Mavenir extends AI and analytics portfolio

Maintaining its attempt to cash in on the increase in uptake and availability of software-defined communications solutions, end-to-end network software provider Mavenir has extended its artificial intelligence (AI) and analytics portfolio to enable closed-loop automation and drive digital transformation.

The provider of software network transformation solutions for communications service providers (CSPs) expects the deployment of AI and machine learning (ML) in mobile network infrastructure – which can lower costs by automating functions that typically require human interaction and to speed new revenue generating service offerings – as becoming increasingly important as edge, open radio access networks (Open RAN), and 5G cores get deployed.

Mavenir’s AI and analytics portfolio includes solutions designed to analyse and derive inferences from vast amounts of unstructured data to automate networks, achieve cost savings and build out 5G use cases.

Looking to take advantage of the fact that many Industry 4.0 use cases such as intelligent video analytics and AR/VR are enabled by 5G that require AI-driven inferences at the edge, Mavenir has built into its solutions AI-enabled applications for network automation, intelligent operations, edge AI and network security.

“AI is the key driver for Industry 4.0, providing real-time insights and control of industrial processes. low latency, high density of 5G are also enablers, so in essence, the combination of 5G and AI equals Industry 4.0,” said Kuntal Chowdhury, senior vice-president and general manager of Mavenir’s AI and analytics business unit.

“While Mavenir’s AI and analytics solutions are now available as standalone solutions, we have been offering intelligent insights as integrated solutions to Tier 1 customers around the world for years. Currently, over 200 systems are deployed in more than 80 customer networks, and our solutions process and analyse billions of records per day, offering real-time/near-real-time insights to optimise network performance with little to no human intervention.”

Addressing network automation, the firm’s RAN intelligent controller (RIC) and network data analytics function (NWDAF) follow the specifications introduced by the O-RAN Alliance and 3GPP and operate as the heart of a network automation vision. The RIC and NWDAF enable the network to dynamically adapt to traffic conditions using machine learning (ML)-based algorithms and applications that can be deployed in any network in a multi-supplier environment.

By automating network operational processes with AI and analytics solutions, Mavenir said operators should be able to substantially reduce the cost and time from traditional and more labour-intensive methods such as drive testing, log inspection, troubleshooting, and manual calibration.

With AI-based prediction engines, it believes that operators can achieve intelligent capacity planning and reduce the possibility of large-scale network outages. With anomaly detection capability, operators can uncover underlying network faults that are not easily visible. This AI-driven operations (AIOps) solution using ML techniques can play a key role in reducing operating expenses and gives operators control over their networks. 

Mavenir’s 5G EdgeAI solution includes intelligent video analytics that can support myriad of use cases from facial recognition to anomaly detection for Industry 4.0 and smart city use cases. Next-generation of AR/VR applications are accelerated and enhanced by this edge platform, and a large number of sensor data gets analysed with actions taken in a matter of milliseconds by the edge industrial internet of things (IIoT) analytics application.