Building 5G: Mobile Edge Computing

Peter Jarich
Peter Jarich – VP, Consumer Services and Service Provider Infrastructure

Summary Bullets:                 

  • Mobile edge computing (MEC) is often cited as central to 5G core network evolutions, supporting the key 5G use cases: Critical Communications, Massive IoT, and Enhanced Mobile Broadband.
  • 5G use cases may require MEC and edge computing, but MEC deployment does not need to wait until 5G arrives as signaled by operator trials.

While it’s not exactly clear what a 5G mobile core will look like, two topics almost always get raised when talking about it: MEC and network slicing.  We’ll talk about network slicing in a future post.  In the meantime, I wanted to dig into MEC. Continue reading “Building 5G: Mobile Edge Computing”

5G @ SDN World Congress: Prepare to Be Disappointed?

Peter Jarich
Peter Jarich – VP, Consumer Services and Service Provider Infrastructure

Summary Bullets:

• This week’s SDN World Congress looks to explore the necessary connections between SDN, NFV and future 5G networks; with past experience and the event agenda as a guide, don’t expect any real revelations or insights.

• What the industry needs to begin grappling with are the specific SDN solution requirements driven by 5G along with deeper details on how fundamental technologies like NFV Network Slicing will operate.

This week, Layer 123’s SDN & OpenFlow World Congress takes place in The Hague. Since its inception, the event has been one of the most important gatherings for understanding the state of SDN (as well as NFV) and how the technology is evolving. Vendors show up to talk about their new products. More importantly, service providers show up to talk about their progress with SDN and what they’re looking for from the market. This is why we ran a webinar last week to discuss our expectations out of the show.
Continue reading “5G @ SDN World Congress: Prepare to Be Disappointed?”

TEOCO: Can Its New 5G ASSET Design Tool Ready Operators for 5G Buildouts?

Ron Westfall - Research Director, Service Provider Infrastructure
Ron Westfall – Research Director, Service Provider Infrastructure

Summary Bullets:

  • TEOCO recently unveiled its 5G ASSET Design tool solution aimed at driving operator network modelling of 5G deployment scenarios and elevating operator consideration of its overall portfolio for 5G network builds.
  • The 5G ASSET Design tool counters existing OSS/BSS solutions that include 5G network design and planning tools, creating a time-to-market shortfall for TEOCO. Moreover, the new tool does not paper over TEOCO’s portfolio gaps in driving overall 5G network buildouts.

In September, TEOCO unveiled its new 5G ASSET Design tool solution. The solution addresses the following 5G network design priorities:

– Ensuring smooth transitions from existing 4G network performance optimization planning to the early-stage design of 5G networks;
– Planning 5G networks to ensure the automation of traffic offload processes and maximize revenue capture opportunities; and
– Generating 5G network designs that account for the expected effect of 5G frequency bands in relation to network site and cell densities. Continue reading “TEOCO: Can Its New 5G ASSET Design Tool Ready Operators for 5G Buildouts?”