5g catalysts: business opportunies at the edge · low-power, wide area networking protocols. a wide...

5G Catalysts: Business Opportunities at the Edge

Primo Pro Cloud Tech Trend Report 1

5GCatalysts:BusinessOpportuni4esattheEdge

PrimoProCloudTechTrendReport-April2020

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Key Findings and Highlights:

Theemergenceofthenewedgecloudarchitecture,catalyzedby5G,willbecomeakeystrategicgrowthplaCormforthecommunicaDonstechnologyindustry.Thebusinessimpactwillbeinthetrillionsofdollars.Thearrivalof5GwillserveasacatalysttoacceleratenetworkarchitecturesbuiltontechnologiessuchasvirtualizaDonandmicroservices.ThiswillbenefitsoGwarevirtualizaDontechnologyandexperDse.TheemergenceoftheedgecouldtransformthepubliccloudbyshiGingthecenterofgravityawayfrompubliccloud,providingopportuniDesforcloudproviders,communicaDonsserviceproviders(CSPs),andenterprisesalike.ServiceprovidershaveanewopportunitytomoneDzenetworks.Toppubliccompaniestowatchinthe5GedgeincludeAT&T(T),Ciena(CIEN),DellTechnologies(DELL),HPE(HPE),MicrosoG(MSFT),Nokia(NOK),NVDIA(NVDA),VMWare(VMW),andVerizon(VZ).MorepubliccompaniesaswellasanumberofinteresDngstartupsarelistedinthereportaswellinour“CompaniestoWatch”secDon.KeyapplicaDonsfortheedgecloudand5GincludeIndustrialIoT(IIoT),videosurveillance,AugmentedReality(AR),cloudgaming,smartciDes,smartenvironments,smartretail,andautonomousdriving.5GproperDessuchashighconnecDondensity,lowlatency,highbandwidth,andnetworkslicingarecatalystsfornewedgeapplicaDons.Businesschallengeswith5Gdeploymentinclude:Ecosystemcomplexity,edgeapplicaDonsdevelopment,integraDonandoperaDon,cloud-naDvearchitectures,soGwareexperDse,security,andnetworkavailabilityandresiliency.TechnologyareasparDcularlysuitedtobenefitfromthenewedgecloudincludecontentdeliverynetworks(CDNs),distributedrouDng,edgenetworking,microdatacentertechnology,smartNetworkInterfaceCards(NICs),networkintegraDonandautomaDonsoGware;edge-computegear;andedge-datamanagementandoperaDons.

Companiesdiscussedinthisreport:ADVA,AffirmedNetworks(MicrosoG),Akamai,Amazon,Arrcus,AT&T,Ciena,Cisco,Cloudflare,Cradlepoint,DellTechnologies,DriveNets,Edgeworx,EDJX,Enea,Equinix,Ericsson,Google,Haste,HPE,ItenDal,Macrometa,Mellanox,MicrosoG,MobiledgeX,NetFoundry,Nokia,NTTData,NVDIA,PensandoSystems,RedHat(IBM),StatelessNetworks,UBIqube,VaporIO,VMware,Verizon,WindRiver,Zededa.

(Note:ThisisnotanexhausDvelist,butadescripDonofcompellingtechnologyvisionscollectedbyFuturiomanalysts.)

Methodology:Overthecourseofseveralmonths,Futuriomanalystsinterviewedandsurveyeddozensofserviceproviders,technologyproviders,andenterpriseenduserstosynthesizeavisionforthenewedgecloud.Thisinforma>ongatheringprocessincludedthecollec>nganswerstosurveyswesenttomorethan30technologyvendorsaskingforinput,someofwhichisincludedinthisreport.


Dell Technologies is redefining the network edge with infrastructure designed to accelerate the deployment of new 5G services.

The Dell Technologies Edge portfolio has solutions to suit every need, from the coreto the cloud to the edge.

Learn MoreDellTechnologies.com/en-emea/SPNews

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Table of Contents

1 Introduction 4

2 Industry Drivers for Edge Compute 5

3 5G as a Catalyst for Edge Applications and Business Models 11

4 Edge Use Cases Where 5G is Required 13

5 Application Tradeoffs with 5G Spectrum 15

6 Roadmap to Standalone 5G Opportunities 17

7 Business Challenges of End-to-End Edge Apps 19

8 AI and ML as Enablers for New Edge Business 22

9 Edge Deployment Approaches and Opportunities 23

10 Summary 27



1 - Introduction

TechnologycompaniesofalltypesareaggressivelyexploringnewbusinessopportuniDesenabledbyextendingcloudcompuDngtotheedgeofthenetwork.ApplicaDonssuchasindustrialIoT,videosurveillance,augmentedreality,andonlinegamingpromisetoleverageedgecomputetoachievecriDcallow-latencyprocessingand/ortominimizethebandwidthrequiredforbackhaultothecloud.

ManyexisDngedge-computeapplicaDonscanbesupportedwith4G/LTEconnecDvityorevenlow-power,wideareanetworkingprotocols.Awiderangeofnewusecases,however,willrequire5GinordertomaximizeconnecDondensity,boostbandwidth,minimizelatency,orguaranteequalityofservicevianetworkslicing.

It’struethereissignificanthypeabout5G.AtthesameDme,therearemanychallengesindeployingthetechnologyinacost-effecDveway.Butthedeploymentisinevitable–it’sjustamalerofDme.Futuriombelievesthere’snodoubtthatthearrivalof5GhasthepotenDaltochangethetechnologylandscapeformanyplayers,inasignificantway.Thearrivalof5GisnotjustaboutthepotenDalformorebandwidthandfeaturessuchasnetworkslicing–itwillalsoserveasacatalystforevolvingnetworkarchitecturesbuiltontechnologiessuchasvirtualizaDonsandmicroservices.Butthekeytoitssuccesswillbeenterprisesandserviceprovidersfindingmore“edge-enabled”cloud-basedapplicaDonstodrivenewservicesandbusinessmodels.

AllnewplaCormscreatenewapplicaDonsandbusinessopportuniDesthataredifficulttorecognizeaheadofDme.ThinkoftheemergenceofInternetbroadband,whichcreatedopportuniDesforapplicaDonssuchasenterprisecloudservicesandover-the-topvideostreaming.Theemergenceofthenewedgecloudarchitecture,catalyzedby5G,willhavealargeimpactonthecommunicaDonstechnologyindustryontheeconomicandstrategicbusinessside.TherewillbemanyopportuniDesinboththetechnologyinfrastructureandapplicaDons.

SohowdidweinvesDgatethistopic?Overthecourseofseveralmonths,Futuriomanalystsinterviewedandsurveyeddozensofserviceproviders,technologyproviders,andenterpriseenduserstocompileavisionforthenewedgecloud.ThisinformaDongatheringprocessincludedtheanswerstosurveyswesenttotechnologyvendorsaskingforinput,someofwhichisincludedinthisreport.WealsocombedthroughinformaDonontrendsfromtheFuturiom.comwebsite,newsreports,andmarketreleases.Thisreportrepresentsourfindings,includingconclusionsaboutthepotenDalemergingbusinessopportuniDesinedgecomputethatwillbeenabledby5G.Wealsooutlinekeyusecasesandvarioustechnologyapproachestoedgedeployments.ThereportalsoprofilesmulDplecompaniesprovidingsoluDonsthroughouttheend-to-endedgecomputeecosystemanddiscussesthebusinesschallengespresentedbythisnewmarket.



2 - Industry Drivers for Edge Compute

ThebasicconceptofedgecomputeisstraighCorward:LocaDngcomputeandstorageattheedgeofthenetwork,closetothephysicallocaDonwheredataiscollected,enablesthatdatatobeprocessedandanalyzedlocallyratherthaninacentraldatacenterorinthecloud.Thisarchitectureminimizesthelatencyassociatedwithdecision-makinginreal-DmeapplicaDons,reducesconnecDvitycostsbysendingonlytheinformaDonthatmalerstothecloud,improvessecuritybykeepingsensiDvedataclosetoitssource,andenablesautonomousoperaDonintheeventthatconnecDvityislostorintermilent.

EdgecomputebuildsonthefamiliarconceptsofContentDeliveryNetworks(CDNs),firstestablishedinthe1990sinordertoserveweb,video,andgamingcontentfromedgeserversdeployedclosetoend-users,improvingresponseDmesandsavingbandwidthinthecorenetwork.

AsanextensionofcloudcompuDng,edgecomputeenablesreal-DmedatacollecDonandanalysis,whileapplicaDonsrunningintheclouditselfprovidecentralizedanalyDcsandinterpretaDon.Together,thecombinaDonofedgecomputeandcloudcomputeenablesbusinessestomaximizetheiroveralloperaDonalefficiencywhiledeployingnewtypesofservicesandapplicaDonsthatdependonreal-Dmeresponsivenesstodatafrombothconsumersanddevices.

