5G Geotechnological Competition in the Digital Age: Global Benchmarks and Insights for the U.S.
5G will drive geopolitics, economic prosperity, and national security in the 2020s. Read how nations can safely and effectively roll out 5G strategies, using Booz Allen's 5G Power Framework.
Our Approach
From engineering and orchestration to integration and security, Booz Allen is on the leading edge of 5G solutions and edge services. We continue to research and develop new secure 5G-enabled platforms, including those integrating related new technologies such as integrated IoT, augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR), and artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) solutions.
Booz Allen understands the complexity of the 5G landscape, helping clients formulate customized 5G strategies that fit their missions and mitigate cybersecurity risk. We combine our telecommunications, cloud, network, and security expertise with our investment in a premiere 5G lab facility, delivering mission-focused cyber resiliency solutions you can rely on. Our offerings include the following:
Risk Management
Develop threat-centric approaches to managing 5G risks reduction and attack surfaces
Vulnerability Assessment
Assess 5G ecosystems for vulnerabilities that may negatively impact mobile networks, edge computing, and 5G devices and applications
Architecture & Engineering
Create comprehensive "Secure by Design” solutions to include network architectures and radio frequency/spectrum engineering for 5G rollouts
Mobile Edge & Compute
Engineer and design mobile AI/ML at the edge for 5G implementations
IoT and Emerging 5G Applications
Research, design, and prototype IoT solutions and new and cutting-edge applications (e.g., killer apps)
Establishing a Secure and Resilient 5G Ecosystem
5G cellular technology is transforming industry and government operations. But with the benefits come real challenges—geopolitical power struggles over the 5G ecosystem, regulatory issues, legacy system modernization, and new threat vectors.
Booz Allen's 5G Lab
Our carrier-grade 5G lab provides the testing environment required to develop and evolve today's cybersecurity defense systems. It supports a dynamic array of use cases for 4G, 5G Non-Standalone (NSA), and 5G Standalone (SA). The lab breaks down into two primary components—5G NSA and 5G SA cores.
5G-NSA includes: Two 1RU servers hosting the Nokia Compact Evolved Packet Core (EPC) in an active-standby configuration. eNobeB broadcasting at 3.5 GHz (N48, CBRS) provides the LTE/4G anchor band for our 28GHz (N261) MMwave 5G New Radio (NR).
5G-SA includes: Network Functions Virtualization Infrastructure (NFVI), 5G SA core, and Radio Access Network (RAN) broadcasting at 2.4 GHz (N41). The NFVI is composed of two Nokia Airframe racks containing 45 compute nodes in two availability zones, with Nokia’s own supported distribution of OpenStack acting as the cloud operating system. Rounding out the complete virtualized environment is the orchestration component, making this lab ready to support almost any use case.
Beyond the 5G NR and NFVI, the Booz Allen 5G lab supports two key features new to 5G:
A complete multiaccess edge computing (MEC) solution that includes a gNodeB, user plane function (UPF), and MEC server:
Instead of simulating an edge node within our existing lab, we deployed a second edge lab. The Booz Allen edge includes a distributed UPF with local break-out to route data directly to the internet versus back through the core. A RAN consists of a gNodeB broadcasting 3.5Ghz (N78), and allows users to connect to the Nokia virtual multiaccess edge computing (vMEC) server. Augmented reality and virtual reality (AR/VR) applications are easily supported within this environment.
Network slicing that goes hand in hand with MEC:
Network slicing is a means for carriers to provide segregated network access with guaranteed performance attributes. Applications such as AR/VR do not reliably work if other services are consuming the bandwidth required for their use. Network slicing is designed to address the shortcomings inherent with the application of quality of service (QoS) technologies in networks; thus, delivering guaranteed bandwidth from the RAN to the applications. Booz Allen acquired the network slicing function for use in the 5G lab to ensure we have all the key 5G features.
Secure the Future. Defend with Us.
As a member of our elite team, you’ll help us secure the future and stay ahead of the threat as we merge intelligence-grade tradecraft, technology and tools, and unparalleled expertise to take on the most advanced cyber challenges.
