Ericsson Launches Intelligent Automation Platform to Promote 5G in Industrial Facilities

Ericsson recently launched its Intelligent Automation Platform. The platform is the company’s new Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) engine that comes with a Non-Real-Time Radio Intelligent Controller (non-RT-RIC) for running radio network applications (rApps) as part of Intelligent radio access network (RAN) Automation. Customers using the product can intelligently automate any mobile network.

Ericsson’s New Platform

The cloud-native solution supports artificial intelligence (AI) and automation to create smarter networks. Customer experience can be improved alongside network performance, operational efficiency, and target system productivity.

The solution has been designed to work across new and existing fourth and fifth-generation (4G and 5G) RANs and can support diverse vendors and RAN technologies, including purpose-built and Open RAN.

Ericsson aims to help manufacturers enter into a new age of operational efficiency with its Intelligent Automation Platform. Image used courtesy of Ericsson

In a news release from last month, Senior Vice President and Head of Business Area Digital Services, Ericsson, Jan Karlsson, said, “We embrace the principle of openness and the evolution to open network architectures. Building upon our Cloud RAN offering, we are taking another major step towards building the network for the digital future with the launch of Ericsson’s Intelligent Automation Platform, which fundamentally enables smarter mobile networks.”

Supporting Ecosystem Innovation

With the new platform, Ericsson allows communications service providers (CSPs) with more choice to build products through a dedicated software development toolkit (SDK).

Ericsson’s Intelligent Automation Platform uses AI and tailored rApps with different functionalities to automate the RAN. Customers, including CSPs, can design and build rApps. Such applications are for automation use cases with more than 1-second automation loops. A non-real-time RAN intelligent controller operates the rApps.

Ericsson’s building blocks of automation include five key rApp categories. Image used courtesy of Ericsson

In the same news release, the Executive Officer, Chief Director of Mobile Technology at KDDI, commented, “KDDI recognizes the importance of SMO and automation to achieve optimal network operations across multi-vendor, purpose-built RAN and Open RAN environments. SMO combined with an open SDK has the potential to drive rApp innovation and diversity, unleashing CSP, telecommunications vendor, and third-party software provider innovation to optimize network performance, improve operational efficiency and drive superior customer experiences.”

The Intelligent Automation Platform SDK provides customers with a large library of application programming interfaces (APIs), tools, and workflows for creating automated rApps. The SDK also provides:

• Automated functionality testing
• Microservice-based CI/CD lifecycle management
• Integration to automated test and deployment systems
• Standardized rApp templates and frameworks for rapid development

An industrial facility where Emerson’s new platform can be used.

Ericsson’s Intelligent Automation Platform aims to help boost productivity with enhanced network performance for manufacturing and warehouse facilities. The goal is for engineers to conduct machine-to-machine communication, data transfer, analysis, and review more efficiently. Operators can quickly obtain information to predict needed maintenance, maintain facility operations, monitor staff productivity, and more.