Ericsson and NVIDIA Collaborate to Accelerate Virtualized 5G Radio Access Networks with GPUs
Oct. 22, 2019 -- NVIDIA and Ericsson today announced they are collaborating on technologies that can allow telco operators to build high-performing, efficient and completely virtualized 5G radio access networks (RAN). These virtualized networks can enable faster and more flexible introduction of new AI and IoT services.
The collaboration, announced by NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang at a keynote ahead of the start of MWC Los Angeles, brings together Ericsson’s expertise in RAN technology with NVIDIA’s leadership in GPU-powered accelerated computing platforms, as well as AI and supercomputing.
Telcos are exploring alternative technologies and RAN architectures amid growing interest for virtualization, while securing the best possible user experience.
A major industry challenge is how to virtualize the complete RAN solution in a cost-, size- and energy-efficient way, comparable with traditionally built RAN networks. The collaboration seeks to examine how these challenges can be addressed in a commercially viable way.
The companies’ ultimate goal is to commercialize virtualized RAN technologies to deliver radio networks with flexibility and shorter time to market for new services, such as augmented reality, virtual reality and gaming.
“5G is set to turbocharge the intelligent edge revolution,” said Huang. “Fusing 5G, supercomputing and AI has enabled us to create a revolutionary communications platform supporting, someday, trillions of always-on, AI-enabled smart devices. Combining our world-leading capabilities, NVIDIA and Ericsson are helping to invent this exciting future.”
Fredrik Jejdling, executive vice president and head of Networks at Ericsson, said, “As a technology leader, we embrace openness and new platforms where we can continue to innovate and push boundaries to provide our customers with the best possible solutions. With NVIDIA we will jointly look at bringing alternatives to market for virtualizing the complete radio access network.”
About Ericsson
Ericsson enables communications service providers to capture the full value of connectivity. The company’s portfolio spans Networks, Digital Services, Managed Services, and Emerging Business and is designed to help our customers go digital, increase efficiency and find new revenue streams. Ericsson’s investments in innovation have delivered the benefits of telephony and mobile broadband to billions of people around the world. The Ericsson stock is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm and on Nasdaq New York. www.ericsson.com
About NVIDIA
NVIDIA‘s (NASDAQ: NVDA) invention of the GPU in 1999 sparked the growth of the PC gaming market, redefined modern computer graphics and revolutionized parallel computing. More recently, GPU deep learning ignited modern AI — the next era of computing — with the GPU acting as the brain of computers, robots and self-driving cars that can perceive and understand the world. More information at http://nvidianews.nvidia.com/.
Source: NVIDIA
