The 5G RAN vDU developed by the firms can support up to four high-performance accelerator cards in a 1U server which helps in reducing power consumption, while supporting dense 5G mid-band and massive MIMO use cases
Qualcomm X100 5G RAN inline accelerator card. (Credit: Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.)
Qualcomm Technologies and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) are joining forces to deliver the next-generation 5G virtualised distributed unit (vDU) solutions, powered by the former’s Qualcomm X100 5G radio access network (RAN) inline accelerator card.
The aim of the collaboration is to address the needs of next-generation networks, simplify deployments, and reduce the total cost of ownership (TCO). For this, the firms plan to deliver high-performance, virtualised, cloud-native 5G solutions that are O-RAN-compliant as well as energy-efficient.
Through their partnership, Qualcomm and HPE want to bring a change in how networks are designed and next-generation services are provided.
Qualcomm senior vice president and 5G, mobile broadband and infrastructure general manager Durga Malladi said: “We are excited for the opportunity to work with HPE to further the capabilities and efficiencies of 5G virtualised networks.
“Through our collaboration with HPE, we are able to deliver enhanced, powerful and reliable 5G experiences to consumers.”
This combination of Qualcomm’s expertise in 5G and HPE’s know-how in telecommunication infrastructure is expected to help in ensuring the readiness of virtualised and open RAN platforms to support the high-capacity and low-latency requirements of future networks that are essential for boosting user experiences.
Qualcomm and HPE’s 5G RAN vDU solution is said to bring together Qualcomm X100 5G RAN Accelerator Card and the RAN workload optimised HPE ProLiant DL110 Gen10 Plus Telco Server to offer a fully optimised vDU.
The partners’ 5G RAN virtualised distributed unit can support up to four high-performance accelerator cards in a 1U server. This helps in reducing consumption of power, while supporting dense 5G mid-band and massive Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) use cases, said Qualcomm.
HPE communications technology group general manager and vice president Tom Craig said: “HPE is looking forward to collaborating with Qualcomm Technologies to help address the rigorous and ever-changing demands of 5G.
“Our industry-leading HPE carrier-grade infrastructure integrated with Qualcomm Technologies’ innovative technology will further benefit our customers as they expand the deployment of their 5G networks.”
In late 2021, Qualcomm announced a partnership with Japan-based NEC to develop a 5G open and virtualised distributed unit, which is also powered by Qualcomm X100 5G RAN Accelerator Card.