Singtel partners Micron to deploy commercial 5G millimetre wave solution at its largest facility – a first in Singapore and for the semiconductor manufacturing sector

Singapore – Singtel today announced that it has been appointed by Micron Technology to deploy its 5G millimetre wave (mmWave) solutions with localized edge core at the semiconductor manufacturer’s 3D NAND flash memory fabrication plant in Singapore. Micron is the first company in Singapore piloting 5G by deploying an mmWave campus solution with edge core on-premises for industry 4.0 manufacturing applications.

The customised solutions will be deployed at Micron’s cleanroom to support the development of a variety of digitally enabled and enhanced applications – from automated visual inspections of individual chips to augmented reality (AR) for operations and maintenance. This rollout follows successful trials using Singtel’s GENIE, the world’s first portable 5G-in-a-box platform, which helped validate the mmWave solution, verify its performance and demonstrate the operational benefits of Singtel’s 5G solutions in Micron’s next generation cleanroom.

"This industry-first deployment proves that 5G networks can be used for high-precision quality control and manufacturing operations which previously was not possible with the limitations of Wi-Fi. Additionally, the implementation is a significant milestone in Singtel’s journey to accelerate enterprise 5G adoption and will serve as a case study to inspire other 5G-enabled manufacturing sites around the world." said Mr Bill Chang, Chief Executive Officer, Group Enterprise, Singtel.

Singtel’s 5G mmWave network supports massive bandwidth of up to 2 Gbps with ultra-low latency – bringing to life a whole suite of applications from high resolution and immersive AR/VR glasses, to the confidence needed to conduct image-based quality control processing which demands high uplink bandwidth.

With 5G on-prem edge core, Micron can leverage smaller and lighter loT (Internet of Things) devices that require less computing power for cleanroom operations. Apart from being more user-friendly, devices can also last longer before requiring another charge, creating an overall improved experience for operators. Singtel’s Paragon, an all-in-one platform for 5G networks, edge computing and services orchestration, will be used to analyze the performance of the device and networks, thus providing the capability of real time performance monitoring and feedback.

"Micron is a manufacturing powerhouse supported by a unique global network. The company is committed to leading in quality and staying at the cutting edge of utilizing smart solutions and AI in its facilities. Together with Singtel, we aim to bring the performance to the next level leveraging 5G technology. This will propel us forward as a trailblazer in operational excellence and scaled implementation of Industry 4.0 technology," said Mr Koen De Backer, Micron’s Vice President of Smart Manufacturing and Artificial Intelligence of Global Operations.

Micron Singapore is home to the industry’s leading 3D NAND technology, providing scale to future NAND technology transitions that will fuel new device experiences and infrastructure innovation across the data centre and the intelligent edge.