Close

Author Archives: Laura Klebanow

Power of best-in-class partnerships on display at Cal Poly 5G ribbon-cutting

While Federated Wireless’s partnership with T-Mobile and AWS was front and center at Cal Poly’s converged 4G/5G wireless network ribbon-cutting on May 25, the full ecosystem of partners powering the innovative network went far beyond than what met the naked eye.

In fact, other major stars of the show were firmly fixed behind the scenes of Cal Poly’s private wireless network with Neutral Host 2.0™ for carrier extension, which operates in the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) band and uses a communication hub running on AWS Snowball Edge device to support private connectivity services provided by the university and connectivity for T-Mobile subscribers.

A unique, best-in-class network comprised of multiple layers of services intended to deliver the most data-intensive, cutting-edge use cases demands best-in-class, innovative hardware and software providers to support and manage it.

Core network provider Druid, a global leader in specialized core network software, provided the 4G/5G packet core and neutral host gateway that sit at the heart of the converged solution. Complementing it, Airspan CBRS radios were carefully chosen due to their versatility in supporting both 4G and 5G networks. With their scalability, interoperability, and adaptability to both indoor and outdoor settings, the radios ensure seamless connectivity across all areas of Cal Poly’s campus.

Out front at the ribbon-cutting were a number of cutting-edge demonstrations running on Cal Poly’s supercharged network. GPS-enabled, battery-free IoT Pixel tags and sensors produced by the innovative IoT platform provider Wiliot were being used to show next-generation asset tracking and temperature monitoring in real-time.

Wiliot’s IoT Pixels enable every object to become intelligent. By integrating machine learning and artificial intelligence in the cloud, the Wiliot Platform provides advanced sensing capabilities such as temperature and location. The Pixels wirelessly connect objects to the Internet using a network of Bluetooth-enabled devices such as smartphones and access points.

Cal Poly students demonstrated the cutting-edge augmented reality (AR) work instruction software Taqtile, which enables immersive, interactive AR experiences that support hands-on learning.

Donning Magic Leap AR headsets and wielding Magic Leap controllers, students illustrated how Taqtile combines AR technology with intelligent software solutions to deliver dynamic work instructions in real-time. By overlaying digital information onto the physical world, Taqtile enabled students to receive step-by-step guidance, contextual information, and visual cues directly in their field of view.

The AR-driven approach to work instruction software empowers students to perform complex tasks with greater accuracy and speed, while participating in hands-on learning. Taqtile is also empowering Cal Poly’s teaching teams, by providing robust analytics and reporting capabilities that enable detailed insights into user interactions, completion rates, task durations, and other proficiency indicators.

The result of the robust ecosystem of partners that converged to create Cal Poly’s innovative new network? Use cases that are as innovative and broadly applicable as they come.

To provide enhanced connectivity and safety across campus, T-Mobile service can be accessed using the 4G neutral host over CBRS to enhance the coverage experience in places where it’s hard for cell signal to reach, including indoor areas like Cal Poly’s state-of-the-art William and Linda Frost Center for Research and Innovation building and remote outdoor areas like the Poly Canyon hiking trails. This coverage ensures that students have mobile connectivity and can make a 911 call if needed.

Students can now easily self-provision their mobile devices with an embedded subscriber identity model (eSIM) to stream class videos and use data-intensive applications through unmetered broadband over the private wireless network.

Advanced 5G innovation and research is enabled with high-speed, ultra-low-latency 5G connectivity on Cal Poly’s private wireless network. This connectivity is what made it possible for students to run the Taqtile software they demonstrated at the event.

The partner ecosystem responsible for delivering Cal Poly’s powerful new network represents far more than “just” the convergence of interoperable technologies. It represents the future of what is possible when leaders in higher education bring industry partners to the table to deliver on a shared vision.

Read the press release.

From the AWS Studio at MWC Barcelona 2023: Unlocking the Value of the Edge from Development to Deployment

Over the last 17 years, the cloud became the essential tool for businesses. AWS has been leading this charge in delivering cloud value propositions to traditional IT customers, providing cost efficiencies, agility, scale, security, and reliability to those who use it.

As technology advances, the need for an enterprise edge-to-cloud continuum becomes increasingly important. The edge is a constantly redefined space, and there is a growing need not just to go from cloud to edge, but also from the edge to the cloud, to take advantage of the cloud value proposition for applications and workloads that live on the edge.

