AT&T Achieves First AI-Native RAN Call on Xeon 6 SoC with Ericsson and Intel

The test, focused on AT&T’s  frequency bands and propagation characteristics, marked the first call with portable Ericsson  software and underscored AI’s potential to enhance RAN speed, flexibility, and performance. The demo featured Xeon 6 SoC in AT&T’s target Cloud RAN setup, highlighting the progression from initial call to feature capability and how Ericsson’s AI solution can boost network efficiency and user experience.

AI-native Link Adaptation uses real-time AI models to respond to changing channel conditions and varying interference when determining how much data to transmit at a given instant – improving throughput and spectral efficiency.

The tests indicated significant throughput gains, achieving up to a 20 percent increase compared to legacy rule-based link adaptation, along with corresponding improvements in spectral efficiency and they serve as a collaborative benchmark for AI in RAN. Ericsson and Intel are jointly benchmarking AI models on commercial off-the-shelf hardware, delivering measurable improvements in AI inference speed and a scalable path for AT&T to deploy AI where it drives the most value.

Why this milestone matters

Open architecture allows AT&T to integrate innovations more quickly and flexibly run Ericsson software across multiple platforms, avoiding lock-in. This flexibility and portability enable faster scaling of new capabilities from the lab to the live network.
First-mover advantage. AT&T is the first in the industry to demonstrate the portability of a commercial-ready AI feature on a Xeon 6 SoC- based cloud platform.
Using AT&T’s target Cloud RAN configuration, this end-to-end proof of concept shows that Ericsson’s hardware-agnostic RAN stack can be deployed on the Xeon 6 SoC for AT&T’s deployment.

“AT&T is leading the charge toward an open, intelligent, and scalable network future by advancing Open RAN and Cloud RAN with AI-native capabilities at their core. This demo highlights how AI capabilities, powered by our next-generation Cloud RAN platform, can be deployed seamlessly to drive innovation and deliver superior customer experiences.”

– Rob Soni, Vice President, RAN Technology, AT&T

“Together with AT&T and Intel, Ericsson is demonstrating how our domain expertise combined with AI-native RAN software can drive transformative advancements in both Cloud RAN and purpose-built deployments. Our industry-leading AI-native Link Adaptation serves as the first proof point on this journey. With a hardware-agnostic RAN software stack, Ericsson is committed to offering maximum flexibility and enabling all our customers to benefit from future innovations – regardless of their chosen underlying hardware. This milestone underscores Ericsson’s commitment to helping operators advance their networks by deploying AI functionality across the RAN stack.”

– Mårten Lerner, Head of Networks Strategy and Product Management, Business Area Networks, Ericsson

“This successful collaboration with AT&T and Ericsson showcases the power of Intel Xeon 6 SoC to enable and accelerate AI workloads in Cloud RAN environments. Xeon 6 SoC is architected to handle the demanding compute requirements of AI-native network functions, delivering the performance and efficiency operators need to unlock the full potential of intelligent networks. By providing a flexible, standards-based platform, Intel Xeon 6 enables service providers like AT&T to deploy innovative AI capabilities while maintaining the openness and choice that drive industry innovation.”

– Cristina Rodriguez, VP and GM, Network and Edge, Intel