Di Kelly Switt, Senior Director, Global Head of Intelligent Edge Business Development, Red Hat
The industrial ecosystem is advancing at an incredible pace: rapid development cycles and technology adoption offer important prospects in terms of greater operational efficiency and productivity. But to achieve them, manufacturers need advanced connectivity that neither local cabling nor Ethernet can provide. And that’s where private 5G comes in.
Private 5G systems deliver unified network functions and application connectivity closer to end users through virtualized, cloud-native radio access networks (RANs) and 5G core (5GC) deployments connected by open standards-based interfaces.
Private 5G can provide the low latency, high data throughput, extended coverage, increased reliability, privacy and security posture that the industrial sector needs. When deployed using a scalable cloud-native application platform, artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) capabilities can be integrated into applications and operations that will transform every aspect of the business.
Private 5G, however, is not a static technology: it will have to grow, expand and take new directions as business needs evolve. Use cases that scale data centers, enable hybrid and multicloud strategies, the industrial edge, smart cities and more continue to evolve. To address this challenge, Red Hat and Intel collaborated to develop a private, cloud, edge-native 5G solution for cross-industrial and vertical deployments that is cost-effective and easy to adopt to enable industry to more easily capitalize on the Huge revenue opportunity presented by AI-enabled software-defined businesses and factories.
The reference solution, composed of software Intel FlexRAN®, which provides private wireless on the new Intel Edge Platform and Red Hat OpenShift, can be extended or customized using third-party innovations from both companies’ partner ecosystems, among the most extensive on the market. In collaboration with Intel Edge Platform and its partner ecosystem, Red Hat creates certified solutions for service providers who can leverage the company’s platforms and technologies to achieve their business outcomes. The solution is also easy to develop, without sacrificing high-end computing performance for AI applications and workloads.
Red Hat OpenShift provides a unified cloud-native platform for private 5G workloads. OpenShift is extensible and provides connectivity and applications with a flexible architecture that can be reassembled in a much smaller footprint to build an enterprise private wireless network all the way to an edge device.
What does all this look like? Once deployed, a 5G private network can provide the connectivity, tools and applications needed to integrate AI into the factory floor, thanks to a modern, automated, scalable and manageable cloud-native platform with advanced security features . Use cases can include predictive maintenance, mobile sensors for data extraction, AI-connected devices with greater agility, and more.
Red Hat and Intel’s private 5G for Minsait
Minsait, an Indra company, brought the joint Red Hat and Intel solution to market and has already seen the benefits in several edge and AI-enabled use cases, including:
Wildlife and fire detection at wind farms: Help protect wildlife while significantly reducing operating costs. Thanks to artificial intelligence it is able to detect protected bird species and make real-time decisions to avoid collisions. Another feature is the early and reliable detection of fires or accidents thanks to computer vision. Logistics and asset management with indoor drones: it has made it possible to create a new connected, flexible and versatile logistics and asset management system. Based on the implementation of a new industrial drone, this system is intelligent and capable of working collaboratively in an indoor environment, safely alongside humans, as well as providing asset search, inventory management and traceability , with the ability to scale with new features. The solution can also enable a fleet of smart mobile devices to operate continuously and autonomously without the operator having to intervene. Oil Spill Response Management: Deploying private 5G in oil refineries or offshore platforms and ports helps ensure better maintenance of these remote facilities, contributing to the safety of critical infrastructure with the help of cameras and algorithms of artificial intelligence supported by drones or robots. It can also help detect oil spills at the port entrance using intelligent algorithms and data collection from infrared sensors, radars and cameras distributed throughout the port area, reducing possible dangers or accidents.