Industry insiders look at this: The history of 5G at the two sessions

A 5G+ holographic remote same-screen interview by Xinhua News Agency opened the curtain for 5G to truly play a leading role in this year's Two Sessions.

This real-time interview using holographic imaging based on the 5G network enabled the host in Beijing and the National People's Congress representatives who were away from home to achieve a "cloud handshake" and "face-to-face" real-time communication.

Not only did the video viewers feel curious and excited, but the representatives themselves also found it quite novel.

To prepare for such a scene, Xinhua News Agency set up branch studios in Wuhan, Guangzhou and Kunming in advance, collected images of National People's Congress deputies and transmitted them to Beijing in real time via 5G signals, and then used holographic imaging technology to display them in real-life proportions, realizing interviews on the same screen in different locations.

Many people, especially movie fans, are familiar with holographic technology.

In the movie "Iron Man", a robot's parts and circuits can appear out of thin air, which is a typical "holographic" technology. In Li Yuchun's program "Shu Embroidery" in the 2015 Spring Festival Gala, there were also three clones and her own performance, forming a four-person performance on the same stage.

The introduction of 3D holographic images in the 2016 Liao TV Spring Festival Gala realized the scene of the "Monkey King" ascending to heaven. In the past two years, holographic technology has frequently appeared in concerts, evening parties and even political activities such as presidential elections. In the 2017 French presidential election, Mélenchon was in Lyon, and his holographic clone synchronized his every move in the Paris Concert Hall 500 kilometers away.

So what does holography with 5G mean?

Just like this off-site interview by Xinhua News Agency, remote holographic imaging cannot be separated from the support of ultra-large bandwidth, ultra-low latency, and ultra-fast speed network. This is a distinct feature of 5G that is different from 4G. It also enables holographic technology to achieve better presentation in terms of latency, stability, clarity, etc. in long-distance audio and video synchronization.

The opening ceremony of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in South Korea in February 2018, which stunned the world, vividly incorporated technological factors such as 5G, AI, and holograms into the performance segment of "Five Little Kids Grow Up."

Doctors in the future will be able to perform complex surgeries more accurately in a 5G+ holographic environment.

Teachers of the future can use 5G+ holography to make the classroom more lively than ever before.

Architects of the future will be able to present the details of their designs in three dimensions through 5G+ holographic images.

But no matter how advanced the technology is, these cool applications are based on the ubiquitous 5G or even 6G networks.

The 2020 Two Sessions marks the second year of 5G’s official commercial use. As of the end of April this year, more than 200,000 5G base stations have been opened across the country.

The network conditions at the two sessions' venues and the Great Hall of the People are better than in any previous year.

If the epidemic prevention and control in February and March and the construction of the Huoshenshan and Leishenshan hospitals allowed the public to see the capabilities of 5G in large-bandwidth applications such as telemedicine and live streaming, then the 5G holographic same-screen interview also allowed the delegates to the two sessions and the public to more clearly understand the potential of 5G in industry applications.

At this year's Two Sessions, 5G has really started to get into the spotlight.

5G+satellite+8K live broadcast became the "famous scene" at this year's two sessions.

On May 20, the National Two Sessions News Center was officially put into operation. The Internet, video, and written materials have become the main ways for the media to obtain information. In addition to the comprehensive support of 5G networks for news work, this two sessions is also the first to be broadcast live via satellite + 8K. With the ChinaSat 6C satellite resources and uplink system provided by China Satcom, the earth station can receive 8K video signals with clear colors and vivid details. The maximum video bit rate measured on site is 90.4Mb/s.

Since last year, China Mobile and China Unicom have respectively released 5G video editing and transmission "backpacks" and other products for the media industry, but at that time they needed to be paired with CPE. This year, this "5G backpack", which is the same size as an ordinary backpack, has a built-in 4K encoder and 5G module, and a decoder in the background. With the support of a well-covered 5G network, it can capture 4K-level live video, which is a highlight different from previous years.

Some journalists also experienced the portable 5G+AR glasses launched by China Unicom, which can lock people in real time at the venue, realize multi-person intelligent recognition, and automatically match the relevant information of the recognized people. Video editors can also edit the videos collected by the front end through China Unicom's 5G network in real time, supporting functions such as flat/VR video collection, cloud transcoding, live broadcast distribution, and content aggregation. Live videos can be watched directly in the form of H5 pages, scanning codes, etc., or they can be directly pushed to customer customized platforms. In addition, journalists can also use the new content production platform created by the AI ​​capabilities of news big data.

