Silicom launches Evenstar distributed unit to accelerate OpenRAN adoption

KFAR SAVA, Israel — March 8, 2021, – Silicom Ltd. (NASDAQ: SILC), a leading provider of networking and data infrastructure solutions, today announced the launch of its O-RAN compliant, Evenstar Distributed Unit (DU) in collaboration with Facebook Connectivity and other Evenstar partners.

The Evenstar DU addresses the growing mobile operator demand for best-in-breed, unbundled DUs that meet 3GPP and O-RAN specifications in order to facilitate the roll-out of OpenRAN 4G and 5G networks.

“We are delighted to be selected by the Evenstar program to introduce our unique DU to a market awaiting OpenRAN-compliant solutions,” commented Shaike Orbach, Silicom’s CEO. “Through this collaboration, we will provide operators with groundbreaking functionality that takes their network flexibility and performance to a new level – such as advanced offloads and time synchronization – at highly competitive price points.”

Launched last year in collaboration with a number of industry players, the Evenstar program aims to accelerate the adoption of OpenRAN solutions by contributing RAN reference architecture to the Telecom Infra Project’s OpenRAN Project Group. The concept behind OpenRAN is to enable operators to decouple key network components, including RUs (Radio Units), DUs (Distribution Units) and CUs (Central Units), enabling best-of-breed components from diverse vendors to be combined into networks for superior performance. This approach is key for driving innovation and reducing network costs.

“We are excited to collaborate with Silicom and other ecosystem partners to build Evenstar components for 4G and 5G networks,” commented Jaydeep Ranade, Director of Wireless Engineering for Facebook Connectivity. “A healthy ecosystem of OpenRAN vendors plays a huge role in accelerating the deployment of simplified, flexible and efficient RAN technologies.”