Vodafone uses AWS Wavelength to launch first Multi-access Edge Computing

UK business customers and software developers can now use the ultra-low latency capabilities this partnership provides to do things that wouldn't otherwise be possible.

• Wavelength on the Vodafone 4G and 5G networks delivers ultra-low latency capabilities to UK business customers and software developers serving the UK market.

• Customer trials continue in Germany, with general availability scheduled for later in 2021.

• Unique combination of Multi-access Edge Compute (MEC) and Vodafone’s 5G network set to enable creation of novel services and use cases that would not be possible otherwise.

Vodafone has partnered with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to launch Multi-access Edge Compute (MEC) services delivered with AWS Wavelength for Vodafone business customers in the UK.

The launch follows Vodafone trials with companies in a range of areas, including sports technology, autonomous transport, biometric security, remote virtual reality, and factory automation. Vodafone is the only telecoms operator able to offer business customers the combination of 5G and MEC services in the UK.

The process of deploying MEC infrastructure can also be known as moving services ‘closer to the edge of the network’. AWS Wavelength brings AWS compute and storage services to the edge of Vodafone’s network, enabling applications that require increased speeds, massive bandwidth, and ultra-low latency, such as industrial automation, video analytics and machine learning inference (artificial intelligence) at the edge, and interactive live video streaming. Hosting applications closer to the end user means that data does not have to cross the internet to be processed in locations around the world. This approach means that lag, known as latency, can be almost eradicated as data is both captured and processed closer to the end-user device, offering much faster response times and a much-improved experience. There are additional advantages beyond the speed and latency capabilities of MEC, including:

• Security: distributed deployments could minimize the impact of single cybersecurity incidents.

• Cost: processing data closer to where it is generated means enables better use of bandwidth.

• Scale: additional resources can be deployed on-demand as and where needed to increase capacity.

In partnership with AWS, Vodafone can initially offer low-latency MEC services to customers in London and the surrounding area, as well as towns and cities including Oxford, Cambridge, Bristol and Cardiff. In the MEC coverage zones, in optimum conditions, latency could be as low as 10 milliseconds Round Trip Time (RTT) between the base station and MEC infrastructure. In 2022, Vodafone will deploy AWS Wavelength to serve customers in Scotland and the northern regions of England, with additional locations being added.

Anne Sheehan, Business Director, Vodafone UK, said: “We are taking our business beyond the traditional boundaries of telecoms connectivity services so that we can bring customers amazing new services. Edge Compute and 5G is a combination no other service provider can deliver in Europe, which means we can offer something unique to our customers. We’ve already seen new services being developed by our trialists – the potential for completely new ideas enabled by this combination is massive.”

George Elissaios, General Manager of AWS Wavelength and Director of Product Management, AWS, said: “By combining AWS Wavelength and Vodafone 5G, businesses and applications developers can now leverage the full breadth of AWS cloud services right at the edge of 5G networks. This enables Wavelength customers to explore new business opportunities, build applications and services that were not possible before, and transform user experiences in the UK.” What is critically important about MEC is the ability to build and commercialise services that would not have been possible before. New services and applications are likely to be defined by a blend of highly responsive MEC infrastructure and the high-bandwidth, high-capacity features of 5G connectivity, for example:

• Healthcare: the introduction of MEC capabilities in the healthcare industry is a step towards more proactive and autonomous care by analysing data at the point of collection in an environment where seconds count.

• Smart manufacturing/Industry 4.0: low latency capabilities help to enable immediate responses and real-time insights. The ability for equipment to make decisions based on real-time information without human intervention or delay could be a significant advantage for an organisation.

• Transportation/logistics: the optimisation of traffic routes, for more effective city traffic management or logistics companies, could significantly impact quality of life in city centres and the environment. A more intuitive and digitised transport system also sets the scene for the management of autonomous vehicles in the future.

