How far will 5G go on the road to industrial application?

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5G unmanned mines, 5G intelligent transportation, 5G smart medical care, 5G UHV substations, 5G drones... At present, new technologies represented by 5G have ushered in the era of the Internet of Everything, and new industries, new formats, and new models are accelerating their penetration and integration with various industries. The reporter learned from the investigation that the current 5G industrialization is still at the point-like application of "sparks". To achieve the "wildfire", it still faces many problems such as high terminal costs, insufficient network coverage, unclear business models, and insufficient industry adaptability. Industry insiders suggest that multiple measures should be taken to accelerate the promotion of 5G industrialization applications, so that 5G can truly become an important support for the digital economy and an important driving force for high-quality development.

5G industrial application ignites a "spark"

On June 6, 2019, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology officially issued 5G commercial licenses to China Telecom, China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Broadcasting Corporation, marking the first year of 5G commercialization in my country. Data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology shows that more than 700,000 5G base stations have been built and put into operation nationwide, with a cumulative number of terminal connections exceeding 200 million, and 5G networks are accelerating. On this basis, the industrial application of 5G has ignited a "spark".

The cold wind is howling outside, but it is warm as spring in the intelligent dispatching center of Qianye Cement Company of Henan Energy Coking Coal Group in Jiaozuo City. 23-year-old Zhang Renzhong is staring at the screen while holding a remote control lever to operate an excavator several kilometers away for loading and unloading operations. "The '5G Green Unmanned Mine' project we have built has realized unmanned remote operation of mine crushing, excavation, transportation, monitoring and other links with the help of new technologies such as 5G, which has improved the safety and production efficiency of operations and the working environment of operators." Zheng Bo, deputy general manager of Qianye Cement Company, said.

In June 2020, the autonomous driving bus line 1 in Zhengdong New District, Zhengzhou City was opened. "Autonomous driving buses rely on Beidou satellites and laser SLAM for positioning. To transmit Beidou signals in real time and realize functions such as traffic light communication and blind spot warning, the role of 5G low latency is reflected." said Liu Zhennan, planning and control director of Yutong Intelligent Transportation and Autonomous Driving Department.

According to reports, Henan Province has built the country's first 5G medical experimental network in the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University. In the neurosurgery office of the Henan Branch of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, after providing remote diagnosis and treatment for several patients from the Central Hospital of Hami City in Xinjiang, Liu Xianzhi, director of the neurosurgery department, is remotely guiding a brain operation at the Zhengdong Branch of the hospital through a computer screen.

"Okay, there are no more bleeding spots, and the operation can be ended." Liu Xianzhi pointed to the computer screen while talking to the doctor performing the operation at the Zhengdong campus of the hospital. "Neurosurgery has very high requirements. Without 5G, the transmission of surgical videos was not smooth and the clarity was not enough. Now you can see that it is very clear and there is no noticeable delay."

5G technology also has a lot to offer in epidemic prevention and control. On January 10, 2021, Wuhan University Zhongnan Hospital arranged a 5G mobile CT vehicle to rush to Hebei to help the region quickly diagnose COVID-19. Ye Naili, chief technician of the Medical Imaging Department of Zhongnan Hospital, who is assisting Hebei, said that the characteristics of "vehicle + 5G" mobile high-bandwidth transmission are very consistent with the needs of clinical diagnosis services under complex epidemic prevention and control conditions, which can speed up the diagnosis and treatment efficiency of patients and reduce the risk of infection for medical staff.

On January 17, 2021, the full-process automation upgrade and transformation project of the traditional container terminal of Tianjin Port was fully operational. The project integrates 5G technology, Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, cloud computing and other technologies, and realizes the large-scale group application of unmanned automated container yard cranes, unmanned electric container trucks, unmanned intelligent unlocking stations and unmanned container quay cranes.

In Shenzhen, the city has achieved full coverage of 5G independent networking, and the density of 5G base station construction is leading in the country. As the general promotion agency, the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has established the "Shenzhen New Generation Information and Communication Industry Cluster" in conjunction with relevant enterprises, associations, alliances and other entities to cultivate the integrated innovation and development of 5G, integrated circuits, new displays, and related linked industries.

At the same time, the integration of 5G with smart manufacturing, tourism, UHV substations, drones, logistics and other industries is also continuing to advance.

The "Industrial Internet Innovation and Development Action Plan (2021-2023)" recently issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology proposes that by 2023, my country will build 30 5G fully connected factories in 10 key industries.

5G industrialization is expected to become a "wildfire" trend, but there are still problems

The reporter learned from the investigation that accelerating the industrialization and application of 5G still faces many difficulties, such as high terminal costs, insufficient network coverage, unclear business model, and insufficient industry adaptability.

——The 5G industrial chain needs to be improved, and there is still a large gap in some areas.

Zhang Yunyong, general manager of China Unicom Group Product Center, introduced that my country has achieved good results in 5G technology standards and patents. However, core components such as high-end data communication chips, high-speed digital-to-analog conversion chips, high-end CPU/FPGA, and high-performance RF front-end devices are still relatively dependent on imports. In areas with high technical barriers such as instruction sets and chip design, there is still a large gap compared with first-class chip companies in Europe and the United States.

——The costs of 5G modules and terminals are high, and network coverage is still insufficient.

