Networks TechTalk with Samsung

Wireless networks are going through a paradigm shift with the emergence of Open RAN. This new approach to architecting a multi-vendor network fosters innovation, agility, and cost efficiency in deploying and operating 5G networks. More importantly, it serves users better and faster than ever. However, there are mixed opinions in the industry and varied approaches to materializing the vision of Open RAN. Open RAN represents a paradigm shift in RAN architecture, where the traditional monolithic RAN is disaggregated into smaller subsystems with open interfaces. This open interface enables the network operator to select the best subsystem and integrate it into a true Open RAN network. Open RAN can be realized with both single and multiple vendors. It allows for the flexibility of mixing and matching when there is a need to do so. Samsung is an active participant in the O-RAN Alliance and co-chairs its working groups. Samsung is committed to advancing Open RAN and has made tremendous progress in North America, Europe, and Asia in deploying large-scale commercial Open RAN networks and expects to continue this momentum in the coming years. Thank you for tuning in to Samsung Networks’ podcast series Networks TechTalk. This marks our final episode for the series. We appreciate you listening and following along with the show. For more on Samsung Networks and how we’re redefining networks of the future, make sure to follow us on social media or learn more about our products and solutions at samsungnetworks.com

Fixed Wireless Access, or FWA, has emerged as a powerful enabler in the mobile landscape and is one method being used to fulfill the growing user demand for data. FWA is another offering to provide high-speed internet access to homes, businesses, and remote areas without relying on traditional wired connections like fiber or cable lines for the ‘last mile’ of connectivity. The demand for FWA itself among broadband users is growing with analyst firms expecting FWA users to reach 14-18 million in 2027 in the United States. While solving for the last mile is one benefit of Fixed Wireless Access, it also offers operators a path to expand their business offerings and generate more revenue. They’re able to obtain new subscribers by promoting bundles for mobile and FWA services. The service is also able to provide initial high-speed access to businesses and consumers in urban and suburban areas to supplement and enhance existing networks. The advancements and proliferation of Fixed Wireless are advancing around the globe. MNOs worldwide are involved in FWA, but there are many others as well including MSOs and WISPs with regional operators playing a pivotal role in the growth of FWA.  Samsung is the leader in enabling operators to harness the next wave of Fixed Wireless Access applications. It will continue to advance mmWave leadership for FWA by offering new dual-band products and by enabling faster FWA deployments with its proven vRAN architecture.

With much of the world standing on the brink of mainstream 5G usage, operators are looking for ways to extract maximum value from their network investments – essentially trying to figure out how to monetize 5G. Operators have spent the past few years on things like spectrum, working to increase base stations needed for sufficient coverage and capacity, and implementing new software tools that allow for autonomous networks and faster delivery of services and upgrades. Providers are now starting to take advantage of the high-speed, low-latency, and connectivity capacities that 5G brings to the market. Today, operators are finding new ways to monetize 5G with Fixed Wireless Access, network slicing, as well private 5G networks. The learnings taken from 4G, including slower roll-out plans and commodity-based plays, are also helping to inform strategies surrounding 5G. Operators will usher in a new wave of innovation that could unlock additional revenue streams as they monetize 5G. Private networks for enterprises in particular offer a great opportunity for monetization due to their scalability over the latest in Wi-Fi technology. Watch and listen to this Networks Tech Talk episode to learn more about how operators can take advantage of the high-speed, low-latency, and connectivity capacities that 5G brings to the market.

5G is the first wireless technology designed to be energy efficient and sustainable with an industry target of 90% improvement in spectral efficiency compared to 4G. This improvement, in large part, also requires energy efficiency in the equipment. Operators and vendors have devised several features to accomplish this goal including increasing spectrum bands supported in a single radio and Massive MIMO antenna capacity, beamforming, and an increasing the use of high-band frequencies.Samsung works to ensure our product experience at every step contributes to a sustainable world with eco-conscious technology and innovation. Samsung is a pioneer in vRAN, being the first to bring vRAN to market with software driven network functions to make networks more flexible and reduce processing and transmit power. Samsung is also helping to address energy efficiency with Power Amplifiers equipped with a Bias Control, dynamic download MIMO transmit paths, and with its low power, energy saving system-on-a-chip (SoC).With global mobile data traffic rates continuing to rise and applications requiring low-latency proliferating, networks will continue to densify, and the number of cell sites grow exponentially. Despite this, telecommunications industry is committed to finding ways to bring down the amount of power used and lowering our carbon footprint to run our networks.We are all excited to see the power saving techniques and features we’ve discussed today continue to advance around the globe.Watch and listen to this Networks Tech Talk episode to learn more about how Samsung and the telecommunications industry are investing in energy saving innovations and technologies.

