Nokia and Intel launch 5G acceleration labs in US and Finland to help operators bring 5G innovations to market

Press Release

• Nokia and Intel are creating joint testing facilities in US and Finland to focus on all aspects of 5G networks from device to cloud
• Labs will develop 5G solutions in a 'live' environment to address deployment and operational models as standards are defined for commercial solutions

The labs will leverage core technologies, including Nokia AirScale and Nokia AirFrame, and client and infrastructure platforms running on Intel® Architecture, as well as Intel 5G connectivity solutions

21 February, 2017

Espoo, Finland - Nokia and Intel are building on their long-standing strategic relationship to enable the development of 5G services by opening two 5G solutions labs to test and accelerate the commercial readiness of the new wireless technology.

The joint 5G acceleration labs, to be located in Murray Hill, New Jersey, and in Espoo, Finland, will build on the companies' core competencies and technology strengths. Together they will test and develop next-generation wireless solutions focused on all aspects of 5G, from the network and cloud to the client. The labs will work closely with communications service providers and other companies in the 5G ecosystem to support comprehensive integration and testing. This will help those providers derive deployment options and identify operational models needed to make 5G a commercial reality. This lab work will be done in alignment with 3GPP standards.

The labs will start out encompassing LTE, 4.5G, 4.5G Pro and 4.9G technologies using essential building blocks such as the Intel® 5G Mobile Trial Platform. Usage of these technologies within the lab, as well as the collaborations that the lab will drive, will help communicatons service providers power next-generation networks and the 5G future.

Nokia and Intel - who have a long history of collaboration, including recent collaborations on Narrow Band IoT (NB-IoT), data center and network infrastructure solutions and software platforms - will draw on their respective expertise and core technology strengths in the lab testing. Nokia will leverage its broad portfolio of commercially available platforms for radio access, mobile transport and cloud, as well as its leading edge research on Massive MIMO. Intel is supporting the lab tests with the latest Intel 5G Mobile Trial Platform, mmWave research, NB-IoT, massive MIMO, small cells, network slicing, software-defined virtual RAN, Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) and cloud expertise.