BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN PHYSICAL AND DIGITAL REALITIES
The key role that connectivity plays in our personal and professional lives has never been more obvious than it is today. Thankfully, despite the sudden, dramatic changes in our behavior earlier this year, networks all around the world have proven to be highly resilient. At Ericsson, we’re committed to ensuring that the network platform continues to improve its ability to meet the full range of societal needs as well as supporting enterprises to stay competitive in the long term. We know that greater agility and speed will be essential.
This issue of our magazine includes several articles that explain Ericsson’s approach to future network development, including my annual technology trends article. The seven trends on this year’s list serve as a critical cornerstone in the development of a common Ericsson vision of what future networks will provide, and what sort of technology evolution will be required to get there.
ERIK EKUDDEN
Senior Vice President, Chief Technology Officer and Head of Group Function Technology
5G New Radio has already evolved in important ways since the 3GPP standardized Release 15 in late 2018. The significant enhancements in Releases 16 and 17 are certain to play a critical role in expanding both the availability and the applicability of 5G NR in both industry and public services in the near future.
This Ericsson Technology Review article summarizes the most notable new developments in releases 16 and 17, grouped into two categories: enhancements to existing features and features that address new verticals and deployment scenarios. This analysis and our insights about the future beyond Release 17 is an important component of our work to help mobile network operators and other stakeholders better understand and plan for the many new 5G NR opportunities that are on the horizon.
The rise of the innovation platform
Society and industry are transforming at an unprecedented rate. At the same time, the network platform is emerging as an innovation platform with the potential to offer all the connectivity, processing, storage and security needed by current and future applications. In my 2019 trends article, featured in this issue of Ericsson Technology Review, I share my view of the future network platform in relation to six key technology trends.
This issue of the magazine also addresses critical topics such as trust enablement, the extension of computing resources all the way to the edge of the mobile network, the growing impact of the cloud in the telco domain, overcoming latency and battery consumption challenges, and the need for end-to-end connectivity. I hope it provides you with valuable insights about how to overcome the challenges ahead and take full advantage of new opportunities.
Ericsson Technology Review - Issue 1, 2019Ericsson
Our participation at MWC in Barcelona this year revealed that a steadily growing number of mobile network operators and representatives from various industries are keen to explore the myriad of new opportunities that 5G represents for their businesses. In particular, we found that many are curious to learn more about the role of 5G in Industry 4.0 and other industry transformations, where it enables manufacturing companies leverage automation and data exchange technologies that require seamless communication across industrial processes.
Fittingly, the feature article in this issue of the magazine explains how 5G can be used most effectively in the fully-connected factories of the future. We also have excellent articles about the role of distributed cloud in supporting emerging industrial use cases, the necessity of business support systems that can handle IoT use cases, and important technology choices to consider in the design of massive IoT devices. Last but not least, we have included two articles that provide expert guidance regarding two key aspects of 5G deployment.
Feel free to share links to the magazine and/or individual articles with your colleagues and other contacts via e-mail or social media. Happy reading!
Ericsson Technology Review: Boosting smart manufacturing with 5G wireless con...Ericsson
5G wireless connectivity is designed to enable the fully-connected factories of the future. Creating the necessary transparency across all processes and assets at all times requires robust communication between goods, production systems, logistics chains, people and processes throughout a product’s complete life cycle, spanning everything from design, ordering, manufacturing, delivery and field maintenance to recycling and reuse. The integration of 5G ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) in the manufacturing process will accelerate the transformation of the manufacturing industry and make smart factories more efficient and productive than ever.
Ericsson Technology Review: Critical IoT connectivity: Ideal for time-critica...Ericsson
Critical Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity is an emerging concept in IoT development that enables more efficient and innovative services across a wide range of industries by reliably meeting time-critical communication needs. Mobile network operators (MNOs) are in the perfect position to enable these types of time-critical services due to their ability to leverage advanced 5G networks in a systematic and cost-effective way.
This Ericsson Technology Review article explores the benefits of Critical IoT connectivity in areas such as industrial control, mobility automation, remote control and real-time media. It also provides an overview of key network technologies and architectures. It concludes with several case studies based on two deployment scenarios – wide area and local area – that illustrate how well suited 5G spectrum assets are for Critical IoT use cases.
Evolving cellular IoT for industry digitalizationEricsson
Ericsson lays out its vision for the evolution of cellular IoT and launches new offerings - enabling service providers to tap growth opportunities from industry digitalization.
Ericsson Technology Review: Versatile Video Coding explained – the future of ...Ericsson
Continuous innovation in 5G networks is creating new opportunities for video-enabled services for both consumers and industries, particularly in areas such as the Internet of Things and the automotive sector. These new services are expected to rely on continued video evolution toward 8K resolutions and beyond, and on new strict requirements such as low end-to-end latency for video delivery.
The latest Ericsson Technology Review article explores recent developments in video compression technology and introduces Versatile Video Coding (VVC) – a significant improvement on existing video codecs that we think deserves to be widely deployed in the market. VVC has the potential both to enhance the user experience for existing video services and offer an appropriate performance level for new media services over 5G networks.
5G New Radio has already evolved in important ways since the 3GPP standardized Release 15 in late 2018. The significant enhancements in Releases 16 and 17 are certain to play a critical role in expanding both the availability and the applicability of 5G NR in both industry and public services in the near future.
This Ericsson Technology Review article summarizes the most notable new developments in releases 16 and 17, grouped into two categories: enhancements to existing features and features that address new verticals and deployment scenarios. This analysis and our insights about the future beyond Release 17 is an important component of our work to help mobile network operators and other stakeholders better understand and plan for the many new 5G NR opportunities that are on the horizon.
The rise of the innovation platform
Society and industry are transforming at an unprecedented rate. At the same time, the network platform is emerging as an innovation platform with the potential to offer all the connectivity, processing, storage and security needed by current and future applications. In my 2019 trends article, featured in this issue of Ericsson Technology Review, I share my view of the future network platform in relation to six key technology trends.
This issue of the magazine also addresses critical topics such as trust enablement, the extension of computing resources all the way to the edge of the mobile network, the growing impact of the cloud in the telco domain, overcoming latency and battery consumption challenges, and the need for end-to-end connectivity. I hope it provides you with valuable insights about how to overcome the challenges ahead and take full advantage of new opportunities.
Ericsson Technology Review - Issue 1, 2019Ericsson
Our participation at MWC in Barcelona this year revealed that a steadily growing number of mobile network operators and representatives from various industries are keen to explore the myriad of new opportunities that 5G represents for their businesses. In particular, we found that many are curious to learn more about the role of 5G in Industry 4.0 and other industry transformations, where it enables manufacturing companies leverage automation and data exchange technologies that require seamless communication across industrial processes.
Fittingly, the feature article in this issue of the magazine explains how 5G can be used most effectively in the fully-connected factories of the future. We also have excellent articles about the role of distributed cloud in supporting emerging industrial use cases, the necessity of business support systems that can handle IoT use cases, and important technology choices to consider in the design of massive IoT devices. Last but not least, we have included two articles that provide expert guidance regarding two key aspects of 5G deployment.
Feel free to share links to the magazine and/or individual articles with your colleagues and other contacts via e-mail or social media. Happy reading!
Ericsson Technology Review: Boosting smart manufacturing with 5G wireless con...Ericsson
5G wireless connectivity is designed to enable the fully-connected factories of the future. Creating the necessary transparency across all processes and assets at all times requires robust communication between goods, production systems, logistics chains, people and processes throughout a product’s complete life cycle, spanning everything from design, ordering, manufacturing, delivery and field maintenance to recycling and reuse. The integration of 5G ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) in the manufacturing process will accelerate the transformation of the manufacturing industry and make smart factories more efficient and productive than ever.
Ericsson Technology Review: Critical IoT connectivity: Ideal for time-critica...Ericsson
Critical Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity is an emerging concept in IoT development that enables more efficient and innovative services across a wide range of industries by reliably meeting time-critical communication needs. Mobile network operators (MNOs) are in the perfect position to enable these types of time-critical services due to their ability to leverage advanced 5G networks in a systematic and cost-effective way.
This Ericsson Technology Review article explores the benefits of Critical IoT connectivity in areas such as industrial control, mobility automation, remote control and real-time media. It also provides an overview of key network technologies and architectures. It concludes with several case studies based on two deployment scenarios – wide area and local area – that illustrate how well suited 5G spectrum assets are for Critical IoT use cases.
Evolving cellular IoT for industry digitalizationEricsson
Ericsson lays out its vision for the evolution of cellular IoT and launches new offerings - enabling service providers to tap growth opportunities from industry digitalization.
Ericsson Technology Review: Versatile Video Coding explained – the future of ...Ericsson
Continuous innovation in 5G networks is creating new opportunities for video-enabled services for both consumers and industries, particularly in areas such as the Internet of Things and the automotive sector. These new services are expected to rely on continued video evolution toward 8K resolutions and beyond, and on new strict requirements such as low end-to-end latency for video delivery.
The latest Ericsson Technology Review article explores recent developments in video compression technology and introduces Versatile Video Coding (VVC) – a significant improvement on existing video codecs that we think deserves to be widely deployed in the market. VVC has the potential both to enhance the user experience for existing video services and offer an appropriate performance level for new media services over 5G networks.
Ericsson Technology Review: Digital connectivity marketplaces to enrich 5G an...Ericsson
One of the key growth opportunities for the telecom industry is to provide network capabilities that support the digital transformation underway in most businesses and industries. Already today, we have a powerful technology foundation in place, and this will become even stronger with 5G. Now is the ideal time to evolve the business side of the equation toward platform business models, which will enable the telecom industry to prosper in multisided business ecosystems as well.
Ericsson Technology Review - Issue 2, 2018Ericsson
Technology development keeps getting faster and more interconnected, with new innovations appearing every day. As a result, we’re swiftly moving toward the realization of the “Augmented Connected Society” – a world characterized by ubiquitous internet access for all, self-learning robots and truly intuitive interaction between humans and machines. But how can our industry best prepare for this future?
In my role as CTO, I have the challenging and exhilarating annual task of identifying the five technology trends of the future that are (or will be) most relevant to our industry. You can find my insights and reflections in the Technology Trends article included in this issue of the magazine.
It is my hope that the Technology Trends article, together with the other five articles in this issue, will generate a variety of stimulating future-focused discussions in your workplace. Please feel free to share links to the magazine and/or individual articles with your colleagues and other contacts via e-mail or social media.
Mobile data traffic volumes are expected to increase by a factor of four by 2025, and 45 percent of that traffic will be carried by 5G networks. To deliver on customer expectations in this rapidly changing environment, communication service providers must overcome challenges in three key areas: building sufficient capacity, resolving operational inefficiencies through automation and artificial intelligence, and improving service differentiation. This issue of ETR magazine provides insights about how to tackle all three.
Ericsson Technology Review: Key technology choices for optimal massive IoT de...Ericsson
The massive IoT device domain faces two key challenges: cost-efficiently connecting a large number of devices in a wide area, and efficiently managing these devices over their complete life cycle. Further, since security and trust are key requirements in most massive IoT applications, it is important to ensure that the devices are secure, both in terms of communication and data integrity end-to-end (E2E), from device to data usage.
The latest Ericsson Technology Review article explores how to address these challenges in five key technology areas – connectivity, communication protocols, security, identity solutions and machine intelligence (MI). Carefully considered choices in these areas make it possible to achieve the desired key device characteristics and create IoT devices that support the multitude of existing and emerging massive IoT use cases.
Ericsson Technology Review: Technology trends 2018 - Five technology trends a...Ericsson
Ericsson CTO Erik Ekudden presents the five technology trends driving the creation of a future network platform that can deliver truly intuitive interaction between humans and machines.
Ericsson Technology Review: Driving transformation in the automotive and road...Ericsson
A variety of automotive and transport services that require cellular connectivity are already in commercial operation today, and many more are yet to come. Among other things, these services will improve road safety and traffic efficiency, saving lives and helping to reduce the emissions that contribute to climate change. At Ericsson, we believe that the best way to address the growing connectivity needs of this industry sector is through a common network solution, as opposed to taking a single-segment silo approach.
The latest Ericsson Technology Review article explains how the ongoing rollout of 5G provides a cost-efficient and feature-rich foundation for a horizontal multiservice network that can meet the connectivity needs of the automotive and transport ecosystem. It also outlines the key challenges and presents potential solutions.
Ericsson Technology Review: Service exposure: a critical capability in a 5G w...Ericsson
To meet the requirements of use cases in areas such as the Internet of Things, AR/VR, Industry 4.0 and the automotive sector, operators need to be able to provide computing resources across the whole telco domain – all the way to the edge of the mobile network. Service exposure and APIs will play a key role in creating solutions that are both effective and cost efficient.
The latest Ericsson Technology Review article explores recent advances in the service exposure area that have resulted from the move toward 5G and the adoption of cloud-native principles, as well as the combination of Service-based Architecture, microservices and container technologies. It includes examples that illustrate how service exposure can be deployed in a multitude of locations, each with a different set of requirements that drive modularity and configurability needs.
Ericsson Technology Review: Simplifying the 5G ecosystem by reducing architec...Ericsson
One critical aspect of a successful 5G deployment is the mobile network operator’s ability to support user equipment, radio network, core network and management products that are manufactured by a multitude of device and network equipment vendors. The multiple connectivity options in 3GPP architecture for 5G have created several possible deployment alternatives.
The latest Ericsson Technology Review article argues that there is a significant risk of ecosystem fragmentation if too many different connectivity options are deployed. After considering all the options, the authors conclude that a deployment approach based on options 3 and 2 will reduce network upgrade cost and time, simplify interoperability between networks and devices, and enable a faster scaling of the 5G ecosystem.
Enable Critical broadband networks - When business performance, and even lives are at stake, you need technology that you can rely on. Around the world and across industries, there is a growing demand for business critical and mission-critical broadband communications. To serve these types of organizations, service providers need to deliver the highest level of availability, reliability and security . That is why we have launched a new Critical Broadband Networks offering, which enables service providers and government operators to ensure critical communications when it really matters.
The offering consists of:
Critical network capabilities: Guaranteeing performance of a business- or mission-critical network and enabling operators to effectively serve critical industries.
Critical broadband applications: Includes Ericsson’s Group-Radio application suite of Mission-Critical Push-to-Talk, Data and Video services. Combined, these provide land mobile radio users with a migration path to LTE and 5G, whilst retaining existing operational capabilities for mission-critical group communications.
Flexible deployments for private networks: deployment models for both local private networks as well as for nationwide networks, leveraging operators’ existing assets and operations to gain business scale, and faster time-to-market.
Introducing our 5G Platform for the first movers in 5G, the first completely end-to-end solution that combines core and radio solutions in 5G to enable new opportunities and use cases
Ericsson Technology Review - Issue 1, 2018Ericsson
We are publishing this magazine shortly after the first release of a completely new standard – 5G – from 3GPP. Fittingly, many of the articles in this issue relate to what we think is most important in 5G and how to address the new opportunities that it entails.
One of the key reasons for the flexibility provided in 5G is the desire to support industries to use connectivity, virtualization, machine intelligence and other technologies to change their processes and business models as part of the next industrial revolution, Industry 4.0. It is therefore a pleasure to be able to include an article that we have co-written with Comau and the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies on the topic of industrial automation.
I hope you find the contents of this issue of the magazine as intriguing as I do. Please feel free to share links to the magazine and/or individual articles via e-mail or social media.
Ericsson Technology Review: 5G BSS: Evolving BSS to fit the 5G economyEricsson
The 5G network evolution has opened up an abundance of new business opportunities for communication service providers (CSPs) in verticals such as industrial automation, security, health care and automotive. In order to successfully capitalize on them, CSPs must have business support systems (BSS) that are evolved to manage complex value chains and support new business models. Optimized information models and a high degree of automation are required to handle huge numbers of devices through open interfaces.
This Ericsson Technology Review article explains how 5G-evolved BSS can help CSPs transform themselves from traditional network developers to service enablers for 5G and the Internet of Things, and ultimately to service creators with the ability to collaborate beyond telecoms and establish lucrative digital value systems.
Ericsson Technology Review: 5G-TSN integration meets networking requirements ...Ericsson
Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) is becoming the standard Ethernet-based technology for converged networks of Industry 4.0. Understanding the importance and relevance of TSN features, as well as the capabilities that allow 5G to achieve wireless deterministic and time-sensitive communication, is essential to industrial automation in the future.
The latest Ericsson Technology Review article explains how TSN is an enabler of Industry 4.0, and that together with 5G URLLC capabilities, the two key technologies can be combined and integrated to provide deterministic connectivity end to end. It also discusses TSN standards and the value of the TSN toolbox for next generation industrial automation networks.
