industry, working with many technology vendors as clients, as well as all companies in this area, some of which are described in this article.