Sprint and mobile network technology provider Ericsson have now teamed up to build a distributed virtual core network and operating system specifically catering to the IoT for Enterprise and business customers. The global effort is planned to result in a 5G-ready solution for the market that will optimize data flow, security, and enable the creation of an “immediate economy” based on the IoT. To that end, the Sprint IoT platform will be built on Ericsson’s own IoT Accelerator platform and start with a software-based core network designed to reduce the distance between nodes – placing them directly on-premise if needed – in order to reduce latency and improve security. That will, according to the companies, also result in reduced time between data input from end-devices and the generation of actionable information from IoT applications.
Meanwhile, the operating system to be used in conjunction with that network offering will simplify activity for both the connectivity of a device on the IoT and those devices’ firmware and software, the pair claims. All of that data will further be managed on the security front by solutions built-in at the chip level for associated IoT hardware. The OS will also deliver lifecycle management and the ability to monitor billing and usage data. Used together, the system will enable data to be brought in by connected devices and immediately turned into information that can be used by enterprise or business customers. That’s backed by a service assurance which covers all aspects of the network from cloud orchestration and application management to resource fulfillment and network operations across all locations included in a given Sprint IoT network.
The overall goal of the new IoT solution, as described by the two companies, is to provide a secure and seamless way for businesses and “society” to connect. More specifically, the partners point to the low-latency needs of AI, edge computing, robotics, autonomous vehicles, and similar technologies. That doesn’t necessarily provide much insight with regard to how this latest IoT effort differs from Sprint’s previous proposed entries into that sphere of the technology market. However, the companies are set to provide more details at the upcoming Mobile World Congress Americas event on September 12.