Amazon Web Services Inc. today announced that it has set up two new Wavelength Zones in Denver and Seattle, allowing enterprises to deploy their applications closer to the two cities for projects such as “internet of things” initiatives. 

AWS Wavelength is one of the main pillars of AWS’ edge computing strategy. The service offers access to cloud infrastructure that has the same features as the infrastructure in the Amazon.com Inc. unit’s main data centers, only it’s located in closer physical proximity to major cities. Packets therefore travel faster to and from applications deployed on Wavelength, which can be a big boon for certain projects.

The new Wavelength Zones in Denver and Seattle are embedded into Verizon Communications Inc.’s 5G network. AWS deploys Wavelength infrastructure inside carriers’ data centers as part of its strategy to minimize latency for users because those facilities are part of the network over which users’ information travels. Compared with connecting to a regular AWS cloud region, Wavelength reduces latencies by several milliseconds or more, which can make a big difference for certain use cases.

Verizon’s Skyward drone software business uses Wavelength to improve flight efficiency. Because Wavelength infrastructure is essentially part of a city’s 5G network, latency is low enough that Skyward can offload certain processing tasks from commercial drones to the service and thereby reduce the amount of computing hardware that has to be carried onboard. The resulting reduction in takeoff weight allows for longer flights, according to AWS.

Among the other customers of Wavelength are LG Electronics Inc. and Harman International Industries. Now that Wavelength is available in Seattle, the hometown of AWS parent Amazon, it’s possible that some teams inside the online retail giant will also start using the service for their latency-sensitive workloads.

Today’s service expansion brings the number of U.S. cities where AWS has rolled out Wavelength so far to 10. The service is also available in two international locations, Tokyo and Daejeon, South Korea.

Alongside Wavelength, AWS’ edge computing portfolio includes AWS Local Zones, which are based on a similar concept and place cloud infrastructure near major markets so companies can deploy applications closer to users. For organizations that need even lower latency,  the Amazon unit provides AWS Outposts. Outposts are cloud-in-a-box appliances that a company can deploy on its own premises to access AWS infrastructure without the delay of sending data to a remote location for processing. 

Photo: AWS