optimized for deployment with Red Hat Device Edge
COPENHAGEN, Denmark and BRAY, Republic of Ireland – February 11, 2025 – Napatech™ (OSLO: NAPA.OL), a leading provider of programmable Smart Network Interface Cards (SmartNICs) and Infrastructure Processing Units (IPUs) used in cloud, enterprise and telecom datacenter networks, and Druid Software, the leading global provider of private cellular network core software solutions for enterprises, today announced the availability of a high-performance, energy-efficient 5G core optimized for deployment with Red Hat Device Edge. Napatech and Red Hat will showcase this solution in their booths #7B67 and #2F30 at MWC 2025 in Barcelona from March 3rd through 6th.
Enterprises and Communications Service Providers (CSPs) are rolling out 5G standalone (SA) networks in order to leverage features such as network slicing and Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communications (URLLC) that were not available in older non-standalone (NSA) infrastructure. However, maximizing the benefits of SA networks requires locating functions like the 5G packet core at the edge of the network, requiring a large number of small-footprint edge data centers that need to be cost-effective and energy-efficient, with straightforward processes for both deployment and operations.
To address these challenges, Red Hat, Napatech and Druid have collaborated to integrate a hardware-software solution based on Druid’s Raemis™ packet core. Through a standard Data Plane Development Kit (DPDK) driver, Raemis leverages a Napatech SmartNIC to offload and accelerate the User Plane Function (UPF), which is the most compute-intensive subsystem within the core. The distributed packet core is managed by Red Hat Device Edge, which simplifies the large-scale deployment and life cycle management of cloud-native workloads.
“5G networks are evolving from traditional infrastructure deployments with a centralized packet core located in a telco data center to a distributed architecture in which the core is distributed across a large number of edge locations,” said Will Townsend, VP and Principal Analyst, Moor Insights & Strategy. “Consequently, it’s a challenging proposition to balance the disaggregated elements from an operational management perspective while ensuring high performance at scale. The tech stack contributions from infrastructure providers including Red Hat, Napatech and Druid have the potential to deliver an edge-oriented and highly performant packet core that not only minimizes cost and energy consumption, but also provides simplified deployment and operations.”
“Red Hat Device Edge plays a pivotal role in enabling cost-effective, energy-efficient and scalable 5G deployments at the edge,” said Ian Hood, Chief Technology Officer of Telecommunications, Red Hat. “By collaborating with Napatech and Druid, we’ve combined innovative hardware and software technologies to simplify the deployment of distributed 5G networks. This integrated solution showcases how Red Hat Device Edge empowers both enterprises and service providers to unlock the full potential of 5G services with streamlined operations and optimized performance.”
“Our Raemis software technology platform delivers the advanced features that are required for leading-edge private networks, such as REST API support, fully-virtualized deployments, customizable technology, 5G support and network slicing,” said Tadhg Kenny, Senior VP of Marketing, Druid Software. “Combined with the event-driven automation of Red Hat Device Edge, the platform ensures consistent, reliable deployments and operations. In addition, we leverage the packet core acceleration provided by Napatech’s SmartNIC to deliver up to 2x 100G line rate traffic on a single server, based on typical use cases.”
“Napatech’s NT200 SmartNIC, used in this integrated solution, is powered by the AMD Virtex™ UltraScale+™ XCVU5P FPGA and processes up to 185 million concurrent flows while achieving a total throughput of up to 297 million packets per second with a latency of under 5 microseconds,” said Charlie Ashton, Senior Director of Business Development, Napatech. “By offloading the UPF data plane from the server CPU and requiring only a single core for the UPF control plane, the solution minimizes the number of servers required in an edge data center and frees up the remaining CPU cores for running value-added services like the Radio Access Network Centralized Unit (RAN CU).”
“AMD is delighted to see Druid, Napatech and Red Hat introduce their distributed UPF solution that leverages the NT200 SmartNIC, powered by the AMD Virtex UltraScale+ FPGA,” said Gilles Garcia, Senior Director, Business Lead Communications, AMD. “The AMD XCVU5P FPGA delivers high performance and power efficiency for the most demanding applications, enabling industry-leading solutions for telecom infrastructure and private networks.”
For more information on the benefits of this integrated solution, please see Red Hat’s post at https://www.redhat.com/en/blog/unlocking-potential-5g-edge. Specific information on Napatech’s and Druid’s products can be found at the links below.
About Napatech
Napatech is the leading supplier of SmartNIC and IPU solutions used in cloud, enterprise and telecom datacenters. Through commercial-grade software suites integrated with high-performance hardware, Napatech accelerates network infrastructure, security and storage workloads to deliver best-in-class system-level performance while maximizing the availability of server compute resources for applications and services. Additional information is available at www.napatech.com.
About Druid Software
Druid Software is a core cellular network software company based in Ireland. Established in 2000, Druid has evolved into one of the world’s leaders in Private 5G & 4G Cellular technology over the last 23 years. Druid’s Raemis platform is a mature 3GPP-compliant 4G/5G core network, with unique features designed specifically for business and mission critical use. Druid’s mature Raemis platform is in use today by ISPs and enterprises for mission critical environments all over the world. Druid’s technology enables solutions in different areas including: enterprise communications, IoT, Mobile Edge Computing, neutral host and public safety. For more information, visit www.druidsoftware.com.
No Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may contain forward-looking statements which are only predictions and may differ materially from actual future events or results due to a variety of factors, including but not limited to, business conditions, trends in the industry and markets, global economic and geopolitical conditions, macro-economic factors, and other risks and uncertainties set forth in Napatech’s reports. The matter discussed in this release is based on current expectations and maybe subject to change. Napatech will not necessarily update this information. For details, visit us at www.napatech.com.
Media – Napatech Investor Relations – Napatech Contact – Druid Software
Jarrod Siket Heine Thorsgaard Tadhg Kenny
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