NFV/SDN is a must for 5G, not an option

The arrival of 5G is not only an evolution of network standards for operators, but also a transformation of network architecture. A new business model will also be born from this.

Lin Yiyan, general manager of the 5G Infrastructure Department of Intel's Data Center Division, said that in the past, 2G, 3G, and 4G operators built networks mainly to meet consumers' needs for calls and Internet access. But 5G will allow operators to participate in all business models, such as vertical industries, the Internet of Things, and the Internet of Vehicles. This brings operators broader development opportunities. However, if operators still use fixed, dedicated platforms built for communications in the 5G era, it will be difficult to meet the flexible and changing business needs of various industries. This requires the virtualization of operator networks.

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Lin Yiyan believes that NFV/SDN will be a must for 5G rather than an option in the future, and SDN and NFV will play a very important role in 5G networks.

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Intel's end-to-end solutions help 5G development

At present, the global 5G industry is experiencing a development process from describing a beautiful future scenario to the actual application. For example, my country has completed the first phase of 5G testing and started the second phase of 5G testing this year. In terms of the industrial chain, 5G prototypes and Massive MIMO commercial use have also shown that 5G commercial use is not far away.

This also allows operators' networks to quickly migrate from traditional networks to 5G networks and NFV/SDN. This change also allows Intel to play an increasingly important role in telecom operator networks.

Intel is also actively building its own end-to-end solution capabilities to promote the development of 5G. According to Lin Yiyan, a year ago, Intel first released the 5G test platform (MTP, Mobile Trial Platform) at MWC 2016 and also announced preliminary cooperation with the industrial industry.

During this year, Intel has conducted a lot of communication with some leading operators, including Japan's Docomo, South Korean operators, and Verizon, especially in the formulation of 5G standards. At the same time, Intel has also cooperated with various industry leaders, including Huawei, Ericsson, ZTE, and China Mobile, to push the entire 5G industry forward.

It is understood that on the device side, Intel is committed to developing innovative devices with partners and studying usage patterns under 5G conditions; in terms of wireless communication technology, Intel provides wireless communication solutions for a wide range of connected devices, and at the same time has a strong competitive advantage in key technologies such as millimeter wave; on the network side, Intel provides the building blocks needed for network transformation; in the cloud, Intel's powerful data processing and analysis capabilities also provide support for the arrival of the 5G era.

During the 5G Innovation and Development Summit held in September 2016, Intel successfully completed the first phase of China's 5G technology research and development trials, and excellently completed the relevant tests of 5G wireless and network key technologies such as mobile edge computing (MEC) and massive MIMO. The test results fully met the expected results.

Lin Yiyan said that Intel not only provides the industry with end-to-end capability support in terms of air interfaces, specifications and standards, 5G verification and other technologies, but also provides its own intelligence for 5G business models, such as working with AT&T, Verizon and NEC on data transformation; and cooperating with BMW Group on Mobileye to put fully automatic driverless cars on the road by 2021.

MWC 2017 releases three blockbuster products to accelerate 5G commercialization process

In order to further help the industry accelerate the commercialization of 5G, Intel will release three blockbuster products at this year's MWC: XMM7560 modem, third-generation Intel 5G mobile trial platform, network edge and storage.

According to Wu Geng, a wireless standards expert and Intel Fellow in Intel's Platform Engineering Division, Intel completed the development of the XMM7360 modem based on LTE-Advanced — 3GPP Rel. 11 in 2015. The product was released and mass-produced in 2016 and is still in large-scale mass production. So far, we have shipped more than 100 million chips. In 2016, Intel released the fourth-generation 7480 chips based on 3GPP Rel. 12 and began to provide samples to customers. Now it has entered the final mass production verification and preliminary mass production. At this year's MWC, Intel will announce the first Gigabit LTE modem 7560, which is the fifth-generation LTE chipset.

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The 7560 is developed based on Intel's world-leading 14nm process technology, integrating 4 satellite positioning systems and supporting 6 communication modes, including CDMA. In terms of wireless RF design, it supports 5 times carrier aggregation, 35 IOP bands from 7000MHZ to 6Hz, and up to 230 combinations of carrier aggregation.

The third-generation 5G mobile test platform is expected to be put into use in the second half of 2017. This platform can meet the performance requirements of 5G. It is based on the Intel Stratix 10 FPGA chip, achieving twice the signal processing performance of the second-generation platform, and can meet the low latency and 10Gps data flow requirements of the 5G standard. More importantly, the platform will support the simultaneous development of 3GPP and 5G NR standards. The platform supports both high and low frequency bands, including 3.3-4.2GHz. At the same time, the third-generation platform supports 39GHz in addition to the 28GHz that is currently supported.

In terms of network edge and storage, Intel will release products this year that meet the requirements of edge technology intelligence, security, and high-bandwidth cloud connectivity. For example, in the middle of this year, Intel will release Atom C3000, Xeon D-1500, QuickAssist adapter, and Ethernet adapter XXV710 products.

In addition, Intel has also been working closely with Ericsson and Nokia on 5G R&D to accelerate 5G cross-industry innovation and help operators bring 5G innovations to market.