The Chinese vendor is currently investing $500 million annually in 5G research
ZTE has released what it claims to be the world’s first end-to-end 5G network slicing solution. ZTE highlighted solution is the key to the 5G network as it allows the resource of a physical network to be flexibly allocated into multiple virtualized network slices in order to adapt to the needs of different industrial services, such as industrial control, automatic driving, intelligent power grid and remote medical treatment.
ZTE’s solution is an end-to-end, all cloud-based network slicing solution across 5G radio access network, core network and bearer network. The solution is based on a micro-service architecture and realizes the convergence of the unified air interface, the virtualized core network and the SDN-based bearer network.
“The release of the 5G E2E network slicing solution is a key milestone towards the 5G commercialization. It not only provides an industrial leading implementation method of network slice, but also turns the network slice into an operational and valuable product for the vertical industry, inaugurating a new mode of the 5G network slice operation,” said You Yan, vice president at ZTE.
ZTE is currently investing approximately $500 million per year in 5G research. The vendor has a team of more than 4,500 technicians devoted to 5G research.
In 2017, ZTE partnered with over 20 mobile operators globally to carry out collaborations in the 5G field. These agreements included a deal with China Mobile to launch China’s first 5G pre-commercial base station. During 2017, ZTE also initiated a 5G field test with Japan’s SoftBank.
The vendor has already launched a series of products for 5G commercial applications, including a 5G series of access equipment, diversified 5G bearing solutions, as well as a flexible 5G core network
In related 5G news, Verizon, Samsung Electronics and Korean telecommunications firm KT have carried out a demonstration of Samsung 5G solutions and use cases, including a prototype 5G tablet device, and a live video call conducted over 5G between Minneapolis, US and Seoul, Korea.
The involved firms said that the 5G international video connection, which featured Samsung’s 5G end-to-end (E2E) solutions in each location, served as an example of how use of commercial 5G mobile devices and connectivity is growing closer to reality.
“By working closely with industry leaders like KT and Samsung, we are finally making 5G a reality,” said Ed Chan, SVP and chief technology architect, at Verizon. “Seeing Samsung’s 5G end-to-end solutions in action, including a working prototype 5G tablet, underscores how important our collaborative relationship has been in helping accelerate the availability of commercial 5G mobility for customers.”
Samsung enabled the demonstration of 5G experiences by supplying network Infrastructure composed of 28GHz 5G access units, 5G home routers, virtualized RAN and virtualized core network, as well as the prototype 5G device. The proto-type tablet is capable of supporting data session handovers between 4G LTE and 5G and demonstrates advancements in chipset and antenna technology required to support future commercial devices.
The three companies have been working on 5G research and development since 2015.
