Moving intelligence to the edge of the telecom network.

Just as the evolution of the smart phone was enabled by the transition from 3G to 4G, use cases for connected devices will evolve with 5G. There will be connected appliances, connected cars, connected factories and even connected cities that will each require the low latency and localized processing power of 5G to function. For communications service providers (CSPs), meeting the challenges of 5G isn’t simply a matter of building bigger networks. Instead, they will need to break down their big networks into smaller, disaggregated components that are closer to the source of these connected devices.

In this new network model, the edge becomes increasingly important. Unlike the core-centric network model of the past, 5G networks will require much of the heavy lifting of processing and analytics to be performed closer to the user, running on a very small footprint. In the case of smart factories, the edge could be multi-access edge computing (MEC) within a hosted private 5G network. For online gaming, this could mean adding compute capacity to the edge of the telecom network. In both cases, CSPs will need to deploy these edge resources quickly and cost-effectively if they hope to monetize 5G opportunities.

Edge use cases come with unique requirements and even with the building blocks in hand, it is not easy to build the infrastructure that can power Radio Access Networks (RAN). StarlingX is an open source cloud platform that is built and developed with these needs in mind to address the pain points that telecom operators face and brings in efficiency both in terms of deploying as well as operating infrastructure. To mention an example, Vodafone is utilizing the platform to power the first commercial Open RAN rollout in Europe.

Check out this article to learn more about how Dell Technologies and Wind River collaborated to develop a reference architecture for CSPs that provides a complete, end-to-end edge solution.

You can also catch Andy Dunkin from Vodafone, John McCready from Dell Technologies and Muhammad Gill from Wind River at the upcoming OpenInfra Live Keynotes event on November 17-18, where Ildikó Váncsa from the OpenInfra Foundation will ask them about the challenges of building an Open RAN infrastructure and how StarlingX has been helping them throughout their journey. If you are interested in watching this panel and further sessions, go and register to the event here.