SoftBank Corp has deployed its converged AI-RAN solution at Nvidia's headquarters in Santa Clara, California.
According to the Japanese telco, its AI-RAN solution "AITRAS" has been deployed at Nvidia's HQ to enable the development of new Edge AI applications.
SoftBank notes that the live implementation will "facilitate innovation and advanced AI-and-RAN and AI-for-RAN experiments, as well as enable the development of new AI-on-RAN applications."
The company's partnership with Nvidia looks to leverage Nvidia's computing platforms, including the Nvidia GH200 Grace Hopper Superchip to build next-generation data centers for AI-powered wireless 5G/6G networks.
SoftBank unveiled its AITRAS converged AI-RAN solution in November. AITRAS leverages AI-based accelerated computing platforms and fully software-defined vRAN (virtual Radio Access Network).
The outdoor field trial deployment at Nvidia's HQ was the "first tangible outcome of the strategic collaboration" between SoftBank and Nvidia, the Japanese telco said.
In the future, SoftBank said that it will continue working with Nvidia to "advance mobile Edge AI applications."
SoftBank said it has already made progress in this area, having paired with Nvidia to develop a "porter robot" which it said utilizes Large Language Models (LLM). An experiment has already been demonstrated at Nvidia's HQ.
Through the use of LLM running on AITRAS, the robot is able to carry luggage and can follow visitors based on verbal instructions about their clothes.
“AI-RAN is paving the way for next-generation AI-Native wireless networks," said Soma Velayutham, vice president of telecoms at Nvidia.
"SoftBank's AITRAS, leveraging Nvidia AI Aerial, will now become accessible to a wider ecosystem of partners through its implementation at Nvidia headquarters, and will accelerate innovation across all dimensions of AI-RAN, including new AI applications on RAN.”
Separately today (March 19), SoftBank also announced the development of a new Large Telecom Model (LTM), a generative AI foundation for the telecom industry.
The company said it will integrate various AI models developed based on the LTM with AITRAS.
SoftBank added that the LTM is trained on diverse datasets—ranging from SoftBank’s huge network data to the design, management, and operational know-how the company has accumulated over many years.
"The LTM enables advanced inference in the design, management, and operation of cellular networks. Moving forward, SoftBank will further advance its research and development efforts, aiming to implement the LTM into its own operations," said the company.
