Rakuten Symphony’s new Symware 2.0 achieves 3x RAN capacity

Rakuten Symphony today announced the 2.0 version of its SymwareTM next-generation distributed unit platform for Open RAN. Symware 2.0 platform is based on 4th Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors with Intel® vRAN Boost enabling three times the capacity of Symware 1.0 platform while maintaining a smaller form factor and power budget.

The new platform is being launched at MWC Barcelona 2023 where Symware 2.0 demos will take place in the Rakuten Symphony booth (#2D46) and the Intel booth (#3E31).

The Symware platform is designed for high-performance and high-capacity cell sites in a distributed or centralized deployment scenario where it has the performance to help manage spectrum complexity and carrier aggregation that is a roadblock facing some MNOs in their adoption of Open RAN technology.

“One challenge facing the adoption of Open RAN is minimizing the cost and complexity of the DU – and the Symware 2.0 product is an ideal solution to that obstacle,” said Tareq Amin, CEO of Rakuten Symphony. “I am delighted to work with Intel to deliver an incredibly disruptive design for the Symware 2.0 platform. This would not have been possible without the integrated accelerator design of the 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors.”

In 2021, Rakuten Symphony launched the first Symware product which was designed to simplify Open RAN deployments at scale and greatly reduce the total cost of ownership of the network. The company has started deployment of more than 30,000 Symware units to build out the Rakuten Mobile 4G and 5G network in Japan.

“We worked closely with Rakuten Symphony as they pioneered Open RAN, and learned a lot about how to reduce the complexity to help enable Symware 2.0 server,” said Dan Rodriguez, CVP and GM of the Network and Edge Solutions Group at Intel. “Rakuten was a key collaborator as we designed the 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processor with Intel vRAN Boost so that it would meet what operators need to deliver Open RAN.”

The two Symware models include an outdoor server and telco cloud version. The outdoor server is environmentally hardened with an IP67 enclosure and a fan-free design. The telco cloud version is designed for data center installation in 19” rack and, due to its short depth, it also fits into outdoor cabinets that have short-depth racks.

CT Bureau