ASOCS is disrupting the industrial network connectivity market with an open and virtualized software solution that delivers 5G private mobile network solutions in a single software stack. LEARN MORE HERE
Introduction to the Private 5G perspective
At the ”tsdsi Tech Deep Dive Event” in November 2021, Gilad Garon, ASOCS CEO, dispelled many misconceptions regarding Private 5G Networks and how to approach a growing sector in manufacturing and enterprise from a new perspective.
Services first, technology later
During the event Gilad surprised many with a frank assessment of how the current way of thinking does not address the Private 5G Network sector or Industry 4.0. “It is not a case of ‘If you build it, they will come’” at one point mentioned. The reference was to help understand that foremost the understanding must be the use cases and then make sure the underlying technology is the best for supporting the needs.
He went on further to explain that factories are mostly interested in how to navigate a robot through the plant or acquire high quality live video footage to connect to AI was the primary objective. These are the issues that need to be addressed and that 5G is the underlying service of these solutions, rather than saying: “You need 5G”.
O-RAN opened the door
Gilad attributed that O-RAN had opened the door to make the solutions possible. The openness of O-RAN means that ASOCS does not need to concern itself with hardware such as radios but focus on developing 5G software to be able to connect devices to AI as a cloud-based service, allowing enterprises to acquire 5G software like any app from a Market Place with a click of button.
Procure, Manage, Leverage
One theme that has come up from ASOCS over the recent months regards making the process for a business as efficient and as simple as possible; this was raised again at tsdsi by Gilad Garon. Other than the ease of acquiring the 5G software, having the solution based on a service license model like any SaaS solution meets the expectations and business logic of enterprise and manufacturing.
The second key factor is to be able to manage the Private 5G Network like any other part of the IT systems. “Quite frankly, industry does not know was an RU, DU or CU is, and they do not need to.” Gilad told the audience and panel. They do understand capacity and managing capacity, and this can be done with ASOCS cloud-based solution using a single pane of glass view embedded into the general IT dashboard. Capacity is managed by a regular IT team in the same way they manage all their other systems.
Although only touched upon in passing, the ability to leverage the O-RAN developers’ community is a major advantage for enterprise and manufacturing. The ability to download existing use cases from a global pool and adapting quickly for your own needs saves time, money and often improves health and safety dramatically by being able to deploy new solutions faster than traditional develop and test practices.
Conclusion
At ASOCS we have seen over the past year the conversation has moved from theoretical to practical. Private 5G Networks are moving out of labs and into factory floors. One of the common themes ASOCS understands from the market is speaking in a language that makes sense: Applied Imaging, Applied Mobility, Applied Big Data. The key is putting the solution to the problem served and not the technology in the forefront.