NTT Docomo partnered with Nvidia, Fujitsu and Wind River on the GPU-accelerated 5G network
NTT Docomo this week announced the deployment of a GPU-accelerated wireless solution in its network in Japan, reportedly making it the first telco in the world to adopt a GPU-accelerated commercial 5G network and representing a notable milestone in delivering Open RAN’s promise of flexibility, scalability and innovation.
Further, the network is also the first 5G vRAN for telecom commercial deployment to use the Nvidia Aerial platform, which combines a virtualized radio access network (vRAN) stack for 5G, AI frameworks, accelerated compute infrastructure and long-term software support and maintenance.
On top of the Nvidia Aerial platform, sits a virtualized centralized unit (vCU) and a virtualized distributed unit (vDU) from Fujitsu and Wind River’s distributed cloud platform. “This combination enables telcos to create a fully software- and cloud-defined network that can dynamically allocate resources using industry-standard equipment,” wrote Nvidia’s Global Industry Business Development Lead for telecoms Soma Velayutham in a blog post.
“Working with offerings from Fujitsu and Wind River, the new 5G solution uses the Nvidia Aerial platform to lower costs and reduce power consumption. Compared to its existing 5G network deployments, Docomo says the solution reduces total costs by up to 30%, network design utilization by up to 50%, and power consumption at base stations by up to 50%,” continued Velayutham.
In February of 2021, Docomo launched OREX, its 5G Open RAN service brand. It is under this brand that Fujitsu, Nvidia and Wind River have been working to develop the Open RAN 5G vRAN. According to the companies involved, the newly announced deployment in Japan is a first step in the OREX vision, in which members can commercially validate their solutions and then promote them to other operators globally.
