Sri Balaji University Pune was the official Academic Partner of India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2022, held in Delhi. I was delighted to be a part of it, representing my University at IMC 2022.
On Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the IMC 2022 exhibition at the Pragati Maidan, Delhi. The exhibition set the stage for the launch of 5G technology in India and numerous companies had set up pavilions at the exhibition to display their fifth-generation technologies. Prime Minister visited some of the pavilions to get a first-hand experienced of 5G technology.
Other dignitaries who attended the IMC 2022 event included Ashwini Vaishnaw, Telecom Minister, Mukesh Ambani of Reliance, Sunil Bharti Mittal of Airtel, Kumar Mangalam Birla of Vodafone-Idea and many more.
There were many keynote and panel discussions organized for first three days of the event. I attended several sessions, out of which one session was on “5G Advanced to 6G”, by the Chief Technology Officer of Ericson, Mangus Ewerbing.
The key points discussed were:
Mobile industry in India
The number of smartphone users and data traffic per smartphone is expected to increase from 800 million and 20 GB /month to around 1.2 billion smartphone users and 50 GB /month in 2027 after the introduction of 5G. The mobile phone industry will experience a massive boom with 5G technology.
3GPP
5G has targeted lot of main use case families, such as enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), critical Internet of Things (IoT), and massive IoT. The 5G system (5GS) provides superior network performance in terms of capacity and coverage; enables many new use cases and support for new verticals compared to previous generations of 3GPP systems. The already available commercial 5G deployments provide excellent learning on network performance. Many of the above-mentioned new trends and learnings from commercial 5G deployments demand further optimization of 5G systems, thus there is a need to define 5G Advanced systems in the coming releases. Release 18 will include both 5GS architecture enhancements and additional capabilities for new market segments.
Following five important feature areas, where 5G Advanced is expected to bring drastic change:
Intelligent network automation with increasing complexity in network design, (AI) and (ML) have the capability to resolve complex and unstructured network problems by using a large amount of data collected from wireless networks. Thus, there has been a lot of attention mainly on utilizing AI/ML-based solutions to increase network performance and hence providing pathway for inserting intelligence in network operations. 5G Advanced consign how to optimize the standardized interfaces for data collection while leaving the automation functionality. AI/ML for RAN enhancement. Three use cases:
The above cases supported by enhancement to current NR interface, targeting performance improvement using AI/ML functionality in the RAN while maintain the 5G. AI/ML in 5G core 5G advanced will provide further enhancement for the analytics and on ML model. The development in the 5G tech for analytics and data collection serve as a good foundation base for the AI/ML- based use cases. Extended Reality 5G new technology application includes extended reality (XR) which refers to anything from VR and AR to MR. In AR, live view usually with a camera on a smartphone or AR glass. The new MR tech considered the interaction of both real world on digital objects. In XR and cloud gaming with assistance of handled and wearable devices either human-to-machine or human to human communications are performed. Mobile service providers can introduce XR to consumers, enterprises, and public institutions to define and improve new practices in areas such as entertainment, training, education, social interactions, and communications Reduced capability NR devices More use cases requiring even lower cost and even lower energy consumption Even further reduced device complexity and reduce energy consumption Started in Redcap-17 and evolved in Redcap-18 Support for new user cases such as positioning
Network energy savings
Define a base station energy consumption model evolution methodology and KPI’s Study and identifiability technology on the gNB and UE side to improve network energy/savings
Determine Networking for IOT
Support for bounded low latency, low delay variation and extremely low loss for DeNET flows using IP.
NEEDS IN 2030
TRUST WORTHINESS-Trusted communication and computing for industry and society relying on critical information.
SUSTAINABLE WORLD – Communication and network as part of and enables for sustainable development
SIMPLIFIED LIFE – Massive use of AI across systems for optimal assistance and efficiency
APPLICATION DEMANDS – Extended and new services requiring extreme connectivity performance.
A SAFER AND MORE SUSTAINABLE WORLD
Massive amounts of small zero-energy sensors and actuators of various rates Joint communication and sensing Real time and very low latency Secure and reliable communication Data exposure and XaaS support of data on positioning sensing compute resources storage
A PERSONAL CONCIERGE CLOUD
Security, privacy, processing in cloud Positioning and association of devices Network internet function Exposed of data A MORE AUTHENTIC COMMUNICATION BETWEEN PEOPLE Advancement in devices (AR glasses, contact lenses, haptics) High bandwidth and cell density Edge compute and spatial mapping Super low bounded latency
“5G system are currently being massive rapid pace, support high-speed-low-latency connectivity for a wide range of service. There are no excuses that ongoing transformation will give rise to challenges beyond that 5G and 6G. 5G advanced tech components can be seen as precursors to some of the 6G building blocks. In the area of machine type communication, Redcap can be complemented by zero energy devices a class of devices harvesting energy from the surrounding and providing input to digital twins.AI/ML will also pay an important role in the fully data driven of 6G and intelligent network platform of the future. All connected society drives new and demanding service demands. Need to qualify the best technology for demands for 2030 and beyond Open standards for 2/3/4/5G have the strongest ecosystem Wide acceptance of standards drives scales and lower cost 5G in India will drive innovation of services and new devices Potential for Indian entities to participate in definition of 5G advanced 6G.”
-OMKAR SHANKAR YEJARE