Ericsson Technology Review: Industrial automation enabled by robotics, machin...Ericsson
The emergent "fourth industrial revolution" will have a profound impact on both industry and society in the years ahead. Robotics, machine intelligence and 5G networks in particular will play major roles in this revolution by enabling ever higher levels of automation for production processes.
To learn more about the opportunities that 5G will create, Ericsson commissioned a detailed survey of more than 650
decision-makers from eight key industries. Here, we have gathered five glimpses into their 5G future.
5G: made for innovation - presentation for University of Piraeus Msc studentsMaria Boura
The latest 5G market trends by Ericsson. A presentation that was delivered to the postgraduate students of the M.Sc. course on Digital culture, IoT and smart cities of the University of Piraeus in Greece on July 14, 2020.
With 5G bringing in new possibilities for operators across the globe, a higher capacity microwave backhaul becomes even more important to ensure high-quality mobile broadband. This year’s Ericsson Microwave Outlook report discusses how this demand can be met with advanced microwave technology, spectrum, combination with fiber, and machine intelligence.
The 10 Most Trusted Wireless Technology Service Providers, 2023.pdfInsightsSuccess4
This edition features a handful of business Wireless Technology Service Providers across several sectors that are at the forefront of leading us into a digital future.
Read More: https://insightssuccess.com/the-10-most-trusted-wireless-technology-service-providers-2023-december-2023/
Ericsson Technology Review: Digital connectivity marketplaces to enrich 5G an...Ericsson
One of the key growth opportunities for the telecom industry is to provide network capabilities that support the digital transformation underway in most businesses and industries. Already today, we have a powerful technology foundation in place, and this will become even stronger with 5G. Now is the ideal time to evolve the business side of the equation toward platform business models, which will enable the telecom industry to prosper in multisided business ecosystems as well.
Ericsson Technology Review - Issue 2, 2018Ericsson
Technology development keeps getting faster and more interconnected, with new innovations appearing every day. As a result, we’re swiftly moving toward the realization of the “Augmented Connected Society” – a world characterized by ubiquitous internet access for all, self-learning robots and truly intuitive interaction between humans and machines. But how can our industry best prepare for this future?
In my role as CTO, I have the challenging and exhilarating annual task of identifying the five technology trends of the future that are (or will be) most relevant to our industry. You can find my insights and reflections in the Technology Trends article included in this issue of the magazine.
It is my hope that the Technology Trends article, together with the other five articles in this issue, will generate a variety of stimulating future-focused discussions in your workplace. Please feel free to share links to the magazine and/or individual articles with your colleagues and other contacts via e-mail or social media.
Mobile data traffic volumes are expected to increase by a factor of four by 2025, and 45 percent of that traffic will be carried by 5G networks. To deliver on customer expectations in this rapidly changing environment, communication service providers must overcome challenges in three key areas: building sufficient capacity, resolving operational inefficiencies through automation and artificial intelligence, and improving service differentiation. This issue of ETR magazine provides insights about how to tackle all three.
Ericsson Technology Review: Key technology choices for optimal massive IoT de...Ericsson
The massive IoT device domain faces two key challenges: cost-efficiently connecting a large number of devices in a wide area, and efficiently managing these devices over their complete life cycle. Further, since security and trust are key requirements in most massive IoT applications, it is important to ensure that the devices are secure, both in terms of communication and data integrity end-to-end (E2E), from device to data usage.
The latest Ericsson Technology Review article explores how to address these challenges in five key technology areas – connectivity, communication protocols, security, identity solutions and machine intelligence (MI). Carefully considered choices in these areas make it possible to achieve the desired key device characteristics and create IoT devices that support the multitude of existing and emerging massive IoT use cases.
Ericsson Technology Review: Technology trends 2018 - Five technology trends a...Ericsson
Ericsson CTO Erik Ekudden presents the five technology trends driving the creation of a future network platform that can deliver truly intuitive interaction between humans and machines.
Ericsson Technology Review: Driving transformation in the automotive and road...Ericsson
A variety of automotive and transport services that require cellular connectivity are already in commercial operation today, and many more are yet to come. Among other things, these services will improve road safety and traffic efficiency, saving lives and helping to reduce the emissions that contribute to climate change. At Ericsson, we believe that the best way to address the growing connectivity needs of this industry sector is through a common network solution, as opposed to taking a single-segment silo approach.
The latest Ericsson Technology Review article explains how the ongoing rollout of 5G provides a cost-efficient and feature-rich foundation for a horizontal multiservice network that can meet the connectivity needs of the automotive and transport ecosystem. It also outlines the key challenges and presents potential solutions.
Ericsson Technology Review: Service exposure: a critical capability in a 5G w...Ericsson
To meet the requirements of use cases in areas such as the Internet of Things, AR/VR, Industry 4.0 and the automotive sector, operators need to be able to provide computing resources across the whole telco domain – all the way to the edge of the mobile network. Service exposure and APIs will play a key role in creating solutions that are both effective and cost efficient.
The latest Ericsson Technology Review article explores recent advances in the service exposure area that have resulted from the move toward 5G and the adoption of cloud-native principles, as well as the combination of Service-based Architecture, microservices and container technologies. It includes examples that illustrate how service exposure can be deployed in a multitude of locations, each with a different set of requirements that drive modularity and configurability needs.
Ericsson Technology Review: Simplifying the 5G ecosystem by reducing architec...Ericsson
One critical aspect of a successful 5G deployment is the mobile network operator’s ability to support user equipment, radio network, core network and management products that are manufactured by a multitude of device and network equipment vendors. The multiple connectivity options in 3GPP architecture for 5G have created several possible deployment alternatives.
The latest Ericsson Technology Review article argues that there is a significant risk of ecosystem fragmentation if too many different connectivity options are deployed. After considering all the options, the authors conclude that a deployment approach based on options 3 and 2 will reduce network upgrade cost and time, simplify interoperability between networks and devices, and enable a faster scaling of the 5G ecosystem.
Enable Critical broadband networks - When business performance, and even lives are at stake, you need technology that you can rely on. Around the world and across industries, there is a growing demand for business critical and mission-critical broadband communications. To serve these types of organizations, service providers need to deliver the highest level of availability, reliability and security . That is why we have launched a new Critical Broadband Networks offering, which enables service providers and government operators to ensure critical communications when it really matters.
The offering consists of:
Critical network capabilities: Guaranteeing performance of a business- or mission-critical network and enabling operators to effectively serve critical industries.
Critical broadband applications: Includes Ericsson’s Group-Radio application suite of Mission-Critical Push-to-Talk, Data and Video services. Combined, these provide land mobile radio users with a migration path to LTE and 5G, whilst retaining existing operational capabilities for mission-critical group communications.
Flexible deployments for private networks: deployment models for both local private networks as well as for nationwide networks, leveraging operators’ existing assets and operations to gain business scale, and faster time-to-market.
Introducing our 5G Platform for the first movers in 5G, the first completely end-to-end solution that combines core and radio solutions in 5G to enable new opportunities and use cases
Ericsson Technology Review - Issue 1, 2018Ericsson
We are publishing this magazine shortly after the first release of a completely new standard – 5G – from 3GPP. Fittingly, many of the articles in this issue relate to what we think is most important in 5G and how to address the new opportunities that it entails.
One of the key reasons for the flexibility provided in 5G is the desire to support industries to use connectivity, virtualization, machine intelligence and other technologies to change their processes and business models as part of the next industrial revolution, Industry 4.0. It is therefore a pleasure to be able to include an article that we have co-written with Comau and the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies on the topic of industrial automation.
I hope you find the contents of this issue of the magazine as intriguing as I do. Please feel free to share links to the magazine and/or individual articles via e-mail or social media.
Ericsson Technology Review: 5G BSS: Evolving BSS to fit the 5G economyEricsson
The 5G network evolution has opened up an abundance of new business opportunities for communication service providers (CSPs) in verticals such as industrial automation, security, health care and automotive. In order to successfully capitalize on them, CSPs must have business support systems (BSS) that are evolved to manage complex value chains and support new business models. Optimized information models and a high degree of automation are required to handle huge numbers of devices through open interfaces.
This Ericsson Technology Review article explains how 5G-evolved BSS can help CSPs transform themselves from traditional network developers to service enablers for 5G and the Internet of Things, and ultimately to service creators with the ability to collaborate beyond telecoms and establish lucrative digital value systems.
Ericsson Technology Review: 5G-TSN integration meets networking requirements ...Ericsson
Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) is becoming the standard Ethernet-based technology for converged networks of Industry 4.0. Understanding the importance and relevance of TSN features, as well as the capabilities that allow 5G to achieve wireless deterministic and time-sensitive communication, is essential to industrial automation in the future.
The latest Ericsson Technology Review article explains how TSN is an enabler of Industry 4.0, and that together with 5G URLLC capabilities, the two key technologies can be combined and integrated to provide deterministic connectivity end to end. It also discusses TSN standards and the value of the TSN toolbox for next generation industrial automation networks.
Ericsson Technology Review: Industrial automation enabled by robotics, machin...Ericsson
The emergent "fourth industrial revolution" will have a profound impact on both industry and society in the years ahead. Robotics, machine intelligence and 5G networks in particular will play major roles in this revolution by enabling ever higher levels of automation for production processes.
To learn more about the opportunities that 5G will create, Ericsson commissioned a detailed survey of more than 650
decision-makers from eight key industries. Here, we have gathered five glimpses into their 5G future.
5G: made for innovation - presentation for University of Piraeus Msc studentsMaria Boura
The latest 5G market trends by Ericsson. A presentation that was delivered to the postgraduate students of the M.Sc. course on Digital culture, IoT and smart cities of the University of Piraeus in Greece on July 14, 2020.
With 5G bringing in new possibilities for operators across the globe, a higher capacity microwave backhaul becomes even more important to ensure high-quality mobile broadband. This year’s Ericsson Microwave Outlook report discusses how this demand can be met with advanced microwave technology, spectrum, combination with fiber, and machine intelligence.
The 10 Most Trusted Wireless Technology Service Providers, 2023.pdfInsightsSuccess4
This edition features a handful of business Wireless Technology Service Providers across several sectors that are at the forefront of leading us into a digital future.
Read More: https://insightssuccess.com/the-10-most-trusted-wireless-technology-service-providers-2023-december-2023/
Ericsson Technology Review: Spotlight on the Internet of ThingsEricsson
The Internet of Things (IoT) has emerged as a fundamental cornerstone in the digitalization of both industry and society as a whole. It represents a huge opportunity not only in economic terms, but also from a global challenges perspective – making it easier for governments, non-governmental organizations and the private sector to address pressing food, energy, water and climate related issues.
5G and the IoT are closely intertwined. One of the biggest innovations within 5G is support for the IoT in all its forms, both by addressing mission criticality as well as making it possible to connect low-cost, long-battery-life sensors.
With this in mind, we decided to create a special issue of Ericsson Technology Review solely focused on IoT opportunities and challenges. I hope it provides you with valuable insights about the IoT-related opportunities available to your organization, along with ideas about how we can overcome the challenges ahead.
Future Proof Your Network Today To Support IOT TomorrowTyrone Systems
The market will grow from 15.4 billion devices in 2015 to 75.4 billion in 2025. Despite this increase in data, and no matter what new IoT technology or application is announced, users’ expectations remain high — networks must be up and running constantly and bandwidth must always available. Are you ready for it?
Microsoft Telecommunications Newsletter | September 2021Rick Lievano
Monetizing the edge continues to be a top priority for telcos, and not a day goes by where we don’t have a meaningful conversation on the topic with a telco partner. While the edge’s killer app continues to elude the industry, private mobile networks and video analytics are quickly becoming the critical building blocks for bringing it to market – whatever it is.
So where can you learn more about monetizing the edge? The TM Forum Digital Transformation World Series 2021 provides a collaborative environment for operators and suppliers to come together, share ideas, and solve the industry’s toughest problems. Microsoft is an active participant in this year’s event, sharing best practices, successes, and industry insights across wide-ranging areas including edge, artificial intelligence, cloud transformation, and customer experience.
See the Events section for details on how Microsoft is participating at this year’s show. We look forward to seeing you virtually at the event!
Internet of Things (IoT): More than Smart “Things”Ahmed Banafa
By 2020, experts forecast that up to 28 billion devices will be connected to the Internet with only one third of them being computers, smartphones and tablets. The remaining two thirds will be other “devices” – sensors, terminals, household appliances, thermostats, televisions, automobiles, production machinery, urban infrastructure and many other “things”, which traditionally have not been Internet enabled.
This “Internet of Things” (IoT) represents a remarkable transformation of the way in which our world will soon interact. Much like the World Wide Web connected computers to networks, and the next evolution connected people to the Internet and other people, IoT looks poised to interconnect devices, people, environments, virtual objects and machines in ways that only science fiction writers could have imagined.
In a nutshell the Internet of Things (IoT) is the convergence of connecting people, things, data and processes is transforming our life, business and everything in between.
Ericsson Technology Review, issue #2, 2016Ericsson
The latest issue of Ericsson Technology Review covers a wide range of topics including narrowband Internet of Things, the next-generation central office, telco-grade platform as a service, 4G/5G RAN architecture, and cloud robotics enabled by 5G. The feature story – Five trends shaping innovation in ICT – presents what I consider to be the major technology trends that will stimulate innovation in the coming year. Do you agree with me? I’d love to hear from you with any feedback you might have.
If I were to suggest one takeaway from all of the articles included in this issue, I would say it is speed. Device processing is getting faster, data speeds are constantly increasing and radio speeds are approaching those of fiber. More people are becoming subscribers, more things are becoming connected and more applications are running constantly. Developers of new technologies are working hard to enhance responsiveness by reducing latency, a key performance parameter. The capability to determine which functions can be virtualized to maximize ideal placement in the network and ensure low latency is one of the primary driving factors behind the proposed split of radio-access architecture discussed in this issue.
As always, I hope you find our stories relevant and inspiring.
The software development sector is constantly expanding, creating a plethora of opportunities for organizations, startups, and entrepreneurs. We provide valuable information that helps you in software development for your business.
IDC: Peplink Adds Resilience to IoT NetworksEric Wong
In this whitepaper, IDC argues that diversification of Internet access WAN technologies, combined with secure VPN and central management is the best way to both guarantee IoT network availability and allow for rapid deployment of IoT networks anywhere.
Get more information about software development. We are providing the best information which helps you to develop customized software for your business.
rom the widespread adoption of 5G and the integration of AI and Machine Learning to the imperative of robust cybersecurity measures and the exciting convergence with healthcare, the industry is gearing up for transformative shifts that promise to redefine how we live, work, and communicate. While the path ahead is fraught with challenges, it's also ripe with opportunities for innovation, growth, and enhanced connectivity.
Connecting Physical and Digital Worlds to Power the Industrial IoTCognizant
The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) merges enterprise IT and manufacturing operations technologies by making optimal use of IoT sensor data, analytics, cloud, process automaiton software and more. The payoffs: increased efficiency, lower operating costs, reduced disruptions, improved productivity and higher margins.
Ericsson Technology Review: Integrated access and backhaul – a new type of wi...Ericsson
Today millimeter wave (mmWave) spectrum is valued mainly because it can be used to achieve high speeds and capacities when combined with spectrum assets below 6GHz. But it can provide other benefits as well. For example, mmWave spectrum makes it possible to use a promising new wireless backhaul solution for 5G New Radio – integrated access and backhaul (IAB) – to densify networks with multi-band radio sites at street level.
This Ericsson Technology Review article explains the IAB concept at a high level, presenting its architecture and key characteristics, as well as examining its advantages and disadvantages compared with other backhaul technologies. It concludes with a presentation of the promising results of several simulations that tested IAB as a backhaul option for street sites in both urban and suburban areas.
Ericsson Technology Review: The future of cloud computing: Highly distributed...Ericsson
The growing interest in cloud computing scenarios that incorporate both distributed computing capabilities and heterogeneous hardware presents a significant opportunity for network operators. With a vast distributed system (the telco network) already in place, the telecom industry has a significant advantage in the transition toward distributed cloud computing.
This Ericsson Technology Review article explores the future of cloud computing from the perspective of network operators, examining how they can best manage the complexity of future cloud deployments and overcome the technical challenges. Redefining cloud to expose and optimize the use of heterogeneous resources is not straightforward, but we are confident that our use cases and proof points validate our approach and will gain traction both in the telecommunications community and beyond.