Physically,thenetworkedgehastwosides:aninfrastructureedge,forexampleamicrodatacenter,andadeviceedge,suchasasmartphoneorconnectedvehicle.Inthefuture,computewillexistonbothsides,workingincoordinaDonwiththecentralizedcloud.

Overthepastfewyears,companiesinawiderangeofverDcalmarketshavestartedtoadoptedgecomputeasakeytechnologydrivingthetransformaDonoftheirbusinesses.Afewexamplesinclude:

IndustrialIoT(IIoT)

Inanindustrialenvironment,edgecomputereducesconnecDvitycostsbyprocessingdatafromsensorslocallyandsendingonlyrelevantinformaDontothecloud,insteadofrawdatastreams.ThisisespeciallyimportantfordeviceslikesmartmetersorassettrackersthatconnecttothecloudviaLTEorNarrowbandIoT(NB-IoT)networks.

Withinsmartfactories,akeybenefitofedgecomputeistheminimizaDonofend-to-endnetworklatency,comprisingthetotalDmefordatatotravelfromasensortothedatacenter,informaDonprocessingatthedatacenter,andtheresponseDmebacktothefactory.WiththemostDme-criDcalmoduleslocatedclosetothesensors,thetotallatencyisdramaDcallyreduced,makingthemanufacturingprocessmoreagileandmoreresponsivetochanges.FormaximumefficiencyandoperaDonalcostsavings,themodulesnecessaryfor



real-Dmedecision-makingcanbehostedon-premiseswhilethosethatarelessDme-criDcalruninthecloud.

InmanyindustrialapplicaDons,connecDvitytothecloudiseithernon-existentorintermilent.Anoilrig,forexample,needstofuncDonautonomously,withoperaDonaldecision-makingbasedondatathatisanalyzedlocally.Edgecomputeenablesreal-Dmeprocessingofdatafromalargenumberofsensors,withhighly-filteredinformaDontransmiledtothecloudduringthewindowsofDmewhenconnecDvityisavailableover,forexample,asatelliteconnecDonwithlimitedbandwidth.

Finally,securityrepresentsakeyconcernforenterprisesoperaDngintheindustrialsegment.Withindustrialespionageontherise,oneofthebestwaystoensurethatdatadoesn’tendupinthewronghandsistoensurethatitremainson-premises,ratherthanbeingtransmiledoverpublicnetworkstothepubliccloud.Anedgecomputearchitectureensuresthatthemajorityofreal-Dme,process-dependent,andmachine-specificinformaDonneverleavesthefactory,minimizingthethreatofitbeinginterceptedorhacked.

VideoSurveillance

OverthepastdecadeandenabledbytheproliferaDonoflow-cost,remotely-managed,high-resoluDonWiFi-connectedIPcameras,videosurveillancetechnologyhasbecomeprevalentacrossadiversesetofapplicaDons.BeyondsurveillanceofpeopleintransportaDonhubs,citystreets,retailenvironments,events,andotherpublicplaces,videosurveillanceisalsowidelyusedforcommercialandresidenDalsecurityaswellasformonitoringprocessesinapplicaDonssuchasmanufacturing,agriculture,energy,andlogisDcs.Processingvideodatafromcamerasremotelyinthecloudrequiresahigh-bandwidthnetworkconnecDontotransmitaconstant,high-resoluDonstreamforremoteanalysis,or,ifbandwidthislimited,forcesonlylow-resoluDon,compressedvideotobetransmiled,whichreducestheaccuracyoftheanalysis.

Edgecomputeaddressestheseproblemsbyenablinghigh-resoluDonvideodatatobeprocessedeitherwithinthecameraitselforalocaledgeserver,ratherthanremotelyinthecloud.High-endIPcamerashaveenoughprocessingpowertorunalgorithmssuchasfacialrecogniDon,leveraginganalyDcsbasedonArDficialIntelligence(AI)and/ordeeplearningtechnologies.Withthisapproach,onlyselectedeventsand/orshortvideosequencesthatareflaggedasimportantneedtobetransmiledtothecloud,suchasaspecificindividual,vehicle,ordefecDvecomponent.Thissignificantlyreducestherequiredbackhaulbandwidthwhilemaintaininghigh-qualityanalyDcswithmaximumaccuracy.

Edgecomputeforvideoalsoresultsinsignificantlyreducedlatency,whichisimportantforanyDme-criDcaldetecDonscenarios.Locally-processedfacialrecogniDon,forexample,canrecognizeanunwantedorsuspiciouspersonandimmediatelysendanalarmtotheappropriaterecipient.Processingvideodataattheedgealsohelpstoalleviateprivacyconcerns,especiallyinsurveillanceapplicaDonsthataresubjecttoregulatoryconstraintsorincommercialapplicaDonswhere,forexample,manufacturingdataconsDtutesvaluableintellectualproperty.



AugmentedReality(AR)

ApplicaDonsforAugmentedReality(AR)extendfarbeyondconsumerusecaseslikePokémonGoanditssuccessors.Manufacturing,forexample,isonesegmentwhereARhasthepotenDaltosignificantlyimproveproducDvitythroughcostreducDonsalongwithincreasedoperaDonalefficiency.Georgia-PacifichaspubliclydiscussedtheuseofARwithinitsmanufacturingfaciliDes,enablinglesser-skilledworkerstoperformmaintenancetasks,ratherthanhavinganexpertengineeronsiteatallDmes.TheengineerworksremotelyusinganARplaCormtoinstructtheon-siteworkerinhowtoperformcomplicatedtasks.

ARapplicaDonstypicallyanalyzetheoutputfromadevice’scameratosupplementauser’sexperiencewhenvisiDngapointofinterest.TheapplicaDonneedstobeawareoftheuser’sposiDonandthedirecDontheyarelookingin,withthisinformaDonprovidedviathecameraview,posiDoningtechniques,orboth.Followinganalysis,theapplicaDonisthenabletoofferaddiDonalinformaDoninreal-Dmetotheuser.Assoonastheusermoves,thatinformaDonneedstoberefreshed.

AkeyadvantageofedgecomputeforARexperiencesistheabilitytoreducedizzinessassociatedwithhighlatencyandslowframerefreshrates.ThisdizzinessleadstoanexperiencethatisfrustraDng,potenDallynauseainducing,andulDmatelydisorienDng.MovingcomputepowerintoedgeserverslocatedclosetothenetworkedgeallowsanARapplicaDontoeliminatetheneedforhighprocessingbandwidthongogglesthatthereforebecomeexpensive,power-hungry,andtooheavyforcomfortableuseoveranextendedperiod.Intrials,AT&Thasfoundthatoneofthebiggestbenefitsofedge-hostedARisthatlatencyispredictable,resulDnginaconsistentexperienceforusersinsteadoftheconstantly-changingdelaysthatresultfromcloud-hostedimplementaDons.

EdgecomputecanhelptoaddressprivacyconcernsaroundARsinceuserdataisprocessedinalocaledgedatacenterratherthanbeingsenttothecloudoverthepublicnetwork.EdgecomputeandARarepoisedtodelivertrulyimmersivemediaexperiencesforsportsfanswhileatthegame.Sportssuchasbaseball,cricket,football,andsoccerhavealreadyheldsuccessfultrialsin“smartstadia,”allowingspectatorstostreamvideofromunique,customcameraangles,includingdronesandspider-cams.“Virtualcameras”presentviewsfromwithinthefieldofplay,givingspectatorstheopportunitytoexperiencetheacDonfromtheperspecDveoftheplayersthemselves.AlltheseusecasesrequireedgecomputeinordertoguaranteetheresponsivenessthatspectatorsexpectwhileeliminaDngtheneedtobackhaulprohibiDveamountsofdatatothecloud.

CloudGaming

AlthoughthesizeofthemobilegamingmarketwasesDmatedatover$18billionin2018,growthofdownloadedgamesandin-apppurchaseshasflalenedoverthepastfewyears.Thisispartlyduetogamers’expectaDonsofseamlessandsophisDcatedgamingscenariosthatdemandatrulyimmersive,real-Dmeexperiencerequiringlargeamountsofstorageandhighprocessingpower.



MassivelyMulDplayerGames(MMPGs)typicallyinvolveplayerscontrollingtheiravatars,withanymovementofanavatarneedingtobecommunicatedasquicklyaspossibletoallplayerswhohavethatavatarintheirfieldofview.Latencyhasamajorimpactontheoveralluserexperience,tothepointwherepercepDbledelayscanrenderagameeffecDvelyunplayable.Avideogamemustappeartorespondinstantaneouslytokeystrokesandcontrollermovements,implyingthatanycommandsissuedmustcompletearound-tripoverthenetworkandbeprocessedfastenoughbythedatacenterfortheplayertofeellikethegameisrespondinginrealDme.ForthebestmulDplayerexperience,thelatencymustbeconsistentacrossallplayers,otherwisethosewiththelowestlatencyhavetheopportunitytoreactfasterthantheircompeDtors.

