Intel cites continued momentum in 5G vRAN and edge

In a virtual event ahead of Mobile World Congress, Intel showcased a number of foundational technologies and products that position the company for continued leadership in 5G virtual radio access network (vRAN) and edge deployments. This includes the following product announcements:

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  Intel Agilex FPGA family is expanding, with a new FPGA with integrated cryptography acceleration that can support MACSec in 5G applications. This adds another layer of security to vRAN at the fronthaul, midhaul and backhaul levels.
• Intel Ethernet 800 Series family is expanding, with Intel’s first SyncE capable Ethernet Adapter that is designed for space-constrained systems on the edge, and well-suited for both high-bandwidth 4G and 5G RAN as well as other time- and latency-sensitive applications in sectors such as industrial, financial and energy.

In addition, Intel Smart Edge, which consists of two software offerings for the multi-access edge computing layer, will now have a unified architecture and codebase to help customers onboard and manage edge applications and network functions.  Intel Smart Edge is commercial software focused on enterprise on-premise use cases, such as private networks and universal Customer Premise equipment. The evolved and enhanced Intel Smart Edge Open (formerly known as OpenNESS) is an open software toolkit that enables developers to build highly optimized and performant edge platforms.

The virtual event also highlighted key partnerships for Intel, including:

• Reliance Jio announced it will do co-innovations with Intel in 5G radio and wireless core, and collaborate in other associate areas that include AI, cloud and edge computing, which will help it as they deploy 5G.
• Deutsche Telekom is using Intel FlexRAN technology with accelerators in O-RAN Town, in the O-RAN network it is deploying in Neubrandenburg, Germany — a city of 65,000 people spread out over 33 square miles. The company is relying on Intel as a technology partner as it delivers high-performance RAN at scale.
• DISH Wireless relies on Intel’s contributions to the 5G ecosystem as it builds out the first cloud-native 5G network in the United States. The launch in its first city, Las Vegas, as well as its nationwide network, will be deployed on infrastructure powered by Intel technology in the network core, access and edge.
• Cohere is pioneering a new approach to improve spectrum utilization by leveraging capabilities in FlexRAN. It is integrating and optimizing spectrum multiplier software in the RAN intelligent controller. Cohere’s testing shows its Delay Doppler spatial multiplexing technology is improving channel estimation and delivering up to a two-times improvement in spectrum utilization for operators. That’s what Vodafone has seen in 700Mhz testing in its labs.

“Network transformation is critical to unleash the possibilities of 5G and maximize the rise of the edge to create new and better business outcomes for our customers across the globe. As the leading network silicon provider, we have been driving this shift to virtualizing the core to access to edge, and implementing edge computing capabilities with our decade of experience, to power our society’s digital revolution”, said Dan Rodriguez, Intel corporate vice president, Network Platforms Group.

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DISH to run Nokia's 5G standalone core network in AWS

DISH confirmed that it will run Nokia's 5G standalone (SA) Core in AWS.

Nokia is providing voice core, cloud packet core, subscriber data management, device management and NetGuard network security, as well as professional end-to-end security services for DISH.

Nokia said the public cloud deployment will allow DISH to support new enterprise and consumer 5G use cases quickly, securely and across multiple cloud stacks at end customer premises. 

Marc Rouanne, Chief Network Officer, DISH, said: “Running the Nokia 5G SA core on AWS will optimize our network operations to launch new software and services rapidly and efficiently, enabling the integration of countless innovative use cases for customers. This collaboration is an important step forward on our mission to deploy the United States’ first cloud-native, OpenRAN-based 5G network.”

Dave Brown, Vice President, Amazon EC2, AWS, said: “DISH’s cloud-native 5G network serves as a prime example of how new carriers can revolutionize wireless connectivity in the 5G era. DISH is continuing to put innovation first with an eye on customer experience via this standalone core deployment on AWS with Nokia.”

Raghav Sahgal, President, Cloud and Network Services, Nokia, said: “We are pleased to break new ground in the telecom industry with AWS and DISH leveraging our cloud-native core to bring innovative 5G capabilities to enterprises and consumers. This collaboration places AWS and DISH at the forefront of the industry, delivering key 5G benefits such as agility and scalability to their customers over Nokia’s proven distributed core architecture.”

Nokia collaborates with AWS on Cloud RAN

Monday, March 15, 2021  AWS, Nokia  

Nokia announced a collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to research and enable Cloud RAN (vRAN) and Open RAN technologies.The collaboration, which will be conducted at Nokia’s facilities, aims to develop innovative proof of concepts (PoC) to explore and enable Cloud RAN and related technologies. Nokia is pursuing a strategy of collaborating with AWS to extend the reach of its Cloud RAN technologies in support of 5G deployments and the development...

