Ericsson promotes Digital Twins for telcos

Ericsson’s VP and Head of Network Deployment Offering Evolution, Ebru Kirac, defines a digital twin as a numerical representation of an intended or actual real-world physical product, system or process. This can then serve as the digital counterpart of it for practical purposes, such as simulation, integration, testing, monitoring and maintenance.

“A digital twin is typically composed of the following three elements: the site described by a physical entity in 3D space; the digital representation in software (digital twin) and data that links the first two elements together. A digital twin functions as a proxy for the current state of the site that it represents,” explains Kirac.

“The challenge presented by building networks of digital twins is creating and maintaining these systems. We have developed novel ways to automate the ingestion of data from almost any existing data source, to create total or partial digital twins. Also, by uploading operational data and the development of unique toolsets, we can ensure that digital twins are always up to date. This means that we can dramatically reduce the engineering and site survey efforts required for a digital network.”

Kirac claims that digital twins can be very effective for proactively planning efficient sites. “Users can interact with the digital models and get real-time feedback at any stage of the lifecycle of their planning, delivery and operations. Product teams can interact and gain feedback from the deployment of their solutions, while operations can use the technology to monitor and improve the availability and capacity of their networks. There are a broad range of potential use cases, enabled by connecting data sets and building intelligence into them.”