An Industry Transformed by Private Networks

Qualcomm has developed the Edgewise Suite of tools to help with the deployment of private network radio systems. RDTECH's take on the latest industry news.

Edgewise Suite provides RAN planning, deployment, management, and automation tools that accelerate the deployment of both public and private networks. With the Edgewise Suite, private networks can become more flexible and streamlined, which is important for the adaptive operations of private networks. The suite allows for various configurations to be continuously changed and optimized for specific applications or devices.

Qualcomm takes an ecosystem-oriented approach to accelerate the industrial adoption of private networks. The private networks vendor ecosystem, operators included, recognizes the need to balance the development of highly-customized solutions tailored to specific industries and use cases with the need for horizontal platforms that support replicable solutions in multiple verticals. Qualcomm worked with Capgemini to deliver a 5G-enabled automated hoisting solution to Schneider Electric, which supports manual and autonomous capabilities.

Many verticals benefit from automating the control of remote and/or moving objects. To properly manage these types of deployments, it’s imperative to know where every asset is. During MWC, Qualcomm showed private network demos yielding single-digit centimeter-level positioning in complex indoor environments. The next evolution of precise positioning is RF sensing, which allows changes in radio propagation to be analyzed, contextualized, and used to determine the location, direction, and other dimensions of a device that’s not equipped with a cellular modem. This allows the tracking of the environment very accurately and enables the digital twin, which is a fundamental goal for 5G private networks.