Spirent Communications plc, a provider of test, assurance and analytics solutions for devices and networks, announced a significant expansion of its work with the Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) at the University of Warwick via the Midlands Future Mobility (MFM) initiative in the United Kingdom. MFM will work with Spirent to deploy 5G digital twin technology, which emulates 5G network connectivity for testing in a controlled environment, within a 3xD drive-in simulator operated by WMG, the University’s leading automotive and manufacturing research group. It will represent the first emulated 5G standalone core network dedicated to researching next-gen mobile use cases, including connected automated mobility, in almost unlimited testing scenarios.
MFM will be both a digital and real-world (480km of public roads) ecosystem serving as a springboard for scalable, future mobility technologies and services. It will facilitate access to diverse, public physical test environments with smart monitoring, the latest wireless connectivity and a complete support network. The 5G standalone core network and MFM’s broader 5G program will help industry sectors, including automotive, manufacturing and telecommunications, jumpstart testing applications and processes in both digital and real-world scenarios. Digital twin technology will enable full control and customization to more effectively facilitate engagement and scope future user requirements on real roads.
Researchers and commercial entities will be able to work with MFM to safely and confidently amass volumes of data from emerging use case experimentation that correlates precisely with a live 5G network’s behavior. This includes everything from determining the maximum responsiveness of autonomous vehicle applications to testing how a robot connected to the network can accelerate a manufacturing task with minimal latency in a safe, reliable and secure manner. In its latest work with MFM, Spirent is providing foundational emulation and testing technologies from its Landslide core network validation solution, with the anticipation to eventually include additional components.