Ericsson Technology Review: Optimizing UICC modules for IoT applicationsEricsson
Commonly referred to as SIM cards, the universal integrated circuit cards (UICCs) used in all cellular devices today are in fact complex and powerful minicomputers capable of much more than most Internet of Things (IoT) applications require. Until a simpler and less costly alternative becomes available, action must be taken to ensure that the relatively high price of UICC modules does not hamper IoT growth.
This Ericsson Technology Review article presents two mid-term approaches. The first is to make use of techniques that reduce the complexity of using UICCs in IoT applications, while the second is to use the UICCs’ excess capacity for additional value generation. Those who wish to exploit the potential of the UICCs to better support IoT applications have the opportunity to use them as cryptographic storage, to run higher-layer protocol stacks and/or as supervisory entities, for example.
Ericsson Technology Review: 5G migration strategy from EPS to 5G systemEricsson
For many operators, the introduction of the 5G System (5GS) to provide wide-area services in existing Evolved Packet System (EPS) deployments is a necessary step toward creating a full-service, future-proof 5GS in the longer term. The creation of a combined 4G-5G network requires careful planning and a holistic strategy, as the introduction of 5GS has significant impacts across all network domains, including the RAN, packet core, user data and policies, and services, as well as affecting devices and backend systems.
This Ericsson Technology Review article provides an overview of all the aspects that operators need to consider when putting together a robust EPS-to-5GS migration strategy and provides guidance about how they can adapt the transition to address their particular needs per domain.
Ericsson Technology Review: Creating the next-generation edge-cloud ecosystemEricsson
The surge in data volume that will come from the massive number of devices enabled by 5G has made edge computing more important than ever before. Beyond its abilities to reduce network traffic and improve user experience, edge computing will also play a critical role in enabling use cases for ultra-reliable low-latency communication in industrial manufacturing and a variety of other sectors.
This Ericsson Technology Review article explores the topic of how to deliver distributed edge computing solutions that can host different kinds of platforms and applications and provide a high level of flexibility for application developers. Rather than building a new application ecosystem and platform, we strongly recommend reusing industrialized and proven capabilities, utilizing the momentum created with Cloud Native Computing Foundation, and ensuring backward compatibility.
This presentation explains the importance of SD-WAN technology as part of the Enterprise digital transformation strategy. It goes over the first wave of SD-WAN in a single vendor deployment, with Do-it-yourself (DIY) as the preferred model. Then continues with the importance of orchestration in the second wave of SD-WAN deployments in a multi-vendor ecosystem, turning to SD-WAN Managed Services as the preferred model. It ends up with some examples of use cases and the Verizon customer case. More information on Ericsson Dynamic orchestration - http://m.eric.sn/6rsZ30psKLu
Ericsson Technology Review: Meeting 5G latency requirements with inactive stateEricsson
Low latency communication and minimal battery consumption are key requirements of many 5G and IoT use cases, including smart transport and critical control of remote devices. Thanks to Ericsson’s 4G/5G research activities and lessons learned from legacy networks, we have identified solutions that address both of these requirements by reducing the amount of signaling required during state transitions, and shared our discoveries with the 3GPP.
This Ericsson Technology Review article explains the why and how behind the new Radio Resource Control (RRC) state model in the standalone version of the 5G New Radio standard, which features a new, Ericsson-developed state called inactive. On top of overcoming latency and battery consumption challenges, the new state also increases overall system capacity by decreasing the processing effort in the network.
Ericsson Technology Review: Cloud-native application design in the telecom do...Ericsson
Cloud-native application design is set to become standard practice in the telecom industry in the near future due to the major efficiency gains it can provide, particularly in terms of speeding up software upgrades and releases. At Ericsson, we have been actively exploring the potential of cloud-native computing in the telecom industry since we joined the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) a few years ago.
This Ericsson Technology Review article explains the opportunities that CNCF technology has enabled, as well as unveiling key aspects of our application development framework, which is designed to help navigate the transition to a cloud-native approach. It also discusses the challenges that the large-scale reuse of open-source technology can raise, along with key strategies for how to mitigate them.
Ericsson Technology Review: Distributed cloud - A key enabler of automotive a...Ericsson
Emerging use cases in industries where the first phases of the fourth industrial revolution are taking place, such as automotive and manufacturing, are creating new requirements for networks and clouds. At Ericsson, we believe that distributed cloud will be a key technology to support such use cases.
The latest Ericsson Technology Review article explains how distributed cloud technology exploits key features available in both 4G and 5G networks to enable a distributed execution environment for applications that ensures performance, short latency, high reliability and data locality. The flexibility of cloud computing is maintained at the same time that the complexity of the infrastructure is hidden, with application components placed in an optimal location that utilizes the key characteristics of distributed cloud.
Ericsson Technology Review: The advantages of combining 5G NR with LTEEricsson
Capacity exhaustion is a growing challenge for network operators due to the rapidly increasing data consumption by mobile broadband (MBB) subscribers. Rather than addressing this by densifying 4G networks with new sites, 5G New Radio (NR) offers operators the opportunity to meet growing demand and improve performance through the efficient use of new frequency bands at existing sites. The latest Ericsson Technology Review article explains how deploying 5G NR with mid bands (3-6GHz) at existing 4G sites enables maximal reuse of site infrastructure investments as well as delivering a significant performance boost. By adding NR with 100MHz unpaired spectrum, it is possible to achieve eight times higher downlink capacity relative to LTE (2x50MHz paired spectrum). Massive MIMO techniques, such as beamforming and multi-user MIMO, deliver improved downlink data rates both outdoors and indoors.
Connector Corner: Automate dynamic content and events by pushing a buttonDianaGray10
Here is something new! In our next Connector Corner webinar, we will demonstrate how you can use a single workflow to:
Create a campaign using Mailchimp with merge tags/fields
Send an interactive Slack channel message (using buttons)
Have the message received by managers and peers along with a test email for review
But there’s more:
In a second workflow supporting the same use case, you’ll see:
Your campaign sent to target colleagues for approval
If the “Approve” button is clicked, a Jira/Zendesk ticket is created for the marketing design team
But—if the “Reject” button is pushed, colleagues will be alerted via Slack message
Join us to learn more about this new, human-in-the-loop capability, brought to you by Integration Service connectors.
And...
Speakers:
Akshay Agnihotri, Product Manager
Charlie Greenberg, Host
DevOps and Testing slides at DASA ConnectKari Kakkonen
My and Rik Marselis slides at 30.5.2024 DASA Connect conference. We discuss about what is testing, then what is agile testing and finally what is Testing in DevOps. Finally we had lovely workshop with the participants trying to find out different ways to think about quality and testing in different parts of the DevOps infinity loop.
GDG Cloud Southlake #33: Boule & Rebala: Effective AppSec in SDLC using Deplo...James Anderson
Effective Application Security in Software Delivery lifecycle using Deployment Firewall and DBOM
The modern software delivery process (or the CI/CD process) includes many tools, distributed teams, open-source code, and cloud platforms. Constant focus on speed to release software to market, along with the traditional slow and manual security checks has caused gaps in continuous security as an important piece in the software supply chain. Today organizations feel more susceptible to external and internal cyber threats due to the vast attack surface in their applications supply chain and the lack of end-to-end governance and risk management.
The software team must secure its software delivery process to avoid vulnerability and security breaches. This needs to be achieved with existing tool chains and without extensive rework of the delivery processes. This talk will present strategies and techniques for providing visibility into the true risk of the existing vulnerabilities, preventing the introduction of security issues in the software, resolving vulnerabilities in production environments quickly, and capturing the deployment bill of materials (DBOM).
Speakers:
Bob Boule
Robert Boule is a technology enthusiast with PASSION for technology and making things work along with a knack for helping others understand how things work. He comes with around 20 years of solution engineering experience in application security, software continuous delivery, and SaaS platforms. He is known for his dynamic presentations in CI/CD and application security integrated in software delivery lifecycle.
Gopinath Rebala
Gopinath Rebala is the CTO of OpsMx, where he has overall responsibility for the machine learning and data processing architectures for Secure Software Delivery. Gopi also has a strong connection with our customers, leading design and architecture for strategic implementations. Gopi is a frequent speaker and well-known leader in continuous delivery and integrating security into software delivery.
Search and Society: Reimagining Information Access for Radical FuturesBhaskar Mitra
The field of Information retrieval (IR) is currently undergoing a transformative shift, at least partly due to the emerging applications of generative AI to information access. In this talk, we will deliberate on the sociotechnical implications of generative AI for information access. We will argue that there is both a critical necessity and an exciting opportunity for the IR community to re-center our research agendas on societal needs while dismantling the artificial separation between the work on fairness, accountability, transparency, and ethics in IR and the rest of IR research. Instead of adopting a reactionary strategy of trying to mitigate potential social harms from emerging technologies, the community should aim to proactively set the research agenda for the kinds of systems we should build inspired by diverse explicitly stated sociotechnical imaginaries. The sociotechnical imaginaries that underpin the design and development of information access technologies needs to be explicitly articulated, and we need to develop theories of change in context of these diverse perspectives. Our guiding future imaginaries must be informed by other academic fields, such as democratic theory and critical theory, and should be co-developed with social science scholars, legal scholars, civil rights and social justice activists, and artists, among others.
Transcript: Selling digital books in 2024: Insights from industry leaders - T...BookNet Canada
The publishing industry has been selling digital audiobooks and ebooks for over a decade and has found its groove. What’s changed? What has stayed the same? Where do we go from here? Join a group of leading sales peers from across the industry for a conversation about the lessons learned since the popularization of digital books, best practices, digital book supply chain management, and more.
Link to video recording: https://bnctechforum.ca/sessions/selling-digital-books-in-2024-insights-from-industry-leaders/
Presented by BookNet Canada on May 28, 2024, with support from the Department of Canadian Heritage.
PHP Frameworks: I want to break free (IPC Berlin 2024)Ralf Eggert
In this presentation, we examine the challenges and limitations of relying too heavily on PHP frameworks in web development. We discuss the history of PHP and its frameworks to understand how this dependence has evolved. The focus will be on providing concrete tips and strategies to reduce reliance on these frameworks, based on real-world examples and practical considerations. The goal is to equip developers with the skills and knowledge to create more flexible and future-proof web applications. We'll explore the importance of maintaining autonomy in a rapidly changing tech landscape and how to make informed decisions in PHP development.
This talk is aimed at encouraging a more independent approach to using PHP frameworks, moving towards a more flexible and future-proof approach to PHP development.
Dev Dives: Train smarter, not harder – active learning and UiPath LLMs for do...UiPathCommunity
💥 Speed, accuracy, and scaling – discover the superpowers of GenAI in action with UiPath Document Understanding and Communications Mining™:
See how to accelerate model training and optimize model performance with active learning
Learn about the latest enhancements to out-of-the-box document processing – with little to no training required
Get an exclusive demo of the new family of UiPath LLMs – GenAI models specialized for processing different types of documents and messages
This is a hands-on session specifically designed for automation developers and AI enthusiasts seeking to enhance their knowledge in leveraging the latest intelligent document processing capabilities offered by UiPath.
Speakers:
👨🏫 Andras Palfi, Senior Product Manager, UiPath
👩🏫 Lenka Dulovicova, Product Program Manager, UiPath
GraphRAG is All You need? LLM & Knowledge GraphGuy Korland
Guy Korland, CEO and Co-founder of FalkorDB, will review two articles on the integration of language models with knowledge graphs.
1. Unifying Large Language Models and Knowledge Graphs: A Roadmap.
https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.08302
2. Microsoft Research's GraphRAG paper and a review paper on various uses of knowledge graphs:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/blog/graphrag-unlocking-llm-discovery-on-narrative-private-data/
The Art of the Pitch: WordPress Relationships and SalesLaura Byrne
Clients don’t know what they don’t know. What web solutions are right for them? How does WordPress come into the picture? How do you make sure you understand scope and timeline? What do you do if sometime changes?
All these questions and more will be explored as we talk about matching clients’ needs with what your agency offers without pulling teeth or pulling your hair out. Practical tips, and strategies for successful relationship building that leads to closing the deal.
From Daily Decisions to Bottom Line: Connecting Product Work to Revenue by VP...
Ericsson Technology Review: issue 2, 2020
1. ERICSSON
TECHNOLOGY
C H A R T I N G T H E F U T U R E O F I N N O V A T I O N | V O L U M E 1 0 2 I 2 0 2 0 – 0 2
CTOTECHTRENDS
CREATINGINTELLIGENT
DIGITALINFRASTRUCTURE
INTEGRATEDACCESS
ANDBACKHAUL
IN5GNRNETWORKS
CRITICALIOT
CONNECTIVITY
FORINDUSTRY
2.
3. #02 2020 ✱ ERICSSON TECHNOLOGY REVIEW 5
CONTENTS ✱
08 5G BSS: EVOLVING BSS TO FIT THE 5G ECONOMY
Managing complex IOT value chains and supporting new business
models requires more sophisticated business support systems (BSS)
than those that communication service providers have used in the past.
5G-evolved BSS enable smooth collaboration between connectivity
providers, service creators, partners, suppliers and others.
20 OPTIMIZING UICC MODULES FOR IOT APPLICATIONS
The ability to deliver low-cost Internet of Things (IoT) devices on a mass scale
is at risk of being hampered by the high cost of the universal integrated circuit cards (UICC)
currently required to provide connectivity. Until a less costly alternative becomes available,
the IoT requires workarounds that either lower device cost or justify the price of UICCs
by leveraging more of their capabilities.
40 THE FUTURE OF CLOUD COMPUTING: HIGHLY DISTRIBUTED
WITH HETEROGENEOUS HARDWARE
Cloud computing is being shaped by the combination of the growing popularity
of distributed solutions and increased reliance on heterogeneous hardware capabilities.
As the role of distributed computing in cloud computing continues to expand, network
operators, who have large, distributed systems already in place, have a golden opportunity
to become major cloud players.
52 CRITICAL IOT CONNECTIVITY – IDEAL FOR
TIME-CRITICAL INDUSTRIAL COMMUNICATIONS
Critical IoT connectivity is ideal for a wide range of Internet of Things
use cases across most industry verticals. Mobile network operators
are uniquely positioned to address the time-critical communication
needs of individual users, enterprises and public institutions by
leveraging their existing assets and new technologies in a
systematic fashion.
64 INTEGRATED ACCESS AND BACKHAUL
– A NEW TYPE OF WIRELESS BACKHAUL IN 5G
Integrated access and backhaul (IAB) is an advanced concept in 5G that shows significant
promise in addressing the challenge of wireless backhaul of street sites. IAB has several
advantages compared with other backhaul technologies, and if used properly, it could
become an essential backhaul solution for 5G NR networks.
FEATURE ARTICLE
Future network trends: Creating intelligent
digital infrastructure
Thevisionofafullydigitalized,automatedandprogrammableworldofconnected
humans, machines, things and places is well on its way to becoming a reality.
Inhisannualtechnologytrendsarticle,ourCTOErikEkuddenexplainstheseven
technology trends that are most relevant to the network platform’s evolution
to become the platform for innovation to meet any societal or industrial need.
30
30
20
Customer and partner interaction
BSS exposure layer
Order capture and fulfillmentCatalog
Charging Mediation BillingBilling
Party
management
Intelligence
management
= Decoupling and integration
08
Gaming
AR/VRB
E-MBB
Automotive
Network slices
Internet of
Things
Fixed access
Manufacturing
APP
SmartNICs
PMEM
HW capability
exposures
Access sites (edge cloud)
Central sites
Public clouds
Distributed sites
(edge/regional cloud) xNF: telco Virtual Network Function or
Cloud-native Network Function
APP: Third-party application
HW capability
control
Business
intent
Zero-touch orchestration
APP
APP
APP APP APP
APP
xNF
xNF
APP
xNF xNF
APP
xNF
xNF
xNF
xNF
xNF
40
52
64
4. #02 2020 ✱ ERICSSON TECHNOLOGY REVIEW 7ERICSSON TECHNOLOGY REVIEW ✱ #02 2020
EDITORIAL ✱
Ericsson Technology Review brings you
insights into some of the key emerging
innovations that are shaping the
future of ICT. Our aim is to encourage
an open discussion about the potential,
practicalities, and benefits of a wide range
of technical developments, and provide
insight into what the future has to offer.
a d d r e s s
Ericsson
SE -164 83 Stockholm, Sweden
Phone: +46 8 719 00 00
p u b l i s h i n g
All material and articles are published on the
Ericsson Technology Review website:
www.ericsson.com/ericsson-technology-review
p u b l i s h e r
Erik Ekudden
e d i t o r
Tanis Bestland (Nordic Morning)
e d i t o r i a l b o a r d
Håkan Andersson, Magnus Buhrgard,
Dan Fahrman, John Fornehed, Kjell Gustafsson,
Jonas Högberg, Johan Lundsjö,
Mats Norin, Håkan Olofsson, Patrik Roseen,
Anders Rosengren, Robert Skog,
Gunnar Thrysin and Sara Kullman
f e at u r e a r t i c l e
Future network trends:
Creating intelligent digital infrastructure
by Erik Ekudden
a r t d i r e c t o r
Liselotte Stjernberg (Nordic Morning)
p r o j e c t m a n a g e r
Susanna O’Grady (Nordic Morning)
l ay o u t
Liselotte Stjernberg (Nordic Morning)
i l l u s t r at i o n s
Jenny Andersén (Nordic Morning)
s u b e d i t o r s
Ian Nicholson (Nordic Morning)
Paul Eade (Nordic Morning)
i s s n : 0 0 1 4 - 0 17 1
Volume: 102, 2020
■ the key role that connectivity plays in our daily
lives has never been more obvious – not only for
each of us as individuals but also for countless
enterprises around the globe. Thankfully, despite
the sudden, dramatic changes in our behavior in
early 2020, networks all around the world have
proven to be highly resilient.
