Mavenir, the cloud-native network infrastructure provider building the future of networks, and Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a leader enabling intelligent computing everywhere, today announce the latest developments in the technology leaders’ strategic collaboration to deliver energy-efficient solutions for high-density cell site configurations that will drive enhanced 5G coverage and capacity in urban areas. The ongoing collaboration is leveraging the Qualcomm® X100 5G RAN Accelerator Card and Mavenir’s Open virtualised Radio Access Network (Open vRAN) solution to accelerate operator deployment of cloud-native, virtualised Open 5G networks – designed to enable enhanced scalability, sustainability, capacity, and efficiency.

Mavenir and Qualcomm Technologies’ solution optimises Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for operators by substantially reducing CPU/core usage and energy consumption requirements through improved power efficiency. This delivers an ideal solution for delivery at scale, including Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) deployments where an extensive network rollout is required to provide robust coverage and connectivity. Moreover, the joint solution offers more fronthaul port capacity.

The collaboration has already successfully demonstrated the integration of in-line acceleration, with the Qualcomm X100 5G RAN accelerator card and Mavenir’s cloud-native virtualised Distributed Unit (vDU) software solution in a live massive MIMO use case, achieving a capacity of 3Gbps in a multi-user environment.

The Qualcomm X100 5G RAN acceleration card is a PCIe-based solution that offloads compute-intensive tasks from the CPU to the card, designed to enhance the performance and capacity of vRAN deployments. The solution integrates through a standards-based FAPI interface, enabling more seamless interoperability and compatibility.

BG Kumar, President, Access Networks, Platforms and Digital Enablement at Mavenir, said: “Mavenir is excited to grow its collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies to accelerate the adoption of open and disaggregated vRAN architectures and innovate high-density solutions for 5G networks. Combining the strengths of Mavenir's Open vRAN solution with Qualcomm Technologies-powered in-line acceleration with Qualcomm X100 5G RAN accelerator card allows operators to benefit from a sustainable 5G RAN infrastructure and deploy 5G networks with unprecedented flexibility, scalability, and cost efficiency.”

“As a global technology leader in 5G, Qualcomm Technologies is pleased to collaborate with Mavenir to further the enablement and adoption of open and virtualised RAN,” said Gerardo Giaretta, Vice President, Product Management, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “Harnessing inline acceleration with the Qualcomm X100 5G RAN Accelerator Card, together with Mavenir’s cloud-native vDU solution, we are evolving performance, efficiency and scalability for modern networks.”