Edgecomputepromisestoimprovetheexperienceofcloudgamingbysignificantlyreducinglatencyandprovidingthenecessarystorageandprocessingpowerinedgedatacenters.Withprocessingcentersforagamerunningattheedgeofthenetwork,forexampleineachmetroarea,theultra-lowlatencyresultsinreducedlag-Dme.ThisenablesamoreinteracDveandfullyimmersiveexperiencethanifthegameishostedinaremoteclouddatacenter.

EdgecompuDngisexpectedtotriggernewsubscripDon-basedbusinessmodelsalongwithreducedhardwarecostsforend-users:withedgeprocessingenablinghigh-qualityexperiences,lessprocessingpowerisrequiredintheusers’hardwareitself.ThegamingindustryhopesthatthisreducDoninhardwarecostswillspurgreateruserinvestmentinnewsubscripDons,drivingoverallgrowthinthissegment.

SmartCi4esandSmartWorlds

MunicipaliDesareusingacombinaDonofwirelesscommunicaDons,edgecompute,sensors,andcamerastomonitorpeople,theenvironment,andinfrastructuretoprovidesaferspaces.SmartciDescanbeusedtomanagecrowds,increasingthesafetyoflargegatherings,ortominimizepolluDonandtrafficjamsbyredirecDngvehiclesusingdataanalyDcsandarDficialintelligence(AI).AllofthiswillbeenabledbypushingoutAIandedge-computetechnologies.

Thesmartcityisareal-worlddemonstraDonofthepotenDalinusing5G,edge-cloudplaCorms,andsensorstodeliverautomaDon,value,andsafetytotheworld.Asacitybecomes"smarter,"thatmeansitisbuildingalivingandbreathingITfabric.

FuturiomrecentlyhadtheopportunitytolearnmoreaboutthistrendbydelvingdeepintotheLasVegassmartcityproject.WespoketoprofessionalsfromNTTData,whichistheintegratorontheproject,aswellasMichaelSherwood,DirectorofInformaDonTechnologyfortheCityofLasVegas.Thecityisusingarangeoftechnologiesandvendors,includingnetworkingandedgecomputegearfromCiscoandDellTechnologies,virtualizaDonsoGwarefromVMware,andanIntegratedAutomaDonPlaCorm(IAP)suppliedbyUBiqubeandNTT.



OneofthefeaturesofthisprojectisthatitrequiredalargeamountofintegraDonandcooperaDonfrommanyvendors.SherwoodtoldusthekeytobuildingthesmartedgewilldependoncooperaDonacrossavarietyoftechnologyproductsandplaCorms,inmanydomains-includingserviceproviders,cloudproviders,andtradiDonalenterprise."Caseinpoint,thereisavarietyofnetworkinggearinthemarketandwemayconsiderothervendorsinthefuture.”

SherwoodsaysthattechnologywillbeadifferenDatorforciDesandmunicipaliDesbybringingbelersafetyandordertotheworld.“Ifwe’regoingtoincreaseour[populaDon]base,weneedsmoothflowingtrafficthat's[efficient,whichwillleadto]jobs.[Thesearenotin]justoneindustry.Ifyouhavebadtraffic,alotofcompaniesleavethoseciDes.”SherwoodpointstothevarietyofinfrastructureandtechnologyasoneofthechallengesinbuildingaSmartCity.

SmartRetail

TheretailworldispoisedtobereinventedbycloudtechnologythatisbeingpushedouttotheedgeofInformaDonTechnology(IT)infrastructureusingnext-generaDonwirelesstechnologiesincluding5G,IoT(InternetofThings)sensors,andadvancedWiFi.Thegoal?Usevastamountsofdatatodeliverhighlyresponsiveandpersonalizedexperiencesforcustomers.

ImaginearetailerthatisusingacombinaDonofarDficialintelligence(AI)andanalyDcstobelerunderstandcustomers.Thesetechnologiescanbeusedtodeliverpersonalizedcouponsorcalls-to-acDonthatanDcipatebehavior.Forexample,theymightknowthatyouoGencraveacaramelmacchiatoaGerthegymonWednesdays.Inareal-worldscenario,imagineasmartcitythatischangingtrafficlightsandcommunicaDngwithamunicipalautonomousvehicleasitlearnsmoreaboutthelocaltrafficjams.Thisisn’tscienceficDon—thisishappeningintheCityofLasVegasrightnow.

ThechallengeislocaDon.Inordertorespondquicklytocustomers,specificsmarttechnologiessuchasAI,augmentedreality(AR),andmachinelearningneedtobelocatedclosertotheedgeofthenetworkinordertodeliveryquickresults.TheedgehastobecloseenoughtodelivertheapplicaDontotheclientwithoutrequiringahoptoalargerclouddatacenter.Thiscouldbeatthebaseofamobilecellsite,orinaclosetalachedtoaWiFirouter,orinatrafficlight.Theedgecouldevenbethedeviceinyourhand.

MajorretailerssuchasAmazon,Walmart,Starbucks,andmanyothershaveexpressedinterestinusingedgecomputetodrivebelerintelligencefortheircustomers’needs.Themostsci-fivisionofsmartretailcomesfromAmazon'sGostoreconcept,whichusesawidearrayofadvancedtechnologies,includingsensors,deeplearningalgorithms,andedgecomputetodeliverafullyautomatedretailexperience.

Thecloudedgewillbekeycontributortosmartretailmodels,assensors,mobileaccess,andcamerasfloodtheworld.Thesedeviceswillbeservicedbyedge-computenodes.Thetrendtobuildthisedgecloudisdrawinginterestfrommajorconsumer-targetedcompaniesas



wellascommunicaDonsandinfrastructureprovidersthatwouldliketotakeadvantageofthistechnologicallandgrab.

AutonomousDriving

YouneedonlytolookatthesharepriceofTeslatoseethereisexcitementaboutthemarketforautonomousvehicles.ManybignamesinaddiDontoTeslaareworkingonautonomousdriving,includingGoogle'sWaymodivision,Uber,andnearlyallthemajorautomobilemanufacturers.

PerformanceofTSLAShares

Source:Tesla

Keyrequirementsofautonomousdrivingincludereal-DmedataanalyDcsaswellaspersistent,low-latencywirelesscommunicaDon.Theamountofdatathatneedstobeprocessisvast,withtheaverageautonomousvehiclegeneraDngpetabitsofdataonaweeklybasis.

Thisisagoodfitfor5Gandedgecomputetechnology.WithcharacterisDcssuchasnetworkslicingandlowlatency,5GnetworkconnecDonswillplayanimportantroleintheautonomousvehiclemarket.5GsystemswillbeneededtosecureandprocessdataconnecDvity,includingthecapabilitytosegmentandsecureconnecDvitybyapplicaDon.InordertoprocessdatainaDmelyway,edgecomputeresourceswillbeneededbothinthevehiclesthemselvesaswellastheedgeofthenetwork.

Nokia’sJaneRygaard,inarecentinterviewwiththeBBC,said5GwillbecriDcaltodeliveringonthepromiseforautonomousdriving.“Weneedtolookathowlongittakesforthemessagetobetransmiledbetweensensorsandthengettothecomputerineachcarandthenhowlongittakesforthecomputertomakeadecision,andallofthishastobeinlessDmethanahumanwouldtaketomakeadecision—2milliseconds,"shesaid."WeneedanetworksupporDngthis,and5Gisthatnetwork.”

OneofthecriDcalelementsdeliveredby5GincludesthefastresponseDmestodeliverlocaDonawarenessandupdatesfromcloudsystems.AtthesameDme,distributed



intelligenceconnectedtoprocessorsinthevehicleswillenabledatastorageandprocessingneedstobebalancedamongthevehicle,theedge,andcloudservices.

Asdescribedintheaboveexamples,edgecomputedeliverssignificantbusinessvalueforbothenterpriseandconsumerusecases,withnewedgeapplicaDonsbenefiyngfrommajorimprovementsinlatency,performance,networkuDlizaDon,andsecurity.TheseedgeapplicaDonsleveragethecloudforstorage,dataprocessing,andresource.DeveloperswillbuildedgeapplicaDonsusingmodernprinciples,suchasconDnuousintegraDonandconDnuousdeployment(CI/CD).NewvendorswillemergetoservethisnewclassofdeveloperswithsoluDonsthatsimplifythecost-effecDvedeploymentofedgeapplicaDons.Animportant,earlycategoryof“killerapps”foredgecomputewillbethedevelopmentandprovisioningsoluDonsthatmakethenewedgeexperiencespossible.

