BEACON-5G

Partners

Toshiba Europe Ltd. UK, Thales UK Limited, Attocore Ltd, Coventry University, South Gloucestershire Council

This project is developing an end-to-end 5G system, aligned with Open RAN framework and principles, with reconfigurability, security, trustworthiness, and service architecture agility. The broader vision is to realise a high-performance 5G system with built-in capabilities of openness, security, and trustworthiness, that can be rapidly reconfigured and optimised for operation in diverse industry-centric and consumer-centric applications in dense urban local/private as well as in public/carrier environments.

The key innovations of the project are being demonstrated via a product-grade 5G system operating in real-world environments and versatile use-cases, with a particular focus on interoperability and cyber security.

Project Overview from Innovation Briefing Issue 8

Beacon-5G will develop a high performance Open RAN 5G system aligned with Open RAN framework and principles, focusing on reconfigurability, security, trustworthiness, and service architecture agility.

Led by Toshiba Europe, the project consortium brings together recognised global technology leaders, Toshiba and Thales, along with four Tier 1 International O-RAN equipment suppliers - Accelleran, Benetel, Effnet, Phluido - and a prominent UK 5G core network solutions provider, Attocore.

Also involved is NDEC, a UK centre of excellence in cyber resilience, the Institute for Future Transportation and Cities at Coventry University, and two public sector organizations - South Gloucestershire Council UK , University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire NHS UK.  with ambitious digital transformation agendas.

The broader vision is to realise a high-performance 5G system that can be rapidly reconfigured and optimised for diverse industrial and consumer applications. These may be in private local networks, or public carrier networks.  Deployments, from mobile network operators (MNOs) or non-MNOs, can be extended to both industrial and consumer sectors in indoor as well as outdoor environments

The goal of building a high-performance, robust, versatile, and resilient 5G system based on general-purpose hardware, third-party RAN and core components, and open-interface solutions is not possible without solving a significant number of challenges. The project provides various technological innovations toward some of the main functional priority areas identified by DCMS, thereby playing a key role in achieving the goals of the UK Government’s 5G supply chain diversification strategy.