Ericsson, Supermicro partner on bundled edge AI & 5G

Ericsson and Supermicro have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding to jointly explore the development of bundled offerings that combine Ericsson's enterprise wireless 5G connectivity with Supermicro's Edge AI platforms.

Both companies are seeking to simplify procurement and deployment for enterprise customers needing advanced edge AI capabilities that also rely on robust wireless network connectivity.

Edge AI demand

As businesses increasingly deploy AI across operations, requirements for low-latency response times are pushing more AI applications towards edge deployments—outside traditional data centres and closer to sources of data. These include pre-trained AI models, generative AI, and agentic AI, all of which can benefit from reliable, high-speed wireless networks.

The proposed collaboration would enable sectors such as retail, industrial manufacturing, and healthcare to accelerate the rollout of edge AI infrastructure with integrated wireless connectivity. With the planned commercial bundles, businesses would be able to obtain pre-validated AI compute and 5G connectivity as a unified solution, thereby reducing complexity in setup and management.

Product portfolio and deployment flexibility

Supermicro's current portfolio for Edge AI infrastructure includes a range of equipment, from small fanless devices to 1U rackmount systems. According to the company, these systems are able to operate in multiple environments, maintaining industry-standard data throughput comparable to wired alternatives while coming as stand-alone wireless units.

"Supermicro delivers cutting-edge solutions that allow enterprises to harness the power of AI at the edge," said Mory Lin, Vice President, IoT/Embedded & Edge Computing, Supermicro. "Our compute platforms combined with Ericsson's 5G technology will allow enterprises and public sector organizations to extend the reach of their AI applications where wired technologies are not a viable option, such as smart intersections, industrial manufacturing, and remote infrastructure."

5G wireless as primary and backup

Ericsson brings to the collaboration its wireless WAN portfolio, comprising indoor and outdoor wireless adapters, as well as appliances supporting 5G, SD-WAN, and security. These solutions are positioned for situations where wired connectivity is unsuitable or unavailable. For these deployments, 5G can be used as the primary or backup WAN connection for critical enterprise functions.

The wireless offering also extends 5G features such as network slicing, cellular intelligence, and zero trust security to enterprise customers relying on these bundles.

Jonathan Fischer, Vice President, Global OEM & Embedded Partners at Ericsson said, "Ericsson has been transforming the WAN edge for almost a decade, allowing enterprises to connect anything, anywhere with speed and agility. We are excited to collaborate with Supermicro to extend this same speed and agility to the emerging Edge AI space. Together, we have an opportunity to make it easier for enterprises to operate edge intelligence."

Key use cases

The companies highlighted several areas where the integrated bundles are expected to be applicable:

• Retail: Real-time image recognition for checkout, enhanced inventory tracking, and theft detection and alerting.
• Industrial automation: Local sensor and camera data processing for machinery monitoring and control.
• Traffic safety: Adaptive and real-time management via direct data analysis from cameras and sensors.
• Healthcare management: Supporting functions such as just-in-time inventory for critical supplies.

According to the agreement, these systems are designed both to accelerate deployment timelines and to reduce complexity for a broad range of edge applications requiring AI and high-speed connectivity outside data centres.

Enterprise customers and system integrators will be able to evaluate the combined offering through Supermicro's standard engagement channels, with further technical and commercial information currently available via the company.