Prelude: 5G signals have been continuously released at the two sessions for many years

Looking back at the history of the two sessions, perhaps the foreshadowing of this year's 5G+satellite+8K and 5G holographic screen began in 2015.

In that year's government work report, two major issues were mentioned regarding the development of ICT.

First, it proposed to formulate an "Internet +" action plan to promote the integration of mobile Internet, cloud computing, big data, Internet of Things and modern manufacturing. "The state has set up a 40 billion yuan emerging industry venture capital guidance fund, and it is necessary to integrate and raise more funds to boost industrial innovation."

The second is to accelerate the implementation of major national science and technology projects and fully open major scientific research infrastructure and large-scale scientific research equipment to the society.

In 2016, Tu Youyou won the Nobel Prize in Science, the "Wukong" satellite was launched into space to explore dark matter particles, the Law on the Transformation of Scientific and Technological Achievements was revised and implemented, and venture capital grew rapidly... A series of landmark events reflect that in the 4G-5G transition, China's economy and society are experiencing rapid changes as technology advances at every level.

This year is also the year of the rise and development of VR. The 13th Five-Year Plan clearly proposed to "focus on the development of virtual reality and augmented reality". This year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the National Development and Reform Commission also included AR/VR in the special action plan for the innovation and development of the smart hardware industry; the Ministry of Culture encouraged game and entertainment equipment manufacturers to actively introduce AR/VR technology, which also laid the foundation for the future 5G+VR/AR industry-university-research cooperation.

In 2017, 5G officially became a hot technology word at the two sessions.

This year, video collection and dissemination personnel put on the "Iron Man" coat, grafting mobile phones, tablets, cameras, and VR devices together, so that one person can realize multi-channel live broadcast, information collection and release.

It was also from this year that the government work report mentioned "5G" for the first time. At that time, 5G was still in the indoor and outdoor testing stage. The plan was to complete the first step of technical research and development trials from 2016 to 2018; conduct product research and development trials from 2018 to 2020, and realize commercial 5G in 2020. (But in reality, China's speed has brought forward the commercialization to 2019)

Subsequently, at the 2018 Two Sessions, the government work report also clearly proposed "promoting the development of 5G". Some representatives jointly submitted the "Suggestions on Accelerating the Commercialization of 5G to Help Build a Network Power". At that time, the representatives believed that in terms of network users and basic networks, my country has built the world's largest 4G network; in terms of commercial environment, my country's e-commerce transaction volume also accounts for more than 40% of the world's total, which is more than the total of the five countries of Britain, the United States, Japan, France and Germany, etc., so it is necessary to accelerate the commercialization of 5G.

This year also marked the beginning of the construction of 5G base stations by operators in China. The open laboratory of China Mobile's 5G Joint Innovation Center was established in Liangjiang New District, mainly for the development and testing of 5G network application scenarios. Chongqing and Guangzhou became the first cities to build 5G.

Yu Shaohua, deputy to the National People's Congress, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and vice president of the Wuhan Institute of Post and Telecommunications, said at the time, "my country's 5G research and development trials have entered the third stage, but not enough attention has been paid to reducing the cost and complexity of 5G terminals." He proposed further breakthroughs in the research and development of core chips and operating systems, and continuously reducing the cost of terminal production, manufacturing and use, "so that people of all classes in China can afford 5G networks."

Zhang Yunyong, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and president of China Unicom Research Institute, who has given forward-looking proposals for the ICT industry at many sessions of the two sessions, also emphasized the "accelerated release of the 700MHz frequency band" at the 2018 two sessions. He suggested that the country reallocate the 700MHz frequency band for 5G commercial network construction, and that a 5G low-frequency plan be introduced as soon as possible to enable China to take the lead in 5G globally.

There are more proposals to promote the implementation of 5G that were also put forward at the 2018 Two Sessions: accelerate the planning of 5G full-band spectrum, accelerate the planning of high, medium and low-frequency spectrum, use more medium-frequency bands such as 3.6-4.2GHz for 5G networks, and clarify the spectrum planning of high-frequency bands such as 26GHz and 39GHz as soon as possible; overcome technical and manufacturing difficulties in the high-frequency field and promote the development of the high-frequency device industry; increase support for the research and development of 5G high-frequency basic special materials and core chips, promote the transformation of corporate core technologies, improve the self-sufficiency and guarantee capabilities of special materials and the level of preparation technology, and strive to realize the localization and scale of civilian high-frequency devices as soon as possible.

