Ericsson has launched a new enhanced radio access network (RAN) and transport portfolio, aimed at supporting service providers’ net zero emissions goals, while also addressing market demands for higher 5G capacity and revenue growth. The new portfolio includes more than 10 new Ericsson solutions, which will cut carbon emissions and site footprint, increase energy performance, and boost network capacity. The new range of remote radios for 4G and 5G capacity is led by the triple-band Radio 4485 for frequency-division duplexing (FDD), which is 53% lighter and consumes about 22% less energy than comparable products.
Ericsson has also introduced a new range of wideband Massive MIMO radios, spearheaded by the industry-first, ultra-wideband AIR 6476, which provides 600MHz instantaneous bandwidth that doubles capacity without additional antenna footprint, and enhances user experience. The new portfolio also includes new mobile transport offerings, such as the new quad microwave radio MINI-LINK 6321, with 4.8 Gbps capacity, which has a 50% smaller site footprint and energy consumption than the previous alternative for building a four-carrier MINI-LINK hop.
Other features of the portfolio include Intelligent Cell Shaping, an Ericsson-unique software with intelligent automation that improves coverage and boosts downlink speed at the cell edge by up to 35%, Booster Carrier Sleep, an energy-efficiency software feature that allows carriers to be switched on and off depending on the traffic load, and Energy efficiency features in mobile transport with MINI-LINK Radio Deep Sleep, which lowers radio energy consumption by up to 25% by hibernating radios in multi-carrier solutions when the capacity is not needed.
Underpinning the solutions is an Ericsson hardware and software co-design that allows the network to slash power consumption by up to 94% during low traffic compared to peak consumption. Ericsson is also reducing its own carbon emissions in the production of new radios, using the embodied carbon metric, which gauges the amount of greenhouse gases released before the product is deployed. Radio 4485 has 50% lower embodied carbon emissions than comparable products.
Ed Gubbins, Principal Analyst at Global Data, says, “Ericsson’s latest RAN and transport solutions address not only a key pain point of service providers – how to grow capacity to further monetise 5G while keeping costs down – but also a top concern, which is energy efficiency or reducing their carbon footprint.” The new solutions will be on show in Ericsson’s booth at the Mobile World Congress Barcelona 2023 and will be commercially available during 2023 and Q1 2024.