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Google Cloud and Nokia announce Telco Cloud Partnership

Thursday, January 14, 2021  Google Cloud, Nokia, Telco Cloud  

Google Cloud and Nokia announced a global, strategic partnership focused on cloud-native solutions for communications service providers (CSPs), including a cloud-native 5G Core and a network edge for business services.Under this partnership, Google Cloud and Nokia will work closely to validate, optimize and evolve cloud-native network functions, and the two companies will also co-innovate new solutions that will help CSPs deliver 5G connectivity...

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NEC and NTT Docomo develop RIC for Open RAN

NEC Corporation and NTT DOCOMO are collaborating on the development of RAN Intelligent Controllers (RIC) in support of intelligent Radio Access Networks (RAN). RICS have the potential to reduce operating costs of RANs by automating base station settings. 

The companies expect that, in the future, the RIC control cycle will be advanced from slow control to fast control, and from the base station unit level to a user-based level of control. At the same time, optimization will be performed in conjunction with the control of different elements, such as radio resources and computing resources. Moreover, the companies aim to create new value by optimizing network characteristics, such as ultra-high-speed, large-capacity, ultra-low latency, high reliability, and multiple simultaneous connections to realize a variety of services through upgraded networks.

NEC's subsidiary, Netcracker, provides an Open RAN Domain Orchestration solution aligned with the O-RAN Alliance Service Management and Orchestration framework, including RIC functionality

developed by Netcracker. The solution is based on Netcracker's Digital OSS (operations support system), built from its wealth of experience domestically and internationally, and brings together the orchestration, real-time OSS, and advanced analytics required to fully automate RAN domain operations, from planning and design, to activation, monitoring, and optimization. With end-to-end visualization and optimization, the solution maximizes RAN performance and improves business KPIs for service providers.

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3GPP approves Ligado’s L-Band spectrum

3GPP approved for new technical specifications that will enable use of Band 24 (L-band) spectrum in 5G networks.

Ligado Networks said the approvals mark a crucial step in itss expansion of the L-Band vendor ecosystem and its efforts to deploy new mid-band spectrum in 5G networks in the U.S. 

Specifically, the items that were approved at this week’s 3GPP plenary meeting include updates to Ligado’s existing LTE Band 24; a new 5G NR Band labeled n24; a new 5G NR Supplemental Uplink (SUL) Band labeled n99; and NR Carrier Aggregation (CA) and SUL band combinations for n24 and n99 with CBRS, C-Band and EBS/BRS spectrum. The approvals of SUL band n99 and band combinations will help facilitate the deployments of L-Band spectrum with other mid-band airwaves like the C-Band, CBRS, and EBS spectrum bands.

Ligado is currently developing a 5G Mobile Private Network Solution designed to bring the power of next-generation networks to the energy, manufacturing, health care, transportation, and other critical infrastructure sectors.

“This is a major milestone for us – in an already momentous year – and advances our vision to deploy this spectrum for a range of next-generation services,” said Ligado CEO, Doug Smith. “The 3GPP green light gives us what we need to accelerate our commercial ecosystem activities and expand Ligado’s roster of partners to deploy this much-needed spectrum for U.S. businesses and consumers.”

“Receiving these 3GPP approvals is a huge springboard to deploy the L-Band in U.S. 5G networks, and we’re excited to have continued support from several industry-leading vendors,” said Chief Technology Officer, Maqbool Aliani. “Bringing this additional mid-band spectrum to the 5G market will help the U.S. roll out next-generation deployments more quickly, at lower costs, and with superior network performance.”

Ligado raises $3.85 billion for its low-power L-band terrestrial network

Sunday, October 25, 2020  Ligado  

Ligado Networks announced nearly $3.85 billion in new capital for supporting its upcoming 5G launch. The funding was led by JPMorgan Chase & Co., and included both existing and new investors.Since its bipartisan, unanimous approval from the FCC in April 2020, Ligado has made important strides to realize the full potential of its spectrum and progress toward bringing next-generation services to market. In June 2020, Ligado’s submissions into 3GPP...

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Analog Devices and Keysight collaborate on O-RAN

Analog Devices  and Keysight Technologies are collaborating to create a robust test bench to verify the interoperability of a new Open RAN radio unit (O-RU) that includes ADI’s low-PHY baseband, software defined transceiver, power, and clock integrated with an Intel FPGA. The companies will applying Keysight’s Open RAN emulation, signal generation and signal analysis capabilities to a wide range of use cases improves the testing process, reducing complexity and testing time.

“We are pleased to align our resources with ADI, a leader in O-RU technology solutions, to help service providers realize the full potential of the O-RAN specifications,” said Kailash Narayanan, Vice President and General Manager of Keysight’s Commercial Communications Group. “Keysight and ADI offer technology and test solutions that create an effective bridge between the radio unit and the core network, resulting in accelerated development and interoperability testing.”

