Black Box announced that by working with Nokia and Corning, it has successfully tested and verified a system that enables the economical implementation of carrier signals and private 4G/5G wireless services over a single distributed antenna system (DAS).
Through this new technology partnership, Black Box successfully integrated the Nokia Digital Automation Cloud (DAC) private wireless solution as a signal source for the Corning Everon DAS system, effectively uniting private and commercial wireless networks on the same infrastructure.
Black Box Global Practice Head of Wireless Technology Solutions Manu Singh said the integration was part of the Black Box wireless technology offering.
“Using our integration expertise and these partners’ advanced technologies, we can offer a solution that brings value to customers across various markets and applications.”
Eliminating the need to deploy separate infrastructures for Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS)-based private networks and public cellular services, the integration led by Black Box significantly reduces both the cost and complexity associated with maintaining connectivity across various sectors, such as healthcare, manufacturing, transportation, and the hospitality industry. With this capability, facilities and organisations can ensure critical mobility, bolster mission-critical communications, implement new IoT solutions, fully exploit smart manufacturing and automation, and strengthen data security measures, he said.
The new integration uses Nokia DAC private wireless, a plug-and-play LTE and 5G as a service solution renowned for its ability to support demanding use cases and applications. With reliable high-capacity and low-latency wireless connectivity, Nokia DAC ensures business-critical performance.
Nokia DAC accommodates Wi-Fi to address the connectivity needs of non-business-critical operational technology (OT) applications. It can use MX Boost technology to combine private wireless with Wi-Fi and improve capacity and reliability.
Nokia’s Global Partner Enterprise Campus Edge Business head Pri Rawal said that through this partnership, Nokia is supporting Black Box in the next step in its Industry 4.0 journey — and doing so in a more cost- and time-efficient way.
“By integrating the plug-and-play Nokia Digital Automation Cloud, Black Box can seamlessly connect the OT and Wi-Fi infrastructure it already has in place in its facilities, future-proofing it with a high-capacity and low-latency private 5G foundation,” he said.
Another vital integration component is the Corning Everon 6200 DAS, which offers exceptional performance, limitless capacity, and high speed. Not only does it guarantee coverage to every space within a facility, but it also simplifies installation and offers versatility and flexibility for indoor and outdoor designs.
The Everon 6200 DAS is a highly flexible platform with multiband support, built to serve the public access spectrum while seamlessly supporting the technical requirements of a CBRS-based private network over a fibre-to-the-edge active DAS distribution solution.
Corning Optical Communications Vice President of Wireless Technology David Meis said: . “Corning is pleased to work alongside fellow industry innovators and to play a significant role in this telecommunications milestone. By reconciling private and commercial wireless networks on shared infrastructure, Corning, in collaboration with Black Box and Nokia, is paving the way for more cost-effective and efficient connectivity and spearheading a new era of unified wireless technology.”
