ADLINK Joins the O-RAN ALLIANCE to Accelerate Network Interoperability

ADLINK Technology Inc., a global leader in edge computing, joins the O-RAN ALLIANCE as a Community Member to actively contribute to the ALLIANCE mission to bring intelligent, open, virtualized and fully interoperable mobile networks to the Radio Access Network (RAN) industry. ADLINK brings proficiency developing Open Telcom IT Infrastructure (OTII)-compliant, standards-based 5G MEC edge servers for deployments in 5G Open RAN, 5G small cell solutions, and private 5G networks that it can share with a global community of mobile network operators, academic and research institutions.

“5G Open RAN will play a critical role in driving 5G adoption and enterprise digital transformation across industries. ADLINK is committed to accelerating the innovation and implementation of the open architecture,” said Erik Kao, General Manager, Networking, Communication & Public Sector, ADLINK. “We have been working with our solution partners and customers on a list of trial projects in manufacturing, mining and connected car infrastructure, and we will continue to work with O-RAN ALLIANCE members to develop O-RAN standards compliant, cost-effective and scalable 5G Open RAN solutions.”

ADLINK’s MECS-61xx/72xx edge servers and PCIe-A100 FEC accelerator deliver processing power, reliability, and expansion capabilities to 5G Open RAN

5G Open RAN overcomes the limitations of proprietary designs that make interoperability between vendors difficult or impossible by introducing open architecture to the fronthaul of networking architecture. Built with cost-effective, commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) architecture, Intel® Xeon® Scalable and Xeon® D processors, 4x10G SFP+ networking components, and dual to four PCI Express x16 slots for processing, ADLINK’s MEC edge servers meet 5G needs for high-performance CPUs and GPUs, right-sized storage, and memory for sustaining peak I/O rates.

• The MECS-72xx series is a family of 2U 19” OTII-compliant and NVIDIA NGC-Ready validated edge servers. NGC-Ready validation means that MECS-72xx edge servers passed an extensive suite of tests certifying their ability to deliver high performance running NGC containers and accelerate 5G Edge AI deployments across industries.

 

• The MECS-61xx series is a family of 1U 19” OTII-compliant edge servers designed for the edge of 5G networks. It provides an open, white box platform for 5G Open RAN, private 5G networks, and a wide range of 5G MEC applications. MECS-61xx edge servers meet multiple application and deployment requirements, enabling customers to focus on differentiating their end solutions.

The PCIe-A100 is a 5G forward error correction (FEC) accelerator based on the Intel® vRAN Dedicated Accelerator ACC100 eASIC device. Supporting a host of functions such as Turbo coding and low-density parity check (LDPC), the accelerator increases channel throughput in edge applications while lowering data latency and overall platform power consumption.

Collaborations deliver technology breakthroughs

ADLINK works with O-RAN ALLIANCE members such as Sageran and Amazon Web Services (AWS) to meet the full potential for 5G deployment. ADLINK and Sageran formed an alliance to create a 5G small cell design that could deploy anywhere. Approved as an Intel® IoT RFP Ready Kit (RRK), the 5G small cell solution features lower capital expenditure (CapEx) and operating expenditure (OpEx), easy plug-and-play deployment, support for open RAN architectures, and Wi-Fi integration that remains distinct.

ADLINK’s MECS series edge servers with AWS IoT Greengrass brings AI to the edge through IoT smart vision solutions such as ADLINK’s latest generation NEON SeriesSmart Camera, which includes a NVIDIA® Jetson Xavier™ NX SOM for increased computing power, advanced image processing, and machine vision solutions. The edge servers and cloud services work together to connect and integrate cameras, conveyors, automation systems, factory management systems, and cloud to make production lines intelligent.

Commitment to the transformative potential of 5G

Most major network solution providers use proprietary designs that make interoperability between vendors difficult or impossible. ADLINK is committed to open standard compliance to ensure interoperability between hardware and software from different vendors. ADLINK demonstrates its commitment through membership in the O-RAN ALLIANCE, implementation of 5G open architecture and MEC computing in edge servers, and key partnerships to accelerate the commercialization of 5G RAN solutions.