3 - 5G as a Catalyst for Edge Applications and Business Models

ManyedgecomputeapplicaDonsandservicesoperatejustfinewithoutaneedfor5G.Intheindustrialsegment,forexample,low-power,wideareanetworkingprotocolslikeLongRangeWideAreaNetwork(LoRaWAN),BluetoothLowEnergy(BLE),NarrowbandIoT(NB-IoT),andmanyothersarerouDnelydeployedforIoTusecaseswithrelaDvelylowbandwidthrequirements.Similarly,WiFiand4G/LTEaretypicallyusedforconnecDvitytovideocamerasaswellasformanyapplicaDonsinAugmentedReality(AR)andonlinegaming.Thebusinessvalueof5GinedgecomputederivesfromtheimprovedoperaDonalefficienciesthatitbringstoedgeapplicaDonsaswellasthenewtypesofservicesthatitenables.

EdgeapplicaDonswithhighconnec4ondensity,forexample,willrequire5G.A4GLowPowerWideArea(LPWA)networkcantypicallysupportupto70,000acDveconnecteddevicespersquarekilometer.AsIoTsensorsandpersonaldevices,includingwearables,proliferate,thismaximumconnecDondensitywillbecomeasignificantlimitaDon.TheIMT-2020standard,whichdefinesthetechnicalspecificaDonsof5G,outlinesaminimumconnecDondensityofonemilliondevicespersquarekilometer,a14xincreasecomparedto4G.5GwillthereforebecriDcalforhigh-densityIoTusecases.

Thelowlatencyprovidedby5GwillenablenewclassesofedgeapplicaDonsthatbenefitfromsingle-digitmillisecondlatency,anorderofmagnitudeimprovementover4G.Factory-floorrobots,forexample,willbeconnectedtolocaledgecomputeresourcesovera5Gnetworkto

4G/LTE 5G

PeakDataRate 1Gbps 20Gbps

Latency 10ms <1ms

PeakConnec4onDensity 70Kdevices/km2 1Mdevices/km2

NetworkSlicing No Supportedinstandalone(SA)configuraDon



coordinatetheiracDonsandavoidrunningintoeachother.Similarly,droneswillleveragelow-latency5GlinkstoedgecomputebasestaDonssothatobjectrecogniDonfornavigaDoncanbeperformedontheground,avoidingtheneedforaheavycomputerandbaleryonthedroneitself.Importantly,5Gnetworkswillbeabletoguaranteeaspecificlatency,sothatround-tripnetworktransitdelaysarefullydeterminisDc.ThisdeterminismwillbecriDcalforusecasessuchassynchronizingthehigh-speedoperaDonofmulDplerobotsorensuringaconsistentuserexperiencewithimmersiveAugmentedReality(AR).

Thehighbandwidthdeliveredby5Gnetworksisaresultofthe5GNewRadio(NR)airinterface,thatusesmuchhigherradiofrequenciesthan4G(upto28GHz,comparedtobetween700MHzand2.5GHz).Thisenables5GtotransferexponenDallymoredatathan4G,withcarriersforecasDngdataratesashighas10to20Gbps.5GalsoleveragesanewradiotechnologycalledMassiveMIMO(MassiveMulDpleInput,MulDpleOutput),whichusesmulDpletargetedbeamstospotlightandfollowusersaroundacellsite,therebyimprovingcoverage,speed,andcapacity.IniDal5Gdeploymentsinvolveinstalling5GNRwithMassiveMIMOrunningontopoftheexisDng4Ginfrastructure,referredtoastheNon-Standalone(NSA)architecture.Thehighbandwidthof5Gwillbeakeyenablerforawiderangeofnewandimprovededgeusecasesbasedaroundstreamingvideo,autonomousvehicles,real-DmeanalyDcs,andtrulyhapDcapplicaDonsinroboDcs,mines,andthemuch-hypedremotesurgery.

5GnetworkslicingenablesasinglephysicalnetworktobeparDDonedintomulDplevirtualnetworks,eachopDmizedforthedifferentneedsofspecificusers,whetherthoseusersareconsumersormachines.Sincetheslicesareisolatedfromeachotherinthecontrolanduserplanes,eachindividualuserexperiencestheirnetworkasifitwereadedicatedphysicalnetwork.Anetworkoperator,whomightbeacarrierowningapublicnetworkoranenterprisewithaprivatenetwork,candeployonlythefuncDonsrequiredtosupportaparDcularcustomerormarketsegment,resulDnginsignificantcostsavingscomparedtodeployingfullfuncDonalitytodevicesthatwillonlyuseasubsetofthosefuncDons.Withinasingle5Gnetwork,forexample,networkslicingcouldprovisionahighly-available,highly-secure,low-bandwidthsliceforanIoTapplicaDonlikeaclusterofsmartmetersinparallelwithahigh-throughput,low-latencysliceforanAugmentedReality(AR)service.NetworkslicingwillenableanedgecomputeplaCormtocost-effecDvelyandefficientlysupporttheneedsofawidelydiverserangeofusers,evenasthoseneedschangedynamically.

Asoutlinedabove,fundamentalproperDesof5GsuchashighconnecDondensity,lowlatency,highbandwidth,andnetworkslicingarecatalystsfornewedgeapplicaDonsandwillenablenewbusinessmodels.ThenextsecDonexploresspecificedgeusecasesthatrequire5Gtechnology.



4 - Edge Use Cases Where 5G is Required

ThecapabiliDesof5Gareexpectedtoenableaplethoraofedgeusecasesthatwereeithernotachievableornotcost-effecDveusing4G/LTEtechnology.Someexamplesinclude:

Highly-immersiveAugmentedReality(AR)applica4onswillleveragethedeterminisDc,ultra-lowlatencyof5Gtoproducenewlevelsofuserexperienceinindustrial,consumer,andtelemedicineusecases.

Connectedvehicleswillleveragetheultra-lowlatencyandhighbandwidthof5GforbothVehicle-to-Vehicle(V2V)andVehicle-to-Infrastructure(V2I)communicaDons.TheseapplicaDonswillalsotakeadvantageofedgecomputetoavoidthelatencyassociatedwithroundtripstothecloud,enablingmassiveamountsofdatatobeprocessedwitharDficialintelligenceandanalyDcsinnearrealDme.MostnewvehicleswillbeproducedasconnectedplaCorms,wheresensordata,telemetrycollecDon,andpredicDvemaintenancetoolsarecentralaspectstothevehicle.

Autonomousvehicles,whethertrucks,cars,orrobots,willrelyon5G-enablededgecomputetomakethecriDcaldecisionaboutstoppingaself-drivingvehicleinDme.

EnterpriseprivatemobilenetworkswillprovideeffecDvein-buildingcoveragewithoutthepathlossassociatedwiththeuseofhigh-frequencyspectrum.TheseprivatenetworkswilldrivethegrowthofusecasessuchasfactoryautomaDon,IndustrialIoT(IIoT),andenterpriseContentDeliveryNetworks(CDNs).WiFihasbeenconsideredtoounsafeandunreliablefornetworkingsafety-criDcalsystemslikerobotsandmachines,whereas5Gdeliversthenecessaryreliability.

Manufacturingqualityinspec4onwillleveragethehighbandwidthandlowlatencyof5Gtoensurenear-realDmedetecDonofprocessdeviaDonsormanufacturingflaws,enablingproducDonlinestobestoppedorcontrolparameterstobeadjustedquicklyenoughtominimizewastage.

Renewableenergyloca4onslikewindturbinesandsolarfarms,whichcannotbeservedeasilywithfixed(fiber)infrastructure,willleverage5Gasafaster,morereliable,andefficientnetworkconnecDonthan4G/LTE.

DronesusedforapplicaDonssuchassurveying,packagedelivery,andvideosurveillancewillleveragehighly-reliable,low-latency5GconnecDonsforcontrol,whilealsoenablingobjectrecogniDonfornavigaDontobeperformedontheground,resulDnginreducedcostsandextendedbalerylife.



Mission-cri4calstreamingmediaapplica4ons(video,audio,andimages)willproliferateduetothecapabilityofprocessingmulDplevideostreamsattheedge,acceleraDngthedeploymentofusecasessuchasAI-drivensecurity,facialrecogniDon,safety,andcomplianceintheworkplace,aswellasautonomoustrafficflowcontrolbasedoncomputervision.

Cloudgamingwillbenefitfrommovingcomputeclosertotheedge,whichincreasespathdiversityfor“corehosted”gameserversandresultsinbelernetworkconnecDonsforgamers.Highlylatency-sensiDve,mulD-player,BalleRoyale-stylegamesperformbelerovermobilenetworks,sothecombinaDonof5Gandedgecomputewillspurthedevelopmentoflatency-sensiDvegamesforthemobileformfactor.

