RCRWireless News | April 04, 2019
Spanish carrier Orange Spain and ZTE have completed what they claim is the first voice and data call over a standalone 5G network in Europe, the telco said in a statement. The trial was carried out in Valencia via a 5G New Radio base station, 5G core network and test devices, reaching speeds of 876 Mbps with a single user handset and 3.2 Gbps with 12 handsets working simultaneously. Orange Spain highlighted that the network technology was fully 5G, whereas previous 5G calls trials in Spain were made using Non-Standalone (NSA) architecture. “It is key to learn about this new and disruptive technology,”said Mónica Sala, director of networks at Orange Spain. “The know-how of ZTE is evident in achieving this milestone and we are very proud of the results.” “It is a great pleasure for us to cooperate with Orange for technological innovation and leadership in 5G. We foresee this long-term relationship as a way to learn on 5G commercialization,” said Xiao Ming, president of global sales at ZTE. Orange Spain plans to extend 5G trials to other industries including construction, energy, health, automotive, and tourism.
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RCRWireless News | April 02, 2019
There’s widespread consensus among the industrial companies on hand for Hannover Messe that 5G will be a major factor in the future of high-value verticals like manufacturing. But, just like consumer 5G services, it won’t happen overnight. That’s why Qualcomm is working on continued development of the 5G New Radio standard while taking a collaborative approach to bringing 5G to industries. Yongbin Wei, Qualcomm’s senior director of research, gave a presentation during Hannover Messe looking ahead to refinements of 5G NR coming in 3GPP’s Release 16 that speak directly to industrial internet of things-type applications, particularly reliability and time-sensitive networking. He gave the example of industrial robotics, noting, “The unique thing about this is latency and reliability is much more stringent. To support that…Release 16 will bring a couple of enhancements to better use 5G.” He also discussed the challenging radio environments present in varying types of industrial facilities. “The question we are trying to figure out is how we can marry the 5G connectivity better with all the industry’s existing facilities. To ensure the high reliability, that is a challenge,” and the solution will be spatial technology that ensures redundancy if a single RF link is blocked or otherwise unable to provide the level of service needed for a given application. “If you have multiple links, then if a certain link gets blocked or degrades, you have another link. That’s the benefit of spatial diversity,” Wei said. Private networks are another major topic at Hannover Messe; in fact, Germany has dedicated frequencies in the 3.7 GHz band for private networks, similar to what U.S. regulators are doing around the 3.5 GHz CBRS band.
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SDxCentral | April 01, 2019
Ericsson and Nokia are making use of this year’s Hannover Fair in Germany to showcase future industrial applications for 5G. This includes a raft of new collaborations and demonstrations highlighting the technology as an enabler for industrial IoT, smart factories, and private wireless networks. Discussions on future 5G use cases have often coalesced around the technology’s potential for different vertical sectors, while recognizing the need for greater collaboration between mobile players and industry to bring these concepts to fruition. Such collaborations and use cases have certainly emerged as a major focus point for mobile equipment vendors and operators as they seek ways to justify the enormous cost of investing in 5G networks. At this week’s Hannover Fair, Nokia teamed up with Qualcomm and show organizer Deutsche Messe on a 5G campus network that enables exhibitors to demonstrate a range of industrial 5G use cases, including an automated guided vehicle (AGV) with live video streaming over 5G and a process quality control system for the automotive industry. Nokia also unveiled its Factory in a Box 2.0 concept that is designed to improve factory processes using 5G and IoT connectivity, robotics, and virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR). Ericsson, for its part, signed a memorandum of understanding with Swedish technology and industrial giant ABB to use 5G and industrial IoT to increase factory automation. The two companies are already partnering on automated 5G manufacturing at Ericsson’s own factory in Tallinn, Estonia, adding machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) to the Swedish vendor’s production processes. As part of the latest deal, ABB will provide a fully automated robot cell solution for the final assembly of 5G radios. Ericsson has already joined forces with Swedish carrier Telia and Volvo Construction Equipment on the operation of a 5G network for industrial use. The network at Volvo’s research and development facility in Eskilstuna, Sweden, uses Ericsson commercial hardware and software, including 5G New Radio (NR) and core network products.
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