Nokia has a new arrangement with a government affiliated telecoms research centre in Brazil to develop solutions for industrial and municipal IoT using open RAN (O-RAN) based 5G networks.
The Finnish operator is working with Brazil’s Telecommunications Research and Development Center (CPQD), one of Brazil’s largest independent research institutions for IT. The pair said they will focus on customised 5G (O-RAN) solutions for Nokia’s mobile operator customers in the country, for use with their fixed wireless access (FWA), smart cities, industrial IoT, and critical network propositions.
The partnership will make use of Nokia’s service enablement platform (SEP), which combines the firm’s O-RAN compliant near-real time RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC), multi-access edge computing (MEC) capabilities, and AirFrame open edge server solution.
Nokia said its SEP product, running on the edge or ‘far edge’, enables use cases at the edge of the RAN, and can share infrastructure with cloud RAN or other virtualized network functions. Its AirFrame server provides ultra-small edge cloud infrastructure for indoor and outdoor environments. The RIC is a virtualized 5G optimization technology that adds programmability to the radio access network (RAN), enabling AI and other services.
Nokia said: “The collaboration is designed to create innovative use cases at the network edge. [It] will allow CPQD to explore the potential of 5G to deliver an enhanced network performance with lower energy consumption, greater reliability and security.”
Frederico Nava, director of solutions and consulting at CPQD, said: “This is an important collaboration that will help to shape the future of 5G networks in Brazil. We look forward to a fruitful and successful partnership with Nokia and look forward to introducing a range of innovative 5G-based use cases to the market.”
Ari Kynäslahti, head of technology and strategy at Nokia’s mobile networks division, said: “This partnership will explore the potential for innovative 5G use cases that will have real-world value in Brazil across a range of different areas, such as smart cities and fixed wireless access. Our RAN Intelligent Controller will play a critical role in this research, helping to explore and trial new cutting-edge use cases that will put Brazil at the forefront in the 5G era.”
