KDDI Conducts 5G-Focused DCSG Trial

March 9, 2021

KDDI, KDDI Research, MobiCom, and the Telecom Infra Project (TIP) launched an interoperability trial spanning Japan and Mongolia which aim to evaluate the potentials of open and disaggregated approach, enabling multiple combinations of hardware and software makers, to building a 5G network.

Traditionally, hardware and software of conventional telecom equipment is aggregated by each particular maker to meet specific purpose. However, there is a growing demand in the industry for new and innovative open and disaggregated solutions which enables network operators to timely and flexibly meet diversifying requirements of consumers and enterprises, such as private 5G use cases, etc.

KDDI and KDDI Research are exploring how open and disaggregated RAN, transport and core equipment can lower network costs and accelerate the deployment of 5G networks. In the Telecom Infra Project (TIP [Jump to the applicable section2]) Community Lab, KDDI and KDDI Research have conducted fundamental test of TIP's Disaggregated Cell Site Gateway (DCSG) equipment for accommodating base stations and fixed broadband services in access network.

Today, based on the understandings obtained by fundamental test of VPN functions etc., KDDI, KDDI Research and MobiCom are now launching an interoperability trial of DCSG with aggregation transport equipment (i.e., Packet Transport Network and IPRAN) and core equipment (i.e., IP core and mobile core). The scope of the test has been expanded from KDDI and TIP community to also include wider connectivity stakeholders, like a broader range of network equipment and operators. The primary outcome of the trial will be to identify the challenges of moving this technology toward to large scale commercial rollouts.

David Hutton, Chief Engineer at TIP, commented on the trial: "TIP sees the trials of the DCSG and aggregation transport equipment between KDDI, KDDI Research and MobiCom as a significant step towards the introduction of open and disaggregated network solutions. The DCSG and TIP's open optical and packet transport solutions will help to provide the capacity within the transport network required to make 5G a success in satisfying the requirements of consumer, operators and enterprises."

KDDI, KDDI Research, and MobiCom will accelerate innovations of telecom industry by sharing the outcomes of the trial with TIP community, which will ultimately contribute to practical improvement of open and disaggregated equipment and growth of the open ecosystem.