Samsung is collaborating with open-source solutions provider Red Hat to offer a virtualised radio access network (vRAN) solution with enhanced integration and automation capabilities.
Samsung said the technology will be designed to help service providers better manage networks at scale and address the demands of 5G through increased flexibility and operational efficiency.
Samsung Electronics Networks Business Vice President, Kicheol Lee, said leveraging Red Hat’s portfolio of open-source technologies has helped Samsung offer a fundamental layer of consistency, flexibility and scalability to 5G RAN deployments for global operators.
With Red Hat as one of Samsung’s key platform partners, service providers will be able to use this solution to realise a faster return on investment (ROI), he added.
The vRAN solution will also help operators to mitigate the production risks of building more consistent and regulatory-compliant deployments and operations across potentially tens of thousands of sites.
“Customers can then use the platform to build innovations based on private 5G, multi-access edge computing (MEC), 5G core networks and more,” Lee explained.
Open source
As service providers aim to boost revenue and meet rising customer demands, the companies perceive open source as the driving force behind 5G RAN, he said.
Disaggregated RAN components are powered by robust computing functions that require a consistent cloud infrastructure. This requires service providers to validate that each RAN component works together to support end users, the company added.
This solution is built on an array of Red Hat open hybrid cloud technologies including Red Hat OpenShift, the enterprise Kubernetes platform, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes and Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform.
Samsung and Red Hat are working towards delivering customers with a flexible network that can adapt to rapidly changing demands as admins will be able to remotely apply updates.
The company said with the extended collaboration with Red Hat, they target to support service providers to implement a hybrid or multi-cloud strategy with the flexibility to develop and operate in any cloud environment, and also adjust their infrastructure according to strategy, business or technology.
“The vRAN solution will be available as a customer proof-of-concept later this year,” Lee concluded.
