Review of 5G in 2017: The first version of 5G NR standard was frozen, and China's voice was enhanced

2017 is known as the first year of 5G standards. At the end of the year, 3GPP announced that the first version of 5G NR was officially frozen. The achievement of this 5G standardization milestone has laid a solid foundation for the development of 5G equipment, interoperability testing and early deployment of 5G. Looking back at the whole year of 2017, the 5G industry has not only experienced the implementation of standards, but also frequency band division, manufacturer trials and tests, etc. It can be said that there are continuous innovative achievements. In addition, as one of the chief designers of the 5G standard, China has played a key role in promoting the development of the 5G industry in terms of 5G system architecture and core network, greatly enhancing the international voice of 5G.

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The first version of 5G NR standard is frozen, which greatly improves the eMBB experience

On December 21, 2017, the first version of the fifth-generation mobile communication technology "5G NR" 5G NSA (Non-Standalone) was officially frozen and released amid the applause of the delegates at the 78th RAN Plenary Session! The completion of the first version of the 5G NR standard is an important milestone in achieving the comprehensive development of 5G. It will greatly enhance the capabilities of the 3GPP system and create more opportunities for the development of vertical industries.

The 5G standards are mainly defined by ITU and 3GPP. In terms of specific division of labor, although ITU does not make specific standards, it will discuss and evaluate the 5G standard proposals submitted by all parties, while 3GPP is mainly responsible for the definition of specific standards. According to the 3GPP plan, 5G standards are divided into two types: NSA (Non-Standalone) and SA (Standalone). The former is a joint network of 4G and 5G, and the latter is a brand new end-to-end 5G independent network.

At present, ITU divides the main mobile network services in the 5G era into three categories: eMBB, uRLLC, and mMTC. eMBB mainly focuses on services with extremely high bandwidth requirements, such as high-definition video, virtual reality/augmented reality, etc., to meet people's needs for digital life; uRLLC mainly focuses on services that are extremely sensitive to latency, such as autonomous driving/assisted driving, remote control, etc., to meet people's needs for digital industry; and mMTC covers scenarios with high connection density requirements, such as smart cities, smart agriculture, etc., to meet people's needs for a digital society.

According to the 3GPP 5G standard plan, the 5G R15 version will be completed in June 2018. By then, in addition to the 5G NSA that has been frozen this time, the 5G SA that supports independent networking will also be completed. The completion of the first 5G version R15 means that the mobile network experience in the eMBB scenario will be greatly improved. If all three of the above scenarios need to be met, it will be achieved after the second 5G version R16 is frozen in December 2019.

China takes the lead in releasing 5G mid-band usage plan

Faced with the huge industrial opportunities that are coming in the 5G era, major countries around the world have divided 5G spectrum planning in an attempt to seize the initiative. As early as last year, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) of the United States allocated frequency resources for 5G networks, including three frequency bands of 28GHz, 37GHz and 39GHz for the construction of 5G networks by licensed operators; and the frequency bands of 64GHz to 71GHz for non-licensed uses of 5G networks.

In order to cooperate with the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, Japan plans to deploy 4.4-4.9GHz 5G commercial systems before the Olympics to provide hotspot coverage; South Korea has entered the first test phase of the 5G 28GHz trial network in April this year to serve the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. Of course, the EU will not fall behind and has determined that 3400-3800MHz will be the main frequency band for the EU's European 5G deployment before 2020.

Since the world is actively planning 5G spectrum, China, as a leader in the 5G industry, is naturally unwilling to lag behind. In July 2017, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology approved the 4.8-5.0GHz, 24.75-27.5 GHz and 37-42.5GHz frequency bands for my country's 5G technology research and development trials. The total approved 8.25G millimeter wave bandwidth shows my country's trend of introducing high frequencies in spectrum and demonstrates my country's determination to conduct millimeter wave research. After all, millimeter waves have a large available bandwidth and are suitable for short-distance high-speed transmission.

