EC Project SESAME Targets 5G with RAN Virtualization + Edge Computing

The European Commission has awarded EUR 8 million grant to a consortium of telecom industry vendors to develop the infrastructure required to support the future 5G network and communication systems.

Project SESAME, which is led by Hellenic Telecommunications Organization (OTE) and funded under the EC Horizon 2020 programme (H2020), will design and demonstrate virtualised, cloud-enabled, multi-operator, frequency agile, 5G-oriented radio access and services.

Project SESAME targets innovations around the three central elements of 5G: network intelligence through Network Functions Virtualisation (NFV) and Mobile Edge Cloud Computing, substantial evolution of the Small Cell concept to create targeted coverage and capacity, and the consolidation of multi-tenancy in mobile network infrastructure; allowing several operators and service providers to engage in new sharing models.

"The old model for cellular, with dedicated hardware and dedicated spectrum per operator, is breaking down," said Dr. Nick Johnson, CTO of ip.access. "As demand continues to grow exponentially, with limited additional spectrum, flat subscriber growth and falling revenues per subscriber, new ways have to be found to use the resources we have more efficiently. This project does this by allowing spectrum to be shared between operators in a controllable, measurable and agile way."

Project SESAME consortium includes 18 members that span across the European Union, including the UK, Spain, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and Greece.

http://www.ipaccess.com
http://horizon2020projects.com/
http://horizon2020projects.com/il-ict/h2020-backs-5g-infrastructure-project/