At Ericsson, we’re committed to ensuring that the
network platform continues to improve its ability
to meet the full range of societal needs as well as
supporting enterprises to stay competitive in the
long term. The ability to bridge distances and make
it easier to efficiently meet needs in terms of resource
utilization, collaboration, competence transfer, status
verification, privacy protection, security and safety
is of utmost importance. Greater agility and speed
will be essential.
My 2020 technology trends article, on page 30
of this issue of the magazine, explains my view
of the ongoing evolution of the network platform
in terms of the key needs that are driving its
evolution and the emerging capabilities that
will meet both those and other needs.
The first three trends all relate to bridging the gap
between physical reality and the digital realm – that is,
delivering sensory experiences and utilizing digital
representations to make the physical world fully
programmable. The emerging capabilities that I have
highlighted this year are non-limiting connectivity,
pervasive network compute fabric, trustworthy
infrastructure and cognitive networks.
BRIDGING THE GAP
BETWEEN PHYSICAL
AND DIGITAL REALITIES
All seven of these trends serve as a cornerstone in
the development of a common Ericsson vision of
what future networks will provide, and what sort of
technology evolution will be required to get there.
This issue of the magazine also includes five
additional articles highlighting some of our
latest research in the areas of cloud computing,
the Internet of Things (IoT) and 5G advancements.
The cloud computing article is particularly
noteworthy, as it explains how we think network
operators can best manage the complexity of
future cloud deployments and overcome
technical challenges.
The first IoT article in this issue explains how critical
IoT connectivity can be used to address time-critical
needs in areas such as industrial control, mobility
automation, remote control and real-time media,
while the second one tackles the challenge that
today’s universal integrated circuit cards (UICC)
present to IoT growth.
With regard to 5G advancements, our BSS
article explores how 5G-evolved BSS can help
communication service providers transform
themselves from traditional network developers
to service enablers and ultimately service creators.
Another exciting 5G advancement that we present
in this issue is integrated access and backhaul (IAB),
an innovative concept that shows significant promise
in addressing the challenge of wireless backhaul of
street sites.
We hope you enjoy this issue of our magazine
and we’d be delighted if you share it with your
colleagues and business partners. You can find
both PDF and HTML versions of all the articles at:
www.ericsson.com/ericsson-technology-review
GREATERAGILITY
ANDSPEEDWILLBE
ESSENTIAL
✱ EDITORIAL
ERIK EKUDDEN
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT,
CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER AND
HEAD OF GROUP FUNCTION TECHNOLOGY
5. 8 #02 2020 ✱ ERICSSON TECHNOLOGY REVIEWERICSSON TECHNOLOGY REVIEW ✱ #02 2020 9
5G offers communication service providers an unprecedented opportunity
to enhance their position in the value chain and tap into new revenue
streams in a variety of industry verticals. A successful transition will require
business support systems (BSS) that are evolved to fit the 5G economy.
JAN FRIMAN,
MICHAEL NILSSON,
ELISABETH MUELLER
The rapidly expanding Internet of Things
(IoT) and all the new capabilities available
in 5G have opened up a wealth of opportunities
for communication service providers (CSPs)
beyond their traditional markets, particularly
in verticals such as automotive, health care,
agriculture, energy and manufacturing.
To monetize them, CSPs will need to meet
the expectations of a broader range
of stakeholders and be able to handle
complex ecosystems.
■ One of the primary roles of business support
systems (BSS) is to manage a CSP’s relationships
with its stakeholders by keeping track of
agreements, handling orders, generating reports,
sending invoices and so on. In the past, these
stakeholders were generally limited to consumers,
resellers, partners and suppliers. In the 5G/IoT
business context, though, more complex
ecosystems are arising that BSS must evolve to
support. To do so, the requirements of a larger,
more diverse group of stakeholders must be taken
into account, and mechanisms must be established
to manage the relationships between them.
Examplesofnewstakeholdergroupsthatneed
tobeconsideredinthe5G/IoTbusinesscontext
include:
❭ Enterprises and industry verticals that require
solutions beyond telecoms
❭ New types of suppliers such as IoT device
providers and suppliers of eSIM (embedded
SIM) and related technologies
❭ Platform providers that specialize in specific IoT
or edge clusters or groups of use cases such as
massive and broadband IoT platforms, industrial
IoT platforms and content data networks
❭ Integrators that specialize in specific verticals
such as asset management, mission-critical
services or automotive that combine
capabilities from multiple stakeholders to
address consumer needs.
Networkdeveloper,serviceenabler
orservicecreator?
Lookingahead,thecapabilitiesthataCSPneeds
initsBSSsolutionwilldependontheroleitplays
–oraimstoplay–intheIoTecosystem.Figure1
illustratesthethreeroletypes:networkdeveloper,
serviceenablerandservicecreator.
Inthetraditionalnetworkdeveloperrole,aCSP
actssolelyasacellularconnectivityproviderby
offeringsolutionssuchasradio,corenetworkand
communicationservices.Inthisrole,theCSP’s
businessmodelsareconsumerfocused.Itsrolein
theIoTecosystemislimited.
Intheserviceenablerrole,theCSPextendsits
servicesbyincorporatingadditionalcapabilities
suchascloud/edgeandIoTenablementandshifts
focustobusinesscustomersandindustryverticals.
TheCSPbecomesaserviceenablerfor5Gandthe
IoT,actingasasupplierofconnectivityandplatform
services.Asaserviceenabler,theCSP’sbusiness
5G BSS:
EvolvingBSS
tofitthe
5Geconomy
Figure 1 The evolving role of the CSP in the IoT ecosystem
A) Network developer
Customer Customer Customer
CSP
IoT
provider
IoT
providerCSP
SIM
manufacturer
SIM
manufacturer
Device
manufacturer
Device
manufacturer
Device
manufacturerCSP CSP
B) Service enabler C) Service creator
✱ BSS IN THE 5G ECONOMY BSS IN THE 5G ECONOMY ✱
2 3MARCH 26, 2020 ✱ ERICSSON TECHNOLOGY REVIEWERICSSON TECHNOLOGY REVIEW ✱ MARCH 26, 2020
6. 10 #02 2020 ✱ ERICSSON TECHNOLOGY REVIEWERICSSON TECHNOLOGY REVIEW ✱ #02 2020 1110 11
modelsareextendedtobusiness-customerfocused
withrespectto5GIoT.
Intheservicecreatorrole,theCSPtransitions
frombeingaconnectivityandplatformproviderto
creatingnewdigitalservicesandcollaborating
beyondtelecomstoestablishdigitalvaluesystems.
Asaservicecreator,theCSPpartnerswithsuppliers
todelivernewservicesallthewayuptofullIoT
solutions,takingontherolesofintegrator,
distributororco-seller.
BSSforallthreeCSProles
TraditionalBSSsupporttheCSPinthenetwork
developerrole,inwhichtheCSPchargesforvoice,
textanddataservicesbasedonconsumptionor
subscriptionlevel.Themainrequirementsfor
theseBSSare:
❭ Customer management, traditional partner
business (roaming partners), charging and
billing, and finance modules
❭ Order capture and order execution for new
telco subscriptions and/or add-on offerings
❭ Charging and balance/quota management
in BSS, as well as mediation
❭ Interaction with operations support systems
(OSS) for network provisioning.
EvolvingBSStosupportaCSPinaserviceenabler
rolerequiresashiftinfocustotheneedsof
enterprisecustomersandIoTusecases.TheBSS
mustbetransformedintoasystemthatisableto
monetizeIoT/5Gplatformsandedgedeployments,
whichrequiressignificantchangesinboththe
functionalandnon-functionalspace.Inthenon-
functionalspace,thismainlyinvolvesscalability
telecoms,sothatpartnerscandeveloptailored
applicationsanddeploythemontheoperator’s
infrastructure.
Finally,thenewbusinessmodelsavailableto
CSPsasservicecreatorsrequirenewmonetization
modelsforchargingandbilling.Forexample,
multipartycharging,revenuesharingandprofit
sharingallrequireextendedbillingand
reconciliationfunctionality.
BSSsolutionlevelsandkeycapabilities
Table1organizesandsequenceskeyBSS
capabilitiesbasedontechnicaldependenciesand/or
levelofcomplexity.Onebyone,thesecapabilities
–thatis,enablingtheBSStohandletrafficand
alargenumberofdevicesatIoTscale.
Intermsoffunctionality,theBSSenhancements
requiredbyserviceenablersinclude:
❭ Automation of full life-cycle management for
devices/IoT resources supported by flexible
orchestration, including exposure of services
for managing relationships with business
customers
❭ Support for batch orchestration, flexible supply
agreements and contracts for non-telco
services with associated charging models
❭ Service exposure of network capabilities, so
that IoT providers can bundle their offerings
with connectivity and sell them on to their
customers
❭ Service exposure of BSS and OSS capabilities
to enable efficient ordering processes,
especially with regard to the management of
mass subscriptions.
SupportingaCSPintheservicecreatorrole,where
thefulllifecycleofpartnersmustbetakeninto
account,requiresBSSwithfurtherfunctional
extensions.Thestakeholderecosystemofservice
creatorsissignificantlymorecomplex,asthe
customerbasebroadenstoincludeverticalsandthe
CSPstartsofferingfullsolutionsbeyondtelecoms.
Asaresult,BSSforservicecreatorsmustinclude
extensiveandflexiblepartnerrelationship
management.Supplychainmanagementis
especiallyimportant.
Thecapacitytoexposenetworkcapabilityaswell
asBSSandOSScapabilitiesiscriticallyimportantto
aCSP’sabilitytodeliveronservicecreationbeyond
Terms and abbreviations
API – Application Programming Interface | BSS – Business Support Systems | CSP – Communication
Service Provider | IoT – Internet of Things | ODA – Open Digital Architecture | OSS – Operations Support
Systems | SBI – Service-Based Interface | SDK – Software Development Kit | SLA – Service Level Agreement
BSS solution level Capabilities
5G enabled • 5Gservice-basedinterface(SBI)support(chargingfunction)
• NetworkslicingsupportinBSSandOSS
• Classicroamingpartners
• Containerizationandmicroservices
• Commontechnologystack
IOT and edge
monetization
• IDmanagementandcorrelation
• Life-cyclemanagementforIoTdevices
• Businesscustomerand5G/IoTenterprisemanagement
• Charginginmultilevelhierarchies
• Supplyagreements
• Flexibleorchestrationoforderingprocesses
• Serviceexposurefordevicemanagement
• OpenAPIexposure
• Continuousintegration/continuousdelivery(CI/CD)forserviceexposure
• Enterpriseself-care
• Multipartychargingandbest-effortcharging
• Privatenetworks
• Platformpartnerships
• Contractfornon-telcoservices(IoT/edgeenabled)
• Chargingmodelsfornon-telcoservices
• Multi-tenancy
• Chargingandbillingonbehalfof
• Location-awareservices
• Blockchainforsmartcontracting
• ServiceLevelAgreement(SLA)management
Full 5G ecosystem • Partnerrelationshipmanagement
• Partnercatalog
• Partnerrevenuesharing
• Reconciliationandsettlement
• Flexiblebilling
• Platformasaserviceanddistributedcloud
• Edgeplatformservices
• Multi-accessedgecomputing(MEC)
• BSSasaservice
• Continuousmonitoring
• Artificialintelligenceandmachine-learningautomation
• CI/CD
Table 1 Key capabilities of the three BSS solution levels
✱ BSS IN THE 5G ECONOMY BSS IN THE 5G ECONOMY ✱
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Thefront-endchannelsinthecustomerandpartner
interactionlayerandtheBSSexposurelayerare
deployedasamicroservicearchitecturetofacilitate
businessagility,scalingandtheintroductionof
customizedsolutionsasperoperatorneeds.
Furtherdowninthestack,thearchitectureisbased
onminiservices,primarilytooptimizefootprint,
performanceandlatency.
Table2mapsoutthe5GevolutionareasinBSS
tothemainfunctionalblocksinourdigitalBSS
BSS functional block 5G evolution areas
Customer and partner
interaction
• Catalogdriven,omnichannel
• B2CandB2Bdigitalfrontend:customer/partnerjourneys
• B2CandB2BCPQ(configure,priceandquote),framecontracts
• B2B2Xmarketplace
BSS exposure layer •OpenAPIexposure
• Looselycoupledprinciple
• SDKtosupportAPIaggregation
Catalog • Exposureforpartnerproductcreation
• Enhancedbundlingwithpartnerproducts
• Productmodelsfornetworkresources
• Productmodelsforenterpriseproducts
• Partnercatalog
• Multi-deviceofferings
Order capture
and fulfillment
• Ecosystemorchestration
• Newbusinessmodelsupport
Charging • Supportfornewchargingtriggerpoints
• ManagecommunicationservicesatIoTscale
• Charginglife-cyclemanagementasapartofmassIoTdevice
andmasssubscriptionlife-cyclemanagement
• Multipartycharging
•Charginginhierarchies
• Chargingonbehalfof
• Non-telcoservicecharge
Mediation • Calldetailrecordgenerationfor5G
• OnlinemediationSBI->diameter
Party management • ExtendedB2B(supplyagreements,non-telcocontracts)
• Digitalpartnermanagement
Intelligence management • SLAmanagement
• Datalake
Billing • Life-cyclemanagementasapartofmassIoTdeviceand
masssubscriptionlife-cyclemanagement
• Multipartybilling
• Billingonbehalfof
• Revenuesharing
• IoTpartnersettlements
Table 2 Prioritized 5G evolution areas in the main BSS functional blocks
Further reading
❭ EricssonTechnologyReview,BSSandartificialintelligence–timetogonative,January2019,availableat:
https://www.ericsson.com/en/reports-and-papers/ericsson-technology-review/articles/bss-and-artificial-
intelligence-time-to-go-native
❭ Ericsson blog, Impacts of monetizing 5G and IoT on Digital BSS, October 29, 2019, Michael Fireman,
available at: https://www.ericsson.com/en/blog/2019/10/impacts-of-monetizing-5g-and-iot-on-digital-bss
❭ Ericsson blog, Monetize 5G and IoT business models, October 7, 2019, Michael Fireman, available at:
https://www.ericsson.com/en/blog/2019/10/monetize-5g-and-iot-business-models
❭ Ericsson, Telecom BSS, available at: https://www.ericsson.com/en/portfolio/digital-services/digital-bss
❭ Ericsson, Digital BSS, available at: https://www.ericsson.com/en/digital-services/offerings/digital-bss
References
1. TMA, Open Digital Architecture Project, available at: https://www.tmforum.org/collaboration/open-digital-
architecture-oda-project/
architecture.Containerization,microservicesanda
commontechnologystackarecommontoallblocks.
Conclusion
The5Gnetworkevolutionpresentscommunication
serviceproviderswiththeopportunitytotransform
themselvesfromtraditionalnetworkdevelopersto
serviceenablersfor5GandtheInternetof Things,
andultimatelytoservicecreatorswiththeabilityto
collaboratebeyondtelecomsandestablishlucrative
digitalvaluesystems.Alongtheway,thisjourney
opensupsubstantialnewrevenuestreamsin
verticalssuchasindustrialautomation,security,
healthcareandautomotive.Tosuccessfully
capitalizeonthisopportunity,CSPsneedBSS
thatareevolvedtomanagecomplexvaluechains
andsupportnewbusinessmodels.
5G-evolvedBSSenablesmoothcollaboration
betweenconnectivityproviders,servicecreators,
partners,suppliersandothersthatresultsinthe
efficientcreationofattractiveandcost-effective
services.Optimizedinformationmodelsandahigh
degreeofautomationarerequiredtohandlehuge
numbersofdevicesthroughopeninterfaces.
