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Vodafone to bring Multi-Access Edge Computing to Irish Manufacturing Research as part of extended partnership agreement

• New agreement will provide greater capability to test and trial digital manufacturing solutions using Ireland’s first standalone 5G Mobile Private Network

March 2022: Vodafone have today announced a two-year partnership agreement with the Irish Manufacturing Research Centre (IMR) to build on the power of the first standalone 5G mobile private network (MPN) installed at the facility last year.

Vodafone will now provide a Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) environment to unlock even more potential for IMR. MEC will deliver secure connectivity and powerful computing in real-time from the edge of the network - in places that previously couldn’t be connected.

This will therefore enable the development of low latency dependent applications such as tele-robotics and computer vision systems. By moving computing, storage and management to the “edge” of the network, IMR will see faster speeds and near real-time decision-making.

Some of the benefits of MEC are that it reduces network congestion and speeds up application performance, it also allows for decision making in milliseconds as data can be captured locally without crossing the network. This means no time lost in transferring data, with sensors and devices acting in milliseconds.

Additionally, Vodafone will provide IMR with IoT & Augmented Reality software tools, through a partnership with PTC Thingworx using their complete, end-to-end technology platform. This will allow IMR's clients to carry out trials and innovate for Industry 4.0 - including IoT (internet of things) applications, smart processes, improving KPIs and assisting data driven business models.

The two-year membership agreement will see the organisations work closely together to test and develop new applications based on 5G communications and EDGE computing.

Since installing the Vodafone 5G mobile private network last year, IMR has been developing innovative smart manufacturing use cases to a range of Ireland’s key manufacturing businesses. Examples of new use cases emerging from the institute will be showcased at an upcoming event in April and include; tele-robotics and augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) displays. These smart applications require the combination of high capacity, responsiveness and the quality of service that is enabled by 5G.

Vodafone’s 5G standalone MPN can be configured for a specific industry or application and provide a highly sophisticated URLLC (Ultra-reliable low-latency communication) connectivity experience in terms of network reliability and quality of service in hard-to-reach places. 5G MPN networks also open up a new class of IoT applications that allow customers to control work happening in motion. This allows IMR to meet the diverse connectivity and safety requirements of Ireland’s manufacturing community and help them to develop and implement future-focused processes and applications to stay competitive.

Managing Director of Vodafone Business in Ireland Sinead Bryan said: “We’re really excited to grow our partnership with IMR, and in doing so, enable the next wave of smart manufacturing advancements in Ireland. By building on the power of our 5G Mobile Private Networks, we are now able to layer on additional services such as EDGE computing to bring more and more use cases of innovative emerging technologies on stream within the Irish manufacturing industry.”

IMR Chief Technology Officer, Micheál Cassidy said: “IMR are delighted to extend the 5G testbed capabilities available to Irish manufacturing industry through this partnership with Vodafone.  These technologies enable exciting new ways to connect factory systems, bringing the power of the cloud onto the factory floor.  IMR’s advanced manufacturing pilot factory in Mullingar supports industry in understanding and adopting technologies that deliver the Industry4.0 factory of the future.   Through this partnership, IMR will support our network of companies to understand and deploy 5G enabled technologies and applications in a cost effective and impactful way.”