Applica4onstreamingsoGwarelikeAppStreamerstreamsdataandcoderesourcestoanappwhennecessary,allowingtheapptouseonlythespaceitneedsonasmartphoneatanygivenDme,leveragingmiddlewarethatautomaDcallypredictswhentofetchdatafromacloudserver.AppStreamerwasdesignedtouseedgecompuDngwhereavailable,inordertobenefitfromlowerlatencyandhigherreliabilityconnecDons,whilerunningthesoGwareona5Gnetworkacceleratesdownloads.



BeyondthekindofindividualapplicaDonsmenDonedabove,muchofthevalueof5GtechnologyforedgeapplicaDonsisderivedfromitscharacterisDcsasaplaCormthatremovescomplexityforthedevelopersofapplicaDonsforIoTandotheredgeservices.Andinmanyscenarios,edgecomputeisthekeyenablerfor5Gnetworks,ratherthan5GbeingtheenablerforedgeapplicaDons.AT&T,forexample,hasstatedthatmanyofitsmillimeterwave(mmWave)5Gcustomershaveusedon-premisesedgecomputehardwaretodeployaprivate5Gnetworkfortheirbusinesses.

Finally,it’simportanttomenDonthatcrystalballsareinvariablycloudywhenitcomestopredicDngthelong-termeffectoftrulytransformaDvetechnologieslike5G.When4G/LTEwaslaunched,industrypunditsinevitablyfocusedonhowitsimprovedbandwidthandfeatureslikecarrieraggregaDonwouldmakeInternetconnecDvitybelerthan3G.NoonepredictedthenewapplicaDonslikeUberthatwouldemergeasaresultofthecapabiliDesunleashedbythetechnology.AswelookaheadtothecombinaDonof5Gandedgecompute,acommentfromBradKirby,VPofMarketDevelopmentatEDJX,seemsprescient:“Ibelievethemostsignificantedgeapplica6onsthatwillrequire5Ghaveyettoevenbeimagined.”

5 - Application Tradeoffs with 5G Spectrum

5Goperatesonthreedifferentspectrumbands.WhilethespecificbandusedforanindividualconnecDonisgenerallytransparenttoanend-user,thereareimportanttradeoffsintermsofwhichbandisbestsuitedtodifferentcategoriesofedgeapplicaDons.

“Low-band5G”istypicallyspectrumbelow1GHzthatisprimarilyusedtodaybyUScarriersfor3GandLTE.Thislow-bandspectrumprovidesaverywidecoverageareawithgoodbuildingpenetraDon,butpeakdataspeedstopoutat100Mbps.ThisspectrumisbecomingdisconDnuedfor3Gandreclaimedfor5G.Onelowband(600-700MHz)towercancoverhundredsofsquaremileswith5Gservice.

Edgeusecaseswithmoderatebandwidthrequirementsand/orthosethatinvolvehighmobility,likein-vehicleinfotainmentandnavigaDon,willprimarilyuselow-band5Gspectrumbecauseofthehighcoverageandreducedrateofhand-offsbetweencells.InaddiDon,wide-areaapplicaDonsandin-buildingdeploymentsarelikelytouselower-bandfrequencies.

The“mid-band5G”spectrumbetween1GHzand6GHzprovidesfasterthroughputandlowerlatencythanlow-band.Mid-bandtransmissionsarelesssuitableforagoodin-buildingpenetraDon,butpeakspeedscanreachashighas1Gbps.SprintusesMassiveMIMO(MassiveMulDpleInput,MulDpleOutput)technologytoenhancepenetraDonandcoverageareaswiththisspectrum,groupingseveralantennasintoasingleboxatonecelltowerandcreaDngmulDplebeamstomanydifferentuserssimultaneously.Amid-bandtowerprovides5Gserviceoveraradiusofseveralsquaremiles.

Offeringabalancebetweenhighbandwidthandwidecoverage,mid-band5Gisexpectedtobeusedforlow-latencyedgeusecasessuchasUltraReliableLowLatencyCommunicaDons(URLLC)



forcriDcalIndustrialIoT(IIoT)applicaDonsorcontrolofdrones.Withbelerwide-areaandindoorcoveragethanhigh-band,themid-bandspectrumisanopDmalcompromisebetweencoverage,quality,throughput,capacity,andlatency.

SomeDmesreferredtoas“millimeterwave”(mmWave),the“high-band5G”spectrumfrom24GHzto100GHzenablesspeedsofuptotensofGbpsatextremelylowlatency.However,mmWavecoverageareasarelimitedandbuildingpenetraDonisverypoor,thoughmajorequipmentcompaniesarefocusedonovercomingthesepropagaDonchallengessincemmWaveissofundamentaltoachieving5G’sspeedandlatencytargets.FormmWavemobiledevicestowork,boththecelltowerandthemobiledevicemustusenewantennatechnologycapableofdynamicallysteeringandformingtheradiobeamtoandfromthecelltower.AmmWavetowercoversaradiusofonemileorless.

mmWave5Gwillbedeployedusing“smallcells”:low-poweredradioaccessnodesthatprovideservicetobothindoorandoutdoorareas.Thesenodescanworkineitherlicensedorunlicensedspectrum,witharangeuptoonemile.

mmWave5Gisideallysuitedtoline-of-sightedgecomputeapplicaDonsthatrequireultra-highbandwidth,forexample:

AugmentedReality(AR),whereahigherbandwidthconnecDonfromtheuser’sgogglestoanedgedatacenterresultsinamorerealisDc,interacDve,immersive,andproducDveexperiencefortheuser;

Smart,AIbasedcamerasforvideosurveillance,facialrecogniDon,andindustrialprocessmonitoring;

IndustrialIoTapplicaDonssuchasrobotswithsmall,well-definedcoverageareas;

Fiberandwirelinereplacementinsmartfactories,forhigh-bandwidthconnecDvitybetweenmachines;

Assisteddrivingforconnectedvehicles,especiallyforautonomous“first-mile”or“last-mile”truckingoperaDons;

MassivelyMulDplayerGames(MMPGs),whichmustappeartorespondinstantaneouslytokeystrokesandcontrollermovementssoplayersenjoyafully-immersiveexperience,whileconsistentultra-lowlatencyisguaranteedforallplayers;

High-accuracydronenavigaDonandvideoprocessing,aslongastheoperaDngrangeiswithinthecoverageofthesmallcell;

AsexplainedinasurveysubmissionbyADVA:“High-band(mmWave)isforhighcapacityinpoint-to-pointandpoint-to-mul6-pointfixedwirelessapplica6ons(asa)copperreplacementforbroadbandaccessandconnec6nghigh-bandwidthsensors.”



6 - Roadmap to Standalone 5G Opportunities

Inordertoacceleratethelaunchof5G,CommunicaDonsServiceProviders(CSPs)worldwideiniDallydeployedtheNon-Standalone(NSA)mode,inwhichthe5GnewRadio(NR)technologyisoverlaidontheexisDng4G/LTEcorenetworkandRadioAccessNetwork(RAN).NSAallowsCSPstolaunchenhancedMobileBroadband(eMBB)servicestodeliver5Gdataspeedsandboostcapacity,whileleveragingtheirexisDng4G/LTEinfrastructureassets.Whilethehigherbroadbandspeedsenableimprovedexperiencesaroundvideostreaming,AugmentedReality(AR),cloudgaming,andotherimmersiveapplicaDons,NSAdoesn’tsupportnetworkslicing,massiveMachine-TypeCommunicaDons(mMTC),orUltraReliableLowLatencyCommunicaDons(URLLC).Also,ifthenetworkcan’tfindastable5Gsignal,itwillpushthatconnecDonto4G,whichintroducesaddiDonallatencyintothenetwork.

ManyoftheedgecomputeapplicaDonsdiscussedinprevioussecDonswillbelaunchediniDallyonNSA5G,simplybecauseit’stheonlyavailableopDon.Bandwidth-hungryusecasessuchasvideosurveillance,smartstadia,cloudgaming,dronenavigaDon,andnon-safety-criDcalconnectedvehicleapplicaDonswillbenefitimmediatelyfrom5Gspeeds.CSPswhofocusonNSAdeployments,however,couldbeatriskofbeinglatetomarketwith“true”5GcapabiliDes.



Inthelongerterm,CSPswillmigratetoStandalone(SA)5Gdeployments,whichwillfullyunlockthepowerandpromiseof5Gtechnology.Basedonacloud-naDve5Gpacketcorearchitecturealongwiththenew5GRAN,SAdeploymentswillintroducenetworkslicing,mMTC,andURLLC.SAwillenableawiderrangeofusecasesthanNSAwhileimprovingoperaDonalefficiencyandreducingcostsforCSPs.AsexplainedbyMobiledgeX,“InmostcasesexploitaDonof5GforedgeapplicaDonsdependsonthenew5Gpacketcorearchitecturebecauseoftheimportanceoflocalbreakoutinordertohavelow-latencyconnecDvitytoedgeservices.”

