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The collaboration is an extension of the 2021 5G and edge cloud solutions partnership between the two firms
Ericsson and Google have announced an expansion of its partnership with Google Cloud to develop an Ericsson Cloud RAN solution on Google Distributed Cloud (GDC).
According to a statement from Ericsson, the partnership to develop an Ericsson Cloud RAN on GDC aims to “offer integrated automation and orchestration and leverage AI [artificial intelligence] /ML [machine learning] for communications service providers to benefit from”.
The partners successfully demonstrated the full implementation of the Ericsson vDU (virtualised distributed unit) and vCU (virtualised central unit) on GDC Edge, running the solution on a live network in the Ericsson Open Lab in Ottawa, Canada.
GDC is designed to transfer fully managed virtual hardware and software functions to the edge and enterprise data servers. By joining the Distributed Cloud, service providers will have access to Vertex AI, Big Query, and other Google Cloud services that will improve the usability of Cloud RAN datasets.
This, sequentially, will allow CSPs “to control, inspect, configure, and optimise their RAN infrastructure”, according to Ericsson.
“This partnership enables us to deepen and expand our valuable collaboration with Google Cloud, and it opens new opportunities for operators to utilize the benefits of cloud-native solutions and automation,” said Mårten Lerner, Head of Product Line Cloud RAN at Ericsson.
“Ericsson remains committed to ensuring the adaptability of its Cloud RAN applications on diverse cloud infrastructures, offering operators enhanced flexibility and choice in deploying Cloud RAN as well as supporting the evolving hybrid cloud architectures together with Google Cloud.”
Back in 2021, Google Cloud and Ericsson announced a partnership to jointly develop 5G and edge solutions for communications service providers (CSPs), aiming to unlock new enterprise and consumer use cases. This, in turn, was built on a previously formed service partnership to enable application migration through cloud-native, container-based solutions.
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