VR and AR start-up Xpllore has also trialled the multi-access edge computing service from Vodafone and AWS WavelengthSince the partnership with AWS was announced in November 2020, Vodafone and AWS have been working with several customers through its Edge Innovation Programme to demonstrate MEC capabilities. More than 180 companies signed up to the programme, including:

• Sportable: sports technology company Sportable provides insight using proprietary technology worn by players and embedded in balls. The distributed MEC pilot proved to be more affordable than LAN and lower latency and faster than the internet to transfer packets of data, providing real-time insight for fans, coaches and broadcasters. Latency was lowered to 36.55 milliseconds on average compared to 221.87 milliseconds for the internet.

• Aurrigo: Aurrigo has piloted an autonomous shuttle bus which runs between the park and ride and the campus at Cambridge University, with MEC and 5G capabilities greatly improving safety and performance. This the door for more smart city use cases involving autonomous vehicles, as well as the “mobility as a service” model.

• Keyless: Keyless is a biometric “passwordless” security solution that makes this authentication process faster, more secure and more reliable. Distributed MEC, using Vodafone’s 5G network, handles this compute-heavy authentication process near instantly, improving the experience for consumers without compromising on security or privacy and supporting retail customers to reduce abandoned payments.

• Xpllore: an interactive remote-virtual reality experience where the low-latency benefits of MEC created a smoother experience for students and teachers.

• Interdigital: using Vodafone’s 5G network and AWS Wavelength, Interdigital experienced an average upstream bandwidth above 50 Mbps and an average end-to-end latency less than 15 milliseconds. Focusing on two Industry 4.0 use cases, the detection and disposal of defects on a production line and the remote navigation of a vehicle on the factory floor, Interdigital were able to dramatically improve performance thanks to high bandwidth and low latency improvements.

Source: Vodafone

Ericsson in world-first 5G network slicing trial with Deutsche Telekom and Samsung

Ericsson in world-first 5G network slicing trial with Deutsche Telekom and Samsung The trial showcased the benefits of 5G end-to-end (E2E) network slicing optimized for cloud virtual reality game streaming, while also allowing service providers to offer customer-focused service assurance.

Ericsson, Deutsche Telekom, and Samsung have successfully completed the world’s first 5G end-to-end (E2E) network slicing trial, which was carried out at Deutsche Telekom’s Bonn lab on a Samsung S21 commercial device tethered to a VR headset. This customer-focused innovation shows the benefits of network slicing optimized for cloud VR game streaming. The trial used a commercial-grade 5G standalone (SA) infrastructure provided by Ericsson, including Radio Access Network (RAN), 5G Cloud Core, slice orchestration and ordering automation.

Through 5G E2E network slicing, different service characteristics and quality parameters can be provided to each slice and adapted to customer needs with full isolation between slices. By creating multiple virtual networks on a single physical network infrastructure, service providers can develop new, differentiated services and business models without having to compromise on quality.

The test was carried out for a cloud VR streaming game use case with two independent E2E network slices consisting of a default mobile broadband slice and a cloud VR gaming–optimized slice. The gaming slice was designed and configured to enable higher throughput and stable low latency, while also providing resource isolation between the two slices. The trial case demonstrated a superior experience on the gaming slice even under congested network conditions. The trial also saw the successful achievement of another important world-first milestone- Namely the introduction of a 5G UE slicing policy feature (UE route selection policy, or URSP) that allows a device to steer applications and services with specific requirements to a defined slice.. This means customers can experience great service quality by serving applications with the right network slice.

Claudia Nemat, Board Member, Technology & Innovation, Deutsche Telekom, says: “5G SA Network Slicing sets a foundation for the creation of new service offerings to consumer and enterprise customers. As an experienced focused company, it is essential that we demonstrate the value of 5G slicing for our customers lives. As a world’s first, our unique collaboration with Ericsson and Samsung to provide slices to commercial devices shines a light on how we can bring these benefits to our customers.”

Erik Ekudden, Group CTO at Ericsson says: “Network slicing is a key enabler for the monetization of 5G. New digital services to consumers and enterprises become a reality because the technology makes it possible to create fit-for-purpose software for defined virtual networks with defined characteristics.

