Intel's FlexRAN reference software comprises of 3rd Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors with built-in AI acceleration, as well as Intel's Ethernet 800 Network Adapters and the vRAN Dedicated Accelerator ACC100.
The collaboration is intended to expand on these innovations by optimising new capabilities delivered with next generation Intel Xeon Scalable processors (Sapphire Rapids). The joint solution builds on work undertaken by Intel and Wind River on Verizon’s 5G milestone that looks to complete the first end-to-end fully virtualized 5G data session.
Wind River Studio will provide a cloud-native platform for the development, deployment, operations, and servicing of mission-critical intelligent systems. Its cloud infrastructure capabilities include a fully cloud-native, Kubernetes container-based architecture based on the StarlingX open source project for the deployment and management of distributed edge networks at scale.
Studio's out-of-the-box, optimised, ultra-low-latency, small-footprint infrastructure offers operators the flexibility to grow new business and improve total cost of ownership. Intel FlexRAN is a vRAN reference implementation for virtualized cloud-enabled radio access networks.
With 5G driving a shift to cloud-native approaches, operators are pursuing vRAN for greater agility. Prospective customers and vRAN solution providers will be able to review evaluation packages consisting of Intel FlexRAN reference software pre-integrated with Wind River Studio to simplify and accelerate customer trials and deployments of 5G vRAN.
“As 5G opens up new opportunities across industries, there will be an increasing need to put greater intelligence and compute to the edges of the network, where new use cases evolve and thrive. As such, operators must adopt a low-latency far-edge cloud architecture to enable these new use cases in an intelligent, AI-first world,” said Kevin Dallas, president and CEO at Wind River. “Together with Intel, we are providing a differentiated solution to help customers deliver on high-reliability, ultra-low-latency, and highly efficient offerings for their next-generation networks.”
“As operators realize the benefits and embrace a virtualized, software-defined architecture, our products, ecosystem, and years of experience help accelerate this shift to flexible, agile networks,” said Dan Rodriguez, Intel corporate VP and general manager, Network Platforms Group. “Working closely with Wind River, we offer operators a path to fast-track successful vRAN deployments with validated hardware and software that can accelerate their 5G objectives.”
