Samsung, Cisco, Verizon to pioneer multi-vendor 5G Trials

Samsung Electronics America and Cisco are working with Verizon in what they described as the successful deployment of the first multi-vendor end-to-end 5G field trial, which took place in Detroit, Michigan.

Earlier this year, Verizon announced plans for customer trials of 5G technology for home broadband service (Fixed Wireless Access). Five US cities are scheduled to begin trials in the second quarter of 2017, with pilot trials in a total of 11 markets expected by midyear.

Each location offers a unique set of test parameters, including vendors, geographies, population densities and demographics, and the Ann Arbor location in Detroit was the first to tackle a multi-vendor deployment of 5G.

The solution includes a 5G virtualized packet core as part of the Cisco Ultra Services Platform with Cisco Advanced Services and Samsung virtual RAN solutions (vRAN), paired with Samsung’s 5G Radio base stations and 5G home routers that will deliver broadband services to Verizon’s trial customers.

Based on Verizon’s 5G Technical Forum specification, the three companies followed a series of comprehensive network vendor interoperability tests (NVIOT) that demonstrated seamless interworking between core network, radio edge and user devices that showcased a core principle of next-generation network virtualization via multi-vendor support.

This trial demonstrates that service providers can deploy 5G networks specialized to their unique market needs by selecting individual network infrastructure components from a selection of multiple vendors.