Verizon is working towards reducing the lag time time of its network to offer consumers a faster and more responsive experience on 5G.
The carrier, working alongside telecommunications equipment provider Ericsson, completed trials of the advanced Low-Latency, Low-Loss, Scalable Throughput (L4S). The mouthful of jargon means it’s trying to reduce the so-called latency of the network, or that tiny pause when your phone or home 5G modem pings the network and waits for a response.
This system is like a decongestant for networks that makes the internet run faster on devices by reducing the amount of time data spends at each digital checkpoint during uploads. L4S reduces loading times, eliminates buffering while streaming videos or playing games, and enhances virtual experiences, which all require a fast and reliable connection. This creates a better user experience when playing live videos or competing in first-person shooters where that split second of responsiveness matters.
“The potential of 5G lies in its ability to facilitate a diverse array of groundbreaking services, particularly in time-critical communications for both consumers and businesses,” said Graham Osborne, vice president and head of customer unit Verizon at Ericsson North America. “This recent achievement with Verizon underscores the significant improvement in the performance of time-critical, high-rate applications enabled through the L4S capability.”
The trials were conducted at Ericsson’s D-15 5G innovation and co-creation lab in Santa Clara, California. The group tested an XR app — a blend of AR and VR — using an XR virtual reality headset over Ericsson’s 5G test network connected to Verizon’s spectrum. The companies were able to modify the rates at which they send their data, allowing them to prioritize different traffic and sending more urgent feeds through faster. The company said they were able to reduce the lag time by half, showing its potential value for critical data like financial information.
This is one of many technological advances heading to Verizon’s 5G network. That’s critical as customers increasingly use more data, whether its to stream video or run their home network. Since the launch of 5G, Verizon’s 5G customers have increased from 24% to 68%. Its C-band spectrum, which offers a good mix of speed, capacity and range and was deployed last year, now makes up more than 38% of all data on the network, up from only 14% a year ago.
“Our goal from the beginning has been to create a transformational 5G network,” said Adam Koeppe, senior vice president of network and technology planning for Verizon. “That requires a redesigned, newly architected, fully virtualized network that can fundamentally manage mobile data differently than we have in the past. With our virtualized Verizon Cloud Platform core architecture, spectrum choices, virtualized RAN, owned and upgraded fiber footprint, edge platform capabilities, and infused intelligence, we are leading the industry in introducing advanced technology and capabilities into the 5G network.”
L4S will work with other advanced technologies to offer the necessary speeds, latency, and performance for more user network solutions, such as XR applications, vehicle-to-vehicle communication while driving, interactive robots in factories, and thousands of sensors in warehouses sending real-time information or drones sending near real-time video while flying, which can help prevent mid-air collisions.
“While the first wave of 5G saw massive network infrastructure deployments, increased 5G adoption, and rapid ecosystem building, the second wave of the 5G era will be characterized by widespread innovation built on speed, massive capacity, low latency, security, and reliability,” said Koeppe. “Just as we worked to evolve 4G after its initial launch into a high-performance network, we are now evolving the Radio Access Network providing 5G technology by introducing advanced technology features that will push the boundaries of what this service can provide to customers.”