On October 25, at a high-profile event at the Swedish Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, Ericsson introduced the next wave of 5G innovation. The ICT leader launched an end-to-end solution that will guarantee the consistent low latency and high reliability demanded by time-critical applications and services for consumers, enterprises and public sector.
Ericsson’s Time-Critical Communication is a software toolbox for resolving lags and interruptions in mobile networks. It combines the 3GPP-specified ultra-reliable, low latency communication (URLLC) standard with Ericsson innovations to mitigate major causes of latency. Built on Ericsson’s expertise in Radio Access Network, Transport, 5G Core, Service Management and Orchestration, BSS, and support services, this software product delivers consistent low latency (50ms to 1ms) end to-end at specified guarantee levels (99.9 per cent to 99.999 per cent) – enabling time-critical use cases at scale.
Many emerging use cases are time-critical in nature, demanding the guarantee of consistent low latency and highly reliable performance, currently not possible in today’s 4G and 5G networks. The new solution is designed to address that need and deliver on the full promise of 5G. Critical IoT is the third addition to Ericsson’s cellular IoT portfolio that also comprises Massive IoT, Broadband IoT, and Industrial Automation IoT. It will be introduced with 5G networks, enabling a variety of time-critical services for consumers, enterprises and public institutions across sectors using public and private 5G networks.
Why now?
The ongoing deployments of standalone 5G networks with massive multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO), Quality of Service (QoS) differentiation, edge computing, and network slicing provide a solid foundation for delivering time-critical services in co-existence with mobile broadband, targeting consumer-driven innovative applications such as real-time media.
With the reliability and consistency of an end-to-end solution that can support time-critical applications and services, Ericsson is now taking a critical step forward in order to unlock the full potential of 5G and delivering ROI for communications service providers.
Another business driver for Critical IoT is the emergence of non-public network for industrial use, which requires specific features such as integration of 5G with real-time Ethernet.
Addressing market and customer needs
The Ericsson end-to-end Critical IoT solution addresses four fundamental time-critical use case categories that are common across various verticals: real-time media, remote control, industrial control, and mobility automation.
The solution also addresses three main network deployment scenarios: general public network infrastructure, dedicated network infrastructure in wide-area, and dedicated network infrastructure in local-area. It also addresses time-critical use cases in the wide area by adding support for Critical IoT connectivity to the NR carriers through SW upgrades.
Critical IoT is intended for time-critical applications and services that demand data delivery within a specified time duration with a certain guarantee; for example, data delivery within 50ms with 99.9 per cent certainty (reliability). This is fundamentally different from enhanced mobile broadband connectivity, which maximises data rates without any guarantee of latency. Early adoption of Ericsson’s Time-Critical Communication solution is expected for remote control and real-time media applications via public and dedicated networks.
The first Critical IoT-related products (as a part of Ericsson’s e2e C-IoT solution) will be available in the market in the first quarter of 2022. More products and functionalities will be added to the portfolio in the coming software releases.
The Critical IoT offering will be available for Ericsson Private 5G within six months from general availability.