“As a result of combining our technology, tools and design resources, ADI and Keysight are able to provide the O-RAN ecosystem with a robust platform to quickly develop reliable O-RUs,” said Joe Barry, Vice President of Wireless Communications at Analog Devices. “By working together, we offer our customers the fastest path for developing cost-effective, power-efficient, and interoperable O-RAN based O-RUs.”

http://www.keysight.com

http://www.analog.com

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AT&T and Texas A&M team on Private 5G testbeds

AT&T and The Texas A&M University System’s RELLIS Campus will open private 5G testbeds this fall to public and private sector organizations to develop and innovate with 5G powered applications and solutions.

With the addition of 5G, the RELLIS Campus will be home to one of the large-scale testing and evaluation sites for five of the Department of Defense’s 11 modernization priorities: hypersonics, artificial intelligence, autonomy, cyber security, and directed energy.

“This new 5G testbed will be one of the most advanced university based 5G testbeds in the country. Bringing together the private and public sectors, the RELLIS 5G testbeds can test 5G technologies at scale utilizing both on road and off-road terrains through 5G mmWave and Sub-6 frequencies,” said Brad Hoover, Chief Information Officer for The RELLIS Campus. “These testbeds are being set up to test new approaches to augmented and virtual reality, autonomous vehicles or any number of use cases as well as those that have yet to be imagined.”

https://about.att.com/story/2021/texas_am.html

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Axiata and Telenor advance their Malaysian venture

Axiata and Telenor successfully completed their previously announced deal to merge Celcom Axiata Berhad (“Celcom”) and Digi (together “MergeCo”).

On a pro forma basis1, MergeCo will serve an estimated 19 million customers with revenue of RM12.4 billion, EBITDA of RM5.7 billion, Profit After Taxation of RM1.9 billion and Free Cash Flow of RM4.0 billion.

Axiata and Telenor will be equal partners with 33.1 percent ownership stake each in MergeCo, and MergeCo will continue to be listed on Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad (“Bursa”). Targeted to be among the five largest companies listed on Bursa in terms of market capitalisation, MergeCo is valued at a combined pre-synergy equity value of close to RM50 billion3.

The integration planning phase will include further detailed work on synergies and business plan of MergeCo, and initial estimates indicate potential value accretion through cost and capex synergies of around RM8 billion on a net present value basis.

Axiata and Telenor seek to build a new Malaysian Digital Champion

Thursday, April 08, 2021  Malaysia, Mergers And Acquisitions, Service Providers  

Axiata Group and Telenor Asia are planning to merge the telco operations of Celcom Axiata Berhad (Celcom) and Digi.com Berhad (Digi) into a new Malaysian Digital Champion.

The partners will have equal ownership in the venture estimated at 33.1 percent each. Axiata together with Malaysian institutional funds will own over 51% of the merged company, which will be considered a leading telecommunications service provider in Malaysia in terms of value, revenue and profit, with proforma revenue of about RM12.4 billion, pre-synergy EBITDA of the combined entity at approximately RM5.7 billion, and an estimated 19 million customers. The new company will be named Celcom Digi Berhad and will continue to be listed on Bursa Malaysia.

Chairman of the Axiata Board, Tan Sri Ghazzali Sheikh Abdul Khalid, said: “We are exceedingly pleased to have come this far in discussing the potential merger of our Malaysian operations. The joint creation of a true Malaysian Champion, this merger of Celcom and Digi will see the coming together of the largest mobile operator with the firepower to trigger tremendous opportunities in helping Malaysia leapfrog into the Fourth Industrial Revolution and fulfil our vision of a digitised nation.”

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HPE acquires Determined AI

Hewlett Packard Enterprise has acquired Determined AI, a start-up based in San Francisco with software stack to train AI models faster using its open source machine learning (ML) platform. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Determined AI was founded in 2017 by Neil Conway, Evan Sparks, and Ameet Talwalkar. It launched its open-source platform in 2020. 

HPE will combine Determined AI’s unique software solution with its AI and high performance computing (HPC) offerings to enable ML engineers to easily implement and train machine learning models to provide faster and more accurate insights from their data in almost every industry.  

“As we enter the Age of Insight, our customers recognize the need to add machine learning to deliver better and faster answers from their data,” said Justin Hotard, senior vice president and general manager, HPC and Mission Critical Solutions (MCS), HPE. “AI-powered technologies will play an increasingly critical role in turning data into readily available, actionable information to fuel this new era. Determined AI’s unique open source platform allows ML engineers to build models faster and deliver business value sooner without having to worry about the underlying infrastructure. I am pleased to welcome the world-class Determined AI team, who share our vision to make AI more accessible for our customers and users, into the HPE family.”

“The Determined AI team is excited to join HPE, who shares our vision to realize the potential of AI,” said Evan Sparks, CEO of Determined AI. “Over the last several years, building AI applications has become extremely compute, data, and communication intensive. By combining with HPE’s industry-leading HPC and AI solutions, we can accelerate our mission to build cutting edge AI applications and significantly expand our customer reach.” 

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