On the occasion of the 10e edition of its Research and Innovation exhibition, Orange will demonstrate breakthrough technologies that will help it improve network speed and coverage, without having to generate additional waves.
Orange opens today, and for three days, the doors of the Research and Innovation fair, an in-house event focused this year on the networks of the future, artificial intelligence, data and digital technology. The historic operator will take the opportunity to present around forty demonstrations, some of which will be devoted to so-called breakthrough technologies, such as quantum, reconfigurable intelligent surface (SIR) or computer vision.
Quantum technology at the service of flow security
For the first time in France, Orange is presenting its visitors with a demonstration of video streaming encrypted by quantum keys on its fiber network. This system works using cryptographic techniques which guarantee the confidentiality of communications and, icing on the cake, make the slightest malicious intrusion immediately detectable when the keys are exchanged.
Orange is carrying out this experiment as part of a project financed by the Île-de-France region, called “ParisRegionQCI”, of which the company is the leader. It is based on the QKD (quantum key distribution) solution from the Swiss company ID Quantique, on the IPsec Mistral encryption gateways from Thales and on the collaboration with Sorbonne University.
The operator will also showcase its latest reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) prototype, a promising technology for future wireless communications that has captured industry attention in recent years.
Orange is working on technologies with lower energy consumption
The operator explains that the RIS technology will help improve network throughput and coverage, without generating additional waves. Its prototype was designed in the Orange laboratories in Sophia-Antipolis (06) with the help of its partners. Thus, the French telecom operator becomes the very first in Europe to be able to demonstrate the capabilities of this low energy consumption technology, which is intended for 6G.
Another demonstration to highlight: computer vision for retail. This, Orange leads in collaboration with Google Cloud and one of the partners of the American giant, 66degrees. The demonstration is based on the real-time analysis of high-definition video images, so as to automatically detect this or that product missing from the shelves, in order to facilitate its restocking.
This technology combines 5G and edge computing to offer interesting computing capabilities for artificial intelligence, with high bandwidth and enhanced data confidentiality. Among the use cases, we therefore find the use of computer vision in commerce, but the industrial and smart city sectors are also showing interest.
All the research projects and innovative solutions highlighted during the Orange event form the basis of the services that will be deployed in the short or medium term by the operator, promises the latter.
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