In November 2017, my country's 5G frequency usage plan made significant progress. On November 14, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology officially released the frequency usage plan for the 5G system in the mid-frequency band. It clarified the 3300-3400MHz, 3400-3600MHz and 4800-5000MHz frequency bands as the working frequency bands of the 5G system. As a result, my country became the first country in the world to release the frequency usage plan for the 5G system in the mid-frequency band. The release of this usage plan will play an important leading role in the development, testing and standardization of my country's 5G system technology and the maturity of the industrial chain.

Global mainstream communications manufacturers are actively conducting 5G trials

2017 is not only the first year of 5G standards, but also a key year for global mainstream communications manufacturers to actively carry out 5G trials. In February 2017, Huawei took the lead in carrying out field performance tests under the 3.5GHz 5G new air interface and interoperability tests with instrument/chip companies at the world's largest 5G test field in Huairou, Beijing; in July 2017, the 5G Beijing test network built by Datang Telecom Group was officially launched, which means that China Mobile's 5G trials have been fully launched.

In August 2017, ZTE and China Mobile Research Institute cooperated to successfully complete the industry's first 5G bearer network OTN end-to-end low-latency transmission test, bringing new hope for the bearing of uRLLC services; in October 2017, the first phase of the experimental test of the next-generation 5G transmission system SPN jointly developed by ZTE, FiberHome and Huawei, the three major communication equipment manufacturers, was completed in the laboratory of China Mobile Research Institute. The successful completion of this test kicked off the global 5G transmission technology from research to implementation.

In November 2017, Qualcomm, ZTE and China Mobile successfully achieved the world's first end-to-end 5G New Radio (5G NR) system interoperability (IoDT) based on the 3GPP R15 standard. The successful interoperability of end-to-end 5G New Radio systems is an important milestone for 5G to move from standards to products and pre-commercial use. The application of 5G New Radio technology will support emerging mobile broadband experiences such as high-definition video streaming and AR/VR in the future, and provide new services with high reliability and low latency for self-driving cars, drones and industrial control.

In addition to the above-mentioned enterprises, mainstream communication manufacturers such as Intel, Shanghai Nokia Bell, Ericsson, China Unicom, and China Telecom also actively carried out 5G trials in 2017. For example, Intel released the industry's first test platform supporting 5G NR in September 2017. It can be said that it was the active research and development and testing of the world's mainstream communication manufacturers in 2017 that greatly accelerated the progress of 5G standardization and promoted the overall acceleration of the 5G industry process.

IMT-2020 (5G) Promotion Group helps China significantly enhance its international voice in 5G

In September 2017, the second phase of China's 5G test was completed. The second phase test results of China's 5G technology research and development test released by the IMT-2020 (5G) Promotion Group showed that the use of existing 5G new air interface key technologies and solution designs can fully meet the performance indicators such as peak rate, latency, user connection capacity, and traffic density determined by the ITU, which further strengthened the industry's confidence in the scheduled commercialization of 5G.

In November 2017, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced the official launch of the third phase of 5G technology research and development trials, striving to achieve the basic goals of the third phase of trials by the end of 2018 to support the full launch of my country's 5G scale trials. It is reported that my country's third phase of 5G trials will follow the unified international standards for 5G, and will be based on commercial hardware platforms, focusing on the single-station networking performance of pre-commercial equipment and related interoperability tests.

Wang Zhiqin, head of China's IMT-2020 (5G) Promotion Group and deputy director of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, said this year: "In the development of 5G, China's role is one of the chief designers of standards. From the 5G system architecture to the core network, there are standards formulated mainly by our country's operators and enterprises. These general standards have an important impact on the overall standards." This has also been fully verified in the release of the first version of the 5G NR standard by 3GPP.

According to incomplete statistics, in promoting 5G standards, Chinese people hold more than 30 key positions in standard organizations, with more than 30% of voting rights, 30% of manuscripts, and 40% of leading projects. It can be said that China is driving the global 5G industry forward. Of course, this not only brings about a significant increase in China's international voice in 5G, but also the international responsibilities it continues to bear. After all, position determines height, and height determines responsibility.