Telecoms trio demo laptop 5G network slicing

According to the trio, the breakthrough highlights potential uses for 5G SA technology on devices beyond smartphones, “paving the way for new business opportunities for cellular-connected laptops”.

Powered by Intel processors and running on Windows 11 (OS), the interoperability development test (IoDT) was carried out at the Ericsson Lab in Sweden demonstrating multiple network slices on cellular-connected laptop devices. Network slicing is a form of virtual network architecture using the same principles behind software defined networking (SDN) and network functions virtualisation (NFV) in fixed networks.

Ericsson said the use of 5G SA technology via laptops rather than smartphones would have particularly significant implications for gaming and collaboration applications. Expanded network slicing capabilities can support defining specific service level agreements per slice for existing and emerging Windows applications and use cases, such as real-time enterprise applications like Microsoft Teams and Office365, game/media streaming, and emerging AI and augmented reality/extended reality (AR/XR) applications.