Ericsson has launched a 5G Radio Access Network (RAN) commercial software, based on the recently approved first 3GPP 5G New Radio (NR) standard. They also introduced a new category of radio products called Street Macro - a new site type that addresses the need of operators to grow in cities with limited available radio locations. Ericsson also expanded its 5G Core System offering with new capabilities to support 5G NR and has also enhanced its Distributed Cloud solution. Thus finalizing 5G-readiness for operators by enhancing its 5G Platform with introduction of new solutions for the radio and core network.
Ericsson introduced its 5G Platform in February 2017 with additions made in September the same year. It comprises the 5G core, radio, and transport portfolios together with OSS/BSS, network services and security.
The 5G radio network software provides multi-band support for global deployment and will be available in the fourth quarter of 2018. It will allow operators to use new frequency spectrum as it becomes available. This software complements Ericsson's already launched baseband and 5G radios. Operators can simply activate their 5G networks and take the first steps with commercial 5G capabilities and new applications leveraging advanced mobile broadband services.
This will cater efficiently for growing data traffic and enable access to multimedia content, such as 4K/8K video streaming and virtual reality/augmented reality. According to Ericsson's new economic study of enhanced mobile broadband, evolution to 5G will enable 10 times lower cost per gigabyte than current 4G.
The radio offering is complemented with 5G Core commercial software optimized for 5G throughput, network capacity and scalability. Ericsson's Packet Core and Unified Data Management solutions will deliver enhancements throughout 2018 to efficiently support 5G services. These solutions can be further upgraded with new functionalities as the 3GPP 5G standard evolves.
Ericsson Distributed Cloud
Ericsson also evolves its Distributed Cloud offering for cloud application deployment across multiple sites - central, distributed, and edge. Managed, orchestrated, and perceived as one solution, it improves latency, security, and resilience, and fulfils regulatory requirements for 5G-enabled use cases. Ericsson Distributed Cloud combines the best of telecom and cloud to enable networks as open cloud platforms for all workloads, including telecom, consumer, and enterprise applications.
As part of the Ericsson Distributed Cloud, Ericsson will support deployments of hardware options in a multi-vendor framework. With fast deployable telecom-grade open software for remote upgrade and operation, Ericsson brings Software Defined Infrastructure (SDI) to the edge. To support efficient deployment of cloud native applications, Ericsson also expands the offering with support for containers in a distributed cloud infrastructure.
Radio Portfolio Expanded
Ericsson also added a new category of radio products for cities, which it calls Street Macro – a new layer between macro and micro. These radios will be on building facades with a smaller footprint but the necessary strength to secure network efficiency and coverage.
Furthermore, the company unveiled new radio products supporting Massive MIMO technology. These products enable a smooth evolution from 4G to 5G and address the need for increased capacity, while simplifying use for wider adoption. This applies to more than 150 different radio variants in Ericsson Radio System that are active in more than 190 networks around the world. The 5G NR readiness applies to Ericsson's Radio System delivered since 2015 and existing Radio Dot System products. In short, all Ericsson Radio System products are ready for 5G NR. This capability will be achieved through a remote software installation.
Operators will have the possibility to run 4G and 5G in the same band with the same radio and the same baseband. It will also be possible to share the spectrum between 4G and 5G with side-by-side carriers in the same band, and even with overlapping carriers using so-called 'Dynamic Spectrum Sharing' functionality.
Learn more about 5G Solutions from Ericsson at MWC 2018.