Deploymentinacloud-nativearchitectureensures
flexibilityandscalability.Itisimportanttokeepthe
businesslogic,interfacesandinformationmodels
of5G-evolvedBSSflexible,sotheycanbeadjusted
tosuitthevaluechainsandbusinessmodelsofthe
differentindustryverticals.
AtEricsson,wewillcontinuetoevolveourBSS
offeringtosupportourcustomersontheirjourneys
fromnetworkdeveloperstoserviceenablers,from
serviceenablerstoservicecreatorsandbeyond.
Aspartofthiswork,wearealsofirmlycommitted
todrivingandcontributingtorelevantstandards
intheBSSareaandparticipatinginopensource
anddevelopercommunitiestopromoteopenness
andinteroperability.
CSPs NEED BSS THAT
ARE EVOLVED TO MANAGE
COMPLEX VALUE CHAINS
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10. 18 ERICSSON TECHNOLOGY REVIEW ✱ #02 202018 ERICSSON TECHNOLOGY REVIEW ✱ #02 2020
theauthOrs
Jan Friman
◆ is an OSS/BSS expert
in the architecture and
technology team within
Business Area Digital
Services. Since joining
Ericsson in 1997, he has held
various OSS/BSS-related
positions within the
company’s R&D, system
management and strategic
product management
organizations. Friman holds
anM.Sc.incomputerscience
from Linköping University,
Sweden.
Michael Nilsson
◆ is a BSS expert in the
solution architecture team
within Business Area Digital
Services. Nilsson joined
Ericsson in 1990 and has
extensive experience from
the telecommunications
area in support and
verification, radio, core and
transmission network design
and BSS product
development. Since 2012, he
has held the position of chief
architect for next generation
BSS development.
Elisabeth Mueller
◆ is an expert in BSS
end-to-end systems whose
current work focuses on
5G/IoT BSS architecture.
She joined Ericsson in 2006
when LHS in Frankfurt was
acquired to complement the
Ericsson BSS offerings with a
billingsystem. Since then she
has taken on many different
roles within the company,
including system design,
system management and
solution architecture in all
BSS areas. Mueller holds an
M.Sc. in mathematics from
Johannes Gutenberg
University in Mainz,
Germany, along with several
patents in the BSS area.
✱ BSS IN THE 5G ECONOMY
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The UICCs used in all cellular devices today are complex and powerful
minicomputers capable of much more than most Internet of Things (IoT)
applications require. Until a simpler and less costly alternative becomes
available, it makes sense to find ways to reduce the complexity of using
them and use their excess capacity for additional value generation.
BENEDEK KOVÁCS,
ZSOLT VAJTA,
ZSIGMOND PAP
UICCs are used today to facilitate network
connection in all 3GPP user equipment –
mobile phones, IoT devices and so on.
■ The most important tasks of UICC modules –
commonly referred to as SIM cards – in today’s
mobile networks are to store network credentials
and to run network security and access
applications in a secure and trusted environment.
In addition, they are also capable of storing a large
amount of extra information and running multiple
toolkit applications. A UICC’s own operating
system provides a full Java environment. It can run
dozens of Java-based applications in parallel and
support powerful remote management operations.
Backward-compatibilityisprovidedbyrunning
anetworkserviceapplicationonUICCmodules,
whichcanemulatethefilesystemforstoring
necessarycredentialsandold-schoolsmartcard
protocols,extendedwithfeaturessuchasenhanced
security,extendedtelephoneregisterandoperator
logoimage.TheinterfacebetweentheUICCmodule
andtheuserequipment(devices)isstandardized,
whichenablesoperatorstorunvalue-added
applications,suchasmobilewalletormobilelottery,
ontheUICCmodule.
WhiletheadvancedfeaturesofUICCmodules
continuetoprovideconsiderablevalueinmobile
phoneapplications,mostofthemaresuperfluous
inIoTapplications.Inlightofthis,theindustry
isworkingtofindalesssophisticatedsolution
thatismoreappropriateforapplicationsthat
requiremassivenumbersofdevicesinprice-
sensitiveenvironments.Industryalignmenton
suchasolutionisexpectedtobeachallengingand
time-consumingprocess,however,duetothefact
thattheIoTareaisfragmentedintomanydifferent
verticals,applicationareasandusecases.
Ericssonisfullycommittedtosupportingthe
long-term,industry-alignedsolution.Inthemeantime,
however,itisvitaltofindworkaroundstoensure
thatthecostofUICCsdoesnotstifleIoTgrowth.
Whilethedefinitivesolutiontothequestionof
whatshouldreplacetheUICCishardtopredict,
twomid-termworkaroundsareclear:thecomplexity
ofusingUICCsandleveragingtheirexcesscapacity
togenerateadditionalvalue.
ReducingthecomplexityofusingUICCs
There are three main approaches to reducing the
complexity of using UICCs in IoT applications:
optimization, usage of 3GPP standardized
certificate-based authentication, and
virtualization.
Optimization
A typical operator profile on a 3GPP consumer
mobile phone is up to tens of kilobytes; the average
IoT sensor only requires 200-300 bytes. And of all
the functionality that a UICC can provide, an IoT
device only really needs the Universal Subscriber
Identity Module application and the remote SIM
provisioning (RSP) application, which allows
remote provisioning of subscriber credentials
(also known as operator profiles).
Onegoodwaytosignificantlyreducethefootprint
oftheUICCistooptimizetheoperatorprofileand
thenecessarysoftwareenvironmentwithinthe
UICCmodule.Doingsonotonlysavesstorageinthe
devicebutalsoreducesenergyconsumptionduring
over-the-airdownload.Furthersizereduction
ofthedevicemaybeachievedwhentheUICCis
completelyintegratedintothebasebandmodem
orapplicationprocessor(integratedUICCor
iUICC[2]).Thissimplifiedandintegratedsolution
couldworkeffectivelyforusecasesthatrequire
low-cost,simple,secureandlow-powerIoTdevices
inhighvolumes.
TheuseofaniUICCrequiresaneffective
RSPprotocol[3,4]thatmakesitpossibleto
changesubscriptioncredentials.CurrentRSP
standardsaretoocomplexforiUICCsformany
reasons,includingtheiruseofHTTPS
OPTIMIZING
UICCmodules
forIoT
applications
Definition of key terms
Identity describes the link between the identifier of an entity and the credentials that it uses to prove
that it is the rightful owner of the identity.
First used in Finland in 1991, the original subscriber identity module (SIM) was a smart card with
a protected file system that stored cellular network parameters. It was designed to connect
expensive user equipment – mobile phones – with expensive subscriptions to the cellular network.
When it became clear that smart cards did not have the capacity to provide an adequate level of security
in next-generation cellular networks, they were replaced with universal integrated circuit cards (UICCs)
– minicomputers equipped with general microprocessors, memory and strong cryptographic
co-processors [1].
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(HypertextTransferProtocolSecure)andreliance
onSMSsupport.HTTPSistypicallynotpartofthe
protocolstackofconstrainedlow-powerIoTdevices.
Instead,thesedevicesuseastackwithConstrained
ApplicationProtocol(CoAP),DatagramTransport
LayerSecurity(DTLS)andUserDatagram
Protocol.Insomecases,theLightweightMachine-
to-Machine(LwM2M)protocolisusedontopof
CoAPfordeviceandapplicationdatamanagement.
Theuseofonlyonestackkeepsthecostofthe
devicedown.
Ericssonproposesutilizingthesameprotocol
stackforprofiledownloadandprofilemanagement
asisusedfordeviceandapplicationdata
management.Figure1illustrateshowtoachieve
thisbyadaptingtheGSMAembedded-SIM
solutionforconsumerdevicesforusewithIoT
devices.Inthissolution,thelocalprofileassistant
(LPA)issplitintotwoparts.Toreducedevice
footprint,themainpartoftheLPA(includingthe
useofHTTPS)ismovedfromthedevicetoadevice
authentication has been performed. According to
the 3GPP, authentication in private networks
such as Industry 4.0 solutions may rely entirely
on certificate-based solutions such as Extensible
Authentication Protocol over Transport Layer
Security. Without a UICC for securely storing
and operating on secret long-term credentials
for network access authentication, another
secure environment with secure storage
solution is needed.
Forcertainapplicationsalowerlevelofsecurity
mightbeaccepted.Thevalueofthedatathatthe
IoTdeviceprovidesorhandles,inrelationtothe
costoftheIoTdevice,determinestherequired
securitylevelofthesecureenvironmentforprotecting
networkaccessauthenticationcredentials.Inthe
caseofaUICCbeingused,itdeterminesthe
realizationoftheUICCfunctionality.Forsome
low-costconstrainedIoTdevices,arealization
usingahardware-isolation-basedtrustedexecution
environmentmaybeacceptable.Asthereisno
universalandperfectsolution,operatorsmust
decidewhichsolutionismostsuitableforanygiven
application.ItislikelythattheUICCsandeUICC-
basedsolutionswillremainthetechnologyofchoice
inpublicnetworksforthenextfewyears.
Virtualization
Virtualizing the UICC is yet another alternative
that addresses the cost issue associated with
UICC technology. One way to do this is to run
a UICC environment in a virtual machine
(or at least on a separated processor core) inside
the application processor or the baseband modem.
Another approach is to store the operator profiles
in the security zone of the application processor,
then download them to empty physical UICC
hardware on demand.
Thebiggestadvantagesofthesevirtualization
solutionsisflexibilityandbetterutilizationof
existinghardwareresources,whileatthesametime
maintainingmanyoftheadvantagesofcurrent
technology.Thesemethodsareparticularlyeffective
whenanIoTdeviceneedstomanagemultiple
operatorprofiles–acircumstancethatwillbecome
increasinglycommon,accordingtoananalysis
carriedoutbytheGSMA[5].
Thedisadvantagesofvirtualizationaresimilarto
thoseofcertification-basedsolutions.Mostnotably,
certificationisharderwhenatrustedenvironment
isintegratedwiththerestofthedevicecompared
withusinganisolatedUICCoreUICC.
GeneratingadditionalvaluefromtheUICC
Experience shows that it is significantly less
expensive to limit a protected and certified
manufacturing environment to a dedicated
hardware module such as a UICC than to ensure
that all the software running in the mobile
equipmentcanbetrusted.Inlightofthis,webelieve
thatcommunicationserviceproviderswillcontinue
usingUICCmodulesforatleastthenext5-10years.
During this period, it makes sense to exploit the
potential of the UICCs to better support IoT
applications by creating value-added services
for operators and enterprises. Three examples of
this are using the UICC as cryptographic storage,
using it to run higher-layer protocolstacks,
andusingitasasupervisoryentity.
UsingtheUICCascryptographicstorage
UICC modules were designed to serve as
cryptographic storage and are used today mainly
for the storage of security credentials for 3GPP
connectivity. We propose, in accordance with
GSMA IoT SAFE [1], that the UICC itself should
also be used as a crypto-safe for the IoT platform,
providing support to establish encrypted
connection of the applications.
orconnectivitymanagementserver.Thedevice
managementprotocolstack(OpenMobileAlliance
(OMA)LwM2M[1],forexample)handlesthe
communicationbetweenthetwoLPAparts.
Profileprotectionisstillend-to-endbetween
theiUICC/embedded-UICC(eUICC)andthe
provisioningserver(SubscriptionManager-Data
Preparation–SM-DP+).
Usageof3GPPstandardized
certificate-basedauthentication
Another way to reduce the need for a UICC
is to use a network authentication mechanism
different to the classical 3GPP Authentication
and Key Agreement (AKA). The use of certificates
is a classic solution used in the internet that may
easily fit into the existing network architecture
of an enterprise/service provider. In public
5G networks, authenticating with certificates
is possible as a secondary authentication for a
service using AKA, but only after primary network
OPERATORSMUST
DECIDEWHICHSOLUTION
ISMOSTSUITABLEFOR
ANYGIVENAPPLICATION
Figure 1 Remote provisioning using IoT-optimized technology
SIM alliance profile
LPA split
IoT
platform
HTTPS
Internet
Device owner/user
LwM2M-based
secure communication
IoT device with
cellular module
Provisioning
server
(SM-DP+)
Mobile
network
operator
LPAprLPAdv
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AgenericIoTdevicehasmultipleidentitiesforuse
inmultiplesecuritydomains.Everyidentityhasat
leastoneidentifierandcredential,allofwhichmust
bestoredsomewhere.Althoughtherearemultiple
options,ahardwareelementthatispowerfulenough
toplaytheroleoftherootoftrustisdefinitelyneeded.
TheUICCisperfectforthisrole,asitisalreadyused
asanidentityfor3GPPnetworks,storingInternational
MobileSubscriberIdentity,intensifiedcharge-
coupleddevice,Wi-FiandOMALwM2M[6]
credentialsalongwithdozensofotheridentifiers.
Thenecessarytrustedandcertifiedenvironment
andinfrastructurearealreadyavailabletomanufacture
themodule,downloadandupdateitscontentand
carryoutremotemanagementaswell.
Tocovereveryaspect,UICC-basedsolutions
requirecooperationbetweentheUICCecosystem
andtheIoTdevicesecuritysubsystem(ARMTrust
Zone[7],forexample).IDandcredentialmanagement
itselfisdevice-independent,whichsavesdevelopment
costandincreasesthesecuritylevel.Additional
advantagesofusingUICCasarootoftrustare:
❭ it has its own local processor
❭ it is usually equipped with powerful
cryptographic co-processors
❭ it comes with a powerful, standardized remote
management subsystem (RMS)
❭ it is handled through a separate logistics chain.
The UICC can generate key-pairs and store
private keys for multiple security domains
effectively and securely. Effectiveness comes
from its powerful cryptographic co-processors,
while security is provided by the combination of
the standardized RMS and the UICC’s ability to
run cryptography processes inside the module.
This means that the keys never leave the hardware
and therefore they cannot be exposed to the
application. Not only does this architecture
provide security, it can also securely tie
the 3GPP connectivity credentials and other
IoT certificates to each other.
Sincemodemfirmwareisaclosedenvironment,
itisdifficulttoupgradeandtocustomizeitsprotocol
stacks(extendingthemwithproprietaryadded
values).Inaddition,asmallsecurityholeinthe
protocolstackcanbeenoughforahackertotake
controlofthewholemodem.
Alternatively,thesehigher-layerprotocolstacks
canbemovedtotheUICC.Figure2depictsablock
diagramofadevice,wheretheOMALwM2M
clientrunsontheUICCmoduleandusesanon-IP
datadelivery(NIDD)protocolconnectiontosend
informationtothedevicemanagementsystem.
Runninghigher-levelprotocolsintheUICC
modulecanimprovesecurityinseveralways.
Forexample,itispossibletoruntheLwM2M
stackoveraNIDDconnection[9]andeventoallow
thiscodetoexecuteontheUICCmoduleinstead
ofonthedeviceprocessor.Inthisscenario,
command/controlisneverexposedonthe
IPlayerbecauseitisrunninginthesignaling
networkoftheoperator.Anadditionaladvantage
ofthisapproachisthatitincreasesinteroperability.
Thereisastandardizedwayofupgradingthe
communicationstackintheUICC–itiseven
possibletoinsertthecommunicationstackinto
theoperatorprofile.Thisdoesnotcompletely
solvecompatibilityandinterfacingproblems,
butacertifiedoperatorcanhandletheseissues
onahighersecurityleveltoprovidewider
solutionmatching.
InthesimplestIoTdevices,itmightevenbe
possibletoruntheactualIoTapplicationonthe
UICCmodule.Thiswouldopenforedge-computing
solutionsinwhichsimpletasksareexecutedonthe
device–datafilteringtoreducetheamountofdata
beingsentovertheair,forexample.Securitycanalso
beimprovedifthebinaryisstoredontheUICC
insteadofonthedeviceapplicationprocessor.
TherecentlyreleasedGSMAIoTSAFE[8]offers
asolutionwheretheUICCisutilizedasarootof
trustforIoTsecurity.Here,anappletontheUICC/
eUICCprovidescryptographicsupportandstorage
ofcredentialsforestablishingsecurecommunication
(forexample,usingDTLS)toanIoTservice.The
existingUICCmanagementsystem(UICCOTA
mechanism)isusedbytheoperatortoestablish
trustedcredentialsbetweenthedeviceandtheIoT
service.TheGSMAIoTSAFEdefinesanapplication
programminginterfaceforinteroperabilitybetween
SIMappletsfromdifferentoperators.
