Get on the Path to 5G Innovation
Welcome to the “What’s New” blog of the IEEE 5G/6G Innovation Testbed. We will use this space to post platform updates, industry news, user tips, and other helpful articles for those in the business of 5G and 6G innovation.
What’s new today? Let’s start with the IEEE Innovation Testbed itself. There are several reasons why IEEE created this platform. One is that IEEE believes in innovation; and we believe innovation happens when we collaborate and when we experiment with diligent testing.
And yes, there are a lot of testbeds out there that are meant for one part of the network or another, or for one kind of product or another, or one kind of application or another. But the IEEE Innovation Testbed replicates a full end-to-end network and was developed to be flexible and scalable for a wide range of uses. As a neutral, not-for-profit global technical association, IEEE developed this testbed with open-source components to avoid reliance on proprietary IP, and we’ll host it in the cloud for the widest possible use worldwide – by operators, equipment vendors, application developers, and academic institutions.
In a sense, the IEEE Innovation Testbed will always be new as we continue to build out more functionality. To date, in phases one and two, we drove hard to bring up the Testbed’s 5G Core (5GC) functionality and interoperability to enable authentication and encryption use, and then tested the 5GC against 3GPP Mobile Broadband Standard interfaces, also testing OTT traffic to attain the ability to emulate and test voice and video calls.
In the next two phases, IEEE will incorporate Edge Automation to bring about Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communications to allow testing and experimentation for 5G applications like self-driving vehicles, remote manufacturing, and smart grid use cases. We’ll also enable Orchestration of virtual network functions and closed loop automation, plus scalability and resource management testing, and more. What’s on the longer-term development plan? Our goal is to let our users help us determine that roadmap. Maybe you can lend your voice?
We invite you to find out more about the IEEE 5G/6G Innovation Testbed; talk with us and see about kicking the tires and taking it for a spin. And check back here to see What’s New!