Wu Chao,S1440513090003 (Release Date:2018.03.05)
MWC 2018 has concluded, and we can observe the development strategies of various manufacturers from their displays and presentations. Below is a summary of the most important aspects from each company:
[ZTE]: In collaboration with China Mobile and Qualcomm, demonstrated the world’s first 3GPP-standard based IoDT testing;
[Huawei]: Released Huawei’s first 5G commercial chip and CPE terminal;
[Nokia]: Showcased the capabilities of the ReefShark chipset in Massive MIMO antenna systems; and the networking capabilities of FlexiZone Multefire;
[Ericsson]’s developed 5G wireless point system won the GSMA “Mobile Technology Innovation Breakthrough Award;”
[China Mobile]: Promoted the 5G terminal pioneer program, aiming for the launch of 5G smartphones in 2019;
[China Unicom]: Released the Edge-Cloud platform architecture and industry ecosystem white paper, officially launching large-scale pilot and trial commercial network construction for 15 provinces and cities, initiating planning and construction work for thousands of edge DC;
[Qualcomm]: Launched a 5G module solution that reduces 30% of the circuit board footprint;
[Intel]: Introduced a 5G PC prototype.
The specific situations of each manufacturer are as follows:
ZTE
ZTE’s breakthroughs during MWC are mainly based on the following four aspects:
Core Network Side:
First to release a fact orchestrator supporting 5G end-to-end network slicing, supporting eMBB slices and URLLC slices end-to-end orchestration, and performing intelligent operation and maintenance of slices through telecom-grade DevOps Builder.
Launched a fully integrated 2/3/4/5G Common Core solution, providing a one-stop upgrade method for operators’ core networks, reducing upgrade TCO. The 5G core network was the first to pass cross-vendor IoT testing through China Mobile’s R15 SBA framework, demonstrating the openness and compatibility of the core network solution.
In collaboration with China Mobile Research Institute, completed the first 5G core network three-layer decoupling test. Deployed an independent networking core network on China Mobile’s TIC platform, and completed testing and verification of network slicing deployment orchestration, service-oriented architecture, and 5G basic business processes.
Transport Network Side:
In collaboration with Intel and China Unicom, released the Edge-Cloud platform architecture and industry ecosystem white paper, and jointly demonstrated edge vCDN and edge intelligent analysis services at the Intel booth. China Unicom announced the official launch of large-scale pilot and trial commercial network construction for 15 provinces and cities, initiating planning and construction work for thousands of edge DC, covering various scenarios such as campuses, venues, parks, industrial internet, and vehicle networking.
Application Side:
Showcased globally leading 5G commercial industry cooperation and key technology verification, including the closest to commercial form of 5G outdoor experimental network, the first multi-vendor IoDT test based on 3GPP standards, and the industry’s first telecom-grade 5G full product end-to-end commercially available network slicing.
Showcased the latest 5G terminal technology, with a 5G smartphone achieving a maximum download speed of 1.2Gbps.
NB-IoT innovative application for smart parking won the 2018 GLOMO Best Connected Life Mobile Business Award.
Signed a strategic cooperation agreement with InfoVista for deep collaboration in the SD-WAN technology field, combining ZTE’s SD-WAN with InfoVista’s virtual value-added applications to assist enterprises in digital transformation.
5G Cooperation Aspects:
Strategic cooperation with MTN Group for 5G, laying the foundation for commercial 5G in the Middle East and Africa.
Signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Ooredoo Group to jointly promote the commercial process of 5G in the Middle East and North Africa.
Collaborated with Belarusian operator velcom to deploy the world’s first 5G-ready virtual core network, successfully entering the candidate list for the 2018 MWC “Best Network Software Breakthrough” award.
Signed a cooperation agreement with Belgian VOO to assist in mobile core network construction.
Huawei
Released a full range of 5G end-to-end products, including Huawei’s first 3GPP 5G commercial chip and CPE terminal based on this chip.
