Nokia’s Revolutionary Technologies Lead the Way at MWC23
At Mobile World Congress 2023 (#MWC23), held in Barcelona, Nokia showcased four of its newest initiatives in the fields of 5G access and Wi-Fi 6E.
anyRAN
The Nokia anyRAN solution has been devised to offer mobile operators and enterprises an extended range of possibilities for developing and enhancing their radio access networks. Unlike traditional solutions, Nokia anyRAN is designed to function seamlessly with any partner’s Cloud and Server infrastructure, as well as with Nokia AirScale base stations and Nokia AirFrame servers.
This innovative approach enables a blend of purpose-built, hybrid, and fully Cloud-based RAN solutions that support deep multi-level disaggregation at both the Cloud Infrastructure layer and the data center hardware layer. As a result, deployment complexities are significantly reduced. Furthermore, through close collaboration with partners, Nokia ensures that Cloud RAN performance remains consistent with its established purpose-built RAN solution.
Cloud RAN SmartNIC for anyRAN
At the core of these exceptional solutions lies the innovative Nokia Cloud RAN SmartNIC, a cutting-edge Layer 1 (fronthaul) In-Line acceleration card that seamlessly integrates with all the top Cloud or server infrastructures in the industry. To achieve the necessary L1 acceleration, specialized silicon with extremely high computing capabilities is required, surpassing the capacity of general-purpose processors.
With the Nokia Cloud RAN SmartNIC, dedicated and optimized silicon technology is utilized, providing exceptional energy efficiency and unmatched performance. As a result, Nokia and its partners have already conducted successful end-to-end 5G data calls (Layer 3 calls) using multi-vendor setups powered by Nokia’s advanced solution. This remarkable accomplishment showcases the unparalleled quality and reliability of the Nokia Cloud RAN SmartNIC and its significant contribution to the evolution of the telecommunications industry.
What Is Nokia 5G Cloud RAN?
Nokia’s CloudRAN solution is designed to provide exceptional performance and flexibility to mobile operators and enterprises. While the AnyRAN solution enables deep multi-level vertical disaggregation, Nokia’s optimized AirFrameOpenEdge server family is also available to serve this market.
The enhanced AirFrame Open Edge server is equipped with the revolutionary SmartNIC technology, delivering a remarkable 50 percent performance boost compared to the system showcased at the Mobile World Congress 2022. Nokia’s exceptional solutions ensure consistent network performance across purpose-built AirScale baseband and Cloud RAN, delivering unparalleled feature performance and the fastest time-to-market for cloud/hybrid networks.
Habrok Radios
Nokia’s new generation of ReefShark System-on-Chip (SoC) technology powers the innovative Habrok radios, which are available in 32 TRX (Habrok 32) and 64TRX (Habrok 64) versions, providing a comprehensive solution for all massive MIMO use cases and deployment scenarios. These radios feature form-factor improvements over previous generations, with the Habrok 64 weighing only 24 kg, making it exceptionally lightweight and easy to install.
The Habrok radios deliver high-output power for increased coverage and are highly energy-efficient, dramatically reducing energy consumption and lowering the total cost of ownership. Their design allows for efficient deployments and operations while ensuring best-in-class capacity and network performance. The Habrok 64 is approximately 30 percent lighter than its predecessors, making it faster to deploy and accelerating 5G network deployment.
With complete spectrum flexibility and network performance, Habrok 32 and Habrok 64 initially support band n78 and offer high radio frequency bandwidth, 200 MHz occupied bandwidth (OBW), and 400 MHz instantaneous bandwidth (IBW). This enables the use of fragmented spectrum allocations and network-sharing cases. The Habrok radios provide scalable capacity for single and multi-carrier performance, featuring the latest technologies to deliver high radio frequency output power.
The Habrok radios join Nokia’s comprehensive AirScale RAN portfolio, which includes the Osprey radios, Nokia’s first fully SoC-based high-performance massive MIMO products. The Habrok radios will be available in late 2023, offering unparalleled performance, scalability, and efficiency to mobile operators and enterprises around the world.
Enhanced AirScale Portfolio: Dual-band mMIMO radio
Nokia has also announced new optimized additions to its AirScale Osprey portfolio. This includes the first AirScale Osprey 64 dual-band mMIMO radio, which covers the entire US C-band as well as the 3.45G band in a single-box solution. Nokia also has several new multiband remote radio heads, each simplifying site solutions and lowering the total cost of ownership.
Impact at Scale: Reduced AirScale Energy Consumption
Nokia’s comprehensive RAN portfolio also makes significant advances in energy efficiency, with reduced energy consumption of its latest products by some 30 percent through a combination of software, hardware, and services.
Nokia Mobile Networks Services
Nokia is also launching a range of digital innovations in design, deployment, and care services to support the lifecycle of a customer’s network and maximize their investment. This includes:
- An integrated analytics tool ecosystem to help customers reach their target performance 30 percent faster.
