RALEIGH – Looking to continue making next-generation 5G wireless network a reality rather than a faster, more robust promise, Red Hat is teaming with chip giant NVIDIA to improve infrastructure performance.
“5G networks must rely on software-defined infrastructure from the core to the edge to enable a range of high-value services, like AI/ML [artificial intelligence, machine learning], IoT [Internet of Things] and autonomous driving,” says Chris Wright, senior vice president and chief technology officer at Red Hat.
“Red Hat’s vision of extending cloud-native technologies to the edge combined with NVIDIA’s flexible Aerial SDK [software development kit] aims to bring GPU [graphical processing uint] acceleration to 5G RAN [radio access network]. We’ve teamed up with NVIDIA to provide our customers with standardized 5G infrastructure that enables them to develop and deploy their edge applications faster.”
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang declared 5G as crucial to what he called the “smart everything revolution.”
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang touts the “smart everything” revolution. (NVIDIA photo)
“The smartphone revolution is the first of what people will realize someday is the IoT revolution, where everything is intelligent, where everything is smart,” Huang said.
And delivering applications through the cloud is crucial to that vision.
BMW, Ericsson, Microsoft, NTT East, Procter & Gamble,Samsung Electronics and Walmart are also part of the 5G Aerial effort.
Raleigh-based Red Hat is a leader in development of so-called cloud native technology as more and more companies embrace cloud computing and are looking for ways to move AI and other applications to the “edge,” i.e. being able to support these closer to locations where they are needed, thus saving bandwidth among other benefits.
Explains Wikipedia: “A native cloud application is a type of computer software that natively utilizes services and infrastructure from cloud computing providers such as Amazon EC2, Force.com, or Microsoft Azure.”
NVIDIA unveiled its Aerial software development kit on Monday at the Mobile World Congress in Los Angeles.
AI to the edge
Huang also introduced NVIDIA’s plan to take artificial intelligence to the “edge,” calling it the EGX Edge Supercomputing Platform.
“We’ve entered a new era, where billions of always-on IoT sensors will be connected by 5G and processed by AI,” Huang said.. “Its foundation requires a new class of highly secure, networked computers operated with ease from far away. We’ve created the Nvidia EGX Edge Supercomputing Platform for this world, where computing moves beyond personal and beyond the cloud to operate at planetary scale.”
Small screen, big impact: NVIDIA showed Assetto Corsa Competizione, an intense racing game, running over a 5G connection without any noticeable lag. NVIDIA photo
Huang said Aerial “enables AI services and immersive content at the edge of 5G networks,” according to the company.
Noting that “5G offers plenty of speed, of course, delivering 10x lower latency, 1,000x the bandwidth and millions of connected devices per square kilometer.,” NVIDIA also noted “5G introduces the critical concept of “network slicing.” This allows telcos to dynamically — on a session-by-session basis — offer unique services to customers.”
The chip giant says Aerial enables “the same computing infrastructure required for 5G networking can be used to provide AI services such as smart cities, smart factories, AR/VR and cloud gaming.”
