The 5G promise has already been heard, but now its voice is more than just a whisper of things to come.
When truly great technology comes together and just ‘works’ it’s akin to an orchestra of perfectly harmonious instruments; each piece uniting to play a societal symphony so strangely, yet wonderfully familiar, we feel as though it has always been a part of who and what we are.
Today, it’s the sound of undulated connectivity, the kind that ripples through society (and beyond) punctuating our lives, perfectly and cohesively. The 5G promise has already been heard, but now its voice is more than just a whisper of things to come. The symphony we’re slowly tuning into is a concerto of high spectrum rates, high peak rates and 1ms latency, brought to us by 100 billion connections and soon to be echoed continuously through the very things we see, touch and sense around us every day.
Professor Rahim Tafazolli, 5G Research Pioneer, Director of the 5G Innovation Centre, University of Surrey, recently exclaimed “5G will intelligently understand the demands of users in real-time, dynamically allocating network resources depending on whether the connected device needs voice or data connectivity.” It’s this kind of ‘predictive’ intelligence that sets the bass tone for 5G and it’s a sound that’s set to resonate for the next ten or twenty years if Tafazolli’s vision is truly realised. A predictive mobile and wireless connectivity topology, which intelligently reacts to user demands, allowing bandwidth-intense applications to perform seamlessly across a network, whilst attaining flexibility for the system to adequately evolve and expand across a plethora of new connectivity applications and their associated demands.
Huawei understands the percussion of 5G progression better than most and recognises that mobile transport networks will play a fundamental role in its future development. These will enable the support of immense connectivity, super high data rates, and real-time services in an omnipresent environment. To attain these targets Huawei and China Mobile have been working together with a number of vertical industries to test 5G automotive networks using high bandwidth and low latency, such as Tele-operated Driving (ToD), to explore the digital transformation road of all the vertical industries enabled by 5G. Alongside this, a range of networking tests has been conducted on Huawei's 50GE FlexE-based ATN series slicing routers, covering 50GE operation modes and FlexE-based network slicing, bandwidth expansion, and protection switching.
The results from these tests have concluded that the 50GE interfaces meet commercial use requirements for all evaluated indicators and will ensure the highest levels of service quality. Meanwhile, the industry's first 100G outdoor WDM launched by Huawei has been commercially deployed with China Mobile. Implementing with RRU co-site deployment, this solution saves huge optical fibre resources with '0' footprint in 5G cell site, which ensures in-depth 5G network coverage in hotspot areas
But of course, with every great orchestra, there’s a need for a superb brass section, and here we refer to both connotations of the word. There’s the applications of 5G themselves, with all their trumpet and French horn bravado and then there’s the other kind of brass; the investment needed from the organisations who so loudly voice their appreciation of the smart cities they are so keen to see connected, but who falter when it comes to handing over the revenues needed to make them a reality.
Here Huawei, along with other key industry players, recognise the absolute need for education. By the end of 2017, beginning of 2018, 17,000 or so students and staff members will benefit from a live 5G infrastructure network that will cover the entire University of Surrey’s campus. The innovation receives investment from these key players across the industry including, in no small part, Huawei, who have been involved with the University of Surrey’s 5G Innovation Centre since 2014.
The strings section resonates with the airs of emerging technologies, like immersive audio-video applications, the Internet of Things (IoT), the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), Industry 4.0, Machine Learning (ML), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Virtual Reality (VR) and Mixed Reality (MR). A dreamy sonata, bridged occasionally by our own imaginations and steadily accelerating our journey into the connected world with its promise of driverless cars, remote surgery and drone managed agriculture.
But, as with every great symphony throughout history, an equally great composer is essential, and here Huawei are collaborating closely with the major organizations in the 5G ecosystem, including METIS in EU, 5GPPP in EU, IMT-2020 in China, 5GMF in Japan, and 5G Forum in South Korea to ensure they get the melody absolutely right!
So, listen carefully, pause between the lines of the white papers presented to you, look beyond the demonstrations and allow yourself to become immersed in the beautiful 5G noise. Tune into the symphony that is the future of connectivity and play your part in orchestrating a true global masterpiece.
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