White Papers

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2 | Whitepaper – Exploring Computing Platforms for Radio Access Networks
Executive Summary
Communications service providers are envisioning increased demand for mobile services
including media and content delivery, mobile gaming, augmented and virtual reality, and
connected vehicles. To satisfy this emerging demand, the buildout of 5G cellular infrastructure
has commenced. Computing infrastructure is behind the scenes supporting radio access
networks and other core services so this wireless ecosystem can grow. This paper analyzes the
current workloads surrounding radio access networks, how they are changing, and where
opportunities for offload exist to support enhanced computing performance. This paper briefly
discusses “Edge” computing workloads, a closely related topic as infrastructure sites that
support the radio network are expected to host multi-access edge computing applications as
well.