Intel has announced the launch of the 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors at the Mobile World Congress Barcelona 2023. The new processors come with Intel vRAN Boost, which delivers up to 2 times the capacity gains within the same power envelope and up to 20% power savings with integrated acceleration, meeting critical performance, scaling and energy efficiency requirements. Intel developed the new processors in collaboration with SK Telecom, and they mark a significant milestone in the transformation of mobile networks from fixed function, hardware-based silicon and infrastructure to software-based, fully virtualized platforms running on general-purpose processors.
The new processors are designed to accelerate the virtualization of the RAN and to position communications service providers (CoSPs) to meet future requirements while improving RAN energy efficiency and reducing their total cost of ownership (TCO). The need for high-performance, scalable, flexible, and energy-efficient systems is driving the transformation of mobile networks, and Intel is leading the way in this transformation with its new processors.
At the core of the network, Intel is leading the evolution to cloud-native, service-based architectures with open solutions for addressing challenges like performance, TCO, power efficiency, security, and lack of visibility across the network stack. Intel’s hardware and software solutions will enable 5G core networks to work harder and smarter at achieving a balance between critical business and customer requirements for power efficiency, performance, and latency.
The new processors are setting the pace at the edge, where massive growth in video services is defining much of this decade’s competitive landscape for service providers. The operators’ network edge facilities position them for a competitive advantage to deliver to this growth, yet it’s challenging to predict which specific video services will take off. Alongside partners Broadpeak, China Mobile, Cloudsky, Thundersoft, and ZTE, Intel showcased the Intel Converged Edge Media Platform, which delivers multiple video services from a shared, multitenant architecture and leverages cloud-native scalability to intelligently respond to shifting requirements.
Intel is also delivering customer choice in acceleration, with the integrated network acceleration built into the 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors, and the expansion of its Agilex 7 FPGAs and eASIC N5X structure ASIC devices for cloud, communications, and embedded applications. As cloud service providers (CSPs) begin transitioning from 200G to 400G networks in 2023, with CoSPs to follow suit in 2024, Intel Agilex 7 FPGA AGI 041 devices will enable next-generation 400G infrastructure acceleration solutions.
The launch of the 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors with Intel vRAN Boost marks a significant milestone in the transformation of mobile networks. Intel is leading the way in this transformation, with its hardware and software solutions designed to address the challenges of performance, TCO, power efficiency, security, and lack of visibility across the network stack. The new processors are set to deliver breakthrough performance, scalability, flexibility, and energy efficiency, positioning communications service providers to meet future requirements while reducing their total cost of ownership.
