With this new 5G vRAN solution, Fujitsu aims to contribute to the global expansion of the open 5G network in cooperation with carriers including NTT Docomo

Japanese company Fujitsu announced the launch of a new 5G vRAN solution which combines its virtualized CU (vCU) and virtualized DU (vDU) with NVIDIA’s GPU technology.

Fujitsu said it will start offering the new solution to customers including telecommunications carriers globally in March 2023. The new solution was developed as part of the “5G Open RAN Ecosystem” (OREC) project promoted by Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo, which also supported performance verification and evaluation tests of the new solution.

Fujitsu explained that the solution applies NVIDIA’s GPU processing engine “NVIDIA A100X” to the physical layer processing at the base station. In this way, the new solution enables parallel processing of virtualized base stations and edge applications on GPU hardware resources in an all-in-one configuration that allows each function to be built on the same server. According to Fujitsu, this enables telecommunication carriers to build a flexible open network with a simple device configuration that can be ramped up with a variety of functions.

With this new solution, Fujitsu said it aims to contribute to the global expansion of the open 5G network in cooperation with telecom operators, including NTT DoCoMo. The vendor said it will provide this new offering to NTT Docomo and other telecommunications carriers globally.

The system, Fujitsu said, will further support enterprise customers in providing new services including AGV (Automated Guided Vehicle) control at manufacturing sites and video distribution using augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technologies by leveraging 5G’s high-speed, high-capacity and low-latency.

Fujitsu also noted that the system will only require a simple software to handle high-load data processing along with future improvements in antenna technologies, including Massive MIMO,

Sadayuki Abeta, global head of O-RAN solutions at NTT DoCoMo, said: “The industry is rapidly moving towards vRAN that can be scaled for more flexible, extendable, and intelligent Open RAN. We are committed to transforming the industry and accelerating wireless services around the world together with great OREC partners such as Fujitsu and NVIDIA.”

“Fujitsu is delivering fully virtualized 5G base station software and multi-access edge computing (MEC) powered by AI and XR applications in an all-in-one configuration on the same computing resources, offering customers ultra-low latency services, highly optimized TCO and green performance. Moving forward, we will continue to work with NTT Docomo, NVIDIA and other global open ecosystem partners to contribute to the business development of telecommunications carriers and enterprise customers, as well as the advancement of digitalization on a global scale,” said Masaki Taniguchi, SVP of mobile system business unit at Fujitsu.

In September 2022, Dell Technologies and Fujitsu announced a joint collaboration with the aim of helping communications service providers (CSPs) to accelerate the adoption and simplify the deployment of O-RAN solutions globally.

As part of the joint work, the companies said they will pave the path for CSPs to design open networks with the technologies of their choice by collaborating on O-RAN solutions and initiatives, including the integration of Fujitsu’s carrier-grade O-RAN compliant radio units (RUs) with the Dell O-RAN Accelerator Card.