The trends of NFV (Network Function Virtualization) and SDN (Software-Defined Network), as well as the upcoming 5G has driven to revolutionize the networking industry, and Lanner, the global leader in NFV/SDN telecom white-box hardware, has taken initiatives in telecommunication, edge computing, enterprise vCPE, 5G Cloud RAN, and network security virtualization to plan ahead for the emerging trends.

With 3 years of dedication, Lanner’s networking white-box hardware has been validated/pre-validated by 66% of top 15 SDN vendors in the world. To remain leadership in the field, Lanner has foreseen the next upcoming goal: HybridTCA TM + MEC-AI, integrating hyper-converged network infrastructure and edge computing AI (Artificial Intelligence). The goal is to offer time-to-market customization and high-performance white-box hardware for customer applications, with a full portfolio of desktop, 1U, 2U and up to 6U form factors. To meet global customer requirements, Lanner is dedicated in highly integrated and highly-comprehensive solutions in its product and service roadmap.

This time, Lanner has formed industry-academic co-op programs with National Chiao Tung University (NCTU), mainly with top students in Department of Computer Science and Department of Mechanical Engineering. The collaboration is anticipated to lead the technologies in thermal and 5G edge computing in order to improve customization services and design. The academic group was led by professor Dr. Ying-Dar, Lin of NCTU, who teamed with other NCTU profession Dr. Chi-Chuan Wang, and assistant professor Dr. Chi-Yu, Li to offer their expertise in 5G edge computing and server thermal technology for Lanner. This was considered a well-integrated co- op program.

Dr. Ying-Dar, Lin, professor of NCTU, said “edge computing is forming thefundamental block of 5G mobile network infrastructure. In fact, the disaggregation of software and hardware seems around the corner so that white-box hardware will be the preferred platform in the market. It is expected to see Nokia, Ericsson and Huawei infrastructures adopting white-box hardware”.

Jeans Tseng, GM of Telecommunication Application Business Unit of Lanner, added “This is an industry-academic co-op program between Lanner and NCTU symbolizes a milestone and we expect to see Lanner to realize more POC (Proof of Concept) implementations and establish more ecosystem partners.”

The initialization ceremony of the collaboration between Lanner and NCTU reveals the ambition to establish market leadership in technology, R&D capability and market penetration from both parties. With the technological expertise from the well-ranked academic institution, Lanner is foreseeing its market penetration in the upcoming 5G in 2020.