While it doesn’t have the whiz-bang fun factor for new 5G PCs or smartphones, network infrastructure plays a very important role in making the 5G promise come true. It also represents a multi-billion dollar business opportunity expected to grow to more than $ 50 billion over the next five years.
Not surprisingly, many companies have set their sights on the award, including many technology vendors (see “5G Networks in the Cloud via IBM Satellite and AT&T Connection” and “Microsoft Purchase Of Affirmed Networks Highlights 5G Focus” Shifting To Infrastructure ”).
The latest offerings come from Intel through its third-party Xeon Scalable processors, as well as a suite of other infrastructure-focused features, including FPGAs from the company’s Agilex line, Intel-branded ethernet adapters, persistent memory components. -Optane, as well as several pieces of important software. FlexRAN is Intel’s platform for enabling Open RAN software-defined builds. Open Cloud Cloud to facilitate content delivery networks, while OpenNESS (Network Edge Services Software) will build and manage edge applications.
The fact is, Intel has been actively involved in wireless network infrastructure for some time — as its solid range of network-based products clearly shows. With the massive migration to 5G SA (standalone) networks starting to take place this year on major telcos around the world, the company is putting new emphasis on this area. The implementation of 5G SA requires a basic 5G network, which means that companies will have to spend huge sums of money to install computer power and connect in the right place.
Intel (and many other technology vendors) are also growing eager for 5G infrastructure, as wireless network infrastructure is rapidly changing from a proprietary system, special boxes built by companies such as Nokia, Nokia, and Samsung Networks among other things, unlocking, software Enabled networks powerful compounds can use tools from various vendors.
This technological transformation and performance of 5G network infrastructure is what is attracting many technology companies to follow this market. In many ways, it shows what happened when a business computer from closed data centers mainly used operating cloud-based operating systems built with open source software. Those changes have created a completely new operating model, a completely new biological system for new companies, and a completely different way of thinking about how to use a computer.
The same thing is happening now in network infrastructure as the move to 5G SA also brings increased use of technologies such as network function virtualization (NFV), VRAN (virtual radio access network), and Open RAN (see 5G Networks Go Open RAN? ”For more. This is especially true if you are offered high speed, low latency, high reliability, and increased performance promised by 5G.
In that light, Intel Xeon Scalable third-generation processors bring many significant benefits to telcos who want to use these flexible and more powerful forms of open computer network design. Specifically, the integration of these latest-generation CPUs with Optane’s persistent memory features brings up to 62% performance on specific network workloads compared to Intel’s previous generation offerings. Total entry numbers from this combination are also up 1.63x higher, in part because the latest Xeon Scalable components support more than 33% memory access.
Simply put, this means that systems supported by these components can do things like drive high-resolution video signals to the same number of subscribers via the Content Delivery Network (e.g., Netflix, Disney +, etc.) or run the same configuration signal for multiple subscribers. Another useful advantage of CDNs (and other applications) is that Xeon Scalable third-generation chips also incorporate cryptographic accelerators, which allow them to easily handle encrypted data without the need for special accelerators. This translates into increased performance and reduced costs for these networks.
Another critical network load involves wireless signal processing. This is used to convert newly converted digital pieces into analog waveforms that can be transmitted over large antenna components in cell towers to smartphones and other connected devices. The third generation Xeon Scalable CPUs have new AVX-512 (Advanced Vector Extensions) commands that can be used to double the penetration of these modified signals compared to the previous generation. Given the increasing use of high-tech MIMO technology for 5G networks that can transmit (and receive) multiple chunks of data simultaneously, which translates into real world value.
While Intelco’s new offerings for Telco are impressive, there is no doubt that they too find themselves entering a rapidly growing market, as many high-tech retailers are looking to make a mark in this rapidly changing environment. Given the company’s previous experience, however, Intel clearly sees that not all 5G infrastructure projects have the same requirements, and expand their offerings accordingly. The good news for everyone involved is that the upcoming investment in 5G network infrastructure related to the global 5G SA transition (as well as the deployment of the new C-Band, mid-band RF spectrum here in the US) should create a solid opportunity for them all.
Disclosure: TECHnalysis Research is a technology market research technology and consulting firm and, like all companies in the industry, works with many technology vendors as customers.
