NEC Improves Energy Efficiency and Footprint Density of 5G Mobile Core Systems

NEC Corporation has increased the performance to power ratio of the 5G Mobile Core System (5GC) by more than 6 times and increased the footprint density by 10 times. This was accomplished using Intel Xeon 6 processors with E-Cores under traffic loads and models based on actual commercial traffic models.

As mobile communication continues to evolve from 5G to 6G, it is necessary to handle the constantly growing mobile traffic. To meet this demand, the computing resources of data centers are constantly increasing, posing challenges in dealing with the growing power consumption and footprint. The customer also requests to improve the unit power consumption performance and footprint density of 5GC to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve cost-effectiveness.

Through collaboration with Intel, NEC has made significant progress in terms of per watt performance and footprint density, and has validated the session management function (SMF) of the core feature of NEC 5GC equipped with Intel Xeon 6 E-Cores processor.

NEC’s 5GC has advanced parallel computing technology, which can utilize multiple CPU cores and has flexible expansion capabilities. This enables NEC’s 5GC to fully utilize the capabilities of Intel Xeon 6 processors, significantly improving performance.

In addition, NEC’s 5GC is compatible with various environments, including the local environment and public cloud used in this validation, and can provide high-performance advantages in any environment.

Looking ahead, NEC will continue to improve the performance of its mobile core systems, aiming to push the network beyond the 5G/6G era. NEC is committed to contributing to the digital transformation of telecommunications operators, enhancing end-user experience, and expanding the mobile network market.