5G wireless networks promise a dramatic improvement in bandwidth and latency and are expected to unlock new use cases for mobile operators. To deliver this, 5G wireless infrastructure requires more processing power and OCTEON Fusion has been optimised to meet this surging demand for compute.
Built on Marvell’s OCTEON TX2 platform, which provides a complex of Arm v8 cores and a series of hardware accelerators for networking and security, OCTEON Fusion adds programmable DSP cores and baseband accelerators making it suitable for base stations. More than seven million OCTEON and OCTEON Fusion processors have been designed into 3G, 4G and now 5G base stations worldwide and leading tier 1 telecommunication infrastructure OEMs have already selected the latest OCTEON Fusion processors for their next generation of 5G base stations.
The family is intended for layer 1 processing in traditional all-in-one base stations as well as Distributed Unit (DU) processing in 5G split architectures. In addition, the highly scalable multi-core OCTEON Fusion architecture enables it to address a multitude of base station solutions from mid-capacity small cells to high-capacity modular macro cells. In the Radio Unit (RU), the family offers processing solutions for smart radio heads requiring more compute power to support the complex beamforming algorithms associated with massive MIMO antenna arrays.
OCTEON Fusion is part of Marvell’s portfolio of semiconductor solutions for Radio Access Network (RAN) infrastructure. This platform enables OEMs to construct RAN solutions with world-class silicon from a single supplier and supports industry standard software and APIs to facilitate product development and includes:
• OCTEON Fusion: Complete 4G and 5G layer 1 baseband processing
• OCTEON TX2: Layer 2 and 3 transport and control plane processing
• Prestera: A line of Ethernet switching solutions for fronthaul, backhaul and intra-RAN connectivity
• Ethernet Connectivity: Marvell’s Ethernet adapter, controller, and PHY product lines provide a comprehensive set of connectivity options for RAN infrastructure
• Custom and semi-custom ASICS: OEM-differentiated solutions for baseband and radio unit designs
OCTEON Fusion and OCTEON TX2 processors allow OEMs to deliver base station products that meet the demanding latency and bandwidth requirements of 5G network deployments while being in position to upgrade their offerings as cellular standards evolve. In addition, Marvell is engaged with wireless infrastructure OEMs to develop customised solutions, combining their own intellectual property with Marvell’s hardened and widely deployed processor and accelerator technology.
“Marvell has continued to innovate around the OCTEON Fusion architecture to achieve an increasingly comprehensive cellular network portfolio,” said Caroline Gabriel, principal analyst, Wireless at Analysis Mason. “Their ability to address today’s 5G network roll-out while offering future design flexibility makes a lot of sense in this quickly evolving marketplace. There will be a number of different 5G networking configurations, and Marvell processors will be capable of addressing each one of them.”
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