Virtual Radio Access Networks, or vRAN, are the future of the radio access side of mobile operators’ networks. vRAN is software that runs on off-the-shelf servers rather than the proprietary, dedicated hardware that mobile network providers have been running for decades.vRAN allows service providers to optimize their deployments. With software upgrades there will be a transition to quick, convenient, near-zero-touch operations. The virtualization of the network allows for extraordinary scaling efficiencies, ramping up resources as needed. Dynamic scaling enables networks to add processing power, memory, and connection resources on the fly when new functionality needs to be instantiated. This will free them up for other tasks when customers do not need them directly. Network slicing provides management benefits for operators as well by allowing providers to create and run multiple virtual networks on the same physical equipment, decreasing hardware costs. vRAN gives MNOs greater network availability and better deployment flexibility using pooled, centralized resources that operate on standardized commercially available hardware, and Samsung’s leadership in development and deployments for major operators around the world is impressive. We are all excited to see the network virtualization we’ve discussed today continue to advance around the globe. 

With the rapid push to 5G, operators are looking for fast, scalable ways to deploy while also having the flexibility and agility to manage services and optimize their networks. There are two ways that operators achieve this flexibility: using a virtual Radio Access Network (vRAN) and embracing O-RAN standards.  vRAN gives MNOs greater network management and service agility and better deployment flexibility using pooled, centralized software-driven network functions operating on standardized commercially available hardware. Samsung’s cloud-native vRAN was the first in the industry to deliver to the market the virtualized Distributed Unit (vDU) and virtualized Centralized Unit (vCU) that run on general-purpose processors. Samsung’s cloud-native vRAN supports single band, dual-band, and Massive MIMO radios. Since Samsung started developing vRAN in 2016, it has become the industry leader in the fully virtualized 5G cloud-native vRAN market. Samsung is the only major vendor to have vRAN commercial deployments with Tier One operators on multiple continents and to provide a commercial vRAN solution that supports both Samsung and 3rd party Massive MIMO radios. Open RAN is a choice for network operators who want more flexibility and agility in their network. As a member of the Open RAN Alliance, Samsung is committed to virtualized and fully interoperable networks. Samsung believes that Open RAN starts with opening the fronthaul and fully disaggregating the baseband with vRAN. Beyond the production of O-RAN compliant solutions and integration and interface work done in traditional RAN, Samsung’s cloud-native vRAN is O-RAN compliant and integrated with other vendors’ radios.  Earlier this year, Samsung won two GLOMO Awards for its fully virtualized 5G RAN solution, an indication that the industry recognizes the importance of vRAN and the virtualization of the network. Watch and listen to this Networks Tech Talk episode to learn more about what vRAN and Open RAN mean for operators, Samsung’s views on them, and Samsung’s leadership in both technologies.

The digital divide is a pervasive issue drawing a gap between those who have access to high-speed internet and those who don’t. This lack of connectivity is extremely prevalent in rural areas which often lag far behind urban and suburban areas when it comes to having internet access.  While the digital divide has always been an issue, it’s been greatly underscored by the COVID 19 pandemic, which has driven many jobs, schools, and even medical practices to operate online. Without this connection, many Americans are left without critical access in everyday life. Government funding is helping to improve coverage and affordability. The evolution and introduction of new technologies that address operator and rural market service requirements is supporting advancement as well.  A key example of expanding high-speed Internet coverage is Samsung’s work with t3 Broadband. Samsung and t3 are working together to help rural operators expand coverage across more remote areas across the US. The partnership pairs t3 Broadband’s expertise, including the ability to design and deploy powerful network solutions and services remotely, with Samsung’s CBRS massive MIMO portfolio and solution bandwidth, speed and cell edge performance. Together, these help rural operators deliver and enhance broadband connectivity in hard-to-reach locations.  Samsung and t3 both believe everyone should have access to stable, high-speed Internet service, regardless of location. Listen to this episode to understand how they, and other organizations, are working to bridge the digital divide for consumers across the Midwest and showing the way for other rural areas across the country. 