In 2019, driven by policy incentives and the promotion of the entire industry chain, 5G was officially put into commercial use one year ahead of schedule.

During the two sessions, Tiananmen Square and the press center of the two sessions became the first areas in Beijing to provide full 5G network coverage. From the representative residence to the venue, from the press center to local news agencies, 5G+4K and 5G+VR live broadcasts have become hot words for scene applications.

China Media Group used robot reporters for the first time to participate in reporting at the 2019 Two Sessions. At the same time, it set up the "China Media Integration Display Platform" in the Great Hall of the People, and used the 5G new media experimental platform to broadcast live signals through 4K ultra-high-definition channels to demonstrate the effect of 5G+4K integrated production during the Two Sessions.

Zhang Yunyong also submitted three proposals on 5G at the 2019 Two Sessions: he made suggestions on issues related to accelerating the pace of 5G commercialization, promoting the joint construction and sharing of 5G networks and the rapid popularization of terminals, and promoting the development of the 5G application ecosystem.

There is also a very touching episode here.

At that time, Zhang Yunyong recorded a video describing the future 5G life to people. "We imagine a scenario where the pleasant sound of the 5G router wakes you up in the morning, senses the number of times you toss and turn on the mattress, senses your sleep quality, and connects to the coffee machine to automatically present you with a cup of coffee with the right strength. After you finish your coffee and breakfast, it automatically helps you make an appointment for an unmanned vehicle and automatically helps you plan a route with the least congestion. You can use 5G network video and virtual reality technology to hold a remote meeting just like arriving at the office, just like you are there. If there are some special circumstances during the meeting, such as a courier, it doesn't matter. You only need to gently press the button on your mobile phone, your window will automatically open, and the drone will carry your courier and fly through the window to your office. It can be said that 5G is not only fast, but also very smart..."

Later, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference from Yanbolian Village, Pan County, Guizhou Province, said to Zhang Yunyong: "Big cities are all in the 5G era, but in remote rural areas, we still have many places where 2G cannot cover, and many young people run outside in cold weather to find the Internet. Many people in our rural areas also want to open online stores, but the network conditions do not allow it. When can this phenomenon in our village be improved?"

Zhang Yunyong responded that the characteristic of mobile communication network construction is to build it in hot spots first and then popularize it comprehensively. He believes that through the "Village-to-Village Project" and other projects, the network conditions in remote areas will definitely be improved in the future.

2020, 5G is imperative

Amid the pandemic, the two sessions in 2020 raised the issue of science and technology to an unprecedented level of importance for the first time. At the same time, in view of the rapid deployment of 5G networks and the new infrastructure policy's efforts to promote seven major projects such as 5G, representatives also put forward new content in the "5G New Infrastructure Suggestions": further accelerating the pace of 5G network construction will play a key role in optimizing the investment structure and stabilizing the growth rate.

Obviously, China's speed and strength in 5G have made the United States feel "threatened" by the development of the digital economy. Before the two sessions, the United States launched sanctions against Huawei, restricting Huawei's ability to design and manufacture semiconductors abroad using American technology and software, that is, restricting Huawei's global chip supply chain.

On May 23, during the two sessions, the United States added another 33 Chinese entities to the "Entity List", which undoubtedly gave a boost to China's technology industry to further become self-reliant and integrated with 5G in various industries in terms of international competition.

The proposals of the delegates at this year's two sessions on 5G have also risen from the network to the industry application level. Zhang Jindong, a deputy to the National People's Congress and chairman of Suning Holdings Group, said that 5G will not only have an immeasurable impact on the retail format, operation model, and business model iteration, but also have a lot to offer in smart logistics, smart manufacturing and other areas.

Zhou Yunjie, deputy to the National People's Congress and president of Haier Group, suggested that innovative technologies such as 5G, artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing, blockchain, and industrial Internet should be combined with the construction of new infrastructure to enhance the platform and technological capabilities of my country's industrial Internet.

Xu Xiaolan, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and director of the China Industrial Internet Research Institute, proposed a coordinated and collaborative layout of the digital infrastructure of "Industrial Internet + Industrial Big Data Center + 5G" to avoid isolated and scattered development and form a "combination punch" and "driving force" for digital infrastructure.

5G is a lever to enhance China's digital capabilities and a key to changing China's economic development.

And the key in our hands is being held tighter and tighter.