Verizon and AWS Expand Sites: Benefits of Simple Air Testing for Drones and Mobile Edge Computing
by DRONELIFE author Ian M. Crosby
Verizon and AWS are expanding their mobile edge computing service, Verizon 5G Edge with AWS Wavelength, to Charlotte, Detroit, Los Angeles and Minneapolis. The real-time cloud computing platform brings AWS compute and storage services to the edge of Verizon’s wireless network, minimizing the latency and network hops required to connect from an application hosted on the platform to the end user’s device . Introduced in 2020, 5G Edge with AWS Wavelength enables developers and enterprises to build and deploy a range of applications including machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT), and video and game streaming. Mobile edge computing is available in 17 US locations across AWS Wavelength Zones.
Fermata Energy, a Verizon Ventures company, and Easy Aerial, a leading provider of drone-in-a-box-based surveillance and inspection solutions, are among participants in 5G Studio, a collaboration between Verizon and Newlab to bring transformative technologies to are developing solutions leveraging Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband networking technology and Verizon 5G Edge with AWS Wavelength at Newlab
The low end-to-end latency of Verizon 5G Edge with AWS Wavelength enabled Easy Aerial to collect and transmit live drone video for near real-time object detection and telemetry data for fast processing and analysis. 5G and mobile edge computing also enabled expensive computers to be removed from the drone, reportedly saving about 10% on drone costs and increasing flight time by about 40%.
“The ability to leverage the high bandwidth for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that Verizon 5G Edge with AWS Wavelength offers is a game changer,” said Ivan Stamatovski, CTO of Easy Aerial. “It shifts the paradigm of what can be achieved with airborne sensors by processing data at the edge of the network in near real time.”
Fermata Energy’s Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) technology enables electric vehicles (EVs) to function as mini-power plants by delivering energy output from the EV’s batteries to the home, building or power grid via a bi-directional charger . This technology enables Fermata Energy to use an electric vehicle as an effective source of energy.
Additionally, Verizon and AWS are partnering with Software as a Service (SaaS) providers Couchbase and Confluent to simplify building applications that run on the Verizon 5G Edge with AWS Wavelength. Through the use of infrastructure templates, Verizon and AWS enhanced these providers’ abilities to automate the complexities of edge networking, core computing, and the software itself.
“By using Verizon 5G Edge with AWS Wavelength and Confluent, our joint customers can build real-time, ultra-low latency IoT connections,” said Gerry Fierling, Sr. Director, Global AWS Alliance, Confluent. “This allows organizations to intelligently respond to events that are happening in essentially real-time as they deploy more 5G-enabled devices across their organizations to enable next-generation digital experiences and business processes.”
Verizon also offers developers the 5G Edge Discovery Service to easily implement the 5G Edge footprint into mobile applications, available on the 5G Edge developer portal.
“Through our continued collaboration with AWS, we’re helping developers and enterprises across all industries build truly transformative applications for use cases such as immersive VR gaming, video distribution, and connected and autonomous vehicles,” said Tami Erwin, CEO of Verizon Business. “By expanding our 5G Edge locations in the US, we are enabling developers to quickly and easily build apps and services that take advantage of the low latency, massive bandwidth and strong reliability of 5G and edge computing.”
Verizon 5G Edge with AWS Wavelength is currently in Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New York City, Phoenix, the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle and Washington , DC
Read more about drones and Verizon 5G, Easy Aerial and Edge Computing.
Ian attended Dominican University of California where he received a BA in English in 2019. With a lifelong passion for writing and storytelling, and a keen interest in technology, he now contributes to DroneLife as a staff writer.
Miriam McNabb is Editor-in-Chief of DRONELIFE and CEO of JobForDrones, a marketplace for professional drone services, and is a fascinated observer of the burgeoning drone industry and drone regulatory environment. Miriam has authored over 3,000 articles focused on the commercial drone space and is an international speaker and recognized figure in the industry. Miriam graduated from the University of Chicago and has over 20 years of experience in high tech sales and marketing for emerging technologies.
For advice or writing in the drone industry email Miriam.
Twitter: @spaldingbarker
Subscribe to DroneLife here.
