Xilinx in late 2020 joined a new project led by Facebook and involving several network operators and vendors focused on developing a flexible new supply chain for more adaptive, open and “metaverse-ready” radio access networks (RANs) for OpenRAN-based 4G and 5G networks.
More than a year and a half later, Xilinx is now owned by AMD, and Facebook is part of newly-named parent organization Meta Platforms, and the project, called Evenstar, is now led by Meta Connectivity. The names have changed, but the project continues to advance, with an announcement from AMD this week that its Xilinx Zynq UltraScale+ RF system-on-a-chip platform has enabled the development of multiple Evenstar radio units (RUs) to expand 4G/5G network infrastructure options with new RAN reference design options.
The RUs have flexibility to meet the requirements of different mobile radio configurations and schemes, including 4G/5G, millimeter wave, and sub-6GHz, using the same foundational hardware. That flexibility will allow radio vendors to react quickly to new market opportunities, according to a statement from AMD that included comments from Meta Connectivity.
“We are excited to see AMD’s RFSoC solutions incorporated into Evenstar RUs in collaboration with our ecosystem partners,” said Jaydeep Ranade, director of wireless engineering for Meta Connectivity. “As we continue to champion open, disaggregated solutions for the industry, we look forward to unlocking new ways to accelerate the pace of innovation as networks evolve.”
While OpenRAN architectures have faced an immense challenge in breaking the vice grip that legacy mobile infrastructure vendors have held on network planning and deployment, research firm Dell’Oro Group recently said that open architectures are making progress and appear to have a bright future.
Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg also has discussed the importance of the Evenstar project, most recently at the Mobile World Congress event in February.
“The development of Evenstar radios with our adaptive radio technology inside is a significant achievement for AMD,” added Dan Mansur, vice president, Data Center andCommunications Group, AMD. “We are proud to be an ecosystem partner with Meta Connectivity and look forward to continuing our collaborative designs for Evenstar to deliver flexible, scalable, and efficient wireless solutions.”