The two companies partnered to deliver mobile edge computing proof of concept
Vodafone Hutchison Australia (VHA) and Finnish vendor Nokia aim to carry out trials of mobile edge computing (MEC) during 2017.
The two companies recently announced a partnership to deliver a proof of concept (PoC) to demonstrate how mobile edge computing powered by 4G networks can improve public safety.
The MEC platform is a virtualized network infrastructure that enables enterprises to host software applications in order to take advantage of low-latency and mission-critical mobile broadband networks.
In the public safety space, video analytics can be used to secure process data feeds from sensors, such as CCTV cameras, connected over a 4G network in real-time. This can be used to track people in defined perimeter zones in outdoor locations and around public buildings; distinguish the movement of people and vehicles using object detection; and count the number of people entering or crossing a border.
“Being part of this proof of concept further demonstrates our desire to collaborate and develop the best ideas into solutions that leverage commercial 4G networks to provide improved public safety,” VHA’s General Manager for Technology Strategy, Easwaren Siva, said.
“What we are seeing is the coming together of various technical innovations such as network function virtualisation (NFV), deployment of mass sensors from the internet of things (IoT), low latency 4G and 5G networks via near edge computing, and video analytics to deliver very applicable public safety solutions.”
Nokia’s Head of Oceania Ray Owen highlighted that the elimination of existing latency between sensors and centralized applications is critical to improve public safety communications.
“The Nokia Mobile Edge Computing platform rapidly processes content at the network edge, closer to users to ensure an ultra-low latency experience. For these demonstrations, the data feeds from the camera remained local thanks to the MEC platform while benefiting from the robust, secure capabilities of 4G, which is critical public safety communications,” Owen said.
The Australian telco has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to join Nokia’s Mission Critical Communications Alliance, a global body made up of mobile operators, national and local-level public authorities, and first response agencies that aim to formalize standards of 4G LTE-based technology for public safety use.
Last month, Vodafone Australia and Nokia have carried out a live test of 5G technology at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS). Using 200 MHz of spectrum, the tests reached speeds of up to 5 Gbps.
