Xilinx and Fujitsu team up to advance 5G deployment in US

Silver "5G" in 3D

Xilinx and Fujitsu are teaming up to augment 5G deployment in the US.

As part of their partnership, Xilinx will incorporate its UltraScale+ technology into Fujitsu’s O-RAN 5G radio units (O-RUs). An O-RAN, or open radio access network, allows baseband and radio unit components from multiple vendors to operate together, enabling operators to customize the network as needed.

Fujitsu’s O-RAN-compatible 5G radio units offer support for a broad range of spectrum and multi-band applications for 5G O-RAN networks. With the addition of Xilinx UltraScale+ devices, which require only half the power and surface area to regulate waveform-processing applications, network operators can strike the right balance of operating costs and benefits.

“Together, Xilinx’s UltraScale+ portfolio of solutions with Fujitsu’s leading radio platforms deliver a solid foundation for enabling the great benefits of O-RAN that are central to 5G deployments,” said Masaki Taniguchi, senior vice president and head of the mobile system business unit at Fujitsu.

The new Fujitsu O-RUs powered by Xilinx UltraScale+ will be deployed in the first O-RAN-compliant 5G greenfield networks based in the US. Additionally, Xilinx aims to work closely with its other O-RAN ecosystem partners to meet 5G O-RAN networks’ evolving needs.

Fujitsu is also evaluating Xilinx’s programmable radio-frequency system-on-a-chip (RFSoC) that offers “50-75% power and footprint reduction for 5G massive-MIMO and millimeter-wave wireless backhaul applications” to further reduce cost and power consumption in upcoming 5G sites.

"We are proud to collaborate with Fujitsu in the development of their multi-generation 5G radio units using our industry-leading UltraScale+ solutions, which will be deployed in a major greenfield 5G network,” said Liam Madden, executive vice president and general manager, Wired and Wireless Group at Xilinx.

Madden continued, “As the market needs for 5G continue to evolve, Fujitsu also recognized the importance of integrating Xilinx adaptable RFSoCs to address the evolution of standards for next-generation radio deployments.”