Nokia collabs with Hololight to utilise L4S for high-quality multi-user XR experiences

Nokia has partnered with German company Hololight to explore the potential of its L4S internet protocol for delivering high-quality multi-user extended reality (XR) experiences under real-world traffic conditions.

L4S, short for low-latency, low-loss, scalable throughput, was developed to support the large-scale rollout of real-time applications. Pioneered by Nokia Bell Labs, the research arm of Nokia, L4S drastically reduces latency experienced by packets travelling across the Internet. It enables real-time applications to always enjoy a low latency, no matter how busy the network is.

Nokia said that L4S will be crucial in 5G-Advanced, and the company is driving L4S standardization efforts in 3GPP Release 18.

"It’s important to grow the ecosystem and show what the L4S protocol can bring to communications, in particular, to 5G-Advanced systems and beyond. With its advanced XR applications, Hololight will help us explore the user experience for future applications and what these applications and future networks will need to support," said Koen De Schepper, Network Automation Research Principal, Nokia Bell Labs.

The two companies are showcasing a proof-of-concept with multiple XR headsets utilizing innovative L4S technology under real-world network traffic conditions at the Brooklyn 6G Summit. The PoC tests the performance of Nokia's L4S with a scalable number of XR users simultaneously connected to the same infrastructure. L4S requires support from both the application and the network.

Commenting on this partnership, Philipp Landgraf, Senior Director XR Streaming, Hololight, said, "Partnering with Nokia puts us at the forefront of 6G innovation. Together, we are excited to pioneer a solution that enables smooth and stable streaming of XR applications with a high number of active users, even in the most challenging environments, ensuring an unparalleled user experience."