The Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) is seeking funding of up to $100 million to promote open network solutions such as 4G and 5G OpenRAN over mobile networks. and interoperability.
The UK Open Networks Research and Development Fund launches an Open Networks Ecosystem Competition to support projects that contribute to the creation of open source, interoperable software and hardware products for digital network technologies.
Additionally, the competition seeks to address three major obstacles to the adoption of open mobile networks.
An open, diverse and innovative ecosystem
High Demand Density (HDD) use cases/demonstrations: HDD sites such as urban areas, airports, sports venues, and major public events pose the greatest technical challenges to mobile networks. The fund is looking for projects that aim to improve performance within the HDD environment.
RIC and RAN software automation The Foundation welcomes projects that seek to enhance the openness and interoperability of Open RAN software.
Processor, RF, and other RAN hardware: The fund seeks projects aimed at facilitating the creation and deployment of high performance open interface hardware such as antenna components and RF chips.
The study is part of the government’s Open Networks R&D fund and is linked to the $300 million Telecoms Supply Chain Diversification strategy through various telecoms R&D projects.
Kristian Tivo, Executive Director of Telecom Infra Projects (TIP), said the partnership will continue to provide critical infrastructure support to small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
“The UK government is investing heavily to support a more open, diverse and highly innovative telecommunications vendor ecosystem. A blueprint for developing, demonstrating and testing a commercially ready approach that can be deployed by TIP is essential.TIP will work with operators to create a certification and badge framework for validating market-ready solutions. doing.
The UK aims to be a leader in telecommunications diversification, fostering domestically developed innovations, particularly for RICs, that will ultimately lead to new use cases that will benefit consumers and businesses. increase. TIP has used previous UK funding to accelerate testing of interoperable RAN solutions, and this funding is another important step towards its open goal. ”
Successful projects will continue until March 2025.
Via: ISP Reviews (opens in new tab)