At Mobile World Congress Barcelona 2023, cloud innovation experts Andy King and John Tomik of the Slalom Element Lab, Federated Wireless CEO Iyad Tarazi, and Debika Bhattacharya, Chief Product Officer of Verizon Business, joined Wayne Duso, AWS Vice President of Engineering and Product, for a discussion of how their respective customers are finding ways to unlock the value of edge-to-cloud continuum, particularly in accelerating their monetization.

The panelists discussed how their customers are generating a tremendous amount of data at the edge and the need for the ability to process it there, along with connectivity at the edge and back to the cloud.

The intersection of 5G, edge computing, and cloud services

The emergence of 5G technology opened new opportunities for businesses to develop innovative solutions and streamline their operations. The combination of 5G, edge computing, and cloud services provides a powerful toolset for companies to improve their efficiency and productivity.

Federated CEO Iyad Tarazi provided the example of how Cal Poly University is solving the issue of students consuming 20 times more data today than when the Wi-Fi network was originally built by deploying a private 5G network from Federated Wireless that leverages AWS’s edge computing capabilities.

Another strong Federated Wireless example? The deployment of a warehouse application for the Department of Defense. The application was able to automate an entire million-square-foot Marine Corps logistics warehouse, reducing the complexity and resources needed to operate the site. This was made possible using robotics and edge computing connected by a private 5G network, with all the data being logged on-site.

The panelists agreed: the real value of these technologies comes from their integration. Applications and data must be able to move seamlessly between the edge and the cloud. Without the cloud, the edge application is severely limited.

Creativity in unlocking the potential of these technologies is a must. John Tomik, Slalom’s Managing Director, described a project with a water utility on the West Coast, which involved remote inspections of water treatment facilities where there was little to no connectivity, and the use of augmented reality devices and training solutions to troubleshoot issues in real-time.

The key lessons for business looking to leverage the edge-to-cloud continuum to its fullest potential?

  • Deliver value: Identify the problems that need to be solved and let the use case drive the solutioning.
  • Be practical: Determine the necessary infrastructure to serve one edge use case and build from there.
  • Creativity first: Identify new use cases that may not have been possible before. The value unlocked there will inform other innovative use cases.

By focusing on delivering value, integrating these technologies, and being creative in their approach, businesses can unlock the full potential of these technologies and create new opportunities for growth and innovation.

Achieve big by starting small

According to Andy King, Slalom’s Director of Global IoT, many customers have a big vision, but prefer to start small with a micro-experiment. This allows them to identify the use case and KPIs that will benefit their business, and often leads to a micro-pivot from the original idea.

By setting up a cloud infrastructure using AWS services like Greengrass, Greengrass Core, and IoT Core, customers can demonstrate how the data will flow and how it can be processed at the edge. This allows for further analysis in the cloud and the ability to scale horizontally.

Iyad Tarazi shared his enthusiasm for the Snow family, which is ideal for customers who want to start right away with one application and grow from there. In his experience, many customers already know what they want to do, they just don’t know how to go about it. By starting small and fully connecting to the rest of the Amazon experience, engineers can quickly find out how far their applications can go.

Verizon’s Debika Bhattacharya highlighted the advancements made in networking over the past few years. Historically, networking was very component and circuit-based, but now it’s a service that customers can flex up and down as needed. By building programmable networks, applications can talk directly and the network can adapt to what’s needed. These new aspects of networking have been influenced by the cloud industry and make it easy, dynamic, and intuitive for users and applications.

Bottom line?

AWS services and a “think big, start small” mentality can help customers achieve their goals by setting up the infrastructure, running micro-experiments, and demonstrating how data will flow and be processed. The cloud computing paradigm is about accelerating innovation and providing customers with the services they need to achieve their goals.

Want to learn more about the future of connectivity at the edge? Discover how Federated Wireless is leveraging AWS services and cloud infrastructure to make the impossible possible for enterprises across industry sectors by watching our latest webinars, here.

From the AWS Studio at MWC Barcelona 2023: Private Wireless Networks of the Future

Nothing beats bringing together the brightest minds in cloud networking and observability for a conversation about the future of private wireless.

