ASTRI leads in 5G and Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything (C-V2X) technologies, joins Mobile World Congress in Barcelona for the 8th Year

HONG KONG,Feb. 25,2019 --ASTRI is showcasing a series of its latest 5G communications technologies at the Mobile World Congress Barcelona 2019 from 25-28 February 2019. Collaborating with Anktion (Fujian) Technology Co. Ltd. (previously known as Sunnada Network),Intel Corporation,Quanta Cloud Technology (QCT) Inc,Fu Huake Precision Industry (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd. (a subsidiary of Foxconn Industrial Internet Co. Ltd.),Rohde & Schwarz,Keysight Technologies and Spirent Communications,ASTRI is performing joint technology demonstrations/showcases at multiple partners' booths.

ASTRI is partnering with Anktion and showcasing a series of 5G and Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything (C-V2X) technologies at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) Barcelona 2019. ASTRI’s Communications Technologies Research Team,start from left : Alex Mui,Director of Networking Software; Justin Chuang,Vice President of Next Generation Network,Eric Tsang,Director of Baseband solutions; and Victor Kwan,Deputy Director of 5G Wireless Systems

MWC Barcelona is the largest mobile event in the world,bringing together the latest innovations and leading-edge technology from more than2,400 leading companies,assembling today's visionaries to explore the hottest topics influencing the industry.The theme of this year's event is 'Intelligent Connectivity'-- the term which uses to describe the powerful combination of flexible,high-speed 5G networks,the Internet of Things (IoT),artificial intelligence (AI) and big data.

Technologies that ASTRI is showcasing at the MWC Barcelona 2019 include:

1) 5G Micro Cell

ASTRI's 5G micro cell provides a low-power and cost-efficient solution using NXP LX2160A ARM processors. The solution includes ASTRI's ARM-based 5G physical layer software. ASTRI also realises CU-DU splitting with data path acceleration on LX2160A to support high throughput non-standalone (NSA) deployment.

Two demonstrations are being presented on the show:

a) The first demonstration showcases ASTRI's 5G micro cell ARM-based physical layer integrated with Fu Huake's 5G eCPRI Remote Radio Unit (RRU). The solution can also be connected to Anktion's 5G CPRI RRU with PCIe-CPRI conversion card. KeysightDSAV334A Infiniium V-Series Oscilloscope and 89600 VSA software for 5G NR modulation analysis will be used to demodulate and verify the four-layer 256QAM 5G NR standard compliant signal.

b) The second demonstration showcases ASTRI's NSA micro cell with CU-DU splitting architecture. ASTRI has integrated NSA Central Unit (CU) on NXP LX2160A with data path acceleration. The CU connects to 4G and 5G Distributed Units (DUs) with up to 2 Gbps eMBB (enhanced Mobile Broadband) throughput for 5G traffic.

2) 5G Cloud Radio Access Network (C-RAN) Base Station

ASTRI's 5G C-RAN base station includes the L1 design based on Intel Xeon processor,integrated with Aricent L2/3,Anktion's 5G CPRI RRU with PCIe-CPRI conversion card,and Fu Huake's 5G eCPRI RRU. With 'STRI's leading L1 design such as FPGA based LDPC decoder and up to four layers MIMO,the 5G C-RAN base station supports up to 2 Gbps throughput. The total solution offers a complete flexible and scalable 5G sub-6GHz base station reference design for Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) and Network Equipment Providers (NEP) for developing commercial-grade products-- enabling them to effectively seize market opportunities. In the demonstration,ASTRI C-RAN base station forms 5G Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) data link with ASTRI UE 5G emulator. Radio units are based on Anktion's 5G CPRI RRU and PCIe-CPRI conversion card solution. The 5G standard compliant signal is verified with an R&S RTO2000 oscilloscope and the R&S VSE-K144 vector signal explorer software for 5G NR measurements.

3) Narrowband Internet-of-Things (NB-IoT) Base Station

ASTRI's NB-IoT base station solution is powered by its NB-IoT L1 software. The software is based on cost-efficient and low-power NXP BSC913x System-on-Chip (SoC). The solution has been integrated with Aricent's L2/3 protocol stack and Anktion's Operations Management and Maintenance (OAM) system to provide a complete NB-IoT base station reference design. The on-site demonstration includes the integration of ASTRI's NB-IoT base station with a commercial NB-IoT EPC as well as NB-IoT dongles to support the end-to-end network NB data streaming. This reference design can support China Mobile NB-IoT QSite requirements and is ready for commercialisation.

4) 5G Standalone (SA) Core Network with Service Based Architecture (SBA)

5G Core Network provides the essential flexibility to support different 5G applications and scenarios. ASTRI is performing live demonstration of its 5G Standalone (SA) Core on Intel x86 server. ASTRI's 5G SA core complies with the new network architecture in 3GPP release 15 standards,with new capabilities of Control User Plane Separation (CUPS),Distributed User Plane (UPF),Service-based Architecture (SBA) support and flow-based QoS.ASTRI's 5G SA core can scale up to 200Gbps on a single x86 server. It supports cloud native deployment with containers support,cloud scale load balancing and scaling,log/metrics/alarms management as well as visualisation.

5) Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything (C-V2X) Software System with Roadside Video Analytics for Road Safety and Traffic Management

C-V2X technology plays a key role in facilitating interactions between vehicles,road users,and roadside infrastructure-- enabling smart mobility applications.ASTRI will demonstrate its C-V2X Software System that leverages capabilities such as rapid object recognition (e.g. pedestrians) and traffic situation detection. Using C-V2X technology,the system can detect imminent danger on roads,and issue real-time alerts like pedestrian crossing to drivers.To minimise the latency,the video analysis algorithm is executed on ASTRI's C-V2X Edge system,and the results are communicated between multiple C-V2X Road Side Units (RSUs) through direct Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) communications. This technology enhances road safety and traffic management,and brings significant benefits to road users and ordinary residents.

6) Next-Generation Central Office

As an ecosystem partner on the Next-Generation Central Office (NGCO) supported by Intel and QCT. ASTRI incorporated the Next Generation Mobile Core Network into the NGCO architecture. It enables network transformation of traditional central offices at both the core networks and the edge to pave the way for 5G. For more details,please visit the NGCO showcases and refer to the recently published whitepaper: https://goo.gl/3bZzbc .

About ASTRI

Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute Company Limited (ASTRI) was set up by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in 2000 with the mission of enhancing Hong Kong's competitiveness in technology-based industries through applied research.

ASTRI's core R&D competence in various areas is organised under seven Technology Divisions,namely Mixed Signal Systems IC,Advanced Digital Systems,Electronics Components,Intelligent Sensing Technology System,Intelligent Software and Systems,Security and Data Sciences,and Communications Technologies. Our R&D strategic focus covers five areas of applications: financial technologies,intelligent manufacturing,health technologies,smart city,and Application Specific Integrated Circuits through our mandate as the Hong Kong branch of the Chinese National Engineering Research Centre (CNERC). Visit www.astri.org for more information.

Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20190225/2384540-1