Ericsson
Spearheading a mobile metaverse
Ericsson, established in 1876 by Lars Magnus Ericsson, has transitioned from a telegraph repair workshop in Stockholm to a global leader in the telecommunications and technology sectors. Ericsson at a glance:
- Global market leader with $26 billion annual revenues in hardware, software & services
- More than 105,000 colleagues serving customers in 180 countries
- One of Europe’s five largest technology companies by revenue (Fortune 500 Europe)
- 50% of the world´s 5G traffic outside mainland China carried over Ericsson’s technology
- Number one telecom vendor in Europe with a market share of around 40%
- €4.1 billion annual R&D investments (17% of revenues)
- 21 European Research & Development centres in Europe
- 30,000 engineers and inventors, of whom more than 60% located in Europe
- 60,000 granted patents and more than 100 + signed license agreements
Edge computing, also referred to as Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) or Multi-Access Edge Computing, is a distributed framework which brings processing and storage resources for applications closer to where data is generated or consumed. By keeping the compute capacity close to the users, devices or data sources, edge solutions deliver benefits such as low latency, high bandwidth, device processing and data offload, improving the performance, security, operating cost and reliability of applications and services.
Ericsson spearheaded a collaborative endeavour to enhance immersive VR experiences by leveraging 5G and edge technology, bringing together key players from the realms of technology and entertainment. The project united two ecosystems: one comprising technological giants including AT&T, NVIDIA, Qualcomm, and Ericsson, and the other hailing from the entertainment industry, represented by Wevr and Dreamscape Immersive.
One of the hurdles toward fully immersive VR experiences, according to Ericsson, is the lack of mobility. In collaboration with these five companies, the Ericsson private 5G network – optimised to support VR by the Ericsson D15 team – helped validate three important building blocks for future applications:
- Increased computing power: by moving computing power from a backpack laptop to a 5G network edge;
- Unrestricted movement: eliminating the wires between the headset and a computing source; and
- Multi-user capability: the enablement of a multi-user immersive experience.