36 TECHFEED 5G
G IS A TECHNOLOGY THAT CAN AUGMENT AND MAYBE EVENTUALLY REPLACE DIGITAL TERRESTRIAL TV
MAKING IT WORK So how will all this work? One aspect of the magic is network slicing. This allows mobile networks to chop the 5G spectrum they own into smaller pieces to use almost as mini virtual networks within the whole, for multiple purposes. “With 4G, it doesn’t matter what you’re doing, everyone is using the same network, which means it’s still a best-eort service,” says Matt Stagg, head of mobile video and content at EE. “What happens with 5G is that you can segment the network so it enables you to create virtual networks tailored to the requirements of what is using it. For autonomous vehicles, we can use edge computing to get the low latency needed, whereas consumers don’t need 99.9% service reliability to watch cat videos. But if they’re watching breaking news or critical communications, they do. 5G is a technology that can augment and maybe eventually replace digital terrestrial TV,” Stagg adds. There have already been some 5G trials around the globe, even though the first edition of the 5G standard was only ratified in December by the 3GPP. The standard has established a set of features and functionality needed for deploying a commercially operational 5G system. Adds Plunkett: “There are a number of technology trials underway and both standards and spectrum harmonisation will be complete in 2019. By 2020 we will see the start of large-scale availability and use. In the meantime, 4G LTE is continuing to improve, both in terms of coverage and new versions that will smooth the transition from 4G to 5G.” EE carried out a lab trial in November last year demonstrating “phenomenal” speeds, according to Stagg. The operator worked with Huawei to create 2.8Gbps download speeds across an end-to-end 5G test network in its UK mobile lab. It linked the fully virtualised 5G core to a 64x64 Massive MIMO active antenna unit broadcasting 5G New Radio, using 100MHz of 3.5GHz test spectrum via the proof-of-concept Huawei 5G baseband unit. The consistent 2.8Gbps speeds and sub 5ms latency were delivered end to end, rather than just across the air interface. Earlier this year, in collaboration with Samsung Electronics, Arqiva launched the first field trial of 5G fixed
“The rise of IoT services will be huge. Imagine simple gadgets measuring your entire life from health to media services. Imagine having services which will keep you healthy, before you get sick, because it was detected in time. With better networks it will all be connected. You control both your life and all your surroundings from wherever you are.” Says Brian Morris, VP and general manager, media and entertainment at Tata Communications, 5G will power new sports and entertainment experiences as well as platforms that are inherently mobile, for example, VR, AR and live 360 video, but that are today dependent on Wi-Fi. He explains: “5G will make experiences, today constrained to static Wi-Fi, truly mobile. Looking at live 360º video, for example, to date, any 360 video experiments in sports have been hampered by a delay between the 360 video and live TV feeds, preventing a widespread adoption of the technology in live sports. “At the 2017 Singapore Grand Prix, Tata Communications conducted a test of truly live 360 video to show how the F1 racing experience could be augmented for fans, enabling them to experience the action in and around the circuit almost as if they were there,” continues Morris. “It was all about overcoming that delay, and showing how a fan could watch Lewis [Hamilton] or Sebastian [Vettel] coming into the pits on TV, grab their tablet and get a second, completely in sync 360º view of everything too!” Meanwhile, Zarri says the ‘headline’ 5G services will focus on three areas: Ultra-HD video, AR and VR applications. However, 5G will also enable machines to communicate without human intervention in an IoT capable of driving a nearly endless array of services. He adds: “It will facilitate safer, more eicient and cost- eective transport networks and oer improved access to medical treatments, reliably connecting patients and doctors all over the globe. From low power, sensor-driven smart parking to holographic conference calls, 5G will enable richer, smarter and more convenient living and working. It is a giant step forward in the global race to digitise economies and societies.” HISTORY OF MOBILE NETWORKS
SELF CONTROL 5G will facilitate the use of autonomous vehicles such as self-driving cars and drones
Professor Albert Jahnke claims development of a radio telephone for the Oakland Transcontinental Aerial Telephone
German railroad system trials wireless phones on military trains
First class passengers can call phones from a mobile phone on the Berlin to Hamburg train
Bell Labs trials a pre-cellular VHF radio telephone system
Humphrey Bogart uses a car phone in Billy Wilder’s Sabrina
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