5G –just around the corner

Mr. John Donovan, the Chief Strategy Officer and Group President of AT&T described 5G as enabling the most exciting tech during his lifetime. With voice over 1G invented in the 80s, text messages over 2G dominating in the 90s, multimedia over 3G being introduced in the 00s, and 4G LTE providing us the basis for mobile internet we are now on the brink of the 5^th evolution characterized by data, connectivity, and enhanced user experience (1). AT&T seems to be one of the leaders in the space planning initial rollouts at the end of 2018 and now starting real-world fixed 5G tests in three states (2).

There are several interesting testbeds also in Europe: Germany has labs in Berlin and Dresden, there is one focused on optical transport networks in Catalonia, Spain, and a 5G Innovation Center in Surrey, UK (3). In 2015 a 5G test network (5GTN) initiative was also started in Oulu, a small Finnish city next to the polar circle, part of the Tekes (Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation) 5thGear program (4). 5GTN aims to provide developers with a carrier-grade test network, with a selection of measurement and monitoring tools (3).

Even with some issues remaining open regarding the imminent 5G communications standard before its ratification in 2018, a lot of exciting advancements are happening in the field (5). Korean mobile operator KT (6) and Intel (7) are already advertising 5G services for the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, and the Finnish 5GTN just opened the opportunity for any business to test the 5G network free of charge a couple of months ago (8).

Intel CEO Brian Krzanich sees the Olympics as a perfect opportunity for launching 5G to the public as they connect millions of fans at home with millions of things at the games (7), but others worry that problems due to the huge masses could have a severe impact on the public opinion of 5G (6).

The definition for 5G is still a bit ambiguous, but relies on three cornerstones: i) faster data speeds (extreme mobile broadband), ii) reduced latency (critical machine-type communication), and iii) revolutionizing IoT capabilities (massive machine-type communication) (5) and (6).

5G will allow our mobile phones to communicate up to 100 times faster, but there is a misconception that 5G is a faster version of 4G, whereas it should be seen as a platform or as an “IoT area” as Pearse O’Donohue acting director for Future Networks at DG CONNECT, European Commission put it (5). 5G is built upon the requirements of various applications and their use scenarios (3) and consequently understanding the disruptive nature of the technology is critical for cost-effective deployment (5). Antje Williams, Executive Program Manager for 5G for Deutsche Telekom highlights that “there needs to be an industry push for more innovative 5G architecture” (5).

The 5GTN in Oulu is a full-scale 5G test network located at the premises of VTT and University of Oulu supporting the use of 5G devices, higher frequency bands, cognitive management functionalities, as well as system testing tools for new solutions (9).  5GTN enables immediate testing of new operator business and service models, as well as fast integration of 5G radio technologies to be tested in real operator scale network environment (4).

5GTN is composed of two different environments: i) an open test environment with public users at University of Oulu, and ii) a more private, well-controlled, configurable environment, which enables confidential research and testing located at VTT. Both networks are based on carrier-grade technologies and leveraging cloud-based deployments in order to allow the network to be more dynamic and scalable. (3) 5GTN is built upon the idea of small cell access points, virtualized network elements and increased IoT traffic (10).

5GTN test network architecture in Oulu. For a more detailed description, please refer to the source (3).

5GTN is developed by, VTT, the University of Oulu and the Centria Polytechnic in close collaboration with corporate partners. The first new solutions are targeting for field trials already this year. The ambition has been to provide the ability to harness opportunities offered by 5G technology as early as possible before commercial networks emerge, and strengthen the position of Finland as a developer of new 5G technologies and applications. (8)

At the European Conference on Networks and Communications held in Oulu on June 12-15, 2017 the European Commission’s O’Donohue concluded that “5G and 5G policy is about all sectors of the economy […] even sectors who don’t identify themselves as technology.” (5) We are living in exciting times, 5G is expected to be a game changer from a technological, economic, societal, and environmental perspective (11).

 

Sources:

(1) Pirinen, P. (2014, November). A brief overview of 5G research activities. In 5G for Ubiquitous Connectivity (5GU), 2014 1st International Conference on(pp. 17-22). IEEE.

(2) Goovaerts, D., (2017, May 30) AT&T Gears Up for Real-World Fixed 5G Tests in Three States. Retrieved at: https://www.wirelessweek.com/news/2017/05/t-gears-real-world-fixed-5g-tests-three-states?et_cid=5971002&et_rid=583183864&type=headline&et_cid=5971002&et_rid=583183864&linkid=https%3a%2f%2fwww.wirelessweek.com%2fnews%2f2017%2f05%2ft-gears-real-world-fixed-5g-tests-three-states%3fet_cid%3d5971002%26et_rid%3d%25%25subscriberid%25%25%26type%3dheadline.

(3) Piri, E., Ruuska, P., Kanstrén, T., Mäkelä, J., Korva, J., Hekkala, A., & Valasma, H. (2016, June). 5GTN: A test network for 5G application development and testing. In Networks and Communications (EuCNC), 2016 European Conference on(pp. 313-318). IEEE.

(4) Latva-aho, M., Pouttu, A., Hekkala, A., Harjula, I., & Mäkelä, J. (2015, August). Small cell based 5g test network (5GTN). In Wireless Communication Systems (ISWCS), 2015 International Symposium on(pp. 231-235). IEEE.

(5) Bloomberg, J. (2017, June 14). Transformative 5G Standards Near Completion. Retrieved at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonbloomberg/2017/06/14/transformative-5g-standards-near-completion/#55a43f4125c4.

(6) Carter, P (2017, July 17) 5G needs to avoid the awkward history of 4G. The Next Web. Retrieved at: https://thenextweb.com/contributors/2017/07/16/5g-needs-avoid-awkward-history-4g/#.tnw_dkFIEZyh.

(7) Ulanoff, L. (2017, June 21). Intel is bringing 5G, drones, and VR to the Olympics in 2018. Retrieved at: http://mashable.com/2017/06/21/intel-bringing-big-tech-to-olympics/#JzGU6MngbSqU.

(8) EurekAlert! (2017, May 9). Finland’s first 5G development environment opens to businesses. Press release. Retrieved at: https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-05/vtrc-ff5050917.php.

(9) 5GTN (2017). OVERVIEW –5G Test Network. Retrieved at: http://5gtn.fi/overview/.

(10) Kanstren, T., Liikka, J., Mäkelä, J., Luoto, M., & Prokkola, J. (2016, December). Preliminary big data in a 5G test network. In Big Data (Big Data), 2016 IEEE International Conference on(pp. 2722-2727). IEEE.

(11) Mueck, M., Strinati, E. C., Kim, I. G., Clemente, A., Dore, J. B., De Domenico, A., & Parssinen, A. (2016, December). 5G CHAMPION-Rolling out 5G in 2018. In Globecom Workshops (GC Wkshps), 2016 IEEE(pp. 1-6). IEEE