In March, the GSMA (Global System for Mobile Communications Association) circle of friends suddenly became lively, frequently talking about "beyond 5G".
In Barcelona, Spain, at MWC 2024 (Mobile World Congress), an annual industry event, 5.5G is also the focus. Huawei unveiled the world's first 5.5G intelligent core network solution, attracting onlookers. 2024 is the first year of 5.5G commercialization, which is the consensus of the industry.
What exactly is 5.5G? What is it compared with 5G? How will it change our production and life? At a time when China Mobile, one of the three major communication operators in the mainland, is about to roll out Zhejiang's 5.5G business model, let's talk about this "black technology".
More than 0.5G
Before you know it, it's the fifth year of China's 5G service. Also this year, 5.5G is quietly coming.
Tracing back to the source, as early as April 2021, the international standards organization 3GPP defined the R18 protocol version as "5G-Advanced" (referred to as 5G-A), that is, 5.5G, "It can be understood as a key stage in the evolution from 5G to 6G, playing an important role in connecting the past and the future." Xu Linzhong, a 5G technical expert from the Planning and Technology Department of Zhejiang Mobile, said.
5.5G City Source: Visual China
Although the name is only 0.5G, as Huawei spokesperson said at MWC 2023, "5G three years is equal to 4G five years" - from 4G to 5G, adding 1G will improve the user experience by 10 times, and another 10-fold breakthrough has already occurred in the half-G leap from 5G to 5.5G.
The "improvements" are not limited to faster Internet speeds, but also include lower latency, higher reliability, and wider connection range. According to industry insiders, 5.5G can provide a downlink rate of 10Gbps, and communication will enter the 10 Gigabit era.
What do these terms, numbers, mean?
Taking the just-finished Wuhan Marathon as an example, relying on 5.5G, netizens can now watch the 42.195-kilometer marathon through live broadcast, almost "zero time difference", and send congratulations to runners who crossed the finish line for the first time.
At the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2024, participants also experienced the changes - based on the newly deployed 5.5G network this year, the user download speed is three times that of the past, with a peak of 4742Mbps, "theoretically the rate is higher, up to 10Gbps (10240Mbps), achieving 1.25G downloads per second".
In the vicinity of the West Lake Baguatian Ruins Park, the peak outdoor downlink rate of 5.5G can reach 4,216Mbps (photo provided by the interviewee)
And this is only a corner of 5.5G into daily life. "The global 5.5G industry is also developing at full speed. Zhu Xiaodan, vice president of wireless marketing at Huawei, said in an interview with the media.
5G applications cover 67 of the 97 categories of the mainland's national economy, including industry, medical care, and education...... The cumulative number of cases is nearly 100,000. In this regard, many industry insiders pointed out: "The leap of 0.5G may empower thousands of industries and help all walks of life complete digital and intelligent transformation." ”
In Shanghai, the millisecond-level low latency and high reliability brought by 5.5G have accelerated the implementation of vehicle-road collaboration, and "end-to-end" verification has been achieved (meaning that the entire system or process is complete and reliable). The numbers are impressive – a 30% increase in transport efficiency and a 20% reduction in commute time.
"Not only to improve efficiency, but also to improve quality. In Xu Linzhong's view, the empowerment of 5.5G to the intelligent industry is also reflected in the increase in information carrying capacity, which provides a basis for verification and testing of relevant industrial chains in advance, "forming a virtuous circle." ”
5.5G in Zhejiang
Meng Wanzhou, Vice Chairman and CFO of Huawei, said in a speech that from 5G to 5.5G, it will better match scenarios such as the Internet of Things, IoT, perception, and high-end manufacturing, and incubate more new business opportunities.
According to the latest release of "China Mobile Economy Development 2024", by 2030, the number of 5G connections in China will increase to 1.6 billion, which is equivalent to nearly one-third of the total number of connections in the world, and the mobile market will contribute to China's economy to 1.1 trillion US dollars.
"A new stage of development represents more new business opportunities. Xu Linzhong said frankly that at the beginning of the 5.5G era, new functions such as passive IoT, synaesthesia, and endogenous intelligence are mostly "roads without cars". As a major province of digital economy, Zhejiang is "currently demand-oriented, and has tried and explored in the development of many scenarios".
5.5G empowers intelligent connected vehicles Source: Visual China
Among them, it is worth mentioning the "passive Internet of Things".
The so-called "passive IoT" refers to the ability of the Internet of Things without electricity. In our daily lives, we are surrounded by various radio signals that collect small amounts of energy but are sufficient for the work of passive IoT nodes.
It is said that "master logistics, you will grasp the initiative in the market", previously, in order to build an efficient and smooth circulation system and reduce logistics costs, Zhejiang Express chose to enter the factory - on the high-speed running conveyor belt, a piece of goods raced against time to "run";
Using 5.5G technology, only a thin passive IoT tag is needed to complete communication with outdoor base stations, and the distance can reach more than 200 meters. On this basis, whether it is cargo information or real-time location, it can be seen in real time through the network, and the recognition accuracy is as high as 99%.