To bring these services to the market, it is vital for operators to start from within their own business and to collaborate with customers, as well as relevant ecosystem players to demonstrate value creation and technical readiness. We are very proud to closely collaborate with Deutsche Telekom as one of the globally leading operators, and with Samsung, to bring the value of network slicing to the market.”

Additional info about the demo This demo allowed the partners to explore multiple capabilities of 5G E2E network slicing. Theseincluded the verification of stable latency and guaranteed throughput in a congested network; the automated creation of different slices with infrastructure resource isolation and service differentiation using Ericsson 5G RAN slicing solution; and Business Support System (BSS) integration for automated slice and user profile provisioning through E2E slice orchestration.

Source: Ericsson

Vodafone trials remotely assisted surgeries powered by 5G

5G isn’t just about using the internet faster – it could also save lives, and there’s no clearer example of that than in the trials that Vodafone has announced it’s carrying out with Proximie (a global health technology business and platform).

Proximie (the platform) allows clinicians and surgeons to remotely access operating rooms or catheterisation labs from anywhere in the world, so they can assist with training or oversee surgeries, and currently the platform is being trialled over Vodafone’s 5G network in the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, and University Hospital Llandough.

This is more than just a video feed though. Proximie allows clinicians to virtually attend the operating room, combining technologies like augmented reality and AI, so that they can, for example, have their hands superimposed on the video feed of a patient’s anatomy, so they can give precise instructions of the kind you’d usually need to be there in person for.

Proximie also allows for notes, sketches, and anatomical diagrams to be overlayed. Of course, as you can imagine when it comes to something as serious as surgery, having fast, seamless connectivity for a platform like this is vital, and that’s why 5G is such an important technology for it.

Shorter waits and better care. Vodafone states that the trials – which are used both in surgery and to provide colonoscopy training to nurses – have been successful so far, and they should allow for more patients to be seen in a shorter time, as well as ensuring that every patient has access to the best possible healthcare. During the ongoing pandemic this sort of technology is even more important, since it allows training to be carried out without people having to travel or be in the same room, but even post-Covid it’s clear that Proximie and similar services could have a real impact on healthcare – with the help of 5G. This isn’t the first trial of 5G’s potential in healthcare either. Vodafone for its part has previously built a standalone 5G network at Coventry University, which is being used to support training for student nurses and allied health professionals, while the NHS has trialled the use of 5G to remotely monitor patients in their own homes.

5G isn’t just about using the internet faster – it could also save lives, and there’s no clearer example of that than in the trials that Vodafone has announced it’s carrying out with Proximie (a global health technology business and platform). Proximie (the platform) allows clinicians and surgeons to remotely access operating rooms or catheterisation labs from anywhere in the world, so they can assist with training or oversee surgeries, and currently the platform is being trialled over Vodafone’s 5G network in the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, and University Hospital Llandough. This is more than just a video feed though. Proximie allows clinicians to virtually attend the operating room, combining technologies like augmented reality and AI, so that they can, for example, have their hands superimposed on the video feed of a patient’s anatomy, so they can give precise instructions of the kind you’d usually need to be there in person for. Proximie also allows for notes, sketches, and anatomical diagrams to be overlayed. Of course, as you can imagine when it comes to something as serious as surgery, having fast, seamless connectivity for a platform like this is vital, and that’s why 5G is such an important technology for it.

Shorter waits and better care. Vodafone states that the trials – which are used both in surgery and to provide colonoscopy training to nurses – have been successful so far, and they should allow for more patients to be seen in a shorter time, as well as ensuring that every patient has access to the best possible healthcare. During the ongoing pandemic this sort of technology is even more important, since it allows training to be carried out without people having to travel or be in the same room, but even post-Covid it’s clear that Proximie and similar services could have a real impact on healthcare – with the help of 5G. This isn’t the first trial of 5G’s potential in healthcare either. Vodafone for its part has previously built a standalone 5G network at Coventry University, which is being used to support training for student nurses and allied health professionals, while the NHS has trialled the use of 5G to remotely monitor patients in their own homes.

Source: James Rogerson. 5G.co.uk