Private 5G uCPE

Enterprises are undergoing a continuous digital transformation as increasing competition is driving them to look for ways to reduce costs, improve supply chain reliability and manufacturing agility. This digital transformation is impacting technology, data processing, manufacturing processes and organizational structures used by enterprises. It is driving increased use of artificial intelligence (AI), internet of things (IoT) and analytics. 5G cellular technology is a critical link to expanding enterprise digital transformation. Private 5G network services from communications services providers (CoSPs) promise fast throughput speeds, low latency and extensive connectivity making them ideal for IoT networks. For enterprises, private 5G challenges include the need to hire new technical talent to build and maintain the network, and for those companies that are building their own network, the need to license spectrum. But working with a CoSP that offers private 5G managed services can be an easier way to deploy private 5G. A managed service will require an on-premises universal customer premises equipment (uCPE) server to run the real-time aspects of the RAN. But with the right server, the CoSP is able to deploy the 5G RAN along with other network, data security or digital transformation services. Intel® Network Builders ecosystem companies Accelleran, Advantech, and Enea have come together to create a cost-effective turnkey radio access network (RAN) solution for private 5G deployments that allows CoSPs to deploy new services that enable enterprise, IoT and digital transformation applications. The solution includes the remote radio unit (RRU) as well as the software and Intel® architecture server that processes the radio signals. RAN software is composed of a distributed unit (DU), providing real time L1 and L2 scheduling, and a centralized unit (CU) for non-real time, L2 and L3 signal processing. RAN functions are virtualized and run on top of a cloud native (containerized) or network functions virtualization (NFV) software stack.