Nokia's Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) solution, delivered as a software update for existing Nokia AirScale base stations, goes beyond 4G-5G and includes dynamic spectrum sharing between 2G, 3G, and 4G technologies to enable a smooth transition to 5G deployment. The 4G-5G DSS feature, of particular interest to operators in leading 5G markets, automatically coordinates spectrum usage between 4G and 5G, allowing them to repurpose existing 4G radio networks and accelerate 5G deployment. Typically, 5G is deployed in the higher millimeter wave (mmWave) or centimeter wave (cmWave) bands of the spectrum, while 4G is deployed in lower frequency ranges. By repurposing the lower-frequency 4G spectrum, 5G coverage can be achieved more quickly and at a lower cost. The first deliveries of Nokia's DSS solution are planned for April 2020, while large-scale shipments are planned for July, in line with the availability of DSS-enabled mobile devices.
Nokia has also announced several innovations in cloud-based 5G radio access networks (RAN), including the Nokia AirScale All-in-Cloud base station. This virtualizes the baseband in real time and puts the potential of baseband processing at the network edge to meet extremely low latency requirements, thereby enhancing network efficiency. Furthermore, Nokia's Bell Labs is currently showcasing a next-generation prototype in this domain to customers: the Nokia AirScale cloud-native RAN. This will implement cloud-native features, enabling flexible RAN decomposition into a service-based architecture. All of this will be supported by cutting-edge infrastructure and chipsets from Nokia's "Powered by ReefShark" portfolio, as well as various central processing units (CPUs) and graphics processing units (GPUs), to further boost 5G network performance.
