Ericsson, Intel and Microsoft teamed to demonstrate end-to-end standalone (SA) 5G network slicing capabilities on a mobile-connected laptop PC, a trial the trio hailed for demonstrating the potential of the approach on non-smartphone devices.

The trial was conducted at the Ericsson Lab in Sweden, employing multiple network slices on a laptop for consumer and enterprise use cases including gaming and collaboration applications.

In a statement, the companies explained multiple network slices were enabled by a feature enabling mobile devices to automatically tap the best connection for a specific application.

The trial used Ericsson’s 5G core and a combination of its network slicing technologies, along with Intel’s processors and Microsoft’s Windows 11 operating system.

Ericsson, Microsoft and Intel cited GSMA figures predicting the enterprise network slicing market would be worth $300 billion by 2025.

“Expanding the range of devices for network slicing to include laptops will allow new business segments to create a variety of use cases for consumer and enterprises,” Sibel Tombaz, head of product line 5G RAN at Ericsson, explained.

Tombaz added the joint demonstration showed how “collaboration can open new possibilities”.

The trial will be showcased at Ericsson’s stand during MWC23 Barcelona later this month.