Zhang Yunyong introduced that due to the high frequency of 5G use, the density of 5G sites is expected to be at least 1.5 times that of 4G, and the scale of network investment is about 4 times that of 4G, so the initial financial pressure faced by 5G network deployment is relatively large. In addition, in the 5G era, in addition to smartphones, there are also various industry terminals, whose communication core is the 5G module. In the initial promotion, they face problems such as small scale, high cost, low profit, and slow effect. The high cost restricts the rapid promotion.

In the view of Zhao Jie, deputy secretary of the Party Committee of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University and director of the National Telemedicine Center, 5G has great value in the field of telemedicine, but other medical institutions in the province have not yet fully covered the 5G network, and functions such as remote consultation, remote surgical guidance, and remote voice treatment cannot be launched on a large scale for the time being.

Wang Xiangning, head of the 5G drone project at China Unicom Research Institute, introduced that 5G drones are one of the important directions of 5G industry applications. Currently, 5G drone tests are basically carried out using existing ground networks, but the existing network coverage is still insufficient and is not specifically laid out for aerial targets, so the performance and quality need to be improved.

——5G’s deep integration with vertical industries is not compatible enough.

The "Fourteen Major Trends in the Development of China's Electronic Information Engineering Science and Technology (2021)" recently released by the Information and Electronic Engineering Department of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the China Information and Electronic Engineering Science and Technology Development Strategy Research Center pointed out that the current 5G network is being built at an accelerated pace, but its promotion and improvement and vertical integration with various industries still face challenges.

Taking the medical industry as an example, Zhao Jie introduced that at present, some 5G modules and routers launched by Huawei, Qualcomm and other manufacturers are not compatible with existing medical equipment, resulting in the 5G network being not stable enough in medical applications.

The integrated application of 5G and power systems also faces challenges. Li Yongjie, a specialist in the Technology Development Department of the Information and Communication Company of the State Grid Henan Electric Power Company, said that first, the lagging of uRLLC and mMTC standards has brought uncertainties to power applications; second, the network characteristics of 5G have brought new challenges to the existing power security protection architecture, security equipment and network management. The 5G application security protection system and protection plan are still in the research stage, which restricts the promotion and application of production control services; third, a large number of power grid production services will be carried on the operator's 5G public network in the future, and how to achieve full-process control of power 5G services faces challenges.

——The 5G business model is unclear and the application ecosystem is lagging behind.

Zhao Jie introduced that the business model of 5G in medical applications is not yet clear. Taking the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University as an example, although a 5G network has been established throughout the hospital, how operators charge and how medical equipment calculates traffic remain to be determined.

Some local government officials admitted that the existing 5G application scenarios are mostly local point applications, with few vertical industry application scenarios, and there are not enough mature scenario projects that can be replicated and promoted.

Experts suggest taking multiple measures to accelerate the industrialization and application of 5G

Relevant experts suggested that multiple measures should be taken to accelerate and optimize the industrial application of 5G, so that the "spark" can become a "prairie fire" and help the high-quality development of the economy.

First, increase policy support and accelerate 5G infrastructure construction and industry adaptation research.

Zhang Yunyong suggested that efforts should be made to build and share 5G networks, avoid duplication of network infrastructure, and ease the pressure on construction funds; in the early stage of 5G commercialization, special subsidies can be used to guide the large-scale development of 5G module manufacturers, stimulate the enthusiasm of upstream and downstream industries, and ultimately achieve the goal of reducing costs. At the same time, it is recommended that relevant departments actively guide the 5G vertical industry cooperation model.

Zhao Zhanjun, director of the Henan Branch of China Mobile Design Institute, suggested that on the one hand, public institutions should be allowed to open up to 5G base station construction free of charge, and two-way open sharing of communication base stations and social pole tower resources should be promoted to reduce the cost of 5G network construction; on the other hand, electricity costs can be reduced by subsidizing electricity prices for 5G base stations, supporting the transformation of information infrastructure into smart meters, and simplifying the application process for electricity installation.

Li Yongjie suggested that in the power industry, a 5G application demand survey should be conducted in all links of generation, transmission, transformation, distribution and use, and adaptability research and business adaptability testing should be jointly carried out.

The second is to promote pilot projects and support trial implementation.

Zhao Zhanjun suggested that a number of 5G new technology, new product, new business form and new model demonstration projects with obvious industry driving effect should be identified, and 5G demonstration applications of major projects should be carried out around the construction of major projects such as industrial Internet, smart cities, subways and high-speed railways. Certain rewards can be given to play a leading role in pioneering and trying out new things.

The third is to increase investment in R&D and innovation to connect the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain.

Wu Liangping, deputy director of Huawei's Wireless Industry Development Department, believes that in order to accelerate the pace of 5G commercialization and simultaneously promote the development of the entire 5G ecosystem, including chips, terminals, and network equipment, it is necessary to fill the gaps in the industrial chain as soon as possible. He recommends increasing upstream companies' investment in R&D and innovation to form a virtuous circle.

Zhao Zhanjun suggested that more efforts should be made to cultivate key scientific and technological enterprises, build a number of "5G+Cloud+AI" industrial bases with top-level hardware conditions and full R&D and application capabilities, and support enterprises in digital transformation in a demand-oriented manner.

Fourth, strengthen the construction of the 5G talent ecosystem and improve the digital skills of workers.

Experts suggest accelerating the training of compound 5G talents involving information, communications and industrial Internet. Accelerate the construction of 5G talent ecology, create a number of regional digital skills public training bases with prominent functions and shared resources, support large-scale backbone enterprises of digital economy and scientific research institutes to jointly build talent training bases, and better and faster make up for the talent gap in 5G.