By Juan Pedro Tomás
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) announced that Japanese telco KDDI is using the HPE ProLiant DL110 Gen10 Plus Telco server for the commercial network operation of O-RAN compliant 5G standalone base stations.
HPE said its server used for the virtualized base station is designed for O-RAN and vRAN workloads, and is optimized for edge applications that require high bandwidth and low latency.
“The O-RAN compliant 5G virtualized base stations we developed are now commercially operational,” said CTO at KDDI Corporation, Kazuyuki Yoshimura. “With open and virtualized base stations, KDDI aims to provide customers with advanced communication services which flexibly and quickly support their use cases. KDDI will continue to take the lead in developing innovative network technologies, while providing customers with safe and secure communications in addition to new value-added experiences.”
HPE said it is collaborating with telecoms operators to provide a near zero-touch operational experience for the deployment of its disaggregated RAN infrastructure and workloads, bringing infrastructure automation and management, as well as network and service management to a single cloud-based platform.
“It is a great honor to support KDDI’s initiative with HPE telco infrastructure amidst heightened expectations for 5G as digital transformation accelerates in Japan,” said managing director, HPE Japan, Hirokazu Mochizuki.
The HPE ProLiant DL110 Gen10 Plus – Telco server includes built-in security, intelligent management automation, is based on an open, standards-based architecture, and supports software-based RAN solutions from a variety of vendors.
HPE also noted that operational management efficiency is achieved through automation and software defined control to help reduce time for provisioning, maintenance, and deployment. The server is carrier-grade and integrates multiple functions (baseband unit, relay gateway, and cell site gateway router) to reduce the footprint needed in 5G base stations, the company said.
This server is an integral component of the HPE Open RAN Solution Stack which complements the HPE 5G Core Stack.
Last month, KDDI claimed to have turned on the world’s first commercial 5G Standalone (SA) Open Radio Access Network (Open RAN) site in partnership with Samsung and Fujitsu. Powered by virtualized Radio Access Network (vRAN), the first network site went live in Kawasaki, Kanagawa.
The network site uses Samsung’s Open RAN compliant 5G virtualized CU (vCU) and virtualized DU (vDU), as well as Fujitsu’s Massive MIMO radio units, also Open RAN compliant.
By replacing dedicated hardware with software elements, virtualization and Open RAN technology brings a new level of flexibility and agility to KDDI’s network, which the operator said will allow it to offer enhanced mobile services. Additionally, KDDI said this architecture will leverage system automation, providing more reliability, while accelerating deployment of Open RAN throughout Japan, including in rural areas.
The companies said that other parts of Japan will receive Open RAN sites during 2022.
