How to implement 5G applications? China International Information and Communication Exhibition provides the answer

As the largest communications exhibition in Asia and a bellwether of the communications industry, the 2020 China International Information and Communications Exhibition officially came to an end on the 16th. This year marks the first anniversary of 5G commercial use. Under the premise that 5G has been deployed on a large scale, how to implement 5G applications has become the focus of this communications exhibition.

5G network construction: Steadily advancing 5G and moderately advancing

At present, the speed and scale of 5G network construction in my country have exceeded expectations. According to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, in the first half of 2020, my country built 257,000 new 5G base stations, and by the end of June, the total number reached 410,000, and the construction speed of 5G base stations continued to grow at a rate of 15,000 per week. Three months later, as of the third quarter, the total number of 5G base stations built in my country surged to 600,000, and the number of connected terminals exceeded 150 million. This means that my country has truly achieved global leadership in 5G network construction.

Behind the acceleration of base station construction is the continuous investment of the three major telecom operators in 5G network construction. Among them, China Mobile has completed its annual construction target ahead of schedule, opened more than 350,000 5G base stations, and realized 5G network commercial use in all cities above the prefecture level and some key county towns across the country. China Unicom and China Telecom are accelerating the co-construction and sharing of 5G networks. Data shows that the number of 5G base stations co-built and shared by China Telecom and China Unicom has reached 300,000, quickly establishing network coverage capabilities so that more users can enjoy 5G high-speed network services.

At the Digital Economy Leaders Forum of the 2020 China International Information and Communication Exhibition, Wen Ku, Director of the Information and Communications Development Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said in his speech that we must adhere to a moderately advanced construction pace and strive to form a benign 5G development model that promotes use through construction.

At the 5G Innovation and Development Summit Forum, Wu Hequan said that operators are under great pressure to achieve a return on investment in 5G, and need to moderately and steadily advance the deployment of 5G networks, cultivate an ecosystem, and form a virtuous model of promoting use through construction. At the same time, we must see that 5G's social contribution far exceeds the benefits of the communications industry. From the perspective of the country's long-term interests, 5G has an unshirkable responsibility as a new engine of the digital economy. New infrastructure accelerates the deployment of 5G networks and opens up a larger application space. 5G has broad prospects for development, but it requires continuous innovation to achieve it.

5G applications are accelerating and industry applications are booming

As 5G network construction continues to accelerate, 5G has already opened the door to empowering thousands of industries. Operators and upstream and downstream manufacturers in the industry chain have joined hands to launch a large number of industry applications, which have become the key to embodying the value of 5G.

At this year's communications exhibition, China Mobile showcased 15 typical industry scenarios and leading demonstration cases. In the 5G smart mine area of ​​Yangquan Coal Group, 5G deployment was achieved at 534 meters underground. Based on 5G remote control, many workers no longer have to go down to the mine to carry out underground operations hundreds of meters deep.

China Telecom's 5G application cooperation areas have covered 10 vertical industries, including police, transportation, ecology, party building, medical care, Internet of Vehicles, media live broadcast, education, tourism, and manufacturing. For example, China Telecom and Qingdao State Grid have jointly built the largest 5G smart grid in my country, successfully realizing 5G smart distributed power distribution, substation operation monitoring and power grid situation awareness, 5G base station peak shaving and valley filling power supply and other new applications.

China Unicom brought the "black technology" that will be used in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics to the exhibition site, where the audience can experience cloud broadcasting, smart viewing free perspective, and ice and snow competition experience space up close. Smart viewing free perspective uses 8K multi-track image synchronous encoding and picture synthesis to allow the audience to switch between different perspectives.

In Huawei's "Accelerating Industry Digitalization" exhibition area, 5G's large bandwidth, low latency, super uplink, secure and reliable connection enhancement features were demonstrated, as well as how it can be integrated with cloud-based high-performance computing and AI capabilities to enable multiple scenarios in multiple industries such as smart ports, smart manufacturing, and smart mines.

ZTE also comprehensively demonstrated its 5G comprehensive strength, 5G end-to-end solutions, cloud network digitalization, and 5G colorful industry scenarios and excellent application cases explored in depth with industry chain partners in six major areas. From 5G mobile phones to 5G end-to-end R&D capabilities, to building the Internet of Everything, providing consumers with smart life, and enabling the digitalization of thousands of industries, ZTE's 5G+ series solutions are maturing step by step.

At this exhibition, the implementation cases and solutions in the field of "5G+Internet of Vehicles" also attracted much attention. In the "C-V2X Internet of Vehicles VR Experience" area specially set up by China Information and Communications Technology, a unique experience of "smart roads and smart cars" was brought to the audience, helping them to look forward to the next intelligent traffic scene. It also simultaneously displayed a series of vehicle-road collaboration products such as the automotive-grade C-V2X communication module with "Chinese core", the C-V2X dual-mode roadside terminal RSU supporting 4G/5G, and the on-board terminal OBU. All products fully support the C-V2X protocol released by 3GPP/CCSA/C-ITS/CSAE.

Ericsson demonstrated how 5G can empower the automotive industry in various aspects, including manufacturing, transportation, delivery, and recycling. According to reports, Ericsson built a dedicated 5G network for Mercedes-Benz Factory 56 to help the factory achieve Industry 4.0. This is also the world's first dedicated 5G network built for automobile production.

At this communications exhibition, whether it is To B or To C, 5G applications have shown a stronger development momentum, especially on the To B side. 5G is integrated with vertical industries for innovation, enabling multiple scenarios in multiple industries such as smart ports, smart manufacturing, and smart mines, providing new impetus for the digital transformation and intelligent upgrading of various industries.

However, the development of 5G still has a long way to go, and the industry chain needs to jointly explore new demands, new technologies, new services, new business models, and establish new mechanisms. Liu Liehong, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China, said that China will carry out pilot demonstrations of 5G virtual private networks in depth, accelerate the implementation of industry applications, and actively promote the deployment of key areas such as industry, transportation, and medical care, forming a benign development model of "promoting construction through use".