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Five Highlights of Intel’s New 5G Portfolio

February 25, 2020 by Lisa Boneta

Intel recently announced its latest portfolio of hardware and software to bring the company to the forefront of the 5G technology race.

Intel just announced its latest portfolio of hardware and software to bring the company to the forefront of the 5G technology race. As one of the world’s network silicon leaders, Intel is taking a comprehensive approach to the future of 5G networking. 

Creating a 5G portfolio goes beyond just manufacturing chips. Intel has shown its commitment to various areas of 5G development with their latest releases. 

 

Atom P5900 

The new Intel Atom P5900 is a 10 nm system-on-chip (SoC) designed for wireless base station—a critical early deployment target for 5G networks. Wireless base stations make up an important piece of the 5G infrastructure. In 5G, small cells are the base stations installed every few hundred feet to help relay signals to and from users at any location.

 

Atom P5900

Navin Shenoy holding the newest Intel Atom P5900, a 10 nm SoC designed for 5G base stations. Image used courtesy of Walden Krisch and Intel
 

Intel’s Atom P5900 is designed to meet the critical 5G network needs, such as high bandwidth and low latency, which are crucial for the performance of robust 5G base stations. Intel states that they are working with leading providers to deliver their chip as part of their “future-differentiated” solutions in the market.

Intel told journalists at Nikkei Asian Review that it expects to be the leading silicon provider in base stations by 2021, making up nearly 40% of the market for base station silicon chips. One of Intel’s biggest competitors, Huawei, develops its own 5G phone and networking equipment, but Huawei has been flagged by US authorities as a security risk.

 

Second-Gen Intel Xeon Scalable Processors

Intel’s Xeon scalable processors have led the transformation for data platform infrastructure with over 30 million units sold. Its successor, the 2nd-gen Xeon scalable processors, are designed to take on the 50% growth of core network deployments this year and 80% growth by 2024.  

 

Second-Gen Intel Xeon Scalable Processors

The latest Intel Xeon Scalable processor delivers increased value for customers across their cloud, network, and edge needs. Image used courtesy of Intel

 

The newest processors deliver an average of 36% more performance and 42% more performance per dollar than the prior generation Intel Xeon Gold. The processors also promise to protect the integrity of the data and the platform with hardware-enhanced security and built-in encryption accelerators. 

 

Next-Generation ASIC, “Diamond Mesa”

Intel’s “Diamond Mesa,” the company's first next-generation ASIC, is designed to complement Intel’s processors and FPGAs and deliver high performance and low latency requirements for 5G networks.

 

Intel's Diamond Mesa ASIC

Intel's Diamond Mesa ASIC. Image used courtesy of Intel
 

Diamond Mesa is said to provide a minimum-risk optimization path for workloads that don’t require the full programmability of FPGAs. Compared to the previous generation, this structured ASIC is expected to have double the performance efficiency. Additionally, Diamond Mesa uniquely positions Intel as the only provider delivering a full silicon platform foundation for network infrastructure.

 

Ethernet 700 Series Network Adapter

The Ethernet 700 series is Intel’s first 5G-optimized network adapter and offers GPS-based cross-network service synchronization with hardware-enhanced Precision Time Protocol (PTP). 

 

Ethernet 700 series

The Ethernet 700 series, also known as “Edgewater Channel'' is Intel’s first 5G-optimized network adapter. Image used courtesy of Intel

 

To help tackle latency requirements across 5G network implementations, the Ethernet 700 increases timing precision to help maintain accurate time synchronization.

 

Computing Software Toolkits

Aside from the newest products in their 5G portfolio, Intel is expanding its computing software toolkits to accelerate time-to-market innovation for its customers and partners with new capabilities integrated into the Open Network Edge Services Software (OpenNESS) toolkit.

New customized OpenNESS experience kits will accelerate custom 5G deployments and will complement Intel’s OpenVINO and Open Visual Cloud for edge computing development needs. 

 

Intel’s 5G Commitment

Intel’s announcement showcases their dedication to 5G networking and the potential to be a ubiquitous 5G name in the years to come.

Intel understands the importance of collaboration in technology and thus has announced its collaborations with Altiostar, Dell, Deutsche Telecom, HPE, Lenovo, QCT, Rakuten, VMware, and ZTE to advance network infrastructure capability and speed edge solutions in the market.

This decision not only benefits Intel and its collaborators, but consumers who are anticipating the quick delivery of 5G networks. Taking such an approach pools resources together to help make 5G closer to reality.