UsingtheUICCtorun
higher-layerprotocolstacks
In addition to providing security and encryption
functions, UICC modules could also serve as
main application processors. Today, a low-cost,
sensor-like IoT device usually has at least three
processors on board: one is on the UICC module,
another runs inside the baseband modem, and a
third – the application processor itself (sometimes
combined) – collects data and hosts higher level
communication stacks such as LwM2M, CoAP
or MQ Telemetry Transport.
Shiftingthehigher-levelcommunicationstack
fromtheapplicationprocessortotheUICC
modulecanleadtocheaperhardwareandlower
developmentcosts,aswellasprovidingaunique
approachtointeroperability.Asaresult,some
modemmanufacturershaveimplementedthese
protocolsinsidethemodem,runningacomplete
OMALwM2Mprotocolstackinthebasebandchip,
forexample.Whilethismayfreeupanexternal
applicationprocessorandspeedupdevice
development,thissolutionisratherinflexible.
Figure 2 IoT device with LwM2M client running on the UICC module, using NIDD
Application
Operator
profile
PSK
IMEI
BIP
Sensor data
IoT device
UICC
PSK
NIDD/SMS/USSD
NIDD/SMS
/USSD
Dev. ID
SCEF
Radio modem
LwM2M
client
Device and
data
management
(LwM2M
server)
SIMtoolkit
EFFECTIVENESS
COMESFROMITS POWER-
FULCRYPTOGRAPHIC
CO-PROCESSORS
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UsingtheUICCasasupervisoryentity
Zero-touch provisioning (ZTP) is yet another
possibility for better utilization of the UICC
module. ZTP refers to the possibility of adding
an identity to a device when required, with
automatic setup of the working environment
(requiring manual intervention).
Aneffectiveautomaticprovisioningsystem
requiresremoteprovisioningmanagement,
keyandcredentialstorage,identitymappingof
UICCmodulesandapplicationsaswellasstrong
flexibilityincaseofoperatorprofiles,butallofthis
isfarfromenough.ProvisioningofIoTdevicesisa
complex,slowandcostlyprocedure.Althoughthere
isajointefforttoextendmobilenetworkstosupport
standardized,automaticdeviceandsubscription
provisioning,itisataveryearlystage.
Duringtheprovisioningprocedure,twoormore
identitiesaregiventothedevice,whichentails
thattheseidentifiersaredownloaded,anddifferent
subsystemsareconfigured(mobilenetwork,device
ThisiswhereaUICCapplicationcanhelpand
supportanOTTZTPservice.AUICCmodulecan
storesensitiveinformationfromdifferentsecurity
domains.AsitworksclosetotheIoTdevice,itcando
correctiveactionslocallyifthereisaproblemwith
theconnectivity(attempttoactivateanotherprofile
andconnecttoanotheroperator).Inaddition,itis
scalingtogetherwiththeIoTdevices.Sincethis
solutioniscompletelyunderthecontrolofthe
operator,itcanbeindependentoftheapplication,
therebyalsosavingdevelopmentcosts.
Figure3showsanexampleofthissystem:
acentralZTPservice,inconnectionwith
multiple subsystemsandasupportapplication
ontheUICCmodule.
ThecentralZTPserviceworkingtogetherwith
theZTPsupportapplicationontheUICCmodule
canbeveryeffective.TheZTPserviceandtheZTP
supportapplicationtogethercancoveralmost
everyusecaseandsolvetheproblemstheIoTarea
isstrugglingwithtoday.
TheUICCapplicationcanbeusedtomonitor
connectivityandfixissueslocally.Thiscanbe
highlyeffectiveifcredentialsarestoredonthe
UICCmoduleandiftheIoTprotocolstack
isalsorunningontheUICCmodule.
FornarrowbandIoT,thetraditionalprofile
downloadsolutionandthemachine-to-machine
SM-DPisineffective.Significantlybetterresults
canbeachievedbyusingtheSM-DP+inanewway.
Forexample,runningtheLPAproxyontheUICC
modulemakesitpossibletousecompletelynew
optionsfordeviceprovisioning.
Conclusion
The universal integrated circuit card (UICC)
modules present in all 3GPP IoT devices
today are costly and underutilized.
managementsystem,datamanagementsystem,
andsoon).Severalstandardizedtechnologiesexist
tosupportthisprocessbut,unfortunately,
theyarenotconnectedintoaworking,efficient,
fullyautomatedandcooperativesystem.
Themoststraightforwardwaytoconnect
differentsubsystemsinaflexibleandprogrammable
wayistorunacentralizedserviceaboveoratthe
samelevelasthesesubsystems.ThisZTPservice
isconnectedtothe3GPPnetwork(forinstance
tosubscriberdatamanagement),totheSM-DP+
system(usuallyoperatedbytheUICCmodule
vendororanindependentbootstrapoperator),
tothedevicemanagementsystemandtothedata
managementsystem.TheconnectiontotheIoT
deviceitself,tothemanufactureroreventothe
installerofthedevicecanalsobeestablished.
Themainpurposeofthisserviceistodrivethe
IoTdevicethroughthestepsofautomaticdevice
provisioningfromtheverybeginning(orderingthe
device)tothefinaldecommissioning.
Althoughthisover-the-topservice(OTT)
canspeeduptheprovisioningprocesssignificantly,
ithassomedisadvantages.Itshouldnotstoresensitive
data,butonlymanageitindirectly.Furthermore,
ifthedevicehasnoconnectionatall,itcannot
doanything.Scalingcouldalsobeaproblem.
Figure 3 ZTP system with central ZTP service and UICC support
Application
IoT device
ZTP support
application
Device vendor
Data
management
Device
management
Enterprise
CRM
UICC vendor
Mobile
network
operator
Operator
profile
ZTP service
AUICCMODULECAN
STORESENSITIVE
INFORMATION
Terms and abbreviations
AKA – Authentication and Key Agreement |BIP – Bearer Independent Protocol | CoAp – Constrained
Application Protocol | DTLS – Datagram Transport Layer Security | eUICC – Embedded UICC (soldered to
the device board) | HTTPS – Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure | IMEI – International Mobile Equipment
Identity | IOT – Internet of Things | IUICC – Integrated UICC (integrated to a microchip) | LPA – Local
Profile Assistant | LPAdv – LPA (device), interfacing to the UICC | LPApr – LPA (proxy), interacting with the
device owner and SM-DP+ | LwM2M – Lightweight Machine-to-Machine | NIDD – Non-IP Data Delivery |
OMA – Open Mobile Alliance | OTT – Over-the-Top | PSK – Pre-shared Keys | RMS – Remote Management
Subsystem | RSP – Remote SIM Provisioning (protocol) | SCEF – Service Capability Exposure Functions |
SM-DP – Subscription Manager–Data Preparation | UICC – Universal Integrated Circuit Card |
USSD – Unstructured Supplementary Service Data | ZTP – Zero-Touch Provisioning
✱ UICC MODULES AND THE IoT UICC MODULES AND THE IoT ✱
8 9APRIL 14, 2020 ✱ ERICSSON TECHNOLOGY REVIEWERICSSON TECHNOLOGY REVIEW ✱ APRIL 14, 2020
15. 28 #02 2020 ✱ ERICSSON TECHNOLOGY REVIEWERICSSON TECHNOLOGY REVIEW ✱ #02 2020 29
Further reading
❭ Ericsson Technology Review, Key technology choices for optimal massive IoT devices, January 2019,
available at: https://www.ericsson.com/en/reports-and-papers/ericsson-technology-review/articles/key-
technology-choices-for-optimal-massive-iot-devices
❭ Ericsson, eSIM – Let’s talk business, available at: https://www.ericsson.com/en/digital-services/trending/esim
❭ Ericsson blog, Secure IoT identities, available at: https://www.ericsson.com/en/blog/2017/3/secure-iot-identities
❭ Ericsson blog, Secure brokering of digital identities, available at: https://www.ericsson.com/en/blog/2017/7/
secure-brokering-of-digital-identities
References
1. Ericsson blog, Evolving SIM solutions for IoT, May 27, 2019, Smeets, B; Ståhl, P; Fornehed, J, available at:
https://www.ericsson.com/en/blog/2019/5/evolving-sim-solutions-for-iot
2. UICC card HW specification for P5Cxxxx cards, available at: http://www.e-scan.com/smart-card/nxp.pdf
3. GSMA, RSP Technical Specification Version 2.1, February 27, 2017, available at:
https://www.gsma.com/newsroom/wp-content/uploads/SGP.22_v2.1.pdf
4. GSMA, Remote Provisioning Architecture for Embedded UICC Technical Specification Version 4.0,
February 25, 2019, available at: https://www.gsma.com/newsroom/wp-content/uploads/SGP.02-v4.0.pdf
5. GSMA Intelligence: The future of the SIM: potential market and technology implications for the mobile
ecosystem, February 2017, Iacopino, P; Rogers, M, available at: https://www.gsmaintelligence.com/
research/?file=3f8f4057fdd7832b0b923cb051cb6e2c&download
6. OMA, Lightweight Machine to Machine Technical Specification: Core, July 10, 2018, available at:
http://www.openmobilealliance.org/release/LightweightM2M/V1_1-20180710-A/OMA-TS-LightweightM2M_
Core-V1_1-20180710-A.pdf
7. ARM, ARM Security Technology, available at: http://infocenter.arm.com/help/topic/com.arm.doc.prd29-
genc-009492c/PRD29-GENC-009492C_trustzone_security_whitepaper.pdf
8. GSMA, IoT SAFE, available at: https://www.gsma.com/iot/iot-safe/
9. OMA, white paper, Lightweight M2M 1.1: Managing Non-IP Devices in Cellular IoT Networks, October
2018, Slovetskiy, S; Magadevan, P; Zhang, Y; Akhouri, S, available at: https://www.omaspecworks.org/wp-
content/uploads/2018/10/Whitepaper-11.1.18.pdf
theauthOrs
Benedek Kovács
◆ joined Ericsson in 2005.
Over the years since he has
served as a system engineer,
R&D site innovation
manager (Budapest) and
characteristics,performance
management and reliability
specialist in the development
of the 4G VoLTE solution.
Today he works on 5G
networks and distributed
cloud, as well as coordinating
global engineering projects.
Kovács holds an M.Sc. in
information engineering and
a Ph.D. in mathematics from
the Budapest University of
Technology and Economics
in Hungary.
Zsigmond Pap
◆ joined Ericsson in 2012.
After working in the cloud
native and 5G packet core
areas as technical manager
and system architect
respectively, he moved into
the IoT area. He specializes
in low-level software
development and he has
participated in multiple
hardware and firmware
developments related to
custom hardware solutions.
He holds an M.Sc. in the area
of hardware and embedded
computers and a Ph.D.
in information engineering
fromtheBudapestUniversity
of Technology and
Economics in Hungary.
Zsolt Vajta
◆ joined Ericsson in 2015
as a software developer
focused on developing
and maintaining modules
to implement the link
aggregation control protocol
in the IP operating system.
In 2018, he became involved
in research on IoT device
activation and zero-touch
provisioning. As of early
2020, he has joined the
packet core area as a
product owner. He holds
an M.Sc. in informatics and
physics as well as a Ph.D.
in nuclear physics from
the University of Debrecen
in Hungary.
The authors would
like to thank the
following people
for their
contributions
to this article:
Gergely Seres,
John Fornehed,
Per Ståhl, Peter
Mattsson, Bogdan
Dragus, Robert
Khello and
Tony Uotila.
The industry is looking for ways to replace them
with a next-generation solution, but for the
foreseeable future UICC modules are here to stay.
While there are a few ways to reduce the
complexity of using UICC modules and thereby
reducing the cost of IoT devices, it is also possible
to extend the application of UICC modules well
beyond the cellular domain. For example,
members of the existing UICC ecosystem can
start exploiting UICC capabilities for storing
IoT identities, executing IoT protocols,
increasing security, providing end-to-end
connectivity as a service, and/or supporting
zero-touch provisioning.
✱ UICC MODULES AND THE IoT UICC MODULES AND THE IoT ✱
10 11APRIL 14, 2020 ✱ ERICSSON TECHNOLOGY REVIEWERICSSON TECHNOLOGY REVIEW ✱ APRIL 14, 2020
16. ✱ CTO TECHNOLOGY TRENDS 2020 CTO TECHNOLOGY TRENDS 2020 ✱
FUTURE NETWORK
TRENDS
CREATING INTELLIGENT DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE
Allaroundtheworld,theunprecedented
events of 2020 have brought into focus
thecriticalrolethatdigitalinfrastructure
plays in the functioning of virtually
every aspect of contemporary society.
More than ever before, communication
technologies are providing innovative
solutions to help address social,
environmentalandeconomicchallenges
by enhancing efficiency and enabling
both intensified network usage and
more well-informed decisions.
Oneofthemostimportantfeaturesofdigital
infrastructureistheabilitytobridgedistances
andmakeiteasiertoefficientlymeetsocietal
needsintermsofresourceutilization,
collaboration,competencetransfer,status
verification,privacyprotection,securityand
safety.Thecommunicationsindustry
supportsotherindustriesbyenablingthem
todeliverdigitalproductsandservicessuch
ashealthcare,education,finance,commerce,
governanceandagriculture.Italsoplaysa
vitalroleintacklingclimatechangebyhelping
otherindustriesreduceemissionsand
improveefficiency.
Inlastyear’strendsarticle,Iintroduced
theconceptofthenetworkplatformand
explainedhowitservesasacatalystinthe
developmentofanopenmarketplace
thatisalwaysavailabletoanyconsumer
ofthedigitalinfrastructure.Thenetwork
platformformsthecoreofthedigital
infrastructure,withtheabilitytoensure
long-termcompetitivenessforenterprises
andmeetthefullrangeofsocietalneedsas
well.Itisatrustworthysolutionthat
guaranteesresilience,privacy,reliability
andsafetyforalltypesoforganizations–
public,privateandeverythinginbetween.
Italsohasthescale,costperformanceand
qualityrequiredtosupportfutureinnovations.
Asaresultofthesecharacteristics,itisthe
mostsustainablesolutiontoaddressall
futurecommunicationneeds.
Futuretechnologieswillenableafully
digitalized,automatedandprogrammable
worldofconnectedhumans,machines,
thingsandplaces.Allexperiencesand
sensationswillbetransparentacrossthe
boundariesofphysicalandvirtualrealities.
Trafficinfuturenetworkswillbegenerated
notonlybyhumancommunicationbutalso
byconnected,intelligentmachinesand
botsthatareembeddedwithartificial
intelligence(AI).Astimegoeson,the
percentageoftrafficgeneratedbyhumans
willdropasthatoftrafficgeneratedby
machinesandcomputervisionsystems–
includingautonomousvehicles,drones
andsurveillancesystems–rises.
Themachinesandother‘things’that
makeuptheInternetofThings(IoT)require
evenmoresophisticatedcommunication
thanhumansdo.Forexample,connected,
intelligentmachinesmustbeableto
interactdynamicallywiththenetwork.
Sensordatawillbeusedtosupportthe
developmentofpervasivecyber-physical
systemsconsistingofphysicalobjects
connectedtocollaborativedigitaltwins.
Futurenetworkcapabilitieswillalsoinclude
supportforthetransferofsensing
modalitiessuchassensationsandsmell.
Thenetworkplatformactsasaseamless
universalconnectivityfabriccharacterized
byitsalmostlimitlessscalabilityand
affordability.Itiscapableofexposing
capabilitiesbeyondcommunication
services,suchasembeddedcomputeand
storageaswellasadistributedintelligence
thatsupportsuserswithinsightsand
reasoning.
Inthisarticle,Iwillexplaintheongoing
evolutionofthenetworkplatforminterms
ofthekeyneedsthataredrivingits
evolution(trends1-3)andtheemerging
capabilitiesthatwillmeetboththose
andotherneeds(trends4-7).
BY: ERIK EKUDDEN, CTO
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17. ✱ CTO TECHNOLOGY TRENDS 2020 CTO TECHNOLOGY TRENDS 2020 ✱
TREND#1:
ACOLLABORATIVE,AUTOMATED
PHYSICALWORLD
Asphysicalanddigitalrealitiesbecome
increasinglyinterconnected,advanced
cyber-physicalsystemshavebegunto
emerge.Thesesystemsconsistofhumans,
physicalobjects(machinesandotherthings),
processes,networkingandcomputation,
andtheinteractionsbetweenthemall.
Theirprimarypurposeistoprovideindividuals,
organizationsandenterpriseswithfull
transparencytomonitorandcontrolassets
andplaces,therebygeneratingmassive
benefitsintermsofefficiency.Oneearly
exampleofthisisthewaythatcyber-physical
systemscanhelpplannersoptimizeenergy
andmaterialsusage.
