Momentum on 5G Growing, but Challenges Remain to Industry Engagement

LONDON -- There's a sense of movement toward the standards, networks and industry markets that will build 5G, but the picture is still fairly unclear, speakers said Tuesday at a Wireless World Research Forum 5G "huddle" on making the vision a reality. The definition of 5G is still fuzzy, and there are issues of making enough spectrum available, preferably on a globally harmonized basis, to drive deployment, they said. Broadcasting and automotive speakers said they see the point of 5G but still question where it's going.

The 5G future is focused on enabling a seamlessly connected society by 2020, said ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao via video. The ITU is working in an open process to deliver standards for IMT 2020, he said. Challenges include the need for high-level requirements supporting a variety of applications, more efficient spectrum allocation, more energy efficiency and more security, he said. Whatever develops will have to continue to interface with existing systems, he said.

Sometimes, 5G is considered to be the "answer to any problem that you could ever have dreamed there to be," said U.K. Office of Communications Group Director, Spectrum Philip Marnick, who chairs the EU Radio Spectrum Policy Group (RSPG). The idea is that 5G will spur vast quantities of growth in every industry, so policymakers want it; but the question is whether the technology can deliver for them, or whether people will just sit back and say 6G will fix all that, he said.

No one can predict what innovation will occur with 5G, said FCC Office of Engineering and Technology Chief Julius Knapp. It's the things people can't foresee that will likely drive progress, he said. The U.S. has made 5G a national priority; it will indicate which spectrum will be made available, but rely on the private sector to produce the technical standards best suited to 5G services, he said. Under its spectrum frontiers proceeding, the agency this summer plans to identify spectrum and rules for 5G, he said. Meanwhile, suppliers have developed equipment, carriers are doing tests and planning trials, and work is proceeding to fine-tune agency proposals, he said.

The 5G debate has focused on three areas, said Marnick: Unbelievably fast broadband, super-low latency and machine-to-machine communications. But 5G will have to do all three everywhere, so coverage is an issue, he said. The question is whether 5G is a collection of networks or a single network that supports multiple services, and whether that's achievable, he said. And 5G is a technical challenge, and if it's to deploy by 2020, there must be global spectrum harmonization, he said. Once we know "what is it we're trying to get to," more spectrum can be made available, he said.

The telecom and automotive sectors are working together on 5G requirements, said Renault Transport Policy Delegate Director Christian Rousseau. So far, they've explored auto sector expectations for connectivity for connected advanced drive assistance systems and automated vehicles, different use cases for technical specifications and privacy/security, he said.

There are four use cases, all with different technical requirements, Rousseau said. They are: (1) High-density platooning and communicating convoys, where chains of multiple vehicles travel on the highway at distances of up to five miles and speeds of up to 100 mph. (2) See-through applications, where one vehicle shares sensor data with others nearby. (3) Tele-operated driving, where remotely controlled vehicles carry out tasks set remotely by a human driver outside the vehicle. (4) Map updates for highly automated driving. Future telecom/automotive discussions will include privacy protections, cybersecurity, functional safety and planning for assisted driving systems soon to come on the market, Rousseau said. Automakers wonder whether they must rely on 5G or can use another technology such as 4.5G, he said.

Any service, any device, any place is the "holy grail" for the audiovisual sector, said European Broadcasting Union Senior Project Manager-Technology & Innovation Darko Ratkaj. The EBU believes 5G can probably play a more important roles in distribution than in production of content, he said. One possibility is that 5G will be "yet another pipe" in addition to existing distribution systems, he said. Or it may turn out to be a unified telecom and information technology infrastructure, or the sole, unified infrastructure, he said. Audiences will have to choose, because no one can guess what viewers of the future will want, he said.

The 5G will have to be considered within the context of the audiovisual media sector, and it will likely coexist with other infrastructures that will continue to evolve, said Ratkaj. Technical performance alone won't be enough, he said. Better quality of experiences increases user engagement, but the network coverage to support that must also be available, he said. Service requirements should guide technical developments, not vice versa, he said. Fifth generation will play a role only if all stockholders in the value chain are aligned, with issues such as gatekeepers and user affordability addressed, he said. "Don't let engineers define what 5G should be."

Asked what they consider key challenges, Renault's Rousseau said the auto sector's time frame is an issue. Developing a new car takes around six years, so carmakers may not be able to afford the flexibility and worldwide spectrum harmonization needed for 5G because they must have certainty about new communication links to gauge whether they will fit into their transport systems, he said. Ratkaj said he's confident engineers will come up with technical solutions and there will be specifications, but it's unclear where all this is going. The conference continues Wednesday.