TheavailabilityofSA5GdeploymentswilltriggerthelaunchofedgecomputeapplicaDonsthatrelyonultra-highreliability,networkslicing,and/orguaranteedlowlatency.IndustrialIoT(IIoT),roboDcs,factoryautomaDon,andautonomousdrivingareexamplesofenterprise-classusecasesthatwillleverageSAbecausereliabilityisparamount,manyofwhichwilllikelybeimplementedonprivate5Gnetworksasopposedtopublicinfrastructure.Ontheconsumerside,MassivelyMulDplayerGames(MMPGs)willbenefitfromnetworkslicinganddeterminisDcultra-lowlatency.

Thecloud-naDvearchitectureoftheSA5GcorewillbekeyformanyedgeapplicaDons.AccordingtoEdgeworx,“Applica>onsrequiringdynamiccontrolofthenetworkitselfwillnotworkontopoftheexis>ng4G/LTEcontrolplane.Themovementtowardnetworkfunc>onvirtualiza>onhasresultedinamicroservicesarchitecturebeingatargetformanynetworkoperators,butthatisnotthestandardmodelfortheoldercore.Edgecompu>nginstan>atedinSA….canevenopencontrolofthenetworkfunc>onalitytomixwiththeedgeapplica>onlayer.Thiscouldresultindynamictrafficshapingtomatchwithanedgeapplica>onthathasbeendeployed.”

Inthesubmiledsurvey,ZededapointsoutthatSA5Gwillalsoenablehybridpublic/privatenetworkarchitecturesforenterpriseedgecomputeapplicaDons:“SApermitsanarchitecturedeploymentmodelwheredatacanresidelocallybetweenendpoints,suchaswithinafactoryorwindfarm,whilethecontrolplanecanresideanywhere,includingbeingprovidedasaservicebythetelco.Thisenableshybridpublic/privatenetworksandsimplifiestheintroduc>onof5Gforenterprises.Thatinturnenables5GtobeusedasareliablewirelesstechnologyinOpera>onalTechnology(OT)edgecomputeenvironments.”



7 - Business Challenges of End-to-End Edge Apps

Atfirstglance,thekindofedgecomputeapplicaDonsenabledby5Gthatareprofiledaboveappeartooffercompellingbenefitsforenterprisesand/orconsumers.However,theypresentimportantbusinesschallengesthatmustbeacknowledgedandaddressedinorderfordeploymentsandoperaDonstobecomefinanciallyviable.ThissecDonhighlightsafewofthechallengesfacedbycompaniesthroughoutthechainfromvendorstoend-users.

EcosystemComplexity

Thereareveryfewcompanieswiththecapabilitytodevelop,deploy,andoperateacompleteend-to-end5Gedgecomputeservice.Andevenifthesecompaniesdidexist,theindustrypushtowardsopenarchitecturesandawayfromproprietary,singlevendorsoluDonsmeansthatthemajorityofusecaseswillinvolvesomecombinaDonofapplicaDonsoGwarevendors,plaCormsoGwarevendors,hardwarevendors,edgedatacenteroperators,CommunicaDonsServiceProviders(CSPs),SystemIntegrators(SIs),installers,cloudserviceproviders,regulators,andevenmunicipaluDliDes.

SustainingasuccessfulbusinessoutcomefortheenduseroftheedgeserviceimpliesnotonlyanextensiveprogrammanagementmodelbutalsoacomprehensivebusinessmodelthatensureseachcompanyintheecosystemisabletomeetitsbusinessobjecDvesfortheproject.Ifonlyonecompanyinthechainfailstodeliver,support,oroperateitsproductorservice,theenDreusecasemayfailoratleastmissitsbusinessgoals.

EdgeApplica4onDevelopment

Edgeserviceswillflourishonlywhenhigh-qualitysoGwareapplicaDonsareavailableforcommercialdeploymentandaddresshigh-valueenterpriseandconsumerbusinessopportuniDes.WhileavastcommunityofcompanieshasspentmanyyearsdevelopingandopDmizingapplicaDonsforthecloudenvironment,thisisnotthecasefortheedge.

Macrometaexplainedthat“Theedgeiswaymorecomplicatedthanthecloudbecauseapplica>onsaredistributedoverhundredsofnodesandstandardswillberequiredforbuilding,deploying,logginganddebuggingthoseapplica>ons.”StandardAPIsandprogrammingprimiDveswillbekeytoenablingedgeservicestorunonanyinfrastructureplaCormworldwide,allowingdeveloperstofocusontheapplicaDonlogicratherthanspecificsofdeploymentlocaDonsandindividualinfrastructure.

AccordingtoRedHat:“Therearelargegapstobecoveredintheedgeapplica>onspace:howonebuildsanedgeapplica>on.ThisisnotjustaboutusingKubernetes,itinvolvesrearchitec>ngdatacenterapplica>onsforedgedeployments.”



Integra4onandOpera4on

FromtheperspecDveoftheend-userthatisulDmatelypayingthebills,whoisthe“singlethroattochoke”that’sresponsibleforthedeploymentandoperaDonoftheedgeservice?VeryfewcompaniesunderstandthehosDngofa5GRadioAccessNetwork(RAN)aswellastheintegraDon,deployment,andoperaDonofedgecloudsoGwareproducts.InparDcular,thelargeSIswithdecadesofexperienceininstallingandoperaDngequipmentinmassiveindustrialenvironmentssuchasfactories,oilrigs,andminestypicallydon’thavetheexperDseintelecomworkingorcloudapplicaDons.ThereareinteresDngopportuniDesforalliancesandpartnershipsbetweendifferenttypesofintegratorswithcomplementaryexperDse,toensureaviablebusinessthatinvolvesintegraDng,supporDng,andoperaDng5GedgecomputeservicesinspecificverDcalmarkets.

Cloud-na4veArchitectures

TheevoluDonofvirtualizaDontechnologyfromVirtualMachines(VMs)delivering“simplevirtualizaDon”tocontainersenablingcloud-naDvearchitecturesproducesamoreefficientinfrastructurethatcanhostmorefuncDonspernode,whiledoingsoinamoreperformantmannerthanlegacyarchitectures,withposiDvealributessuchaslowerlatency.NewerapplicaDons,suchatthe5GvirtualRadioAccessNetwork(vRAN),arebeingdevelopeddirectlywithincloud-naDvearchitecturesandwillleadtheadopDonofthisapproach.ServiceprovidersareincreasinglyfacedwiththecomplexoperaDonalandtechnologicalchallengesofaphysicallydistributed,cloudnaDvevRANinfrastructure.

AccordingtoWindRiver:“Theemergenceof5Ganditsrequirements,bothopera>onalandtechnical,createsanewintersec>onwithcloudna>ve,geo-distributedcloudsolu>ons,requiringenablingtheintroduc>onofnewcloudtechnologyideallysuitedtosolvingthesemodernproblems.”

CSPSoWwareExper4se

WhilemanyCSPshavemadestridestowardsbecomingsoGware-orientedorganizaDonsthroughtheiriniDaDvesinSoGware-DefinedNetworking(SDN)andNetworkFuncDonsVirtualizaDon(NFV),fewifanywouldclaimtohavecompletedthattransformaDon.Indeed,mostCSPsstruggletorecruittalentedsoGwareengineersinthefaceofcompeDDonbothfromthewebscalegiantsandalsofromscrappystartupsflushwithstockopDons.



EdgeapplicaDonsenabledby5GrepresentsignificantopportuniDesforCSPstoexpandtheirbusinessintonewverDcalmarketssuchassmartciDes,smartfactories,andcloudgaming.UnlesstheyachievetherightlevelofsoGwareexperDse,however,theyrisklosingthesecommercialopportuniDestopubliccloudproviders.

Data-drivenEnterprises

Forenterprise-focusededgeapplicaDons,thepromiseoftruebusinessvalueisgenerallybasedontheassumpDonthatenterprisewillmakesmarter,real-DmeoperaDonaldecisionsasaresultofdataanalysisperformedattheedge.Forthisvaluetoberealized,theenterpriseneedstohaveadata-drivenstrategythatlinksanalyDcstobusinessoutcomes.

AsZededaexplains:“Oncethevalueofdataanaly>csisproven,edgecompu>ngisthewaytoscalethatvalueacrosstheenterprise.Customersneedahighlyprogrammableedgecompu>ngarchitecturetosupporttheirdata-drivendigitalstrategy.”

