Why Cellular 5G in SD-WAN Matters

Cellular 5G in SD-WAN empowers businesses to maintain control and security and seize the latest technology benefits, including:

• Cloud
• Big data
• Analytics
• Mobility
• Internet of Things (IoT)
• Social collaboration

Cellular 5G in SD-WAN: A Distributed Enterprise Game-Changer

SD-WAN has revolutionized how businesses connect with their distributed chain of physical locations. This technology combines multiple branch links with policy-driven WAN management and intelligent traffic directed across those links. SD-WAN enables enterprises to simplify and accelerate connectivity.

Businesses can take advantage of three fundamental SD-WAN capabilities:

• Connecting public internet, cellular, private MPLS and 5G network links to a remote location and uniting them into one virtual, high-capacity circuit while controlling the links
• Customizing the enterprise’s bandwidth and connectivity to deliver specific network services to an individual or a group of locations and users
• Defining and managing policies and network traffic to and from one or more business systems, eliminating the need to configure IoT devices manually

Businesses can lower private WAN service costs and reduce outages, whether SD-WAN is deployed over:

• Public internet
• Cellular LTE
• 5G links
• Cloud-based private networks
• 5G with a mix of MPLS, public internet and LTE

Moreover, employees and partners in remote locations gain the collaborative, knowledge-rich environment they need to succeed.

Cellular 5G in SD-WAN

Wireless networks evolved with 5G, ushering in a new era of ultrareliable, low latency and high performance. 5G can reach downlink speeds of multigigabits per second and uplink speeds of megabits per second. These speeds exceed data rates provided by traditional public wired internet options short of fiber.

These abilities made 5G the primary connection for distributed enterprises. 5G’s enhanced network reliability and availability also contributed to its adoption.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) spectrum auction improved cellular network capacity by auctioning wider bandwidth spectrum channels (e.g., C-band) for 5G use. Advancements in chipsets from companies like Qualcomm and data cards from Telit Cinterion have reduced costs and accelerated time to market. These easy-to-integrate solutions allow original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to build optimized, low-cost products like routers and gateways.

How to Choose the Right Data Cards for Your 5G SD-WAN Routers and Gateways

Find an industrial-grade data card portfolio that supports mobile computing, networking and IoT application designs. Look for plug-and-play integration that covers performance and global certifications in the countries and mobile operators you want. See below how Telit Cinterion organizes its portfolio of data cards:

• FN990A: This data card delivers Release (Rel) 16 5G performance with global bands and extensive operator certifications. It’s in mass production and comes in a standard M.2 form factor, supporting the sub-6 frequency range.

• FN990B: This data card delivers Rel 17 5G performance with global bands and extensive operator certifications. It’s in the sample stage and comes in a standard M.2 form factor, supporting the sub-6 frequency range.

• FE990B: Like the FN990B, this data card is in the sample stage and provides Rel 17 5G performance with global bands and extensive operator certifications. It comes in an LGA form factor that supports the sub-6 frequency range. It includes two Ethernet interfaces and three PCIe lanes for hostless product designs (e.g., CPEs, routers and gateways).
  
• FN920C04: The FN920C04 M.2 data card offers the convenience of a smaller size (30 x 42 mm). It supports 5G New Radio (NR) reduced capability (RedCap) 3GPP Rel 17 (220 megabits downlink and 120 megabits uplink) and LTE Category 4 fallback for best coverage.

These products support the OnGo Alliance Citizens Broadband Radio System (CBRS) Band 48 (B48) and other private 4G and 5G bands. Many enterprises obtained licenses during the Priority Access License (PAL) auction. They plan to deploy private 5G in CBRS using broadband and SD-WAN devices. With private 5G and SD-WAN uniting to deliver new enterprise solutions, ensure your selected 5G portfolio covers it.

If your SD-WAN network requires positioning or precision real-time performance, these data cards support global navigation satellite systems, such as GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and BeiDou.

Get Ready for the Next Phase of Your Cellular IoT Strategy

These Telit Cinterion data cards can help your business maximize 5G and LTE network use across regions and MNOs. For you, this means policy-based routing to application-specific traffic and real-time, high-quality data exchange across:

• Cable
• DSL
• Fiber
• Cellular 4G and 5G

Eliminate latency and lost data with direct internet access and connectivity backed by a service-level agreement. Plus, you can enjoy seamless integration with cloud data centers and mobile devices. Speak with our SD-WAN experts to see how Telit Cinterion can help transform your corporate network.

Editor’s Note: This blog was originally published on 19 March 2018 and has since been updated.