Singtel, Micron partner to deploy commercial 5G mmWave solution

SEMICONDUCTOR manufacturer Micron Technology has appointed Singtel to deploy its 5G millimetre wave (mmWave) solutions with localised edge core at its 3D NAND flash memory fabrication plant in Singapore.

This is the first time a company in Singapore is piloting 5G by deploying an mmWave campus solution with edge core on-premises for industry 4.0 manufacturing applications.

“This industry-first deployment proves that 5G networks can be used for high-precision quality control and manufacturing operations which previously was not possible with the limitations of Wi-Fi,” said Bill Chang, Singtel’s chief executive officer of Group Enterprise.

Singtel’s 5G mmWave network supports massive bandwidth of up to 2 Gbps with ultra-low latency.

To be deployed at Micron’s cleanroom, the customised solutions will support the development of a variety of digitally enabled and enhanced applications, such as automated visual inspections of individual chips to augmented reality (AR) for operations and maintenance.

With 5G on-prem edge core, Micron can leverage smaller and lighter loT (Internet of Things) devices that require less computing power for cleanroom operations.

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Singtel’s Paragon platform will be used to analyse the performance of the device and networks, thus providing the capability of real-time performance monitoring and feedback.

“Together with Singtel, we aim to bring the performance to the next level leveraging 5G technology. This will propel us forward as a trailblazer in operational excellence and scaled implementation of Industry 4.0 technology,” said Koen De Backer, Micron’s vice-president of Smart Manufacturing and Artificial Intelligence of Global Operations.

Chang added: “The implementation is a significant milestone in Singtel’s journey to accelerate enterprise 5G adoption and will serve as a case study to inspire other 5G-enabled manufacturing sites around the world.”

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Shares of Singtel closed S$0.05 or 1.9 per cent lower at S$2.65 on Monday (May 30), before the announcement.