Moving forward amid challenges: A review of the top ten events in the 5G field in 2020

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, 2020 has passed, and we have officially ushered in the brand new year of 2021. Looking back on the past year, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented challenges to people's work and life, but at the same time, we have also seen that the value of 5G has been highlighted during the pandemic. For example, online meetings, telemedicine, infrared temperature measurement, unmanned delivery, and other scenarios supported by 5G technology have played an important role in the fight against the pandemic.

In March 2020, the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held a meeting to make new arrangements for the prevention and control of the COVID-19 epidemic and the key tasks of stabilizing economic and social operations, and proposed new measures to accelerate the construction of new infrastructure such as 5G networks and data centers. In May of the same year, the construction of new infrastructure (new infrastructure) was written into the 2020 Government Work Report for the first time, officially rising to the national strategic level.

As an important part of the new infrastructure, the number of 5G base stations continues to soar. According to statistics, the number of 5G base stations has increased from more than 130,000 at the end of December 2019 to 718,000 at the end of December 2020, and the coverage has expanded to all cities at the prefecture level and above in the country. At the same time, the number of 5G users has also doubled, and the number of 5G terminal connections has exceeded 200 million.

It is worth mentioning that in 2020, 5G signals reached the summit of Mount Everest. China Mobile and Huawei successfully completed the construction and opening of the world's highest 5G base station at the 6,500-meter forward camp on Mount Everest, successfully achieving 5G coverage at the summit of Mount Everest.

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Throughout the year, there have been too many memorable events in the 5G field, and the development of the entire industry is inseparable from the driving force of these events. Next, let's take stock of the top ten hot events in the 5G field in 2020.

1. 5G plays a significant role in fighting the epidemic

At the beginning of 2020, the COVID-19 epidemic touched people's hearts. In order to fight the epidemic, Wuhan began to build two hospitals, Huoshenshan and Leishenshan, to treat COVID-19 patients. During the construction process, hundreds of millions of netizens became "cloud supervisors" and witnessed the rapid completion of the two hospitals in Wuhan, Huoshenshan and Leishenshan, by watching the live broadcast. This live broadcast was mainly due to the 5G video surveillance on site.

During the severe stage of the epidemic, frontline doctors are in short supply and urgently need real-time guidance from experts to help doctors treat patients and reduce the risk of infection during doctor rounds. 5G remote consultation overcomes the barriers of time and distance, helping medical experts in different places to provide guidance on difficult and critical diseases, so that patients can get medical help as soon as possible.

As the epidemic situation gradually stabilizes, many companies have begun to resume production and work. The passenger flow in stations, airports and other places has increased significantly, which has brought tremendous pressure to epidemic prevention and control. In order to conduct rapid and effective temperature screening of mobile personnel, 5G infrared thermal imaging temperature measurement has begun to be used at entrances and exits and public places with concentrated traffic.

2. Global 5G patent rankings in 2020: Huawei first, ZTE third

In February 2020, patent data company IPLytics released a 5G industry patent report. The report showed that there were two Chinese companies in the top ten companies, with Huawei ranking first with 3,147 patents and ZTE ranking third with 2,561 patents.

In this report, Chinese companies accounted for 32.97% of the 5G patents, Korean companies accounted for 27.07%, European companies accounted for 16.98%, American companies accounted for 14.13%, and Japanese companies accounted for 8.84%.

As a key technology of the fourth industrial revolution, 5G has become a global consensus on its role in promoting society and economy. At present, countries around the world are competing fiercely in 5G. Whoever dominates 5G will stand at the commanding heights of the future economy. Today, more and more 5G patent owners are from China, and Chinese companies behind 5G are rising.

3. Alibaba DAMO Academy established XG Lab to focus on 5G technology research

On March 10, 2020, Alibaba DAMO Academy announced the establishment of XG Lab, which is committed to promoting the research of next-generation network communication technology. At this stage, XG Lab will focus on the collaborative research and development of 5G technology and applications, relying on the Alibaba ecosystem to study video encoding and decoding technology and network transmission protocols that are in line with the 5G era for scenarios such as ultra-high-definition video, online office, AR/VR, industrial Internet, smart logistics, and autonomous driving.

At present, Alibaba has made comprehensive arrangements for key technologies in cloud computing networks and has achieved large-scale applications, which provides sufficient technical reserves for XG Labs. In addition, Alibaba Cloud's cloud data centers, cloud networks, and edge nodes around the world will provide extremely high-performance, low-latency, and highly reliable computing and storage resources for a large number of 5G terminal devices, providing favorable conditions for the implementation of 5G applications.

4. The three major operators jointly released the "5G Message White Paper"

On April 8, 2020, China Mobile, China Telecom, China Unicom and 11 partners jointly released the "5G Message White Paper". The "White Paper" expounds the core concept of 5G messages, clarifies related business functions and technical requirements, and puts forward several ideas for the construction of the 5G message ecosystem.

5G messages are a brand-new upgrade of traditional SMS services. They can be roughly divided into two categories according to the interaction methods: information interaction between individual users and information interaction between enterprises and individual users.

