Verizon and AWS partner on private mobile edge computing

Verizon and Amazon Web Services (AWS) are extending their 5G collaboration to deliver private mobile edge computing (MEC) for enterprises requiring a dedicated edge compute infrastructure on-premises.

Designed to support low-latency data transmission, the new Verizon-AWS-powered private MEC combines Verizon’s Private 5G networks with AWS Outposts. This fully managed service offers identical AWS Infrastructure, AWS services, APIs, and tools to virtually any data center, co-location space, or on-premises facility for a consistent, hybrid experience.

Corning Incorporated, one of the world's leading innovators in materials science, will reportedly be the first company to leverage the private MEC solution.

Corning already uses AWS Outposts to run computer vision software from Gestalt Robotics to enable autonomous navigation and advanced environmental sensing at its optical cable plant in Hickory, North Carolina.

The addition of Verizon’s ultra-low latency, high-throughput 5G network “will provide a powerful platform upon which Corning will innovate with applications never before possible, such as real-time analysis of large volumes of high-resolution video streams from across the factory and integration of high-data-rate automation systems,” said George Elissaios, director of product management at AWS.

Private MEC can also enable real-time monitoring of autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) that roam the factory floors, adds Elissaios.

“Full managed Private MEC can guide AMRs safely and speedily through a factory, avoiding people and obstacles while ferrying their payloads from point to point. The Private 5G network enables reliable, low-latency transmission of rich sensor data (lidar, vibration, temperature, audio) from these AMRs and other industrial devices located throughout the factory,” explained Elissaios.

Despite its many different use cases in factories, Private MEC is not limited to them. For instance, the platform can provide enhanced experiences during live concerts through augmented reality (AR), information overlays, multiple angle views, and personalized instant replays. Health care providers can also use Private MEC for real-time diagnostics over 5G for rapid access to radiological scans on-site and local processing of sensitive patient data.

“Private MEC is a natural expansion of our collaboration with Verizon,” said Dave Brown, vice president of Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) at AWS.

“Customers are already leveraging AWS Wavelength's ability to provide ultra-low latency access to end users for use cases like video distribution, inference at the edge, AR/VR, and connected vehicles. Now, Private 5G MEC from AWS and Verizon brings ultra-low latency to dedicated, closed, on-premises environments for use cases such as autonomous mobile robots, quality assurance, and hazard alerting.”