ZTE Corporation, an industry-leading global provider giving advanced communication technology solutions for operators, companies, and consumers, was awarded 2022 Leading Lights “Outstanding Use Case: Edge Computing” for its remarkable edge computing solution: NodeEngine. By virtue of this one-of-a-kind 5G base station-embedded edge computing solution, ZTE Corporation has made significant contributions to the 5G digital transformation of different industries, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
As the 5G networks deployment becomes wider, ZTE Corporation has developed its NodeEngine, and upgraded it in 2022, helping to build an open, simplified, and intelligent private work. The release of NodeEngine 2.0 white paper manifests ZTE Corporation’s huge stride towards developing and researching the industrial ToB application, which is significant to worldwide industries.
ZTE Corporation’s NodeEngine solution is awarded 2022 Leading Lights “Outstanding Use Case: Edge Computing”
In Dec. 2022, Leading Lights gave ZTE “Outstanding Use Case: Edge Computing” award for its excellent NodeEngine. SMEs are typically cost-conscious, looking for a cost-effective and digital way to increase operational efficiency while also saving money. Edge computing accelerates the industrial transformation and has become a strong engine for developing industrial digitization by moving most traditional computing processes to edge devices in conjunction with 5G.
On the other hand, the conventional traditional edge computing solution usually needs dedicated equipment space or room, additional transmission links, new power supply, and other auxiliaries, all of which are prohibitively expensive and time-consuming to deploy, preventing many businesses from embracing digital transformation.
NodeEngine solution, an innovative 5G base station-embedded edge computing project, is a game changer. Firstly, it streamlines the deployment of edge computing platforms in a plug-and-play way within 5G base stations, allowing a great number of SMEs to benefit from 5G technology in a cost-effective way.
Meanwhile, the solution can also satisfy the industry service requirement while guaranteeing the quality of service. Furthermore, the solution has the built-in computational capability to meet scalable business requirements while laying the groundwork for forthcoming 5G industry applications as well as the IT/OT/CT multi-field technology integration.
For instance, Zhejiang Hotel Star Co., Ltd. can be regarded as a typical Chinese SME specializing in producing medium- and high-end corrugated cartons. With increased manufacturing scale, the company’s large WiFi-based private networks can no longer match the actual needs. ZTE Corporation’s NodeEngine assists Hotel Star in meeting the needs of new services such as data collecting, cloud-automated guided vehicle (AGV), electronic fence services, machine vision, and so on.
The solution increases the ratio of equipment utilization by 20%, the efficiency of warehousing management by 50%, and the efficiency of quality inspection by 80%. In the meantime, as automation levels improve, labor costs are lowered by 30%.
The use of the NodeEngine edge computing solution at Hotel Star is an outstanding example of how SMEs can adopt edge computing quickly and affordably. NodeEngine has been used in over ten sectors with more than 130 projects, encompassing a wide range of fields like smart manufacturing, smart mine, smart medicare, smart neighborhood, and so on. In the future, the widespread use of the NodeEngine solution will hasten the digital transformation of numerous industries.
NodeEngine 2.0: constructing a simplified, open, and smart private network.
5G communication technologies have emerged as a key engine for boosting industrial digital transformation. With the broad deployment of 5G new products, 5G networks, new business models and new services in the 2B market continue to emerge. The primary requirement for 5G networks is to answer industrial users’ demands for diversified, tailored, and cost-effective private network building.
Based on this notion, ZTE Corporation has developed NodeEngine, a one-of-a-kind site-level computing power engine solution. This solution can minimize the private networks’ construction via the ultra-lean deployment method, allowing lots of SMEs to develop their private networks rapidly and affordably while reaping the benefits of 5G. Moreover, the solution can also support diverse services, terminals, and QoS needs, enabling it to deliver a plethora of network operations while achieving intelligent service guarantee criteria.
Besides, NodeEngine has a function for exposing service capabilities, built-in computational capacity, and flexible adaptability to scaling service requirements, setting the groundwork for forthcoming 5G industry applications as well as IT/OT/CT convergence.
With the advancement of digital transformation in various industries in the field of 5G, customer demand for cloud-network convergence is increasing. Therefore, using the experience of NodeEngine 1.0 deployment with local traffic offload being the core, ZTE Corporation has proposed a revolutionary “1+N+∞” architecture in the upgraded NodeEngine 2.0. In the architecture, “1” refers to a single board, meaning that building plug-and-play local private network only needs one board. “N” represents N-dimensional services provided by NodeEngine, which includes high-precision positioning, low latency videos, SLA guarantee, a self-service portal, and many other services that cover various fields. “∞“means that the enhanced solution has an unlimited expansion of network capacities with the capability exposure function. As a result, NodeEngine could be integrated into a novel information architecture that combines computing power, network connectivity, and capability exposure, which makes it possible to serve an infinite number of application scenarios.
Based on “1+N+∞” architecture, the advanced NodeEngine 2.0 achieves intelligent network connection, ultra-lean network deployment, as well as wireless capability exposure. With basic capabilities like multi-type terminal access, no data out of campus, self-service, accurate network capability, and cost-efficiency, the upgraded solution can fully meet customers’ needs. The ultra-lean network deployment can be divided into three parts: ultra-lean engineering, ultra-lean networking, and ultra-lean configuration.
NodeEngine 2.0 released by ZTE Corporation, has received unanimous approval from operators and industry clients. NodeEngine 2.0 has been used in over 70 applications across ten industries, including smart mining, intelligent entertainment, smart manufacturing, smart medical care, and smart livelihood. It has assisted clients in quickly and effectively building their private networks in a variety of settings and achieving strong deployment outcomes. The widespread use of NodeEngine 2.0 will hasten the speed of the industry’s digital transformation, improving services across the board.
In the years ahead, ZTE Corporation will continue to upgrade its world-class edge computing solution, building open, simplified, and intelligent private work in the fields of various industries. Based on the powerful industrial solution capacity of ZTE 5G network, the improved NodeEngine 2.0 can further accelerate the digital transformation and bring worldwide operators better services.