For individual users, 5G messages will break the length limit of each message in traditional SMS and increase support for text, pictures, audio, video, location and other information; for enterprises, 5G messages will provide an information interaction interface between them and individual users. Enterprises can provide personalized services and consultations to users through rich media such as text, voice, and tabs.

5. 5G signals of the three major operators cover Mount Everest

In April 2020, China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom have completed the construction of 5G base stations at the Everest Base Camp, and achieved 5G signal coverage in areas above 5,000 meters above sea level; on April 30, China Mobile opened the world's highest 5G base station at the Everest Forward Camp at an altitude of 6,500 meters, achieving 5G signal coverage of the north slope climbing route and summit of Mount Everest; on May 27, the Mount Everest height measurement mountaineering team successfully reached the summit, and the high-definition video footage of the team's summit measurement was shared with the world in real time through China Mobile's 5G network.

With the three major operators opening 5G base stations on Mount Everest, my country's 5G signal has reached the highest height achieved by 5G construction in the world.

6. China Central Radio and Television Station achieved 5G+8K integrated production for the first time in China

On May 19, 2020, in preparation for the 2020 National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, China Media Group successfully carried out the country's first "5G+8K" real-time transmission and rapid editing integrated production.

On the same day, China Media Group held a launching ceremony for the "5G+4K/8K+AI" Media Innovation Application Promotion Week. In the "5G+4K/8K Integrated Production" exhibition area, technicians used the "5G+8K" backpack to transmit two 8K location signals in real time, and quickly edited the recorded 8K signals, demonstrating the 8K audio and video transmission and production process.

It is understood that since the establishment of China Media Group, it has actively used 4K ultra-high-definition television technology to improve the quality of television media, used 5G mobile networks to enhance the production and distribution capabilities of mobile new media, and used artificial intelligence to reshape the production and broadcasting process of television media. It continues to deepen the application of new technologies and promote the upgrading of China Media Group's integrated media to smart media.

7. China Mobile and China Broadcasting Corporation carry out 5G co-construction and sharing cooperation

On May 20, 2020, China Mobile Communications Group Co., Ltd. and China Broadcasting Network Co., Ltd. signed a cooperation framework agreement on 5G co-construction and sharing. The two parties will carry out 5G co-construction and sharing and content platform cooperation. The cooperation between China Mobile and China Broadcasting is the second alliance in the 5G network construction industry after China Telecom and China Unicom. In September 2019, China Telecom and China Unicom announced the signing of the "5G Network Co-construction and Sharing Framework Cooperation Agreement", and will cooperate to build a 5G access network nationwide.

Under the co-construction and sharing mode, 5G construction speed will double, coverage will double, bandwidth will double, capacity will double, and network speed will double, allowing users to enjoy 5G network services with greater bandwidth, higher speed and wider coverage.

8. The first 5G evolution version standard R16 international standard is completed

On July 3, 2020, the international standards organization 3GPP announced the freezing of the R16 standard, marking the completion of the first evolutionary version of the 5G standard.

R16 is the first technical standard in the history of 3GPP to be completed through non-face-to-face meeting review. It has achieved the transition from "usable" to "easy to use". Focusing on the three aspects of "expanding new capabilities", "exploring the potential of existing capabilities" and "reducing costs and increasing efficiency of operation and maintenance", it has further enhanced 5G's ability to better serve industry applications and improved the efficiency of 5G.

9. The country's first 5G unmanned smart mine was put into use

In July 2020, the 5G+remote control+unmanned intelligent mining technology jointly designed and deployed by Shandong Gold Mining (Laixi) Co., Ltd., China Mobile and Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. was officially put into use, becoming the first mine in the country with 5G+unmanned driving technology.

Mining operations are high-risk occupations that pose a threat to mining safety. By introducing 5G networks, unmanned driving, remote control and shoveling of mining vehicles are possible, which maximizes safety compared to traditional manual mining.

10. Ministry of Industry and Information Technology: China has 718,000 5G base stations and has built the world's largest 5G network

On December 15, 2020, at the 2021 China Academy of Information and Communications Technology ICT+ In-depth Observation Report Conference, Liu Liehong, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China, stated that China has now built the world's largest 5G network, with a total of 718,000 5G base stations built and promoted the joint construction and sharing of 330,000 5G base stations.

According to Liu Liehong, China's 5G development has entered a critical stage of integrated innovation, and the coordinated promotion of multiple subjects such as basic telecommunications, equipment manufacturing, and vertical industries is accelerating.

In conclusion:

Since my country officially issued 5G commercial licenses in June 2019, 5G development has achieved remarkable results, bringing opportunities and changes to many industries and making people's lives more colorful. Especially in 2020, an extremely special year, the outbreak of the epidemic has affected the construction and development of 5G to a certain extent. However, as the epidemic is brought under control, the country has introduced new infrastructure policies to promote 5G into an accelerated development period, and more and more 5G industry applications have been implemented.

Now, a new chapter of 2021 has begun. What changes will happen to the 5G field in the new year? Let us wait and see.