- Ericsson and the Platforms for Advanced Wireless Research
(PAWR) program run by the National Science Foundation (NSF)
supports the Agriculture and Rural Communities (ARA) testbed at
Iowa State University with its
cutting-edge research around precision agriculture, rural
broadband, renewable energy, and public safety
- Ericsson provides Iowa State
University with best-in-class Massive MIMO radios, a
distributed 5G Core network for standalone hosted in Ericsson's
Silicon Valley D-15 innovation lab, and a local User Plane Function
(UPF) supporting low latency and edge processing
- The ARA testbed will provide a proving ground for innovators
across the ecosystem to develop and test hardware and software
solutions for rural and farming communities on a 5G network
PLANO,
Texas, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Ericsson
(NASDAQ: ERIC) today announced an agreement with the National
Science Foundation-funded Platforms for Advanced Wireless Research
(PAWR) program to supply Ericsson's industry-leading and
globally-deployed Radio Access Network (RAN), core, and services in
support of the Agriculture and Rural Communities (ARA) testbed at
Iowa State University (ISU). Ericsson's
contribution will help support advanced research around precision
agriculture, rural broadband, renewable energy, and public safety.
The ARA network will provide outdoor macro coverage extending
across the ISU campus and surrounding areas to advance technical
innovation.
"Ericsson has been a valuable partner since the beginning of the
PAWR program and continues to enable some of the most advanced
wireless research in 5G and beyond," said Mari Silbey, Program Director for the PAWR
Project Office. "The company's contributions to the ARA platform
will bring 5G SA capabilities to farm sites in Central Iowa and create a living lab for
developing new applications and network optimization technologies
in a rural environment. We're excited once again to demonstrate the
benefits of combining private sector and academic research talents,
and by the wireless innovation at ARA that is still to come."
"We very much appreciate the generous contributions from
Ericsson to the ARA testbed," said Hongwei
Zhang, Principal Investigator of the ARA testbed at
Iowa State University. "We are looking
forward to working with Ericsson in the research and field trials
of advanced wireless systems for rural applications such as
precision agriculture."
"Deploying Ericsson's latest Massive MIMO radios and a 5G Core
are critical elements of a modern 5G network, and an essential part
of the research being conducted at the ARA testbed at ISU," said
Christopher Yaw, Chief Solution
Architect for Mission Critical Systems, Ericsson North America. "Ericsson is a world
leader in global 5G deployments consisting of both RAN and 5G Core.
Providing these products and capabilities to the PAWR organization
and ARA will materially enhance ARA's objectives of advanced
research around precision agriculture, rural broadband, renewable
energy, and public safety."
At ISU, Ericsson will deploy Massive MIMO radios in multiple
frequency bands. Some of the deployed radios will be shipping from
the Ericsson 5G USA Smart Factory
in Lewisville, Texas.
Ericsson is also providing a 5G Core hosted at its D-15
Innovation Lab, Santa Clara,
California. To further enhance experimentation of use cases
that require efficient, low latency processing at the edge,
Ericsson will deploy locally within the ISU datacenter its latest
small form factor, Local Packet Gateway inclusive a User Plane
Function (UPF).
"This split architecture is critical in delivering on the
promise of low latency and edge processing of application traffic.
Many of Ericsson's commercial and private network customers are
asking for this critical capability and we are excited to show how
our Local Packet Gateway can meet these demanding requirements,"
said Christopher Yaw.
Use cases will be focused on enhancing farming and ranching
operations, improving yields, automating operations through
autonomy, implementing secure renewable energy sources, and
improving public safety operations in rural America.
The news comes after PAWR issued an award to ISU in June 2021. Iowa State
University and its partners became the fourth testbed in a
diverse portfolio of large-scale PAWR research platforms located
throughout the United States.
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SOURCE Ericsson