At Mobile World Congress Barcelona 2023, our Chief Technology Officer, Kurt Schaubach, and our Chief Development Officer, Sepehr Mehrabanzad, joined AWS executives Nandini Ramani, who leads Monitoring and Observability, and Chris McKenna, head of business development for private networks, for a conversation focused on how private wireless is shaping the future of connectivity.

From discussion of the benefits of using a shared spectrum-based solution to the new Integrated Private Wireless on AWS program to how observability enhances private wireless, the business value made possible through private wireless was front and center.

We compiled the top takeaways, here.

 

Shared spectrum benefits 4G/LTE and 5G private wireless networks

Private networks put the power of connectivity into the hands of the enterprise. Shared spectrum underpins that capability by creating a very open ecosystem model that makes it easy to deploy a private 5G network to meet enterprise needs. As an AWS Independent Software Vendor (ISV) Accelerate Partner, Federated Wireless helps customers with the design, deployment, and operation of those networks.

Federated Wireless runs all its capabilities on AWS infrastructure. This unique networking option for enterprises improves the quality of connectivity and moves the cost of the network into the full control of the enterprise. Shared spectrum is the key enabler for that.

It’s getting easier to procure and implement a private wireless solution

As the recent announcement of the Integrated Private Wireless on AWS program indicates, the market’s appetite for a hosted marketplace that simplifies the process of procuring a private wireless solution is strong and growing stronger.

The Integrated Private Wireless on AWS program is specifically designed to help partners build, operate, and scale private wireless by bringing the AWS Edge ecosystem into play.

AWS achieves this by pre-integrating ISVs, like Federated Wireless, for connectivity solutions that are then connected to AWS’s plethora of cloud services, which number over 200 today. Last, AWS brings in its over-the-top application ISVs to complete the picture for a full, end-to-end private wireless solution.

AWS then works with partners like Federated Wireless to deliver the end-to-end solution to the enterprise as a managed service offering, which means that enterprises will soon be able to easily purchase Federated Wireless solutions through the AWS Integrated Private Wireless portal.

Observability and control enhance private wireless operation

 The challenges to full observability and control for complex network providers are three-fold.

  • High-cardinality data: Observability metrics from an increasing number of different devices and end-users. 
  • Multi-vendor ecosystems: Complex private 5G networks are typically multi-vendor. Vendors often come with their own monitoring solutions, making observability more challenging, and not via a single pane of glass.
  • Disparate tools for metrics: Operational metrics, like IT data, and network data have their own tools for observability, so there’s no single view or correlation.

Integrating a high-powered observability tool like Amazon CloudWatch when building a private wireless network from the ground up enables enterprises to do observability at scale. In fact, Amazon CloudWatch emits nine quadrillion metrics events every month.

Private wireless solves for common business problems and industry-specific use cases

Enterprises that have implemented or are exploring implementing a private wireless solution are looking to solve specific business problems. The use cases they are seeking to enable through private wireless tend to be focused on specific industries, resulting in a very verticalized approach to private networks.

Across virtually all industry verticals, consistent themes have arisen around private wireless that are driving the release of marketplaces like Integrated Private Wireless on AWS.

Private Wireless as a Service (PWaaS) from Federated Wireless enables:

  • Avoidance of high CapEx costs: Enterprises are no longer used to high upfront costs for IT. AWS and Federated Wireless partner to build large ecosystem deployments that scale for reduced costs through the PWaaS solution. We’re translating traditional CapEx investments to OpEx ones with our turnkey joint networks.
  • Reduction of complexity: Enterprises do not like high complexity. They do not want to pre-integrate core and radio solutions, and OTT applications. Federated Wireless works with customers to understand their use case and remove complexity by developing templated solutions that include the packet core, RAN, and other necessary components.
  • Time to delivery: Enterprises do not want to wait a year or more to deploy their networks. Federated Wireless is driving velocity in deployment models, made possible through AWS capabilities.

What is the future of private wireless?

It’s fair to say that, through the partnership between Federated Wireless and AWS, that the “easy button” for private wireless, including simplified procurement, deployment, and observability, are all now within reach. The Federated Wireless PWaaS solution is available today, and our listing on AWS’s Integrated Private Wireless is on its way.

Hungry for more predictions? Check out our CEO Iyad Tarazi’s recent MWC ’23 recap.