- Outdoor all-in-one cabinets and outdoor zero-footprint site solutions to minimize footprint and installation time and simplify maintenance over the site’s lifetime.
- AI-based case-handling transformation service featuring Nokia Digital Assistant Advanced for a superior support experience for customers, helping them resolve incidents 30 percent faster.
Beacon 10
Nokia also unveiled its latest offering, the Beacon 10, a gateway that supports Wi-Fi 6E and offers high-capacity mesh networking. It is a true tri-band device that can provide Wi-Fi throughput of up to 10Gbps and includes a 10G WAN interface that pairs with 10 Gb/second fiber modems for multi-gigabit services to the home. As 10G fiber continues to be widely adopted, upgrading home and business Wi-Fi to deliver super high speeds to enabled devices is necessary. Wi-Fi 6E, with its ‘E’ denoting faster speeds and lower latencies, is ideal for the latest office applications, home entertainment, and remote working experiences.
Moreover, Nokia has upgraded its Nokia WiFi Cloud Controller to act as a User Services Platform (USP) controller. USP is the industry standard protocol used to manage services and configurations in network devices, either remotely by a cloud application or locally by a mobile app. Nokia’s USP agent in the Beacon 10 is based on the open-source OB-USPA, allowing it to be managed by any USP controller, including the Nokia WiFi Cloud Controller.
Nokia has also developed an all-in-one console for Wi-Fi management and optimization. This console is available to customer care operators, network administrators, onsite technicians, and level 3 support staff, providing advanced WiFi optimization, troubleshooting, and management. Nokia has established an ecosystem of app developers to ensure CSPs can offer value-add services.
5G Carrier Aggregation
Nokia, in conjunction with Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., and T-Mobile, successfully accomplished a pioneering demonstration of aggregating 5G Standalone (SA) spectrum utilizing 5CC Carrier Aggregation (5CC CA) in sub-6 GHz spectrum, setting a new benchmark in the industry. The trial, which incorporated 2 FDD and 3 TDD carriers, realized peak downlink throughput speeds surpassing 4.2Gbps. 5G Carrier Aggregation with 5CC empowers mobile operators to deliver higher data rates and wider coverage to a greater number of customers, consolidating their standing as leading developers of Carrier Aggregation technology.
The test was conducted on Nokia’s AirScale base station and a mobile test device propelled by the cutting-edge Snapdragon X75 5G Modem-RF System, the first modem-RF solution to enable 5G 5x carrier aggregation. During the trial, five component carriers on FDD bands n71 (600MHz) and n25 (1900MHz) and TDD bands n41 (2.5GHz) and n77 (3.7GHz) were aggregated. The 5G uplink Carrier Aggregation on bands n25 and n77 also hastened the uplink data rates. By bringing together uplink and downlink carrier aggregation, operators can preserve a balance between uplink and downlink data rates.
By aggregating with 5CC, mobile network operators have additional options to leverage their spectrum and network resources for an enhanced user experience. With the current migration of subscribers to 5G, network operators can capitalize on an increasing pool of 5G FDD frequency carriers and combine them with the bandwidth of multiple mid-band (TDD) carriers. 5CC CA unlocks this potential while ensuring comprehensive coverage and capacity.
5G-Ready Network Deployment In Algeria and Tunisia
Nokia also announced that it has been chosen by Ooredoo Group to improve its current radio access networks (RAN) and establish new sites in Algeria and Tunisia. This upgrade will enhance the network performance and assist Ooredoo Group in preparing for the launch of 5G services in the future. Furthermore, Nokia will revamp Ooredoo’s IP network and expand and modernize its Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) network in Tunisia. These initiatives will significantly enhance Ooredoo Group’s networks by enhancing the mobile user experience with improved data speeds and capacity.
Nokia’s latest, energy-efficient AirScale portfolio, which includes base stations that support multiple generations of radio technology from 2G, 3G, and 4G to 5G, massive MIMO Adaptive Antennas for urban and wide-area coverage, dual-band Remote Radio Heads (RRH), and AirScale indoor Radio (ASiR) small cell solution for seamless indoor coverage will be deployed. These solutions will provide an enhanced mobile user experience with high bandwidth, ultra-fast speeds, and low latency.
As part of the agreement, Nokia will replace the current radio network for Ooredoo Tunisia, as well as expand the network with the addition of new radio sites. Nokia will increase its share in Ooredoo Algeria’s network to almost 50 percent and in Ooredoo Tunisia’s network to approximately 40 percent. Additionally, Nokia will provide its AirFrame and CloudBand Application Manager (CBAM) solutions for the network upgrade and deployment in Algeria and Tunisia.
In Tunisia, Nokia will deploy its 7750 Service Router to modernize Ooredoo’s IP network and its GPON fiber broadband solution to upgrade the existing FTTH network. Nokia will now hold a 100 percent share in these domains in Ooredoo Tunisia’s network.
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