Shanghai's first "Dual Gigabit Broadband City" has not only improved network speeds, but also paved the way for 5G to be put into commercial use. The network reconstruction and industrial layout behind it are the real points worthy of attention.
Strategic blueprint for fixed-mobile convergence
In the Shanghai information infrastructure construction plan from 2018 to 2020, the goal of creating a "double gigabit broadband city" was clearly proposed. This plan is not to increase the speed of home broadband in isolation. Its core is to promote the deep integration of fixed networks and mobile networks, thereby providing a unified and flexible carrying foundation for future services.
This shows that when users enjoy Gigabit optical networks at home, the network resources behind them can dynamically support outdoor 5G high-speed connections. Such a forward-looking layout will enable Shanghai's information infrastructure to have the ability to support world-class applications by 2020, eliminating network obstacles in advance for the large-scale commercial use of 5G.
5G commercial network cornerstone
The technological innovation of the wireless air interface alone is far from being able to realize the commercial value of 5G. To realize its commercial value, 5G must rely on a sufficiently flexible and powerful basic network16personalities中文. It also needs a qualitative improvement in the speed, delay and reliability of the bearer network and cannot stop there. The Gigabit optical cable network upgraded in advance in Shanghai plays this key role.
Optical fiber has a large number of deployments and high-capacity transmission capabilities, which just meets the needs of 5G base stations for backhauling large amounts of data. This advance preparation at the fixed network level effectively avoids the bottleneck of "speed in the air and congestion on the ground" that may occur during 5G construction, and ensures end-to-end high performance from access to core.
Technical Challenges of Network Reconstruction
5G network construction is essentially a comprehensive network architecture reconstruction. It introduces a large number of new technologies such as network slicing, edge computing, SDN (software-defined network) and NFV (network function virtualization). For equipment vendors and operators, this requires comprehensive innovation from physical hardware to management and operation.
For example, in order to meet the low-latency requirements that arise in situations such as industrial control, computing capabilities must be moved to the edge of the network. China Telecom stated in its 5G white paper that the core network should have the characteristics of control and bearer separation. These significant changes show that the entire industry chain must work together to innovate and jointly deal with the complex challenges brought about by technological integration.
Application-driven ecological cultivation
5G is different from previous communication technologies. It is the first technology to be obviously affected by application needs. It has three defined scenarios: enhanced mobile broadband, ultra-high reliability and low-latency communication, and massive machine-type communication. It is directly aimed at specific applications in various industries. Therefore, from countries to enterprises, promoting application innovation has become a unanimous view.
As early as 2018, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology launched a 5G application solicitation competition. China Telecom established a dedicated 5G innovation center and joined forces with industry chain partners in Shanghai to successfully complete the country's first "5G+8K" ultra-high-definition video field demonstration. These efforts are dedicated to incubating featured applications and exploring practical business models for the full commercialization of 5G.
The global chess game of spectrum resources
The deployment of 5G is closely related to the allocation of spectrum shares. At the end of 2018, China Telecom obtained a license to use the 3.5GHz frequency band trial frequency. This matter is very critical for its development; the 3.5GHz frequency band is widely regarded as the mid-band of 5G around the world, a resource as precious and valuable as gold, achieving a good balance between coverage capability and bandwidth capacity.
Major countries around the world, from South Korea to the United States, have regarded 3.5GHz as the focus of 5G deployment. This results in the industry chain in this frequency band being the most mature and having the most significant cost advantages, including chips, terminals and base station equipment. For China Telecom, obtaining this mainstream frequency band means that it can launch commercial services more quickly and enjoy the scale dividend of the global industrial chain.
The future path of collaborative development
Even if we enter the 5G era, network evolution will still be a long-term and gradual process. For a long period of time, 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G networks will coexist and work together to provide services to users. What is the challenge facing China Telecom? How to intelligently manage this complex network with multiple standards coexisting to achieve efficient resource scheduling.
Fixed-mobile convergence based on unified bearer and edge computing is the direction to be achieved in the future. According to the specific needs of different applications, intelligent allocation of fixed or mobile network resources, and even seamless collaboration of multiple networks, is the ultimate goal. This is not only related to technology, but also related to the in-depth transformation of operating systems and business models.
In your opinion, under the background of the integration of 5G and Gigabit optical networks, which types of innovative applications will be the first to change the daily lives of ordinary citizens? Welcome to the comment area to share and explain your own opinions. If you feel inspired after reading this article, you can give support by giving a like.
