Nokia and Vodafone claimed success from a cloud RAN trial using NFV to support macro network transition from 4G to 5G technology.
Vodafone and Nokia said they trialed a cloud-based radio access network technology designed to test the transition of a traditional macro network from current “4G” to planned “5G” network technologies.
The companies said the trial used Nokia’s Cloud RAN architecture using its AirScale Cloud RAN platform running on its AirFrame NFV infrastructure to split baseband processing functionality between “real-time and non real-time functions.” The move is said to allow “time-critical functions” to be conducted closer to the end users at the edge of the network while continuing to support traditional macro networks with “Ethernet-based fronthaul providing connectivity to the virtualized functions.”
The trial was conducted at Vodafone’s testing facility in Italy, using the Nokia Cloud RAN platform to test performance of centralized 5G-ready architecture, with measurements of peak data rates, and download and upload speeds of the macro network under different scenarios. As the testing was made public, it’s no surprise the results were positive, with claims the platform achieved Vodafone’s performance metrics for throughput, capacity and resiliency.
The use of network functions virtualization is key to the platform as it allows for the non-time critical functions to be centralized and virtualized at the edge, allowing for a “view across the network and allowing radio capacity to be scaled when and where it is required,” according to Nokia.
The firms noted the successful trial showed a cloud-based architecture can provide the same level of service as a conventional 4G-based LTE network, but with increased scalability and efficiency. Plans are to continue collaboration on the project with the goal of commercial deployments.
Nokia earlier this year stated it had conducted the first demonstration of a 5G network running on commercial platforms, which used its AirScale Radio Access technology and Cloud Packet Core running on an AirFrame data center platform. The vendor has conducted a number of 5G-based network trials with operators, including U.S. Cellular, Bell Canada, AT&T, Verizon Communications, Sprint and T-Mobile US. Many of those trials have included millimeter wave spectrum, which is seen as key to next-generation network deployments.
Vodafone recently conducted a 5G mobile edge proof-of-concept trial with Ericsson targeted at connecting separate research facilities in Germany geared toward machine vision in the manufacturing vertical. The PoC is said to have shown improved efficiency in machine vision based on lower network latency, serving to increase the rate of detection from the cloud system.
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