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

While this year’s Mobile World Congress is expected to be a completely modest event, it is clear that many companies in the telecommunications industry are still making important announcements using the tournament’s time frame. Of particular interest is the scope 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 with an event called Edge of Wonderful. Meanwhile, the company describes the ongoing development of 5G networks and the potential for improving critical end-end computer applications. As part of the big picture discussion, Intel also announced some specific new products aimed at activating some of these new features. The latest addition of FPGA chips to the Agilex line speeds up encryption to keep data encrypted over 5G networks and is part of the company’s Ethernet 800 series, the new SyncE Ethernet. Network cards are designed for time-sensitive network applications.

Intel has also announced several software-based products, including a new software architecture called the Intel Network Platform, which helps service providers and network equipment manufacturers make the most of their various silicone and software components. growing. The Intel network platform consists of software drivers, building blocks, drawings, 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 finite computing. .. It’s basically 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 slow. ..

Intel and Ericsson also participated in Ericsson’s announcement of the expansion of Cloud RAN products, especially for the spectrum (“CBRS vs. C band: Understanding 5G in the middle band“For many) One of the interesting facts emerging from the message is that implementing 5G in the bandwidth obviously requires 150 times more computing power than 4G and twice as much response time, of course. However, this burdens the computing infrastructure required. to accomplish this task, which is why Ericsson has chosen to take advantage of Intel’s latest scalable Xeon server processors and special accelerators.

For Ericsson, a new initiative is an extension of a software-based virtualized RAN tool designed to accommodate a more flexible set of physical radio and network architectures. This is part of the company’s growing commitment to moving to a world of cloud-based software network infrastructure, but Ericsson allows software-defined cloud RANs to connect and co-exist with large-scale databases. It also works with CloudLink. On an existing hardware-based specialized network of Ericsson. For most existing carriers around the world, this real-life scenario, sometimes called the “blue field”, will face future years.

Finally, as part of an event called Samsung Networks: Redefined, Samsung has announced several key new silicon components and network infrastructure equipment designed to improve the coverage of 5G networks. .. The event provides a quick and impressive overview of all the work that the company’s network department has done for 5G, including advances in 5G modems, virtualization infrastructure, software, small cells, millimeter waves, and more. I did. The company is using this event to harass some of the advanced research and development activities currently underway in 6G.

Now here, Samsung Networks has announced two new products for this event. Both are expected to allow for progress in the 5G network infrastructure in 2022. First, the company announced a series of new chips that meet the requirements of 3GPP. Documentation for Edition 16 (“Beware, here is 5G, phase 2(For many) The new versions of the 3rd generation millimeter wave RFIC, the second generation 5G modem SOCs and their DFE-RFIC (digital interfaces / radio frequency integrated circuits) are special for network infrastructure equipment. Designed for Samsung, Samsung plans to used in proprietary network equipment such as Massive MIMO radios, Compact Macro Cells and next-generation baseband devices, in particular, these chips are faster, support a wider range of millimeter waves and below six high-bandwidth frequencies and supports less power, which allows for smaller, lower power, but still faster 5G network installations …

Similarly, the company’s second announcement was for One Antenna Radio, which combines a mid-range 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.

Separately, each of these different provider messages may be relatively modest, but in summary it represents another important step towards the transformation of 5G networks that began several 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 allow is a relatively long process. As a result, such messages are an important part of the progress needed to move 5G forward.

Disclosure: TECHnalysis Research is a technology research and consulting firm in the technology industry that works with many technology providers as customers, as well as with all companies in the field, some of which are described in this article.