Ericsson has partnered with the KHT Royal Institute of Technology and research institute Acreo Swedish ICT, with the aims of enabling new advances within network transport infrastructures and further developing 5G solutions.
With mobile broadband continuing to drive network transformation – requiring the optimization of transport, routing and services on backhaul networks – access networks are also becoming more complex, with 5G, LTE Advanced and wireless becoming essential.
Ericsson said the development is underway for future 5G networks to deliver the connectivity needed for user services and cloud connectivity, while serving as a platform for innovation.
Ericsson, KTH and Acreo said they are working towards 5G launching in 2020, with researchers looking to address dynamic operation on all network layers, including common transport of traffic from mobile and fixed networks, in addition to the integration of network management.
“We want to show how programmable transport networks can be a platform for applications, user services and network services,” said Peter Öhlen, principal researcher, IP & transport, at Ericsson Research. “Mission-critical applications need to have end-to-end reliability on both the radio and transport layer. Both layers can cater to the needs of new applications, and we see that a single common transport network should be able to support cloud and radio requirements.”
The Kista lab employs 10 researchers, with Ericsson hosting the lab environment, and the partnership will initially run for two years, with the option to extend to five.
“The Kista 5G Transport Lab offers an excellent opportunity to expose our graduate students to high-level industry research,” says Lena Wosinska, a professor in the KTH School of Information and Communication Technology. “On the other hand, it gives us a chance to utilise our broad expertise to solve real problems and to face future challenges.”
The project is partly funded by VINNOVA, the Swedish governmental agency for innovation systems.