"Zhejiang's express delivery industry is developed, Zhongtong, Shentong, Yuantong, Yunda four Zhejiang private express delivery, accounting for about 60% of the country's market share, their strong demand, to promote the landing of 5.5G. Xu Linzhong told reporters that an efficient and fast 5.5G industrial interconnected express service network is giving the manufacturing industry "hand" to develop new space.
5.5G empowers the express delivery industry Source: Visual China
Also driven by demand is the application of 5.5G in interceptor drones. It is reported that before the Asian Games, Hangzhou has used the 5.5G "synaesthesia integration" capability, so that the base station in the region has the function of "radar", quickly identify and track drones, prevent drones from "black flight" with high efficiency and low cost, and set up the entire low-altitude security system.
"I don't know if I've seen enough 'big' futures. GSMA CEO Hong Yaozhuang once talked to reporters that when the constantly updated and iterative 5G and AI collide with each other, "they are like an exponential function, and they are still at the bottom, how high and how fast can they rise in the future? How many industries will be empowered? ”
The only thing that is certain is that this is a huge opportunity.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People's Republic of China, the mainland has built the world's largest and most technologically advanced 5G network, and by the end of 2023, the number of 5G base stations in China has exceeded 3.377 million, and the number of gigabit broadband users has doubled compared to the same period last year. 5.5G, on the other hand, is upgraded on the shoulders of giants, relying on the iterative evolution of the existing network architecture, which greatly promotes its deployment and promotion.
"China Mobile Zhejiang has completed the outdoor continuous networking and pilot test of 5.5G multi-scenario in Hangzhou, and is expected to complete the 5.5G 1,000-station coverage in Hangzhou soon this year. This means that the latest technology will be available to all parts of the province. Xu Linzhong said.
5.5G covers high-speed rail stations, with a downlink peak rate of 4024.84Mbps Source: Visual China
6G competition
"Although there is a layout in the whole country, we can't clearly feel it now. Industry insiders told reporters that now, the laying of 5.5G infrastructure has not been completed, and the network speed in different regions will vary greatly. In addition, the peak theoretical transmission speed is often measured in professional laboratories, and the actual application environment is complex, affected by factors such as signal strength and mobile phone performance, "it will take time to feel the 5.5G speed".
While 5.5G has just been turned on, 6G is already on the way. Technology always wants to be one step ahead.
In February, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Japan, South Korea, and Sweden issued a joint statement, saying that they had reached "common principles" on the research and development of 6G wireless communication systems, and would work together to support "open, free, global, interoperable, reliable, resilient, and secure connectivity."
This means that the 6G race has begun. Chinese academician Li Deren has publicly warned that the West has taken the lead in the competition for space resources. Recently, the much-talked-about "Starship" began its fourth test flight, and the "Starlink Project" behind it is Musk's ambition to send 42,000 satellites "to the sky" to weave a satellite Internet that can cover every corner of the world.
It is important to know that the International Telecommunication Union stipulates that the right to use satellite frequency and orbit resources is obtained on a "first-come, first-served" competitive basis, which has also created a situation of "first-in-first-served". At present, Ku frequency resources have been "carved up" by various countries.
Satellite Frequency Bands Source: Network
"Although it is expected that in 2030, 6G will be commercialized. An industry insider said frankly, but the real realization of 6G, there are still many technical problems to be solved - aside from the national starlink plan is still in progress, how to use the coordination of satellite network and ground network? "How to integrate "satellite" and "ground" There is still a long way to go. ”
Global Satellite Communications Source: Visual China
According to the Global 6G Technology Patent Landscape Research Report released by the International Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), as of December 31, 2023, among the approximately 20,000 patent applications involving 6G technology in the world, China has the largest number of patent applications, reaching 8,074, accounting for 40.3%. It involves 9 core 6G technology areas such as communication technology, quantum technology, base station and artificial intelligence.
"The mainland has an advantage in communication technology, but while seizing the track, it is also necessary to see that the development and application of 6G technology is not a one-man show of one country or one enterprise. In Xu Linzhong's view, 6G technology involves multiple technologies, multiple fields, and multiple application scenarios, and no country or enterprise can "stand alone"——
This large "circle of friends" includes network infrastructure providers (such as Huawei, Samsung), chip suppliers (such as Qualcomm, Intel), network service providers (such as China Mobile, NTT DOCOMO), institutions (such as GSMA, 5GAA), vertical companies (such as Siemens, Mitsubishi), etc.
"Win-win cooperation is king. Xu Linzhong said frankly, "Only caring about pulling your own 'circle of friends' is obviously not conducive to the maturity and development of the entire industry." ”
Source: Chao News client