AMD expands 5G telco market 'leadership'

AMD will be expanding support of its growing 5G partner ecosystem spanning from core to radio access networks (RAN) applications, delivering additional new test capabilities and unveiling new 5G products. The AMD wireless telecom partner ecosystem has more than doubled in the past year, bolstered by the integration of the AMD and Xilinx product lines as well as the creation of its new Telco Solutions testing lab in collaboration with VIAVI.

Telco Solutions Testing Lab

The formation of the Telco Solutions testing lab is vital for operators and telco solution providers to test, validate and scale computing resources to deliver on the ever-increasing demands from RAN and edge-to-core. The testing lab supports validation of end-to-end solutions, including both hardware to software to leverage the performance and power efficiencies of the latest AMD processors, Adaptive SoCs, SmartNICs, FPGAs and DPUs.

In support of this mission, the VIAVI end-to-end testing suite was selected to provide the network test solution to analyze, develop and validate the impact of real-life conditions across an entire telco network. The Telco Solutions testing lab will enable traffic simulation and generation across core, CU/DU, edge and RAN using both current and future AMD technologies to allow full functional and performance testing that meets current and future generation ecosystem requirements. Based in Santa Clara, Calif., the Telco Solutions testing lab will bring in its first 5G ecosystem partners beginning Q2 of 2023.

New Zynq UltraScale+ RFSoC Devices for Emerging 4G/5G Growth Markets

The strong adoption of 4G/5G AMD Zynq™ UltraScale+™ RFSoC and MPSoC radio technology has enabled new integrated remote radio unit designs and opened new business opportunities for AMD and its partner ecosystem. AMD is now expanding its Zynq UltraScale+ RFSoC digital front-end (DFE) portfolio with two additions to the family: the Zynq UltraScale+ RFSoC ZU63DR and Zynq UltraScale+ RFSoC ZU64DR devices. These new RFSoCs will enable the expansion and deployment of 4G/5G radios into markets around the globe where lower cost, power and spectrum-efficient radios are required to address increased wireless connectivity.

“AMD has made incredible progress in the radio market and is proud to be showcasing at MWC Barcelona our collaboration with over 15 radio system ecosystem partners designing O-RAN-based remote radio units for open interfaces using AMD Zynq UltraScale+ RFSoCs and MPSoCs,” said Salil Raje, senior vice president and general manager, Adaptive and Embedded Computing Group, AMD. “With our focus toward increasing 5G deployments around the world, the new AMD Zynq UltraScale+ RFSoCs are especially cost-effective and energy-efficient, making them ideal for emerging global markets including rural and outdoor deployments.”

The Zynq UltraScale+ RFSoC ZU63DR specifically targets four transmit and four receive (4T4R) and dual band entry-level O-RAN radio unit (O-RU) applications. The Zynq UltraScale+ RFSoC ZU64DR is targeted for eight transmit and eight receive (8T8R) O-RU applications using the 3rd Generation Partner Project (3GPP) split-8 option which supports alternative and legacy radio unit architectures.

Both RFSoC devices leverage the deep DFE integration available in the flagship Zynq UltraScale+ RFSoC ZU67DR device and are expected to be in full production in Q2 of 2023. AMD will showcase its Zynq UltraScale+ RFSoC DFE family at the upcoming Mobile World Congress (MWC) Barcelona 2023.

AMD Ecosystem Momentum with Nokia

As part of the growing AMD telco ecosystem, AMD and Nokia are jointly announcing an expanded collaboration using 4th Gen AMD EPYC™ processor-based servers to deliver Nokia Cloud RAN solutions to help communications service providers achieve their most stringent energy efficiency goals. AMD and Nokia recognize the challenges faced by operators dealing with spiraling energy costs and the growing importance of meeting carbon reduction targets at the core as well as the network edge.

“As part of our ambition to provide the best Cloud RAN solutions, we are excited to extend our collaboration with AMD. We are looking to take advantage of the 4th Gen AMD EPYC processor’s capabilities to further enhance Nokia’s Cloud RAN solutions,” said Pasi Toivanen, Head of Partner Cloud RAN Solutions at Nokia. “Communication service providers across 5G Core and Cloud RAN increasingly demand new levels of performance and energy efficiency within their 5G networks. Our work with AMD recognizes the challenges faced by the telecommunications industry and helps to deliver on our partners’ and customers’ most ambitious energy efficiency targets.”