Ericsson has announced enhancements for Sunswift Racing, providing advanced Wireless WAN communications through their Intelligent Link Bonding technology. This capability bridges multiple (cellular, satellite or wired) WAN links into a single connection, leveraging traffic steering and cellular intelligence for optimised data distribution.
The Sunswift team, innovators from the University of New South Wales, reimagines sustainable transport by developing state-of-the-art prototype electric cars. Known for Guinness World Record successes in previous World Solar Challenge events, they are gearing up for this year's race from Darwin to Adelaide.
Competitors in the World Solar Challenge depend on live vehicle performance data to make strategic decisions. With Ericsson’s solutions, Sunswift is set to harness real-time telemetry, including data on the solar car’s battery, motor, solar panel, and speedometer. Uninterrupted connectivity will also support live video feeds, IP Push-to-Talk for status updates, and seamless internet access.
Ericsson’s Cradlepoint rugged routers, linked to 5G and satellite, are managed via Ericsson NetCloud, offering Sunswift multi-carrier connectivity. Intelligent Link Bonding ensures consistent performance, optimising available bandwidth across WAN links for uninterrupted data sharing and video transmission.
“This next evolution of uninterrupted connectivity from Ericsson will enable our team to perform at their peak during the upcoming race,” said Professor Richard Hopkins, Team Principal of UNSW Sunswift Racing. “The incredible success that Sunswift has had over the years, supported by continuous innovation in technology from partners like Ericsson has enabled us to launch P-ONE Technology, an agile, commercialisation spin-out of Sunswift Racing, backed by UNSW and the Australian Governments TRaCE Trailblazer program. Working with some of the best technology providers in the world, our mission is to transform cutting-edge research into market-ready, automotive solutions through industry and government partnerships.”
Key features of Intelligent Link Bonding include:
- Flow duplication for high resiliency: Ensures application traffic flows remain uninterrupted across dual WAN links.
- Flow balancing for efficiency: Distributes traffic across links based on preset parameters to enhance cost-effectiveness.
- Bandwidth aggregation: Merges WAN connections to boost available bandwidth, enhancing large uploads or video transmissions.
Each feature integrates seamlessly with Ericsson’s SD-WAN routers, offering additional perks like advanced traffic steering and AI insights.
Archana Khetan, Ericsson’s SVP of Enterprise Wireless Solutions, remarks on their commitment to ensuring peak performance during high-stakes races. Demonstrating this technology's capabilities in the complex race environment highlights its value for any enterprise seeking resilient connectivity solutions.
As businesses embrace multi-WAN strategies, intelligently managing connections becomes crucial. Ericsson's technology stands out as a testament to excellence in any enterprise setting.