Security

Barelyaweekgoesbywithoutanotherstoryaboutasignificantsecurityflawinamajorcloud-hostedapplicaDon,andthosestoriesrepresentjusttheDpoftheiceberg.Despitethebillionsofdollarsspentannuallytosecurethecloud,thebadguyssDllfindawayin.

AsapplicaDonsmovebackoutfromthecloudtotheedgeandthenumberofconnecteddevicesproliferates,thealacksurfacegrowsexponenDally,whileedgelocaDonsareinherentlymoredifficulttosecurethancentralizeddatacentersandevenphysicalsecuritybecomespartofthechallenge.It’sinevitablethatnew,unforeseensecuritythreatswillemergeonanongoingbasis,soedgesecuritydesignandauditsneedtobestrategicprioriDesforeverycompanyintheecosystem.

NetworkAvailability

ManypotenDal5GedgeapplicaDonssuchasautonomousvehicleswillonlybepossiblewhen5Gisbroadlyavailable.CSPswillfavorapplicaDonswhererevenuesaremoreproporDonatetocapitalinvestment,ratherthanthosethatdependonthecompleDonofalargebuildout.

Equinixobserves:“Thebiggestissueisthe‘chickenv.egg’problem.Withoutanultra-reliable,lowlatency(URLL)network,thereisnokillerapp.Withoutakillerapp,noonewillpayforaURLLnetworkanddeployedgecompute.Therefore,we’llseedenselypopulatedmetrosdeployfirst,wherethenewnetworkandapplica>onscanbemosteasilyinterconnected,andthevalueprovenfortheleastcostandeffort.”



8 - AI and ML as Enablers for New Edge Business

While5G-enablededgecomputeenablesnewbusinessopportuniDesasdiscussedabove,theimplementaDonofArDficialIntelligence(AI)andMachineLearning(ML)attheedgeisessenDalforopDmizingtheoveralluserexperience.

Asmartsecuritycamera,forexample,canusevisionprocessingenhancedbyAInotonlytodetectmoDonbuttodisDnguishfamilymembersaroundahome,orauthorizedemployeesinacommercialspace,sendinganalerttothecloudonlyifsomeoneisnotrecognizedordoesn’tfitestablishedparameters.Inthiscase,edgecomputenotonlyreducestherequiredbandwidthandcloudstorage,comparedtosendingrawvideostreamsoverthenetwork,butalsoimprovesthespeedofgeneraDngalertswhilereducingthechancesoffalsealarms.AIismosteffecDvewhenimplementedaccordingtoadistributedmodel.BigdataprocessingandaggregatedanalyDcsareperformedinthecloud,whiletheedgedevicesprocesshighvolumesoflocaldatawithnearreal-Dmeresponse.Processingdataclosetothesourcealsoguaranteesprivacy,personalizaDon,andreliability.5GiscriDcalinprovidinghigh-bandwidth,low-latencyconnecDvitybetweentheedgeandthecloudtoenabledistributedAIsystems.

Edge-hostedMLenhancesnaturallanguageinterfaces,forexampleallowingsmartspeakerstointerpretvoicecommandslocallyevenifInternetconnecDvityisintermilentinaremoteindustrialenvironmentsuchasanoilrigormine.TheproliferaDonofMLforIndustrialIoT(IIoT)applicaDonsisapowerfuldriverforincreasededgecomputecapabiliDes.ThecloudcanbeusedtotrainMLmodels,whicharethendeployedtoedgedevices,makingitpossibletoprovisionlargenumbersofedgelocaDonstocommon,enterprise-widestandards.

ThecombinaDonofAIandMLattheedgeenablesbusinesstomaximizethelong-termReturnonInvestment(ROI)foredgeservicestargetedbothatenterpriseandconsumerapplicaDons.



9 - Edge Deployment Approaches and Opportunities

AsviablebusinessopportuniDesemergeforedgeapplicaDonsenabledby5G,companiesofseveraltypesareposiDoningthemselvestoactuallydeployandcommercializetheseservices:

Communica4onsServiceProviders(CSPs)suchasAT&T,ChinaMobile,Telefonica,Verizonetc.operatethemobileinfrastructurethatconnectstheedgetothecloud,andownPointsofPresence(PoPs),aswellascelltowersthatcanhostedgecomputefaciliDesandhaveextensivecapabiliDesforbillingbothcustomersbasedonservicesconsumed.ThoughsomeCSPshaveverDcalmarket-focusedteams,ingeneralmostCSPshavenottodateprovidedtheapplicaDonlayerthatconsDtutestheuniquevalueforedgeservices.However,theedgecloudgivesthemperhapsmoreopportunitybecauseof5G.Withfuturemobile-drivenedgeservices,theserviceprovidersholdtwokeyassets:CustomerrelaDonshipsaswellasaccesstovaluablerealestatesuchascentralofficesanddatacenterssituatedclosetocelltowers.ThecombinaDonofedgecomputeand5Goffersthemanopportunitytoestablishtherightpartnershipstodeliverhigh-valueapplicaDons,therebymoneDzingtheservicesconsumedbyend-usersratherthanjustprovidinginfrastructure“pipes”thatareleveragedbyOver-the-Top(OTT)players.

Inahintthatserviceprovidersholdslightlymoreleverageinthismarketthantheydidinthepubliccloud,publiccloudprovidersarecuyngdealswiththem.AT&ThasannounceddealswithGoogleCloudandMicrosoGAzuretocollaborateonaccessto5Gnetworksforcloudservices.VerizonhasadealwithAmazontouseits5Gnetwork.Inannouncementsaboutthesedeals,thecompanieshavenamedanumberofusecases,includingusingAIandMLforretail,manufacturing,gaming,andotherapplicaDons.

CloudServiceProviderslikeAmazonWebServices(AWS),GoogleCloud,andMicrosoGAzureoGenhaveexisDngbusinessrelaDonshipswithenterprisesviatheirpublicandhybridcloudsoluDons.Astheseenterprisesexplorethebenefitsofedge-hostedapplicaDons,theycanbeexpectedtoatleastevaluatethoseproviders’edgecloudsoluDonslikeAWSWavelength,aservicethatmakesAWScloudstorageandcomputeresourcesavailableattheedge.ItislikelythatmoreallianceswillemergebetweencloudserviceprovidersandCSPs,similartoMicrosoG’scollaboraDonwithAT&TtodeliverAzurecloudservicesfromedgelocaDonsonAT&Ts5GnetworkaswellasVerizon’sdealwithAmazon.InaddiDon,it’sclearthatthemajorcloudprovidersareinterestedinbuildingoutedgeinfrastructureandserviceswithavarietyofapproaches.AmazonhasbeenlicensingitsWalkOuttechnologytoretailersandisinvolvedinaninteresDngopen-sourcenetworkoperaDngsystem(NOS)targetedattheedge–calledDent.AmazonisusingitsGoautomatedretailstoresasa



proof-pointforedgeAI.MicrosoGisworkingonitsownedgestack,calledAzureStackHCI,whichisahyperconvergedinfrastructure(HCI)appliancedesignedtorunbusinessapplicaDons,SQLServer,storage,andKubernetesclusters.ThisincludesapartnershipwithchipmakerNVDIAaswellashardwaredistribuDonbyAsus,DellTechnologies,HP,andLenovo.ThepubliccloudprovidersareveryacDveinthisarea.ThismaybebecausetheyseeariskofthecenterofgravityofthecloudshiGingfromacentralizedpubliccloudtoamoredistributededge,wherethegamecouldbechanged.computeAsEdgeworxmenDonsinoursurveys:“Withtheavailabilityofopensourcetechnology,thereisnoneedforAWSorAzuretoowntheworld.ThesametechnologythatpowerstheircloudsystemscanbeuDlizedbyothers,sothemainadvantagetheyprovideisthattheyalreadyexistinthecloudandhavereliableoperaDonsandmarketshare.Theedgeisanopenplayingfield.Thereisnoreasontocedeittopubliccloudprovidersjustbecausetheyareinterestedinit.”

ContentDeliveryNetwork(CDN)providerslikeAkamaiandCloudflarehavebuiltanetworkofedgelocaDonslinkedtoproven,high-bandwidthnetworkinginfrastructure.TheyhavetheopportunitytoleveragethoselocaDonstohostnewedgeapplicaDons.Akamai’s"IoTEdgeConnect"soluDonenablesIoTcustomerstoruncompuDngprocessesonequipmentphysicallynearwheretheirIoTserviceoperates.Thisreducestheamountofdatathatmustbetransmiledoverthenetworkbecauseserviceslikesecurityandstorageareprocessedattheedge.AddiDonally,Akamaihasruntestsandproof-of-concepts(PoCs)withCSPs,whereAkamai’scustomersruntheirapplicaDonsinsidetheCSP’sedgePoP.CloudflarehasalsobuiltanetworkofCDNedgeserversandispartneringwithedgemicrodatacenterproviderssuchasVaporIOin36ciDessofar.

