Samsung announces the next phase of its 5G vRAN – Samsung Global Newsroom

Samsung releases its vRAN 3.0, demonstrating the power of software-driven RAN with new features and capabilities to enable a smarter, more efficient network

Samsung Electronics announced that the company is bringing next-level capabilities to its virtualized RAN (vRAN) to improve performance and increase power savings. Advanced vRAN software will feature a range of new “smart” features — optimized to meet the needs of forward-looking operators. These include advanced features that will help pave the way for the next phase of network virtualization, including features that increase bandwidth support for Massive MIMO radios, analyze hourly traffic patterns to optimize network operating conditions and automate networks with “sleep mode” to save energy. consumption.

A leader in the vRAN market, Samsung helped drive the first mass commercial adoption of virtualized 5G networks across the globe. The company is the only major vendor to have conducted large-scale commercial vRAN deployments with Tier 1 operators on multiple continents. — in the Americas, Europe and Asia.

“While Samsung’s 5G vRAN has successfully proven its performance by delivering comparable results to traditional hardware equipment in commercial networks, we are moving quickly to the next phase of vRAN software development. — vRAN 3.0 from Samsung,” said Ji-Yun Seol, Vice President, Head of Product Strategy, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “The software-centric nature of the solution allows us to add these enhanced capabilities — optimization of performance and energy efficiency — much faster than traditional RAN hardware. Samsung’s new features will add tremendous value to operators who are rapidly moving to virtualized networks. »

Samsung’s next-level vRAN features include the following:

Performance optimization

• 200 MHz 3 cell support
  With a software upgrade, Samsung’s vRAN will be equipped with the ability to provide a 3-cell configuration with support for 200 MHz of bandwidth using its 64T64R massive MIMO radios. That’s more than triple the radio bandwidth support compared to its previous-generation software, capable of supporting all of an operator’s midband 5G spectrum holdings.
• Optimization of the modem algorithm
  Samsung incorporates a modem algorithm optimization approach into its development roadmap. Unlike a hardware-centric approach, optimizing the modem algorithm allows operators to receive software tailored to their needs, with only the features and configurations required, enabling optimized and efficient use of COTS servers.

Energy savings

• CPU core sleep mode
  Available on Samsung’s vRAN software, this feature reduces power consumption by automatically putting the processor into “sleep mode” — or disable unused CPU cores — during periods of low data traffic. When the capacity demand increases again, the processor cores come out of sleep mode.
• Adaptive Core Allocation
  This feature of Samsung’s vRAN software assigns a number of processor cores during cell configuration proportional to the number of active cells. Unassigned or unused processor cores are set to idle mode to reduce power consumption and are activated when capacity demand increases.
• Energy Saving Features Orchestrator (ESFO)
  ESFO is an orchestration tool that manages multiple power saving features on a single platform, maximizing efficiency without downtime. ESFO automatically analyzes hourly traffic patterns and optimizes operating conditions for each power saving feature, by area and time zone. The tool constantly updates multi-level power-saving operations of multiple power-saving functions — such as cell on/off and Tx path on/off — to reflect traffic pattern changes and past results.

With these enhanced capabilities, Samsung’s vRAN can support smarter management and operation of large-scale commercial virtualized networks as more operators seek to meet the next-generation network demands of their customers. clients. Samsung plans to launch its new vRAN capabilities to global carriers, beginning its rollout in North America in the first half of 2023.

Samsung has pioneered the successful delivery of end-to-end 5G solutions including chipsets, radios and cores. Through continuous research and development, Samsung is pushing the industry to advance 5G networks with its market-leading product portfolio, from virtualized RAN and Core to private network solutions and automation tools powered by the ‘IA. The company currently provides network solutions to mobile operators that provide connectivity to hundreds of millions of users worldwide.