Xilinx to Power Fujitsu 5G O-RAN Gear

Xilinx will supply its chip architecture to Fujitsu to power that vendor’s open radio access network (O-RAN) 5G radio units for deployment in the U.S. The move further embeds Xilinx into the still evolving O-RAN space. Xilinx will supply its chip architecture to Fujitsu to power that vendor’s open radio access network (O-RAN) 5G radio units for deployment in the U.S. The move further embeds Xilinx into the still evolving O-RAN space. The Xilinx deal calls for Fujitsu to use its UltraScale+ architecture for its 5G O-RAN equipment. UltraScale+ is Xilinx’s 16-nanometer and 20-nanometer architecture. The Fujitsu deal will include Xilinx’s radio frequency system on chip (RFSoC) products that are targeted at the O-RAN ecosystem, with the vendor adding that that Fujitsu was also looking at its RFSoC technology to help reduce cost and power consumption for future deployments. Xilinx EVP and GM Liam Madden noted in a statement that the combined product “will be deployed in a major greenfield 5G network.” That network is expected to be Dish Network’s long-promised greenfield 5G deployment. Fujitsu last year scored a “large purchase” deal with Dish Network to provide low- and mid-band O-RAN Alliance compliant radios. Chris Antlitz, principal analyst at Technology Business Research, at that time noted that Fujitsu is a “legitimate RAN vendor with good technology, but the company has historically only supplied a few operators, most notably NTT DoCoMo in Japan, whom they have supplied with RAN for decades.” The deal is significant for Xilinx as it looks to garner a larger piece of the growing O-RAN market. The vendor is in the process of being acquired by AMD in a deal valued at $35 billion, a deal that is expected to bolster AMD’s presence in the 5G, data center, and automotive space against rivals Intel and Nvidia. Xilinx is also viewed as one of several competitors in the growing O-RAN space alongside vendors like Broadcom, Marvel, and new entrant Qualcomm. That last one could be compelling as the handset chip giant last year said that it wanted to begin pushing into the 5G O-RAN chipset business. Qualcomm said it’s planning to have a trio of platforms targeting that space and shipping to vendors during the first half of 2022. The O-RAN hardware and software market is forecast to account for 10% of the broader RAN market and surpass $5 billion in cumulative revenue through 2025, according to a report from Dell’Oro Group. Sales of virtualized O-RAN basebands and radios, including software and firmware, are expected to capture less than 1% of the RAN market this year, but the double-digital annual growth rates predicted by Dell’Oro Group are being fueled by various factors, including a politically-motivated trade war that generally positions open RAN as an alternative to Chinese-made equipment.