Coloca4onHos4ngProviderslikeEquinix,whorecentlyacquiredPacket,provideneutralcolocaDonmulD-tenantdatacenter(MTDC)faciliDesattheedgetointerconnectandenableservicedelivery.Wirednetworks,5Gwirelessnetworks,publicclouds,andprivatecloudsallmeetatanMTDC.Asinthecaseofcloudserviceproviders,colocaDonhosDngprovidersoGenhaveexisDngbusinessrelaDonshipswithenterprisesthattheycanleverageastheycompetefornewedgebusinessopportuniDes.Theedgeisavast,potenDallyfastgrowingmarketforstrategicallylocatedcolocaDonproviders.

EdgeDataCenterProviderssuchasEdgeConnexandVaporIOoffercolocatededgedatacentersinwhichend-userscanhosttheiredgeapplicaDons,basedaroundmulD-tenant,sharedinfrastructurewithmulDplefiberpathstoeachdatacenterandwithapresenceinmulDplegeographiclocaDons.Forexample,vendorssuchasVaporIOareprovidingfactory-builtmicromodulardatacenters,suchasthoseresemblingshippingcontainers,whichcanbetruckedtoalocaDon,cranedontoconcretepadsorpiersandmadeoperaDonalinhoursordays,whetherintheparkinglotofafactoryoratthebaseofacelltower.These



companiesrepresentexamplesofanewbreedofedgeinfrastructurecompaniesprovidinghardware-,cloud,-andnetwork-agnosDcapproachestoedgecompute.EdgeConnexhasbuiltanetworkofedgedatacentersopDmizedforaccesstoedgeresourcessuchasco-locaDondatacentersand5Gnetworkaccesspoints.

SystemIntegrators(SIs)likeSchneiderandNTTData,aswellastheSIorganizaDonswithinCSPs,workwithedgedatacenteroperatorstointegrate,deploy,andmanageedgeapplicaDonsonbehalfoftheircustomers.5G-enablededgeapplicaDonsrepresentamajorbusinessopportunityforthoseSIsthatcannavigateandmanagethecomplexityofend-to-endsoluDonsinvolvingapplicaDonsoGwarevendors,plaCormsoGwarevendors,hardwarevendors,edgedatacenteroperators,CommunicaDonsServiceProviders(CSPs),installers,cloudserviceproviders,regulators,andevenmunicipaluDliDes.

DistributedRou4ngProviderssuchasArrcus,DriveNets,andStatelessNetworksarebuildingnext-generaDonrouDngplaCormsthatareopDmizedfortheedge.EdgerouDngtechnologyhasspecificneedsandcharacterisDcs,includingtherequirementstoprovidehigh-performance,low-latencyexecuDonofedgenetworkingapplicaDonswhileconsuminglesspower.EdgerouDngtechnologiesalsoneedtobeflexibleandadaptableto“disaggregated”plaCormsthatlendthemselvestoavarietyofheterogenousenvironmentsattheedge.OneofthehallmarksofpubliccloudhasbeenoperatorslookingforwaystoseparatetheNOSfromtheunderlyinghardware,andFuturiombelievesthistrendwillaccelerateastheedgeisdeployed.ArrcusandDriveNetsbothhaveNOSestargetedatlargedistributedcloudsthatofferthebenefitsofhardwaredisaggregaDonandautomatedorchestraDon.StatelesshasbuiltwhatitcallsaSoGware-definedinterconnnect(SD-IX)whichallowsoperatorstorunrouDngas-a-service.ThisisaveryinteresDngareatowatch.

Integra4onAutoma4onPlaXorms(IAPs)andOrchestra4onToolssuchasItenDal,UBiqube,Netcracker,andCiena’sBluePlanetfocusonusingAPIsandsoGware-drivenorchestraDontoconfigureandautomatetheconnecDonsfromthecoreofthenetworktotheedge.ThiswillbecomeanincreasinglyimportantfuncDoninthedeploymentoftheedgeinfrastructurebecause5GandedgecomputeapplicaDonsoGenrequirethelarge-scaleconfiguraDonofdevicesuchassensors,networkingdevices,andcomputeresources.Inthereal-Dme,data-drivenworldofthe5Gedge,thiscannolongerbedonemanuallyandrequiresautomaDon.



TelecomEquipmentManufacturers(TEMs)likeCisco,DellTechnologies,Ericsson,HPE,Huawei,Nokia,andVMwareprovidesoluDonsandplaCormsforedgecompute.ThistakesonawiderangeofformatrangingfromHCIsoluDonstohardwarepackagedwithvirtualizaDonplaCormssuchasVMwareandRedHat,toEricsson’s“EdgeGravity”dataprocessingandconnecDvitygroup.ManyofthesecompaniespartnerwithCSPstoenablethemtoaddedgeprocessingcapabiliDestotheirnetworks,targeDngapplicaDonssuchasAugmentedReality(AR),autonomousvehiclesupport,edgeCDN,cloudgaming,andreal-DmeanalyDcs.

Asyoucansee,thismarkethasmanymovingpartsandisgoingtopresentlargeopportuniDesaswellascompeDDvethreats.Partnershipsandallianceswillbekey.Itisunlikelythatasingledeploymentapproachwilldominateinthismarket.End-userswillmakevendordecisionsbasedonexisDngcommercialrelaDonships,onthelimitaDonsoftheirownin-housecapabiliDesandontheoverallcost-vs.-conveniencetradeoffsofthevariousopDonsavailabletothem.

UlDmately,newapplicaDonswillenablethesuccessofedgedeployments.AccordingtoMobiledgeXinourvendorsurvey:“Exploi>ngtheedgewillrequirenewormodifiedapplica>onsbecauseapplica>onsdesignedtoworkadequatelywithinthelatencyandbandwidthavailableatthecentralizedcloudwon’timprovedrama>callywithbe^erconnec>vity.”



10 - Summary

ThetechnologyofedgecomputeopensupbusinessopportuniDesforcompaniesinawiderangeofenterprise,communicaDons,andconsumermarketsegments.Theadventof5GconnecDvityenablesnewapplicaDonsthatleveragehighbandwidth,lowlatency,highconnecDondensity,andefficientnetworkslicinginordertodeliveruserexperiencesthatwereeitherunachievableornotcost-effecDveusing4G/TLE.InaddiDontotradiDonaltelecomandcloudvendors,anumberofinnovaDvenewcompanieshaveemergedtoprovidesoluDonsandservicesfor5G-enablededgecompute,someofwhomareprofiledintheAppendix.As5Gdeploymentsbecomemorewidespread,wecanexpectaplethoraofnewapplicaDons,soluDons,andsupplierstoaddressthisgrowingmarket.

The5GmarketwillsparkanewlevelofcompeDDonandopportunityintheedgecloud,whichhasthepotenDaltobeaslarge,ifnotlarger,thanthepubliccloud.WeexpectcompaniesthatposiDontheirtechnologystacktoward5G-orientedopportuniDesintheserviceprovider,enterprise,andcloudmarketshavethepotenDaltoestablishhigh-growthplaCormsforthenextdecade.



ContributorsandCredits

R.ScoZRaynovichFounderandChiefAnalystR.ScolRaynovichistheFounderandChiefAnalystofFuturiom,wherehedirectsandsupervisestechnologycoverage.Hehasbeenatechnologywriter,analyst,andpublisherfortwodecades.InthepasthewastheEditorinChiefofLightReading,whereheworkedasapartnerforeightyears.HehelpeddeveloptheresearchbrandHeavyReading,wherehewroteandeditedthefirstreports,andhewasalsotheFounderoftheRaynoReport,whichwassoldtoSDxcentral.com.Hehaswonseveralindustryawards,includinganEditor&PublisherawardforBestBusinessBlog.HisanalysishasbeenfeaturedbyprominentmediaoutletsincludingNPR,CNBC,TheWallStreetJournal,andtheSanJoseMercuryNews.CharlieAshtonContribu4ngAnalystCharlieAshtonisPresidentof21KConsulDng,providingmarkeDngandbusinessdevelopmentservicestotechnologycompaniesworldwide.CharlieisanexpertintelecommunicaDonstechnologyanddidmostoftheresearchandwriDngofthisreport.Hehasextensiveexperienceinthetelecomindustry,havingworkedinbusinessdevelopment,markeDngandstrategyrolesforanumberofsystemsandsoGwarecompanies,includingWindRiver.HeisanavidhikerwhotemporarilyleGthecorporateworldtotryhisluckathikingtheAppalachianTrail.ForquesDonsandfeedback,[email protected]


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