Soon,therewillbehundredsofbillionsof
connectedphysicalobjectswithembedded
sensing,actuationandcomputing
capabilities,whichcontinuouslygenerate
informativedata.Thesensordatagenerated
byphysicalobjectscanbeusedtocreate
theirdigitaltwins.Collaborativedigital
twinswillhavetheabilitytomanagethe
interactionsbetweenthephysicalobjects
theyrepresent.
Digitalizingthephysicalenvironment
inwhichthephysicalobjectsinteract
requiressensordatafusion–thatis,
usingdatafrommultiplesourcesto
createanaccuratedigitalrepresentation
ofthephysicalenvironment.Oneexample
ofsensordatafusionisachievinghigh-
precisionpositioningbycombining
network-basedpositioningdatawith
informationfromothersensorssuchas
camerasandinertialmeasurementunits.
Ultimately,thejointcommunication
andsensinginfuturesystemswillmakeit
possibletoleveragealltheinterconnected
digitaltwinsanddigitalrepresentations
oftheenvironmenttocreateacomplete
digitalrepresentationofeverything.
TREND#2:
CONNECTED,INTELLIGENT
MACHINES
Machineswillbecomeincreasingly
intelligentandautonomousastheir
cognitiveabilitiescontinuetoexpand.
Theirunderstandingoftheworldaround
themwillcontinuetogrowintandemwith
theirabilitytointeractwithothermachines
aspartofacognitivesystemofsystems.
Anintelligentmachineusessensorsto
monitortheenvironmentandadjustits
actionstoaccomplishspecifictasks
inthefaceofuncertaintyandvariability.
Thesemachinesincludethreemajor
subsystems:sensors,actuatorsandcontrol.
Examplesofintelligentmachinesinclude
industrialrobots,speechrecognition/
voicesynthesisandself-guidedvehicles.
Thecomplexityofcontrolandlogicskills
makesexpertsystemscentralintherealm
ofintelligentmachines.
Trends 1-3: The key drivers
of network platform evolution
The three key drivers that are most significant to the evolution of the network platform are
all related to bridging the gap between physical reality and the digital realm. Most notably,
this involves delivering sensory experiences over networks and utilizing digital representations
to make the physical world fully programmable.
Thenetworkplatformwillprovide
anautomatedenvironmentinwhich
interconnected,intelligentmachines
cancommunicate,includingsupportfor
AI-to-AIcommunicationandautonomous
systemssuchascommunicationamong
self-drivingvehiclesandintelligent
machinesinfactories.
Intelligentmachineshavetheirownway
ofperceivinginformation(data),whichis
differentfromhowhumansperceiveit.
Forexample,communicationamong
intelligentmachinesrequiresnewtypesof
videocompressionmechanisms,astoday’s
videocodecsareoptimizedforhuman
perception.
Anotheraspecttoconsiderishow
intelligentmachineswillinteractand
communicatewitheachother.Toimprove
thereliabilityandefficiencyofmachine-
to-machinecommunication,machineswill
needtounderstandthemeaningofthe
communicationintermsofcapabilities,
intentionsandneeds.Thiswillrequire
semantics-drivencommunication.
Cognitionisoneofthemostimportant
capabilitiesofanintelligentmachine.
Cognitivemachinesarecapableof
self-learningfromtheirinteractionsand
experienceswiththeirenvironment.
Theygeneratehypothesesandreasoned
arguments,makerecommendationsand
takeactions.Theycanadaptandmake
senseofcomplexityandhandle
unpredictability.Thefuturenetworkwill
empowercognitivemachinesbyproviding
themwithnewnetworkfeaturesandservices
suchassensing,high-precisionpositioning
anddistributedcomputingcapabilities.
TREND#3:
THEINTERNETOFSENSES
Theabilitytodelivermultisensoryexperiences
overfuturenetworkswillmakeiteasierthan
everbeforetotransferskillsovertheinternet.
Itwillultimatelyleadtotheemergenceof
theinternetofsenses,whichcombines
visual,audio,hapticandothertechnologies
toallowhumanbeingstohaveremote
sensoryexperiences.
Theinternetofsenseswillenable
seamlessinteractionwithremotethings
andmachines,makingitpossibletofully
realizeusecasessuchasremotehealth
checks,remoteoperationofmachinery,
holographiccommunicationandvirtual
reality(VR)vacations.Amongotherbenefits,
theinternetofsensesisexpectedtohavea
significantimpactintermsofsustainability,
bydramaticallyreducingtheneedfortravel.
Intheyearsahead,majorleapsforward
areexpectedinsensorandactuator
technologies,suchastheactuationof
smellandhigh-qualitytouchsensation.
Duringremoteoperations,theadvancesin
hapticdeviceswillallowvirtualobjects
tobeperceivedjustastherealobjects
themselves.Holographiccommunication
willbepossiblewithoutwearingextended
realityglasses,dueto3Dlightfielddisplay
technologies.
Bodyaugmentationcapabilitieswillenable
humanstobesmarter,strongerandmore
capable.Otherexamplesarecontactlenses
thatcandisplayaugmentedreality(AR)
content,universaltranslatorearbuds
thatallowforlanguage-independent
communicationandexoskeletonsthat
increasephysicalstrength.Eventually,
brain-computerinterfaceswillenable
communicationatthespeedofthought
where,insteadofspeakingtomachines,
humanswillmerelythinkinorderto
directthem.
Thenetworkplatformsupportsthe
internetofsenseswithnovelnetwork
enablerssuchasdistributedcompute,high-
precisionpositioning,integratedsensing
andapplicationprogramminginterfaces.
Theseareneededtosupportbandwidth
andlatencyreservation,networklatency
reportingandnetworksliceprioritization.
Ericssonhasdeployedadigitaltwin
intheItalianportofLivorno(Leghorn).
Asaresult,terminalportoperations
willincreasinglybecomeamixture
ofphysicalmachinery,robotics
systems,automatedvehicles,
human-operateddigitalplatforms
andAI-basedsoftwaresystems.
Allthosecomponents,servedby
a5Gsolution,transformtheport
environmentintoa‘playground’
inwhichtoexperiencethefuture
ofanautomatedphysicalworld.
Theport’sdigitaltwinmakesuse
ofaplethoraofreal-timedata
capturedbyconnectedobjectsat
thephysicalport,includingsensors,
camerasandvehicles.AnAIoperation
managementsystemoperatesonthe
digitalmodeltodeterminethe
sequenceoflogisticstasksand
activities.Feedbackfromthese
processesprovidesliveupdates
tothehumansupervisorsusing
VRandtothedocks/quay
operatorsthroughAR.
Resultsindicatethatthereare
about60directandindirectbenefits
ofthesolution,includingimproved
competitiveness,increasedsafety
forpersonnel,sustainablegrowthof
theportcity,improvedmanagement
oflogisticsandapositive
environmentalimpact.
USE CASE
DIGITAL TWIN
IN THE PORT
OF LIVORNO
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18. ✱ CTO TECHNOLOGY TRENDS 2020 CTO TECHNOLOGY TRENDS 2020 ✱
TREND#4:
OMNIPRESENTANDNON-
LIMITINGCONNECTIVITY
Theconceptofubiquitousradioaccessis
evolvingtowardthevisionofafuturenetwork
thatwilldelivernon-limitingperformance
tosatisfytheneedsofhumans,thingsand
machinesbyenhancingmultidimensional
coverage,stellarcapacityandaugmenting
capabilities.
Accesscoverageeverywhere
Furtherdensificationofnetworksisneeded
toprovidehigh-speedcoverageeverywhere.
Connectedairbornedevices,suchasdrones,
requireaccessonaltitudesuptoseveral
kilometers,makingitnecessarytohavea
3Dpointofviewincludingtheelevation
aspecttoprovidecoverage.Thereisalso
aneedtoensurehigh-performingindoor
connectivitybyincreasingthenumberof
indoorsmallcellsandfullyintegratingthem.
Flexiblenetworktopologies
anddeployments
Networktopologiesanddeploymentswill
needtobecomeincreasinglyflexibleto
providecoverageeverywhereanddeliver
extremeperformance.Onepossibilityisa
multi-hop-basedradionetwork,wherea
multitudeofnodescollaboratetoforward
amessagetothereceiver.Thissolutionis
particularlyinterestingforsmallercells
oflimitedreach.Satellites,high-altitude
platformsandairbornecellscanbe
integratedintothenetworkasacomplement
toextendcoverage.Furthercomponentsin
aflexibletopologycanincludeconnected
devicerelayandthepossibilityforad-hoc
deploymentsofnetworks.Ultimately,
distributedmassiveMIMO(multiple-input,
multiple-output)solutionsmayleadtofully
distributedconnectivity,wheremanyradio
networknodessimultaneouslyserveauser,
withoutfixed-cellborders.
Accessforzero-energydevices
Therapidlygrowingdemandforvast
numbersofconnectedsensorsand
actuatorshasmadeitnecessarytoinvent
zero-energydevices.Thesewillbedeployed
onceandwillcontinuouslyreportandact
withouttheneedformaintenanceor
externalcharging.Thesteppingstones
alongthewayincludenarrowbandIoT
enhancementsandmassivemachine
typecommunicationfor5GNewRadio
forlocalareanetworks(LANs)aswellas
forwide-areausage.
Extremeradioperformance
Thenetworkwillutilizehigherfrequency
bandstodeliverextremeperformance.
Forexample,communicationsoverthe
terahertzfrequencyband(above100GHz)
havesomeattractiveproperties,
includingterabit-per-secondlink
capacitiesandminiaturetransceivers.
Trends 4-7: Critical enablers
of the future network platform
The network platform is designed to deliver the kind of extreme performance required by
applicationareassuchastheinternetofsensesandcommunicationamongintelligentmachines.
It will also serve new types of devices with close-to-zero-cost and close-to-zero-energy
implementations, which can be embedded into everything. Looking ahead, increasingly
advanced technologies in four areas (trends 4-7) will expand the capabilities of the digital
infrastructure through the network platform.
Thedesignofterahertzelectronicsincludes
verysmallantennaandradiofrequency
(RF)elementsaswellashigh-performance
oscillators.
Fullduplexisanothercomponentthatcan,
insomespecificscenarios,substantially
increasethelinkcapacitycomparedwith
halfduplex.Fullduplexismadepossibleby
self-interferencesuppressioncircuits.
Visiblelightwirelesscommunication,
piggybackingonthewideadoptionofLED
(light-emittingdiode)lighting,isanother
potentialstepinthefrequencydomainto
complementRFcommunications.
Networkasasensor
Higherfrequencieswillfurtherenhancethe
spatialandtemporalresolutionoftheradio
signal.Reflectionsofsuchradiosignalscan
beusedtosensethesurroundings.
Furthermore,highfrequencieshave
distinctatmosphericandmaterial
interactions,wheredifferentfrequencies
aremoreorlesssusceptibletothingslike
absorptioninwater,forexample.Thishas
beenshowntobesufficienttoforecast
weatherandairquality.
Distanceinformationtoreflecting
surfacescanbeidentifiedbyintegrating
positioningandsensingcapabilities.
Suchinformationcanbeusedtodetect
obstaclesandspeedaswellastogenerate
real-timelocalmaps.
TREND#5:
PERVASIVENETWORK
COMPUTEFABRIC
Asdistributedcomputeandstorage
continuestoevolve,thelinesbetween
thedevice,theedgeofthenetworkand
thecloudwillbecomeincreasinglyblurred.
Everythingcanbeviewedasasingle,
unified,integratedexecutionenvironment
fordistributedapplications,including
bothnetworkfunctionsandthird-party
applications.Inthenetworkcompute
fabric,connectivity,computeandstorage
willbeintegrated,interactingtoprovide
maximumperformance,reliability,
lowjitterandmillisecondlatencies
fortheapplicationstheyserve.
Ratherthanprocessingdatacentrally,
inmanycasesitismoreefficientinterms
ofbandwidthand/orlatencyconstraints
tobringtheprocessingclosertowhere
thedataisproduced,insightsareconsumed
andactionsaretaken.Insomecases,local
operationmayberequiredbyregulationsor
preferredforprivacy,securityorresilience
reasons.
Asidefromtheapplications,thenetwork
alsoprovidesacontinuousexecution
environmentforaccessandcorefunctions.
Itrunsonadistributedcloudinfrastructure
withintegratedaccelerationfordata-
intensivevirtualnetworkfunctionsand
applications.
Thefuturenetworkplatformgoes
beyondtheuseofmicroservicesto
implementnetworkfunctionsasserverless
architectures.Theservermanagementand
capacityplanningdecisionsarefully
autonomousfromthedeveloperandthe
networkoperator.Thenetworktakescare
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20. ✱ CTO TECHNOLOGY TRENDS 2020 CTO TECHNOLOGY TRENDS 2020 ✱
Thedigitalinfrastructureoffersendless
possibilities to individuals, enterprises
and governments across the globe,
with its unique ability to bridge vast
distances and enable powerful new
solutions to a wide rangeofsocial,
environmentalandeconomic
challenges. Health care, education,
finance, commerce, governance and
agriculture are just a few of the sectors
that stand to benefit from the massive
efficiency gains that digital
infrastructure can provide.
Designedtocarryvitalmessages,
commands,reasoning,insights,intelligence
andallthesensoryinformationneededto
supportthecontinuousevolutionofindustry
andsociety,thenetworkplatformisdesigned
tobethespinalcordofdigitalinfrastructure.
Itisalsotheidealplatformforalltypesof
innovation,withtheabilitytosupport
interactionsthatempoweranintelligent,
sustainableandconnectedworld.
Themajoradvantageofthenetwork
platformisthatitwillbeaccessible
anywhere,always-onandwithguaranteed
performance.Nomadicdistributed
processingandstoragewillbeembedded
intoittosupportadvancedapplications.
Itwillbeinherentlyreliableandresilient,
fulfillingalltherequirementsforsecure
communication.Cognitiveoperations
andmaintenanceofthenetworkandits
serviceswilldeliverthemostcost-efficient
andsustainablesolutiontomeetany
andallcommunicationneeds.
Withthisinmind,itisclearthatthemost
importantfuturenetworktrendstowatchin
2020arethosethatrelatemostcloselyto
thegrowthandexpansionofintelligent
digitalinfrastructureonthenetworkplatform.
Thefirstthreeoftheseventrendsthisyear
arethekeydriversofnetworkplatform
evolution–thecreationofacollaborative
automatedphysicalworld,connected,
intelligentmachinesandtheinternetof
senses.Allthreehighlightthegrowingneed
tobridgethegapbetweenphysicaland
digitalrealities.Trends4-7areincreasingly
advancedtechnologiesinfourareas–
non-limitingconnectivity,pervasive
networkcomputefabric,trustworthy
infrastructureandcognitivenetworks.
Breakthroughsinthesefourareaswillbe
essentialtofullyenabletrends1-3and
continuouslyexpandthecapabilitiesofthe
digitalinfrastructurethroughthenetwork
platformintheyearsanddecadesahead.
◆ As Group CTO, Erik Ekudden is responsible for setting the direction of technology leadership
for the Ericsson Group. His experience of working with technology leadership globally influences
thestrategicdecisionsandinvestmentsin,forexample,mobility,distributedcloud,artificialintelligence
andtheInternetofThings.Thisbuildsonhisdecades-longcareerintechnologystrategiesandindustry
activities.EkuddenjoinedEricssonin1993andhasheldvariousmanagementpositionsinthecompany,
including Head of Technology Strategy, Chief Technology Officer Americas in Santa Clara (USA),
and Head of Standardization and Industry. He is also a member of the Royal Swedish Academy
of Engineering Sciences and the publisher of Ericsson Technology Review.
ERIK EKUDDEN
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER
AND HEAD OF GROUP FUNCTION TECHNOLOGY
CONCLUSION
The network platform is
the spinal cord of intelligent
digital infrastructure
Furtherreading
❭ Ericsson blog, What do cyber-physical systems have in store for us?, available at: https://www.ericsson.com/en/blog/2019/12/
cyber-physical-systems-technology-trend
❭ Ericsson report, 10 Hot Consumer Trends 2030, available at: https://www.ericsson.com/en/reports-and-papers/consumerlab/
reports/10-hot-consumer-trends-2030
❭ Ericsson blog, Driving business value in an open world, available at: https://www.ericsson.com/en/blog/2020/7/cto-driving-business-
value-in-an-open-world
❭ Ericsson Technology Review, CTO Technology Trends 2019, available at: https://www.ericsson.com/en/reports-and-papers/
ericsson-technology-review/articles/technology-trends-2019
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With a vastly distributed system (the telco network) already in place,
the telecom industry has a significant advantage in the transition
toward distributed cloud computing. To deliver best-in-class application
performance, however, operators must also have the ability to fully
leverage heterogeneous compute and storage capabilities.
