Future society changing with 5G [1st] Evolution and characteristics of mobile communication

Future society changing with 5G [1st] Evolution and characteristics of mobile communication

Toward practical use in the 2020s, development of "4K/8K broadcasting" in the broadcasting field and "autonomous driving control technology" in the automotive field are underway.

In the field of mobile communications, commercial service provision of the next-generation mobile communication system “5G” will begin in 2020.

How will the world change with the start of 5G commercial services? Many people will not come up with that question.

In fact, the true value of 5G cannot be said only by the evolution of mobile communications.

The significance of 5G's existence is to improve the quality of life (QOL) and solve social issues by connecting all the machines and equipment around us through mobile communications.

Connect everything with 5G and bring about changes in lifestyles and society

First, let's look back at the evolution of mobile communication that has been repeated about every 10 years, and let's look at the characteristics of 5G in light of that trend.

The first mobile telephone services were offered in the 1980s and 1990s. Regions around the world have individually developed and commercialized specifications for analog wireless technology. This analog wireless technology mobile communication was the first generation (1G), and the main application at this time was voice communication.

In the first half of the 1990s, the digitalization of wireless technology progressed, and mobile communication services using digital wireless technology began.

This is the second generation (2G). The digitization made it possible to accommodate more voice communications, and at the same time, data communications services such as mail transmission and reception were also used.

Next, the ITU (International Telecommunication Union), a specialized organization of the United Nations, has developed a global standard called "IMT-2000" in anticipation of commercialization in the 2000s. This is the third generation (3G).

In 3G, advanced speed-up technology exceeding 10 Mbps has been put into practical use one after another. "LTE (Long Term Evolution)" is a precursor to the new technology that was planned for the 4th generation (4G).

"IMT-Advanced" standardized in 2011 is 4G. The target for standardization of 4G is about 1 Gbps at the maximum, and we are continuously improving the speed by brushing up LTE. As a result, the explosion of smartphones has been boosted.

From 1G to 4G, the development was aimed at speeding up and increasing the capacity of communication using mobile terminals. While this trend will continue to be important, 5G will continue to expand its applications in ways that are different from the past, due to factors such as diversification of the terminals themselves in addition to higher speeds and larger capacities.

Diversify 5G use cases into three and standardize specifications

5G assumes not only smartphones but also various existing devices, equipment and systems such as automobiles, machine tools and manufacturing equipment, medical equipment, drones, housing equipment, traffic infrastructure, surveillance cameras, etc. as terminals. The variety of this terminal is the biggest feature of 5G.

However, even though there are a variety of assumed devices, it is not possible to define technical specifications that should be standardized without organizing the use cases. Therefore, the ITU wireless communication department (ITU-R), which is in charge of standardizing 5G, assumed three specific use cases when formulating the IMT-2020 specifications.

(1) "High-speed, large-capacity (eMBB)" for ultra-high-definition images and augmented reality (AR), (2) "Ultra-mass connection (mMTC)" for use in smart cities and IoT, and (3) This is the realization of "highly reliable ultra-low latency (URLLC)" that enables stable real-time communication for applications such as remote surgery and autonomous driving

the numerical targets for the specific specifications required for each use case were clearly defined, and the development of enabling technologies was promoted. Realization of downlink 20 Gbps / uplink 10Gbps hitting the maximum speed to the conventional ratio 20 times in EMBB, 1km conventional ratio 10 times simultaneous connections in MMTC 2 realized in per million devices, transmission delay of a conventional ratio of 10 minutes URLLC the radio section The goal was to achieve each within 1 millisecond. In addition, we aimed to enable communication at a maximum speed of 500 km/h so that it can be used in high-speed mobility environments such as automobiles and high-speed trains.

Performance improvement and application expansion in stages

To realize these use cases, we are introducing extremely advanced new technologies that were not used in commercial mobile communication services in the past. We aim to achieve the required specifications by combining "Massive MIMO", "millimeter wave communication", "beamforming", "network slicing", "multi-access edge computing", etc.

With 5G, it is possible to deploy 5G services efficiently and in stages while making the most of the 4G communication network that has been established and built as a communication infrastructure that supports society. At the beginning of the 5G service, an evolutionary scenario is assumed in which technologies that have a high affinity with existing infrastructure for 4G are given priority, and technologies that are difficult to realize are gradually introduced to improve performance. I will.

Efficient deployment of 5G services and steady deployment (Fuen)

In order to quickly and efficiently deploy 5G services, a mechanism is in place to start using 5G services while making maximum use of 4G assets, and gradually utilizing the maximum capabilities of 5G

Technologies to connect terminals and base stations include "enhanced LTE (eLTE)", which expands 4G technology to improve performance, and "New Radio (NR)" created with new technology. eLTE is an advanced LTE system that uses the same frequency bands as LTE such as 800MHz, 3.6GHz, and 4.5GHz, and can spread radio waves to every corner for reliable communication. However, the communication speed, the number of terminals that can be connected at the same time, and the improvement in delay are limited.

On the other hand, NR will start to be used in the high frequency band of 3.7 GHz band, 4.5 GHz band, 28 GHz band, which is a wide band that has not been used for mobile phones until now. The communication speed of 20Gbps downlink is realized by NR. It is expected to begin with the deployment of high-density base stations, centered around places where high demand for high-speed, large-capacity communications is expected, and then gradually expand the range of service provision.

In order to maximize the potential of 5G, the backbone network connected to the base station must also be configured to support advanced 5G functions. In order to provide only the base station network for 5G, a configuration called "Non-Standalone (NSA)" that uses the 4G backbone network already widely deployed for the backbone network is prepared. In addition to the configuration called "Standalone (SA)" that maximizes the functions and performance of 5G by including 5G including the backbone network, it is possible to provide services with a flexible configuration that matches the usage scene and demand trends. I will.

In the application of 5G, in addition to improving the performance of existing services, it will be important to create new services that take advantage of the functions and performance of 5G. It is important for us to consider how to effectively utilize 5G by identifying functions and performances that are gradually improved and developing and providing new services that take advantage of their potential.

In the second part , we will introduce 5G and its applications, which connect high-performance mobile communication technology to all the equipment, facilities and systems around us.