ETSI ISG MEC visits 5TONIC Laboratory

Exclusive tour and demonstration highlights 5G MEC use cases being developed in the Co-creation laboratory

04 April 2019

Representatives of ETSI’s International Steering Group (ISG) on Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) were given an exclusive tour of the 5TONIC 5G co-creation laboratory in Madrid last week. The team from ETSI was in Madrid for the 17th plenary meeting of the MEC ISG.  The meeting was hosted by Universidad Carlos III Madrid who, as one of the partners of the 5TONIC initiative, arranged the laboratory visit.

During the visit the ISG were given a presentation of the ongoing 5TONIC project trials that are using low-latency MEC to deliver applications of 5G technology. They include a project led by 5TONIC member company Altran, focussed on the connected car market, as well as another one intended to support the centralized control of Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) in a factory setting.

This latter project is one of the key Use Cases of the EU-backed H2020 project 5G-EVE and is being carried out in collaboration with ASTI Mobile Robotics and Saguna Networks. The ETSI team were shown a working demo of the MEC-based AGVs as well being given a guided tour of the laboratory facilities.

Around 30 people from operators and vendors including Vodafone, China Mobile, China Unicom, KDDI, ZTE, Intel, NEC or Nokia took part in the visit. As part of the visit the group was also given an insight into the new deployment options that will be tested at the laboratory, as well as its plans to evolve the current test infrastructure towards 5G.

5TONIC members Intel, InterDigital and Telefónica are all members of the MEC ISG, while University Carlos III Madrid is a MEC participant.  Saguna Networks, a 5TONIC collaborator, is also a MEC member. The work of 5TONIC’s members, collaborators and partners is providing real use case experience that will help to refine the standards currently being defined by ETSI.

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About ETSI ISG MEC

The Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) initiative is an Industry Specification Group (ISG) within ETSI. The purpose of the ISG is to create a standardized, open environment which will allow the efficient and seamless integration of applications from vendors, service providers, and third-parties across multi-vendor Multi-access Edge Computing platforms. Multi-access Edge Computing is regarded as a key technology to bring application-oriented capabilities into the heart of a carrier’s network, in order to explore a wide range of new use cases, especially those with low latency requirements. The ISG has currently 65 members (that are ETSI members) and 25 participants.

About 5TONIC

5TONIC was initiated by Telefónica and IMDEA Networks Institute with a clear vision to create an open research and innovation ecosystem laboratory in which industry and academia come together to boost technology and business innovative ventures. The laboratory promotes joint project development, joint entrepreneurial ventures, discussion fora, events and conference sites, all in an international environment of the highest impact. 5TONIC serves to show the capabilities and interoperation of pre-commercial 5G equipment, services and applications, by leading global companies in the 5G arena. The laboratory was recently awarded Digital Innovation Hub status by the European Commission.

About 5G-EVE

The 5G-EVE project looks to deliver a European Validation platform for Extensive 5G trials. Launched in July 2018, the project will see the creation and implementation of advanced 5G testing infrastructures in a number of inter-connected locations across Europe. The project involves some 28 partners from seven countries including four of the main European operators as well as six vertical market companies. More information at https://5g-ppp.eu/5g-eve/