Verizon is using Qualcomm’s RIC platform to support an AI-powered energy-saving app from Samsung
Verizon, in a major Open RAN move, announced today it is using the Qualcomm RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) from the vendor’s new brand Dragonwing — also announced today — in combination with Samsung’s AI-powered Energy Saving Manager (AI-ESM) to inject energy efficiency into its network.
Dragonwing is a set of industry-facing (non-consumer) solutions, including for embedded and industrial IoT, and cellular and networking infrastructure. In the Verizon deployment, Qualcomm’s RAN Automation Suite DML (Data Management Layer) provides applications with RAN AI Services, including HNN (Hybrid Neural Network) and DNN (Deep Neural Network) technology, for AI-Driven RAN Management.
The other half of the announcement involves Samsung’s AI-ESM, which the companies said enables the telco to maximize network energy efficiency and take on a more sustainable approach to networking without compromising performance and user experience. It does so by identifying site environments, learning traffic patterns by location and time of day and evaluating the extent of impact on network performance. Together, this helps identify the “optimal threshold value,” and then can automatically switch off or on cells or transmission paths within a cell site dynamically depending on network traffic, conserving power. Verizon claimed that is has achieved average energy savings gains of 15%, with a maximum of 35% per sector during low traffic periods using this technique.
Verizon has been on a long journey of network virtualization and disaggregation, and has recently ramped up emphasis on Open RAN. In a press release, Verizon Senior Vice President of Network Technology, Strategy and Planning Adam Koeppe called out Open RAN benefits around competition, innovation and supplier diversification. “Expanding our industry-leading success with deploying O-RAN compliant radios and distributed units throughout our network, the introduction of the [RIC] will allow for greater flexibility and control over network operations.” He said the move to RIC capabilities are “emerging as a key enabler of efficient, adaptive, and scalable network operations and fits within our growing portfolio of automation and orchestration capabilities on the network.”
