HPE lets you build integrated private 5G/Wi-Fi networks

HP Enterprise will offer private 5G equipment integrated with its Aruba Wi-Fi gear to provide the option of using the technology that best meets the various wireless demands within an enterprise.

As the name implies, Private 5G gear supports private 5G networks, not as a replacement for but as complementary to Wi-Fi.

HPE says 5G surpasses Wi-Fi in terms of wide-area coverage as well as speed, but Wi-Fi has the advantage when it comes to cost-effective indoor connectivity. So the hybrid network will automatically switch between 5G and Wi-Fi depending on need and use.

The technology itself is an evolution of the HPE 5G Core Stack introduced in 2020, and which is open, cloud-native, and container-based. HPE has added two new features to the product: integration with Wi-Fi networks through use of its Aruba wireless technology, and the integration of 5G radio access network (RAN) equipment from third-party vendors to enable deploying a 5G core at customer sites.

So far Airspan Networks’ 5G RAN gear is certified compatible with Private 5G, and more vendors will be added as they complete interoperability testing at the HPE 5G Lab in Fort Collins, Colorado, according to HPE.

Another major difference between Private 5G and the existing HPE 5G Core Stack is the addition of HPE Service Director, a  general-purpose orchestrator that can provide both end-to-end and domain-specific orchestration such as provisioning, order managemen and inventory.

Private 5G supports single-chassis and distributed deployment models. The single chassis model is designed for use in an edge node, and runs on HPE’s Edgeline EL8000 Converged Edge System, which comes with four Xeon server blades.

Like virtually everything from HPE these days, the HPE 5G Core Stack for private 5G and Aruba’s Wi-Fi are available with HPE GreenLake, HPE’s pay-for-use consumption model that requires less upfront investment and can scale to meet demand.