Ericsson has launched a new software toolkit designed to help communications service providers (CSPs) cater to greater demands on network capacity and performance, as mobile user expectations on the quality of 5G skyrocket.
Use cases such as gaming, video conferencing, live broadcasting, remote-controlled machines/vehicles, and so forth are putting higher requirements on the network to deliver differentiated performance levels, the company said.
“Ericsson is at the forefront of global 5G network leadership, extending connectivity to all corners of the world,” said Sibel Tombaz, head of product line 5G RAN, Ericsson. “We’re reshaping connectivity and facilitating a seamless transition from ‘best-effort’ mobile broadband to premium experiences with service-level agreements. Our new innovative software toolkit empowers our customers to unlock advanced 5G applications through differentiated connectivity. This not only guarantees on-demand service excellence but also propels us toward our vision of networks as a platform.”
The new toolkit takes a three-pronged approach, tasked to ensure superior performance for mobile broadband services, offer differentiated experiences for consumer and enterprise use cases, and thus create programmable network performance on-demand through network APIs.
Specifically, the new toolkit offers the following capabilities:
- Massive MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output) – software algorithms allowing for smoother introduction of new services requiring high reliability and low latency.
- RAN Slicing – software solution built on existing 5G radio access networks to fulfill even the most demanding service-level agreements.
- Improved consistent low latency capabilities of Time-Critical Communication for superior quality of experience even during network congestion and under poor radio conditions.
- Data boost upsell and L4S support in 5G Core, which allows users to purchase a boost on top of their existing subscription through notification to the device.
In an interview with IT World Canada, Erik Ekudden, Ericsson’s Group chief technical officer, also addressed the rising data connectivity needs as artificial intelligence continues to boom.
“Around 2010, we started our own AI research for networks. And since 2010, we have continuously ramped up that. So we are building AI capabilities in the network portfolio so that our customers get lower energy consumption, high performance, and so forth. So we’re well positioned, and we’ve done it on our own, but also together with university partners, like we have here in Canada, but also in other places: U.S. and Sweden, and India.”
Further, the road to 6G, he explained, would just be “evolutionary” rather than a separate system from 5G.
