The first phase of 5G standards released, Chinese manufacturers accounted for 30% of the standards

The plenary meeting of the international standardization organization "3rd Generation Partnership Project" (3GPP) recently formally approved the freezing of the independent networking (SA) function of the fifth-generation mobile communication technology standard (5G NR). In addition to the 5G NR non-independent networking (NSA) standard frozen in December last year, the full-function standardization work of the 5G first stage has been completed and released, entering the full sprint stage of the industry. It is understood that Chinese manufacturers account for about 30% of the 5G standard and have a leading advantage in key technologies such as large-scale antennas, ultra-dense networking, non-orthogonal multiple access, TDD system design, and Internet of Vehicles.

On June 15, the National Engineering Laboratory for Testing and Verification of Next-Generation Mobile Communications, the National Engineering Laboratory for Application of Next-Generation Mobile Communications Technology, and the National Engineering Laboratory for Wireless Network and Chip Technology of Next-Generation Mobile Communications jointly held a meeting of the Board of Directors and a meeting of the Technical Committee. This is also the first time that the three units, which are the main promoters of 5G in China, have jointly held a meeting of the National Engineering Laboratory. The meeting believes that the release of the first standard version of 5G independent networking marks the establishment of 5G technical standards and the acceleration of the industrialization process. The 5G industry will be fully launched, and testing, R&D and trials will be carried out in all directions. The three laboratories will continue to strengthen industrial collaboration to provide support for the large-scale commercial use of 5G in 2020.

According to the 3GPP plan, the 5G standard is divided into two types: independent networking and non-independent networking. Among them, since the 5G air interface carrier of the non-independent network only carries user data, the system-level service control still relies on the 4G network, and the capacity is expanded by adding new carriers to the existing 4G network. Because it still relies on the core network and control plane of the 4G system, the non-independent networking architecture cannot give full play to the technical characteristics of the low latency of the 5G system, nor can it achieve flexible support for diversified business needs through network slicing, mobile edge computing and other features.

Wang Zhiqin, deputy director of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, explained to the Economic Daily that non-independent networking is to attach 5G wireless technology to the 4G network to carry out business, which is also subject to certain restrictions. Its application scenario is mainly mobile Internet. At present, from a global perspective, operators in the United States and South Korea are mainly considering the application of non-independent networking in the initial stage, which is faster to deploy.

3GPP defines three major scenarios for 5G, namely enhanced mobile broadband, low latency and high reliability, and massive connections. Non-standalone networking can only meet some of the scenarios in enhanced mobile broadband, but cannot meet the two major scenarios of low latency and high reliability and massive connections. Applications represented by the Internet of Vehicles and the Internet of Things require standalone networking.

Unlike 4G and other generations of mobile communications, 5G can provide very clear personalized communication services based on the different demands of various businesses. 5G independent networking can not only reduce dependence on existing 4G networks, but also better support various 5G services such as large bandwidth, low latency and large connections. It can also provide customized services according to scenarios, meet the business needs of various users, and greatly improve customer experience.

"The development of China's 5G industry has always taken into account both independent and non-independent networking. Domestic operators even prefer independent networking in the initial stage. Because of this, the introduction of 5G independent networking standards is of far-reaching significance to China," said Wang Zhiqin.

"There is no doubt that independent networking is our goal," Zhang Tongxu, president of the China Mobile Communications Research Institute, told reporters, because only independent networking can truly meet the three major scenarios defined by 5G and is the real 5G. Independent networking may require more investment in the early stage, but in the long run, non-independent networking will need to undergo two transformations, and the overall investment is not small.

The industry generally believes that the introduction of 5G independent networking standards means the acceleration of commercialization. Zhang Tongxu said that the introduction of 5G independent networking standards has a great impact on operators and the entire industry. Because the standard is the basic framework and requirements, with the standard, the development of each link in the industrial chain has a basis for further implementation, and it will also promote operators to speed up network construction. At present, China Mobile has promoted 5G scale trials in 5 cities and will build 1,000 5G base stations by the end of next year.

According to Zhang Yong, president of China Unicom Network Technology Research Institute, China Unicom will build 600 experimental networks in 16 cities. The next step will be to carry out cooperative experiments in ten major industries such as industry, sports, video, and smart cities to enrich 5G applications. Chen Shanzhi, vice president of Datang Telecom Group and director of the National Engineering Laboratory, said that 100 base stations have been launched for continuous coverage testing, which will be completed in the first half of next year and enter the pre-commercial stage in the second half of the year.

According to the 5G standardization process determined by 3GPP, 5G will be fully commercialized by 2020. "The commercialization of 5G depends on many factors. At present, the introduction of 5G independent networking standards has the greatest impact on the manufacturing industry, because equipment manufacturers can finally make related equipment." Wang Zhiqin said. Chen Shanzhi also said that the main 5G equipment produced by Datang Telecom is base stations, test instruments and chips. Among them, base stations have long been developed in the direction of independent networking, while chips have been waiting for the standard to be implemented before they can be produced.

"For operators, the biggest challenge of 5G is to improve their operation and maintenance capabilities, that is, how to transform themselves into a software company to operate and maintain cloud-based networks. For us manufacturers, the challenge is how to optimize our products to support operators in improving their operation and maintenance capabilities," said Chen Shanzhi.