Processing Units

The processing units are responsible for running the different flavors of the 3GPP software stack on Intel-based architecture. Having processing units powered by In- tel is a major requirement due to optimized Digital Signal Processing (DSP) func- tions which rely on Single Instruction, Multiple Data (SIMD) instructions (SSE, SSE2, SSS3, SSE4, and AVX2). However, these requirements can be also relaxed, according to the software portability, and modularity which can afford running the software stack on ARM-based architecture with some performance or function con- straints. The overall performance of the hardware is a combination of different met- rics, which includes the processor frequency, number of cores, number of threads, memory, cache size, and physical network interface. All metrics are sort of constraints that can be relaxed and adjusted according to the hardware function, requirements, and expected performance.

List of Hardware

The table below, summerize a non-exhaustive list of the workstation’s minimum requirements that can comply with the current 3GPP standards, specifically LTE and 5G-NR. For instance, choosing the minimalist criteria for 5G-NR gNodeB requires a minimum CPU frequency of 3GHz, otherwise, it will struggle under heavy com- putational loads. Caching, number of cores, and threads are also impacting the mul- tithreading and multiprocessing performance. In consequence, selecting the right platform guarantees the desired performance metrics such as downlink and uplink throughput that comply with 5G-NR requirements.

• Precision 7920 Rack Workstation
• Precision 3640 Tower Workstation
• Z2 Mini G5 Workstation

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To add a table summerizing the specs of all hardware.