The new “AXE Lab”, Named after Antonio Meucci. This laboratory, together with the new responsibilities in the AX area, confirms that Italy is the country to which Ericsson has entrusted the global responsibility for the development and management of a fundamental technology for the telecommunications industry.
AX is a digital switching system based on the principle of numerical technique, the same behind the operation of a computer. By switching we mean the set of operations necessary to connect one telephone user to another. AX acts as a modern telephone traffic distribution network and allows you to make every single call worldwide using the digital switch. In the early days of telephony, the task of connecting one telephone with another was entrusted to a human operator, called a switchboard operator or telephone operator. Within a few years, we moved from manual switching to automatic / electronic switching and then to digital switching. The AX power plant was first marketed by Ericsson in 1976, on the occasion of the Swedish Group’s centenary.
Ericsson’s R&D center in Pagani was founded in 1990 with the aim of developing not only the hardware but above all the software and complex architectures of the AX power plants. Over the course of more than three decades, the Ericsson researchers in Pagani have made the AX exchanges evolve, adapting them to the evolution of both the fixed network and the birth and development of the mobile one, ensuring full interconnection and interoperability between all systems. Even today it is thanks to the AX control units installed in the network nodes of the operators that it is possible to make a call between two fixed or mobile numbers, from a fixed number to a mobile number (and vice versa) or between the different generations of mobile telephony (2G / 3G / 4G / 5G).
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18,000 nodes in 150 countries
AX is part of Ericsson’s Digital Services portfolio, whose flagship product is the Core Network, i.e. the central part of the network that aggregates all traffic flows (both voice and data, both mobile and fixed) and routes them to points of destination. AX needs continuous evolution to support the most modern technologies, such as 5G, and implement the most advanced features required by the market, such as the need to “virtualize” the switching centers so that they evolve in the cloud world.
In addition to the development activity, in the new AX Lab all possible activities are carried out on an ongoing basis telephone traffic tests and simulations (every day, in the center of Pagani, more than 100 engineers are connected from different parts of the world for verification activities), to find any critical issues in the configurations or to test the systems in the most complex situations (for example traffic peaks during a sporting event or in emergency situations). The tests also include those carried out in the field of network security with the aim of satisfying the increasingly stringent requirements and standards required by operators. Right there cybersecurity is another of the areas of specialization of the Pagani R&D center.
More recently, Pagani is working on the use of complex techniques of machine learning and Artificial Intelligence for predictive failure analysis. Through the automatic control of a series of parameters it is possible to find anomalies in the functioning of the systems and, if some critical values are exceeded, it is possible to divert traffic to alternative routes and suggest to the operator what to do to prevent a potential failure.
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AX power plants in Italy
The first AX exchange in Italy was installed in Naples Capodichino in 1982. In 1984, with the increase of AX exchanges in Italy, the turning point: it was finally possible to connect with the desired number without going through the switchboards. Thus we entered a new era of telecommunications: electromechanical plants gave way to digital ones (initial footprint up to 7 times smaller and greater efficiencies) and the telephone became within everyone’s reach. In 1986, thanks to Ericsson’s AX system, Venice will become the first city in Europe to be completely numbered. The acquired ability to design, develop, produce and install new generation plants, allowed Ericsson-FATME to operate not only in Italy but also abroad. Within a few years, AX will become the most widespread power plant in the world. AX represents today the most widespread telecommunications platform in the world and it is estimated that one call out of two passes through this system.
Ericsson to Pagani
Together with the R&D centers of Genoa and Pisa, the Pagani center plays a leading role in the development of telecommunications in Italy and in the world. In parallel with the growth of responsibility in the AX area, Pagani has become over the years a reference center for Legal Security solutions for telecommunications systems, for Licensing systems based on Cloud Native technologies and for component software architectures (CBA ), employing about 270 researchers today. Over the years, the Pagani center has continuously evolved, thanks also to the intense collaboration with the Campania universities, which translates into the presence of young talents and the development of activities and projects based on cutting-edge technologies.
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