Digital twin technology accurately mimics the network behavior upon parameter changes, ensuring an approach that minimizes risk and elevates the optimizer’s quality to telco grade from day one. Reinforcement learning is a machine-learning (ML) technique that learns from the network, where an agent (Performance Optimizer) interacts with the environment and takes actions towards a long-term goal.

Additionally, the solution can also be used to accurately predict network performance improvements and proactively provide one-shot optimization recommendations for targeted cells.

Ericsson plans to periodically add new features to the existing solution to address the challenges brought on by different network issues, thereby increasing the coverage of automated optimization.

With 5G, CSPs are looking to transform essential parts of their operations to achieve optimal performance and return on investment. Vendor agnostic AI-native solutions such as Ericsson Performance Optimizers are key to automate and cope with growing complexity while keeping control of cost.

In November 2021, Ericsson trialed the solution with Ooredoo Qatar for a major football  tournament. As part of the partnership Ericsson provided network optimization and event management and 5G connectivity in three stadiums, airports and places of attraction. Massive efficiency gains were noted – where traditional worst cell analysis takes days to complete, the new automated approach with performance optimizers took only 15 minutes, producing hundreds of recommendations.

Juan Manuel Melero, Head of Network Design & Optimization, Ericsson, says: During the trial with Ooredoo Qatar, we noted that 89% of internal uplink interference cases were automatically resolved by the Performance Optimizers. This resulted in 7% improvement in uplink capacity, along with significant gains in speed and traffic volume. We now look forward to leveraging our expertise and experience to support our customers around the world to achieve top network performance and deliver the best user experience.

Günther Ottendorfer, Chief Technology and Infrastructure Officer at Ooredoo Qatar, says: For Ooredoo, customer experience and automation are top priority. We see AI-powered operations as key to deliver on our promise of world-class services to our subscribers. During the major football event held in Qatar in December 2021, Ericsson’s Cognitive Software provided a near real-time automation of optimization actions. The end-result was a superior user experience. before, during and after the matches.

Ericsson Performance Optimizers suite is part of the Cognitive Software pack in Ericsson Operations Engine. It can be implemented through licensing, software as a service (SaaS) or as part of our services packs.