February 22, 2017

Intel, RIFT.io, Vasona Networks and Xaptum to Demonstrate Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) IoT Proof of Concept at Mobile World Congress 2017

Intel, RIFT.io, Vasona Networks and Xaptum announced today ETSI Industry Specification Group for Mobile Edge Computing (ISG MEC) has approved its joint multi-access edge computing (MEC) industrial Internet of Things (IoT) proof of concept (PoC). The companies will showcase the low-latency PoC at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona Feb. 27-March 3.

The joint demonstration will show a MEC platform providing low-latency Industrial IoT with scalable real-time data exchange between IoT devices and cloud-based industrial applications. The MEC platform enables breakout and redirection of IoT traffic on the Radio Access Network (RAN) and locally hosts a secure IoT virtual gateway that directs the traffic to an optimized, dedicated IoT IP network. Applications can leverage low-latency transactions with real-time metadata about localized usage, security and end-user quality of service (QoS).

This PoC addresses the needs of operators and vendors, especially as it relates to the new Industry 4.0 standards. Industrial IoT, which encompasses machine-to-machine communications, has strict performance demands. To guarantee low latency and high predictability, operators will require new Radio Access Network (RAN) architecture to route traffic efficiently and quickly.

“MEC-based solutions bring the benefits of 5G to today’s 3G and 4G networks, supporting rapid and efficient data delivery,” said Rui Frazao, CTO of Vasona Networks. “The IoT low-latency PoC demonstrates the foundation operators can put in place right now to get a head start on pursuing new enterprise markets and business opportunities.”

The backbone for this PoC is provided by Xaptum’s IoT optimized distributed Peering IP-Overlay Network. This solution extends Xaptum’s Edge Network Fabric (ENF) architecture to the mobile edge for low latency and secure data communication in line with industry 4.0 standards.

Vasona Networks provides the mobile edge host and platform to identify and classify IoT traffic, redirecting it to Xaptum’s secure IoT message and forwarding gateway. The Intel® IoT Gateway technologies deliver business-changing intelligence at the edge, connect legacy and new systems, and help data flow with built-in security between edge devices and cloud running on Intel® architecture-based MEC Servers. Additionally, Intel offers the Intel® Network Edge Virtualization SDK for MEC application and services.

“The key is to ensure that IoT data moves from the mobile edge to cloud applications securely, at scale with very low latency,” said Rohit Pasam, CEO of Xaptum. “This PoC demonstrates for operators that they can expand their universe of potential customers and effectively compete for Industrial IoT applications business.”

The PoC is deployed over an ETSI NFV-compliant infrastructure highlighting the benefits of COTS hardware. Orchestration and automation capabilities are provided by RIFT.io’s RIFT.ware software, a commercially supported offering of the ETSI Open Source MANO (OSM) community. RIFT.ware is a carrier-grade network virtualization platform that extends the reach of network services to the edge. “MEC Platform to Enable Low-Latency Industrial IoT PoC" will be on display in the Vasona stand 6L41 and Rift.io stand 6J8 at Mobile World Congress, taking place February 27 - March 2 in Barcelona. For more about this PoC, visit ETSI MEC Wiki.