Two Portable Private 5G Networks, One Designed to Carry on a Plane, the Other to Survive a Fall from a Plane

For those unfamiliar with my LinkedIn posting, there are certain people I will repost, and certain people whose YouTube posts I will share. Given my eclectic background, I try to limit those posts to the industry but, occasionally, the worlds converge.

Indeed, that’s what happened this week when I was reading about HTC subsidiary Viverse’s Reign Core, which is featured in a travel suitcase. By the looks of it, it may fit into a generous overhead. However, that may only be the switching fabric and, if so, companies like NYBSYS, Ericsson, and Celona, to mention but a few, can accomplish much the same thing.

Building a completely private network includes these components:

1. 5G Radio Access Network (RAN) Capability (gNB - gNodeB): This would include the hardware and software to generate and transmit 5G signals over a specific frequency band (likely a licensed private band or shared spectrum like CBRS). It also needs integrated or external antennas optimized for the chosen frequency band and desired coverage area and the protocol stack to handle communication with the 5G user equipment.
2. Simplified 5G Core Network Functions: There are some management functions that are critical to run the network, like authentication, session management, and mobility management. Given the contained nature of these portable private networks, the enterprise or organization that is using this could be much simpler than how carriers manage their scaling difficulty. It also includes the user’s data traffic, including local data routing for switching.
3. Switching/Routing Capabilities: Next comes the “link” Layer 2 Switching – the ability to forward data packets based on MAC addresses layer within the private 5G network and any connected wired devices (via Ethernet ports). It also includes the likely inclusion of IP routing capabilities to manage traffic between different subnets within the private network or to route traffic to an external network if connectivity is desired.
4. Physical Interfaces: To attached devices to the network, you need the 5G air interface that connects to the wireless radio in the end-user device, which likely has a SIM/eSIM for authentication and potentially for connecting to public networks as a fallback or for backhaul. All of these connections require platforms to configure, monitor and secure their interfaces. Depending on the size and complexity, the management system could be as spartan as a command line interface to a single pane of glass web interface.
5. Additional Security Features: Even as a closed network, encryption is a good idea and, with the Zero Trust Security model, there is an added layer of authentication and authorization that needs to be maintained as well as the access control lists to ensure that traffic flows only where it is supposed to flow.

I probably should mention that this entire system needs power from somewhere, whether that’s AC/DC adapters, generators, and/or batteries.

The HTC/Viverse Reign Core platform has many applications, including agriculture, outdoor concert venues, construction, demonstration, hospitals, robotics, and testing/evaluating.

Checking on SEMPRE.ai and our friend Rob Spalding, we see a much more complete and ruggedized system, but it’s definitely not luggable. Sempre T and the other components are designed for harsh conditions, including emergency services, first responders, medical field units, military, and humanitarian relief. Sempre has also been used as part of hurricane relief in North Carolina. Besides the traditional connections Sempre has a ground-satellite link solution.

Rob has spoken at IoT Evolution in the past, when the company was just starting out. Under the last Trump presidency, he floated the idea of the government running its own separate 5G network. That generated a lot of controversy, partially because of some carriers making a lot of money supporting the Federal government. However, knowing Rob, I believe he was more interested in the security requirements, and this is before the security failures with AT&T and the use of Signal. In his book, “War Without Rules,” Spalding points out that the many nations are successfully penetrating our commercial networks and listening to internal communication.

A private network that is self-contained starts with a clean slate and is not trying to weed out the contamination from foreign powers.

I don’t mean to dismiss HTC’s solution, and its portfolio of capabilities exceed Sempre, which is just starting out. I just wanted to see how far we have gotten and what it means to the growing interest in private 5G networks. It is my belief that telecom OSSes are never going to be desired by the enterprise to manage their private networks, even with the advent of eSIMs.

However, I can imagine private networks can proliferate in a variety of smaller environments not yet considered – for example, a planned development/HOA with a quadruple play negotiated, or my nemesis, hospitals, enabling connectivity.