WOLFGANG JOHN,
CHANDRAMOULI
SARGOR, ROBERT
SZABO, AHSAN
JAVED AWAN, CHAKRI
PADALA, EDVARD
DRAKE, MARTIN
JULIEN, MILJENKO
OPSENICA
The cloud is transforming, both in terms of
the extent of distribution and in the diversity of
compute and storage capabilities. On-premises
and edge data centers (DCs) are emerging,
and hardware (HW) accelerators are becoming
integral components of formerly software-only
services.
■ One of the main drivers into the age of
virtualization and cloud was the promise of
reducing costs by running all types of workloads
on homogeneous, generic, commercial off-the-
shelf (COTS) HW hosted in dedicated,
centralized DCs. Over the years, however, as use
cases have matured and new ones have continued
to emerge, requirements on latency, energy
efficiency, privacy and resiliency have become
more stringent, while demand for massive data
storage has increased.
Tomeetperformance,costand/orlegal
requirements,cloudresourcesaremovingtoward
theedgeofthenetworktobridgethegapbetween
resource-constraineddevicesanddistantbut
powerfulcloudDCs.Meanwhile,traditionalCOTS
HWisbeingaugmentedbyspecialized
programmableHWresourcestosatisfythestrict
performancerequirementsofcertainapplications
andlimitedenergybudgetsofremotesites.
Theresultisthatcloudcomputingresources
arebecomingincreasinglyheterogeneous,while
simultaneouslybeingwidelydistributedacross
smallerDCsatmultiplelocations.Clouddeployments
mustberethoughttoaddressthecomplexityand
technicalchallengesthatresultfromthisprofound
transformation.
Inthecontextoftelecommunicationnetworks,
thekeychallengesareinthefollowingareas:
1. Virtualization of specialized HW resources
2. Exposure of heterogeneous HW capabilities
3. HW-aware workload placement
4. Managing increased complexity.
Getting all these pieces right will enable the
future network platform to deliver optimal
application performance by leveraging emerging
HW innovation that is intelligently distributed
throughout the network, while continuing to
harvest the operational and business benefits
of cloud computing models.
Figure1positionsthefourkeychallengesin
relationtotheorchestration/operationssupport
systems(OSS)layer,theapplicationlayer,run-time
andtheoperatingsystem/hypervisor.Thelowerpart
ofthefigureprovidessomeexamplesofspecialized
HWinatelcoenvironment,whichincludesdomain-
specificaccelerators,next-generationmemoryand
storage,andnovelinterconnecttechnologies.
Computeandstoragetrends
With the inevitable end of Moore’s Law [2],
developers can no longer assume that rapidly
increasing application resource demands
will be addressed by the next generation
of faster general-purpose chips. Instead,
commodity HW is being augmented by a very
heterogeneous set of specialized chipsets,
referred to as domain-specific accelerators,
that attempt to provide both cost and
energy savings.
Forinstance,data-intensiveapplicationscantake
advantageofthemassivescopeforparallelization
HIGHLY DISTRIBUTED WITH HETEROGENEOUS HARDWARE
Thefutureof
cloudcomputing
Figure 1 Impact of the four key challenges on the stack (top) and heterogeneity of HW infrastructure (bottom)
HW-aware
workload placement
Exposure of
HW capabilities
Virtualization of
specialized HW
Orchestration/OSS
Application
Run-time
Operating system/hypervisor
Distributed compute
& storage HW
• Memory pooling
• Storage-class memories
• GPUs/TPUs
• FPGAs
• Cache-coherent interconnects
• High bandwidth interconnects
• Cache-coherent interconnects
• High bandwidth interconnects
• Near-memory computing
• PMEM
• GPUs/ASICs
• FPGAs and SmartNICs
Distributed compute
& storage HW
Next-generation
memory & storage
Domain-specific
accelerators
Novel interconnect
technologies
Operating system/hypervisor
Run-time User
device
Application
Central Edge
5G UPF 5G gNB
Managing increased
complexity
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physicalacceleratorintomultiplevirtualaccelerators
mustbedonemanually.Addressingtheseissues
willrequireappropriateabstractionsandmodels
ofspecializedHW,sothattheircapabilitiescanbe
interpretedandincorporatedbyorchestration
functions.
Theneedforappropriatemodelswillbefurther
amplifiedinthecaseofdistributedcomputeand
storage.Here,theselectionoftheoptimalsite
locationwilldependontheapplicationrequirements
(boundedlatencyorthroughputconstraints,for
example)andtheavailableresourcesandHW
capabilitiesatthesites.Theprogrammingand
orchestrationmodelsmustbeabletoselect
appropriatesoftware(SW)options–SWonlyinthe
caseofmoderaterequirements,forexample,orSW
complementedwithHWaccelerationforstringent
requirements.
AsSWdeploymentoptionswithorwithoutHW
accelerationmayhavesignificantlydifferent
resourcefootprints,sitesmustexposetheirHW
capabilitiestobeabletoconstructatopologymap
ofresourcesandcapabilities.Duringexposureand
abstraction,proprietaryfeaturesandtheinterfaces
tothemmustbehiddenandmappedto(formalor
informal)industrystandardsthatarehopefully
comingsoon.Modelingandabstractionofresources
andcapabilitiesarenecessaryprerequisitestobe
abletoselecttheappropriatelocationand
applicationdeploymentoptionsandflavors.
Orchestratingheterogeneousdistributedcloud
Based on a global view of the resources and
capabilities within the distributed environment,
anorchestrationsystem(OSSintelcoterminology)
typically takes care of designing and assigning
application workloads within the compute and
storage of the distributed environment. This
means that decisions regarding optimal workload
placement also should factor in the type of HW
components available at the sites related to the
requirements of the specific application SW.
Duetothepricingofandpowerconstraints
onexistingandupcomingHWaccelerators,
ingraphicsprocessingunits(GPUs)ortensor
processingunits(TPUs),whilelatency-sensitive
applicationsorlocationswithlimitedpowerbudgets
mayutilizefield-programmablegatearrays
(FPGAs).Thesetrendspointtoarapidlyincreasing
adoptionofacceleratorsinthenearfuture.
Thegrowingdemandformemorycapacityfrom
emergingdata-intensiveapplicationsmustbemetby
upcominggenerationsofmemory.Next-generation
memoriesaimtoblurthestrictdichotomybetween
classicalvolatileandpersistentstoragetechnologies–
offeringthecapacityandpersistencefeaturesof
storage,combinedwiththebyte-addressability
andaccessspeedsclosetotoday’srandom-access
memory(RAM)technologies.Suchpersistent
memory(PMEM)technologies[3]canbeused
eitheraslargeterabytescalevolatilememory,oras
storagewithbetterlatencyandbandwidthrelative
tosolid-statedisks.
3Dsilicondie-stackinghasfacilitatedthe
embeddingofcomputeunitsdirectlyinsidememory
andstoragefabrics,openingaparadigmofnear-
memoryprocessing[1],atechnologythatreduces
datatransferbetweencomputeandstorageand
improvesperformanceandenergyconsumption.
Finally,advancementsininterconnecttechnologies
willenablefasterspeeds,highercapacityandlower
latency/jittertosupportcommunicationbetweenthe
variousmemoryandprocessingresourceswithin
nodesaswellaswithinclusters.Thecachecoherency
propertiesofmoderninterconnecttechnologies,
suchasComputeExpressLink[4]andGen-Z,can
enabledirectaccesstoconfigurationregistersand
memoryregionsacrossthecomputeinfrastructure.
Thiswillsimplifytheprogrammabilityofaccelerators
andfacilitatefine-graineddatasharingamong
heterogeneousHW.
Supportingheterogeneoushardware
indistributedcloud
WhilethecombinationofheterogeneousHW
and distributed compute resources poses unique
challenges, there are mechanisms to address
each of them.
Virtualizationofspecializedhardware
The adoption of specialized HW in the cloud
enables multiple tenants to use the same HW
under the illusion that they are the sole user,
with no data leakage between them. The tenants
can request, utilize and release accelerators at any
time using application programming interfaces
(APIs). This arrangement requires an abstraction
layer that provides a mechanism to schedule jobs
to the specialized HW, monitor their resource
usage and dynamically scale resource allocations
to meet performance requirements. It is pertinent
to keep the overhead of this virtualization to a
minimum. While virtualization techniques for
common COTS HW (x86-based central
processing units (CPUs), dynamic RAM (DRAM),
block storage and so on) have matured well during
recent decades, corresponding virtualization
techniques for domain-specific accelerators are
largely still missing for production-grade systems.
Exposureofhardwarecapabilities
Current cloud architectures are largely agnostic
to the capabilities of specialized HW. For example,
all GPUs of a certain vendor are treated as
equivalent, regardless of their exact type or make.
To differentiate them, operators typically tag the
nodes equipped with different accelerators with
unique tags and the users request resources with
a specific tag. This model is very different to
general-purpose CPUs and can therefore lead to
complications when a user requires combinations
of accelerators.
Currentdeploymentspecificationsalsodonot
havegoodsupportforrequestingpartialallocation
ofaccelerators.Foracceleratorsthatcanbe
partitionedtoday,thedecompositionofasingle
Definition of key terms
Edge computing provides distributed computing and storage resources closer to the location where they
are needed/consumed.
Distributed cloud provides an execution environment for cloud application optimization across multiple
sites, including required connectivity in between, managed as one solution and perceived as such by the
applications.
Hardware accelerators are devices that provide several orders of magnitude more efficiency/
performance compared with software running on general purpose central processing units for selected
functions. Different hardware accelerators may be needed for acceleration of different functions.
Persistent memory is an emerging memory technology offering capacity and persistence features of
block-addressable storage, combined with the byte-addressability and access speeds close to today’s
random-access memory technologies. It is also referred to as storage-class memory.
Moore's law holds that the number of transistors in a densely integrated circuit doubles about every two
years, increasing the computational performance of applications without the need for software redesign.
Since 2010, however, physical constraints have made the reduction in transistor size increasingly difficult
and expensive.
THESETRENDSPOINTTOA
RAPIDLYINCREASINGADOPTION
OFACCELERATORS...
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theyareexpectedtobescarceamongedge-cloud
sites,whichinturnwillrequiremechanismsto
employprioritizationandpreemptionofworkloads.
UnlikeconventionalITcloudenvironments,
distributedcloudallowsconsiderationsofremote
resourcesandcapabilities.
Moreover,telcoapplicationsandworkloads
hostedintelcocloudsmayrequiremuchstricter
ServiceLevelAgreements(SLAs)tobefulfilled.
Prioritizationandpreemptionfornewworkloads
mayonlybeaviableoptionifcapabilitiesor
resourcesarealreadytaken.However,itisimportant
tomigrateevictedworkloadseithertoanew
location,ortoanewSWandHWdeploymentoption
tominimizeservicedisruptionduringpreemption.
Managingincreasedcomplexity
Traditional automation techniques based on
human scripting and/or rule books cannot scale to
address the complexity of the heterogeneous
distributed cloud. We can already see a shift away
Whenaservicerequestarrives,theorchestration
servicedesignstheserviceinstancetopologyand
assignsresourcestoeachservicecomponent
instance(redarrows).Theseactionsarebasedon
theactualservicerequirements,theserviceaccess
pointsandthebusinessintent.
Opportunitiesandusecases
In terms of the opportunities in support of the
ongoing cloudification of telco networks, let us
consider the case of RAN. The functional split
of higher and lower layers of the RAN protocol
makes it possible to utilize Network Functions
Virtualization (NFV) and distributed compute
infrastructure to achieve ease of deployment and
management. The asynchronous functions in the
higher layer may be able to be run on COTS HW.
However,asetofspecializedHWwillberequired
tomeetthestringentperformancecriteriaoflower-
layerRANfunctions.Forinstance,thetime-
synchronousfunctionsinthemedium-access
controllayer,suchasscheduling,linkadaptation,
powercontrol,orinterferencecoordination,typically
requirehighdataratesontheirinterfacesthatscale
withthetraffic,signalbandwidthandnumberof
antennas.Thesecannotbeeasilymetwithcurrent
general-purposeprocessingcapabilities.
Likewise,decipheringfunctionsinthepacket
dataconvergenceprotocollayer,compression/
decompressionschemesoffronthaullinksand
channeldecodingandmodulationfunctionsinthe
physicallayerwouldallbenefitfromHW
acceleration.
Thesecurityrequirementsfordataflowsacross
thebackhaulfor4G/5GRANsmandatetheuseof
IPsecurityprotocols(IPsec).Byoffloadingencrypt/
decryptfunctionstospecializedHWsuchas
SmartNetworkInterfaceControllers(SmartNICs),
application-specificintegratedcircuits(ASICs)
orFPGAs,theprocessingoverheadassociatedwith
IPseccanbeminimized.Thisiscrucialtosupport
higherdataratesinthetransportnetwork.
Thenetworkdataanalyticsfunctionin5GCore
networkswouldbenefitfromGPUstoaccelerate
trainingofmachinelearning(ML)modelsonlive
networkdata.Theenhancementstointerconnects
(cachecoherency,forexample)makeiteasierforthe
variousacceleratorsandCPUstoworktogether.
Theinterconnectsalsoenablelowlatenciesand
highbandwidthswithinsitesandnodes.Thereis
increasingdemandonmemoryfromseveralcore
networkfunctions(user-databasefunctions,
forexample),bothfromascaleandalatency
perspective.ThescaleofPMEMcanbeintelligently
combinedwiththelowlatencyofdoubledatarate
memoriestoaddresstheserequirements.
Whiletheseopportunitiesarespecificto
telecommunicationproviders,therearealsoseveral
classesofthird-partyapplicationsthatwouldbenefit
fromdistributedcomputeandstoragecapabilities
withinthetelcoinfrastructure.Industry4.0includes
severalusecasesthatcouldutilizeHW-optimized
processing.Indoorpositioningtypicallyrequiresthe
processingofhigh-resolutionimagestoaccurately
determinethelocationofanobjectrelativetoothers
onafactoryfloor.Thisiscomputationallyintensive
andGPUs/FPGAsaretypicallyused.Likewise,
theapplicationofaugmentedreality(AR)/virtual
reality(VR)technologiesinsmartmanufacturing
forremoteassistance,trainingormaintenance
willrelysignificantlyonHWaccelerationand
edgecomputingtooptimizeperformanceand
reducelatencies.
Thegamingindustryisalsowitnessing
significanttechnologyshifts–specifically,remote
renderingandmixed-realitytechnologieswillhave
aprofoundimpactontheconsumerexperience.
Thesetechnologiesrelyonanunderlyingdistributed
cloudinfrastructurethathasHWacceleration
capabilitiesattheedgetooffloadtheprocessing
fromconsumerdevices,whilemaintainingstrict
latencybounds.
Furthermore,severalusecasesintheautomotive
industryinvolvestrictlatencyrequirementsthat
demandHWaccelerationintheformofGPUsand
FPGAsatremotesites.Examplesincludereal-time
objectdetectioninvideostreamsthatareprocessed
byeithervehiclesorroad-sideinfrastructure.
from human-guided automation to machine-
reasoning-based automation such as cognitive
artificial intelligence (AI) technologies.
Specifically, a paradigm is emerging where the
human input to the cloud system will be limited
to specifying the desired business objectives
(intents). The cloud system then figures how best
to realize those objectives/intents.
Figure2presentsanexemplarydistributedcloud
scenariowithaccesssites,regionalandcentralDCs
andpublicclouds.Itisbasedontheassumptionthat
themanufacturingnetworkslice(red)includesboth
telco(xNF)andthird-partyworkloads(APP),
outofwhichoneAPPrequiresnetworkacceleration
(SmartNIC),whileanotherxNFdependsonPMEM.
Multiplenetworkslicesarecreatedbasedon
customerneed.Networkslicesdiffernotonlyintheir
servicecharacteristics,butareseparatedand
isolatedfromeachother.Aggregatedviewsof
HWacceleratorsperlocationarecollectedforthe
zero-touchorchestrationservice(grayarrows).
Figure 2 Integrated network slicing (telco) and third-party applications
Gaming
AR/VRB
E-MBB
Automotive
Network slices
Internet of
Things
Fixed access
Manufacturing
APP
SmartNICs
PMEM
HW capability
exposures
Access sites (edge cloud)
Central sites
Public clouds
Distributed sites
(edge/regional cloud) xNF: telco Virtual Network Function or
Cloud-native Network Function
APP: Third-party application
HW capability
control
Business
intent
Zero-touch orchestration
APP
APP
APP APP APP
APP
xNF
xNF
APP
xNF xNF
APP
xNF
xNF
xNF
xNF
xNF
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