To innovate next-gen networks, it’s important to have partnerships that combine best-in-class solutions to simplify and accelerate the transition to 5G. A good example of this is the recent partnership between Samsung and Ciena.  Ciena provides powerful xHaul designed to support new service offerings being brought to market in 5G. Samsung and Ciena are working together to offer hardware and software solutions to telecom operators by coupling Samsung’s 5G solutions with Ciena’s xHaul solution. This technology will enable the pair to support the large amounts of 5G data traffic at the edge within an increasingly distributed 5G architecture to support the next generation of high bandwidth applications and services.  Samsung and Ciena’s successful interoperability testing, including functional and performance testing, demonstrated that this solution will significantly speed up 5G deployments, taking advanced applications like network slicing and IoT to market sooner. As networks become more disaggregated, it’s imperative that operators know all their system components will work together seamlessly.  With Ciena and Samsung leading the way, operators and enterprise customers can be assured of smooth operations in the migration to 5G. This partnership targets both public and private 5G markets globally, offering solutions for mobile operators, neutral host providers, non-public operators, and enterprises. Listen to this Networks Tech Talk episode to learn more about this exciting partnership and how Samsung and Ciena are working to change the industry and help operators and enterprises. 

Private 5G networks are quickly growing as an option for enterprise customers, a claim validated by the thousands of 5G private wireless trials happening globally. 5G private networks support faster and more reliable connections; and while Wi-Fi alone is a great choice for many there are several environments and compelling use cases for private 5G networks.  Private networks can enable both indoor and outdoor wireless infrastructure with connections that are creating new business opportunities and workflows. With greater flexibility, efficiency, and improved productivity through things like automation and enhanced machine communications, there are unique draws to private 5G networks over Wi-Fi that make great cases for its implementation.  One big draw to a private network is the enhanced capacity and coverage. Even when utilizing unlicensed cellular radio spectrum such as CBRS, enterprise customers can create networks that cover large spaces with stronger, more consistent service. Cellular networks are also optimized to handle more devices. In enterprise environments, the capacity to handle many connected devices can be imperative to optimizing and improving workflows and operations. Additionally, when you add 5G to the private network, signals provide expanded bandwidth. This capacity is critical in large spaces where you may have one large zone or several spaced out zones. This is a common environmental challenge in areas like manufacturing, retail or logistics where a dependable, widespread connection is integral to operations.  In addition to speed and coverage, private 5G can deliver the same quality of service as Wi-Fi with the enhanced ability to handle time-sensitive network operations. With a time-sensitive network, you can ensure all the pulses over the network are in sync. For use cases like robotics in manufacturing environments, time-sensitive networks can be incredibly important. For these same environments, private 5G offers an additional layer of security; all devices need to have a SIM card registered on the network to get access. These security measures utilizing cellular technologies greatly reduce the risk of security breaches from other devices or people to the network.  Companies like Samsung are bringing to life real-world use cases that display the power of private 5G with reliable private network solutions. Listen to this episode of Networks TechTalk to learn more about private 5G and how companies like Samsung are helping organizations manage their next-gen networks. 

The digital divide is an ongoing, dire issue and the challenge to deliver high-speed broadband nationwide to underserved markets continues to go unsolved. Fixed Wireless Access or “FWA” is being deployed in large part to help close the digital divide and give both individuals and businesses affordable access to broadband.  FWA lowers costs and expands deployment by using a local transmitter to send data to many receivers that exist in different homes or businesses. With FWA, the subscriber can get a receiver delivered to them with simple hook-up instructions. This cuts out the middleman having to lay fiber down cutting costs and time for home broadband delivery.  To help stimulate FWA’s deployment, the US government has allocated money through several programs to enable the deployment of affordable broadband, including RDOF with over $20 billion set aside to help rural communities and the most recent infrastructure bill with $65 billion allocated for high-speed internet supporting everyone from large operators to small regional providers.  Broadband access is increasingly being seen as a right and a necessary way to participate in today’s digital world. For subscribers, FWA will open new possibilities nationwide from enhanced access to education, stronger connections with loved ones, and better entertainment options.  Companies like Samsung are jumping in to support the expansion of FWA; Samsung has been studying FWA since 2016 and unveiled the world’s first 5G FWA commercial solutions in 2018. Since then, successful worldwide FWA deployments and trials have taken place encouraging global adoption. Listen to this Networks Tech Talk episode to understand the ways FWA is opening new possibilities for citizens nationwide and why everyone stands to win from its deployment.