5G era: Everything is coming

Author: Intel vice president and general manager of Platform Engineering Division Communication Equipment Division Aicha Evans

The definition of mobile communication is constantly changing and expanding every day. Today's mobile communications world is built for smartphones, with a focus on voice and data. In the future world, nothing is deliberately built for movement, because everything is mobile. This will be a world built for interconnected cars, connected factories and connected drones. As the era of the IoT is approaching, we will need next-generation wireless technology to bring new connectivity and unique features to the connected world. The next era is the 5G era...

At Intel, we realize that 5G is not just a revolutionary step forward for our industry. It is made up of many technologies and has a much broader ecosystem than the wireless and communications industries. This is a turning point – we will see and experience everything that is smart and connected here. But to connect billions of people and machines, we need smarter, faster, and more efficient networks. The ability to connect, connect to machines and the cloud, and extract valuable content information from vast amounts of data will bring new experiences and transform the business into our daily lives. That's why Intel focuses on three key areas: industry collaboration, end-to-end 5G-related hardware and software development, and support for the development of 5G standards. We strive to develop end-to-end solutions from devices to the network to the cloud. We accelerate the development of prototyping solutions through projects such as the Intel 5G Mobile Experiment Platform and work with 3GPP and IEEE standards-setting organizations to define 5G standards to ensure a smooth transition and enable faster, smarter connections.

Connectivity will bring together the cloud, the Internet of Things (IoT), all terminals, storage and FPGAs – all of which prompted Intel Global CEO Brian Krzanich to propose a benign growth cycle theory and make the expected 500 Billions of things have become smarter, faster, more efficient, and more powerful, which will make our families, our cities, and our world smarter, and our lives will become more abundant. The potential data transfer rate of 5G is hundreds of times faster than current wireless technologies, but this potential can only be achieved when computing and communication are fused, which is why our industry must work together.

Current and next-round connectivity technologies - LTE, millimeter-wave, 5G modem, Wi-Fi, WiGig, Bluetooth, Ethernet, etc. - are all devices and applications that span an extremely diverse range of applications (from gigabits per second) The end-to-end universal connection of speed to ultra-low latency is essential.

The first step is to start connecting the machines and "things" that are not connected. I am very enthusiastic about this area, and I am very excited about the connectivity solutions Intel has delivered to ensure that a true IoT world becomes a reality. Our customers and partners are working closely with us in this area to validate their modules using our modems on a global carrier network. At the 2016 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, ​​Intel and AT&T announced a joint test and definition of airborne LTE for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs, also known as drones). Intel also demonstrated mobile edge computing, millimeter-wave and NB- Technical demonstrations such as IOT. These are important steps in bringing mobile communications to a variety of new IoT devices around the world.

For the same reason, we must build modems, devices, and networks to ensure that everything that can be calculated and networked will have computing and networking capabilities. Think of it this way - every device connected to the network redefines the connection and creates a new fusion point. In view of this, we must redefine the meaning of the network, each terminal device becomes a default communication node.

This connection also requires immediate analysis and response. Many people think that the device is just a static data source, and all the analysis is done in the cloud. This is inaccurate. In fact, calculations and analysis take place not only in the cloud, but also in networks and terminal devices. The calculations are not done in a vacuum environment, it is as ubiquitous as a connection.

In order to achieve 5G connectivity and intelligence, we must work together, industry cooperation is more important than ever, no company can push this technology forward by itself. For me, this means working with industry leaders, from device manufacturers to network operators and service providers. This also means that a strong foundation for 5G is now required in areas such as Network Function Virtualization (NFV) and NB-IOT.

We have been working on this aspect. At the 2016 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, ​​Intel and Ericsson and Nokia demonstrated the basic concept demonstration of NB-IOT respectively; Intel, Orange and Ericsson jointly launched the world's first batch of coverage for the Internet of Things using EC-GSM-IoT Test. During this year's Computex 2016, Intel announced a partnership with Foxconn to develop network infrastructure technology to help transform the communications network and lay the foundation for 5G. At the 2016 World Mobile Congress in Shanghai, China Mobile, Ericsson and Intel completed the world's first business demonstration based on the latest cellular IoT technology, marking the world's latest cellular IoT technology from standard to product implementation. Cohesion; As the products gradually mature, I believe that in the near future, cellular IoT technology will be in smart meter reading, smart wear, smart home, municipal materials, smart buildings, logistics tracking, wide-area IOT, industrial goods, etc. The field is widely used, which will effectively meet the growing demand for IoT business development.

With all these advances, I have confidence in Intel's product delivery capabilities, and Intel is able to deliver end-to-end world-class products from end devices to the network to the data center to the cloud. As a company, we are very happy to lead the entire industry through this turning point and let the Internet of Everything era finally enter our lives.

About the Author:

Aicha Evan is vice president of Intel Corporation and general manager of the Communications Equipment Division of the Platform Engineering Division. She is responsible for driving wireless engineering for a variety of communications products and Intel platforms, including modem, RF, Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, Near Field Communication (NFC), FM, LTE, WLAN/WWAN, and emerging wireless technologies. Pre-development. Prior to the Platform Engineering Division, she held the same position in the Mobile and Communications Division.

Previously, Evans served as General Manager of R&D at the Wireless Platform, managing engineering, software, hardware, strategic planning and product testing teams, providing wireless connectivity components and solutions for all Intel platforms.

Evans joined Intel in 2006 as a software integration and testing manager. She has held various management positions and is responsible for Intel's wireless business, including software engineering and support customers deploying WiMAX networks in multiple locations. In addition, she worked in Israel to manage WiFi engineering and product lines. Prior to joining Intel, Evans spent 10 years at Rockwell Semiconductors, Conexant, and Skyworks in various engineering management positions.

Evans received a bachelor's degree in computer engineering from George Washington University in 1996.