Mobile communications are already buckling under the weight of traffic but if it continues on its current trajectory, driven by higher-quality, Netflix-style on-demand video and advances in virtual reality, then a whole new solution will be needed.
Fortunately the fifth-generation mobile communications standard is just around the corner with the promise to alleviate bandwidth and latency issues for good. At least, that's the noise being generated by carriers, chip-set manufacturers, and hand set manufacturers.
"At a certain point the existing 4G LTE technology will not be sustainable to cope with the massive growth in video data," says Volker Held, head of innovation marketing at Nokia "We need a new structure. This is the kernel of the 5G business case. Utilising it means we won't need to talk about bandwidth constraints for the foreseeable future."
"5G will raise the bar by providing data rates of tens of megabits per second for tens of thousands of people," says Per Borgklint, SVP, chief innovation officer, and head of business unit media, Ericsson. "Consumers will receive a level of quality in their services like never before. 5G will be critical. In addition to handling high bandwidth applications, IoT, and billions of video-enabled devices, it will drive seamless, borderless coverage, allowing media companies to go beyond the geographical restrictions of fibre and become true global players."
A set of requirements needed to hit 5G have been more or less agreed upon. Among them: clocking regular mobile data speeds over 1 gigabits per second (Gbps), 100 times faster than current 4G LTE networks with peaks of 10Gbps. Some telcos, like South Korea's SK Telecom, claim to have reached 50Gbps in the lab. 5G latency is targeted at less than 1 millisecond (ms).
In theory, this would allow users to download a 40GB 4K movie in seconds, 4K live-to-mobile broadcasting, frame-accurately synchronised OTT and TV streams, and the ability to run more complex mobile internet apps. Delivery of 360° video to mobile would be straightforward, as would distribution of 8K resolution video, if not to mobile screens (because who needs that?) then perhaps to fixed wireless terminals in the home.
Momentum has been building in recent weeks. Earlier this month the Obama administration announced the Advanced Wireless Research Initiative (AWRI), a $400 million government-funded seven-year project aimed at developing 5G.
The National Science Foundation will lead the project with carriers including AT&T and Verizon along with HTC, Intel, Oracle, Nokia, and Samsung participating. AWRI follows on from the FCC’s Spectrum Frontiers initiative and will use four city-scale testing platforms. Independently, Verizon is set to launch its own 5G trial network in the U.S. from 2017 with a long term to support its mobile service Go90.
Japan is at the forefront of 5G. Telco NTT are already performing tests in partnership with Huawei, and are expecting to have the general public using 5G in 2021, according to Futuresource Consulting.
Not wanting to be left behind, Europe's governments formed the 5G Infrastructure Public Private Partnership in the hope it will reinforce the European industry's ability to compete on the global stage. Launched by the EU Commission, the PPP has assorted manufacturers, telcos, service providers, SMEs, and researchers on board.
Separately, telcos including BT, Nokia, Hutchison, Telefonica, Orange, Vodafone, and Deutsche Telekom signed a manifesto pledging to launch a 5G network in every country within the EU by 2020.
Since the Brexit vote, that may not necessarily include the UK, but BT-owned mobile operator EE has been one of the more adventurous in planning for 5G and says it is "getting requirements together for the 5GPP X-cast project which is looking at broadcast fixed and mobile for 5G."
EE is also funding a 5G research centre at the University of Surrey, UK, along with BT, the BBC, Huawei, Fujitsu, Samsung, Telefonica and Vodafone.
http://www.streamingmediaglobal.com/Articles/...12846.aspx
Fortunately the fifth-generation mobile communications standard is just around the corner with the promise to alleviate bandwidth and latency issues for good. At least, that's the noise being generated by carriers, chip-set manufacturers, and hand set manufacturers.
"At a certain point the existing 4G LTE technology will not be sustainable to cope with the massive growth in video data," says Volker Held, head of innovation marketing at Nokia "We need a new structure. This is the kernel of the 5G business case. Utilising it means we won't need to talk about bandwidth constraints for the foreseeable future."
"5G will raise the bar by providing data rates of tens of megabits per second for tens of thousands of people," says Per Borgklint, SVP, chief innovation officer, and head of business unit media, Ericsson. "Consumers will receive a level of quality in their services like never before. 5G will be critical. In addition to handling high bandwidth applications, IoT, and billions of video-enabled devices, it will drive seamless, borderless coverage, allowing media companies to go beyond the geographical restrictions of fibre and become true global players."
A set of requirements needed to hit 5G have been more or less agreed upon. Among them: clocking regular mobile data speeds over 1 gigabits per second (Gbps), 100 times faster than current 4G LTE networks with peaks of 10Gbps. Some telcos, like South Korea's SK Telecom, claim to have reached 50Gbps in the lab. 5G latency is targeted at less than 1 millisecond (ms).
In theory, this would allow users to download a 40GB 4K movie in seconds, 4K live-to-mobile broadcasting, frame-accurately synchronised OTT and TV streams, and the ability to run more complex mobile internet apps. Delivery of 360° video to mobile would be straightforward, as would distribution of 8K resolution video, if not to mobile screens (because who needs that?) then perhaps to fixed wireless terminals in the home.
Momentum has been building in recent weeks. Earlier this month the Obama administration announced the Advanced Wireless Research Initiative (AWRI), a $400 million government-funded seven-year project aimed at developing 5G.
The National Science Foundation will lead the project with carriers including AT&T and Verizon along with HTC, Intel, Oracle, Nokia, and Samsung participating. AWRI follows on from the FCC’s Spectrum Frontiers initiative and will use four city-scale testing platforms. Independently, Verizon is set to launch its own 5G trial network in the U.S. from 2017 with a long term to support its mobile service Go90.
Japan is at the forefront of 5G. Telco NTT are already performing tests in partnership with Huawei, and are expecting to have the general public using 5G in 2021, according to Futuresource Consulting.
Not wanting to be left behind, Europe's governments formed the 5G Infrastructure Public Private Partnership in the hope it will reinforce the European industry's ability to compete on the global stage. Launched by the EU Commission, the PPP has assorted manufacturers, telcos, service providers, SMEs, and researchers on board.
Separately, telcos including BT, Nokia, Hutchison, Telefonica, Orange, Vodafone, and Deutsche Telekom signed a manifesto pledging to launch a 5G network in every country within the EU by 2020.
Since the Brexit vote, that may not necessarily include the UK, but BT-owned mobile operator EE has been one of the more adventurous in planning for 5G and says it is "getting requirements together for the 5GPP X-cast project which is looking at broadcast fixed and mobile for 5G."
EE is also funding a 5G research centre at the University of Surrey, UK, along with BT, the BBC, Huawei, Fujitsu, Samsung, Telefonica and Vodafone.
http://www.streamingmediaglobal.com/Articles/...12846.aspx
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