EdgeQ, a start-up based in Santa Clara, California, is now sampling its RISC-V based, 5G Base Station-on-a-Chip to customers developing enterprise-grade 5G access points, Open-Radio Access Network (O-RAN) based Radio Unit (RU) and Distributed Unit (DU).
The EdgeQ platform combines highly integrated silicon with up to 50 RISC-V cores and 5G PHY software for processing all key functionalities and critical algorithms of the radio access network such as beamforming, channel estimation, massive MIMO and interference cancellation. The design is programmable and provides an open framework for L2/L3 software partners.
EdgeQ, which has been developing its platform for the past three years, said traditional merchant silicon vendors offer the PHY as a reference software, placing the development burden on customers to invest years of effort to operationalize into production. By abstracting this friction with a total platform solution including a production-readied 5G PHY software, EdgeQ frees customers from the substantial investments, resources and time typically associated with productizing the 4G/5G PHY stack.
“Since day one, EdgeQ has been relentless about redefining the consumption and deployment model of 5G with its RISC-V based open architecture that converges connectivity, networking, and compute. How we elegantly club the hardware, the deployable RAN software, and an innovative chipset-as-a-service business model all together is what crystallizes the vision in a disruptively compelling way,” said Vinay Ravuri, CEO and Founder, EdgeQ. “Our sampling announcement today signifies that all this is a market reality.”
EdgeQ pursues a feature subscription model for 5G basestation chip
EdgeQ, a start-up offering a 5G systems-on-a-chip, introduced a 5G chipset-as-a-service model in which customers can scale 5G and AI features as a function of subscription payments. The service-oriented model would enable customers to scale from nominal to advanced 5G features such as ultra-reliable low latency communications, geo-location services, massive MIMO, fine-grained network slicing, as well as extending compatibility to other legacy wireless protocols.
The company says its new service model is the very first in the chip industry to scale price, performance, and features as a function of need and use. The potential is to elevate 5G Open Radio Access network (O-RAN) to an even more configurable, elastic, open wireless infrastructure. Enterprise network, telco, and cloud providers might also use the EdgeQ model to virtualize network resources.
“Our vision at EdgeQ has always been about implementing 5G in a format that is accessible, consumable, and intuitive for our customers. EdgeQ is not only the first company to converge both 5G and AI on a single chip for wireless infrastructure, but we are also able to make those capabilities available in a SaaS model. This fundamentally reduces the initial capex investment required for 5G, thereby removing both technical and economic barriers of 5G adaptation at greenfield enterprises,” said Vinay Ravuri, CEO and Founder, EdgeQ. “This pay-as-you-go model ensures that the evolving demands of the market can leverage the full fluidity and elasticity of EdgeQ’s 5G-as-a-Service product.”
Video: New Silicon and Open Software Driving a New Ecosystem
There’s a plethora of interest in the 5G space from operators to enterprises and cloud service providers. In this video, Vinay Ravuri, CEO and Founder of EdgeQ, talks about how box makers are transforming with the emerging 5G market and how open software is driving a new set of markets.