Co-founded a commercial joint innovation center with China Telecom to create differentiated innovative products and solutions, showcasing video 3.0, Tianyi Cloud, and all-optical networks.
Released the digital operation and maintenance service solution AUTIN, addressing operation and maintenance needs based on virtual architecture.
As founding members, together with China Mobile, State Grid, Deutsche Telekom, Digital Kingdom, Fraunhofer FOKUS, Telecom Italia, Tencent, and Volkswagen, jointly advocated the establishment of the 5G slicing working group.
CloudAIR won the GSMA “Best Mobile Network Technology Breakthrough” and “CTO’s Choice” awards.CloudAIR enhances spectrum efficiency through spectrum cloudification.
Received the “2018 Mobile Industry Outstanding Contribution Award” from GSMA.
China Mobile
In collaboration with AT&T, Deutsche Telekom, NTT DOCOMO, and Orange, announced the joint establishment of the ORAN Alliance.
In collaboration with global partners Datang Telecom, Ericsson, Huawei, Intel, Nokia Bell Labs, and ZTE, globally launched the 5G core network pre-commercial products, and announced the “5G SA Breakthrough Action.”
In collaboration with 20 global terminal industry partners (including Qualcomm, Huawei, MediaTek, Unisoc, Intel, Samsung, and other mainstream chip companies; Huawei, OPPO, vivo, Xiaomi, Samsung, ZTE, Lenovo, HTC, Hisense, TCL, and other mainstream terminal companies; Qorvo, Skyworks, Taiyo Yuden, and FeiXiang Technology), jointly launched the “5G Terminal Pioneer Program” at the GTI International Industry Summit. From 2018 to 2019, the focus will be on FPGA-based prototypes, with the first batch of 5G chips meeting China Mobile’s requirements expected to be released in the fourth quarter of 2018. The first batch of 5G pre-commercial terminals will be released in the first half of 2019, and the first batch of 5G smartphones will be launched in the third quarter of 2019. Meanwhile, the program will conduct user-friendly testing for terminals from 2019 to 2020, during which China Mobile will release its 5G terminal standards and 5G terminal white paper, ultimately leading to the market launch of 5G commercial terminals by 2020.
The company stated that it will continue to promote network “speed increase and cost reduction,” promoting applications such as digital entertainment, smart healthcare, online education, vehicle networking, and home security, providing the public with accessible, affordable, and quality digital life services. It is expected that in 2018, China Mobile’s 4G customers will exceed 700 million, and home broadband users will exceed 130 million.
Nokia
Showcased the 5G Future X solution, which includes end-to-end solutions for wireless, backhaul, core network, and accelerated services:
On the wireless side, launched AirScale wireless access, 5G AirScale active antennas, and 5G small cells that meet the needs for large area coverage, high throughput, and millisecond-level latency. Nokia also showcased the ReefShark chipset, suitable for radio units in antennas, significantly enhancing performance and reducing the size of massive MIMO antennas by half. Additionally, compared to currently used baseband units, the ReefShark chipset can reduce power consumption by up to 64%, and provide 84Gbps throughput, with a maximum of 6Tbps, fully meeting the massive data transmission needs brought by future 5G commercialization. The FlexiZone Multefire can provide enterprise-level LTE coverage using unlicensed spectrum, overcoming the issues of poor WiFi network coverage and user experience, and meeting enterprises’ requirements for mobility when connecting devices. Meanwhile, Nokia will also launch the Pico BTS this year.
On the backhaul side, launched 5G Anyhaul which enhances SDN automation features and products aimed at microwave, IP routing, optical networks, and next-generation PON, enabling support for the migration of wireless access and packet core network functions to cloud architecture.
On the core network side, launched a native cloud packet core network supporting separated control and user planes, providing virtualization and new physical deployment capabilities, including a platform built with Nokia’s leading FP4 processor.
Qualcomm
Launched a 5G solution covering digital, RF, connectivity, and front-end functional components, with key components including AP application processors, Modem baseband modems, memory, PMIC power management units, RFFE RF front-end, antennas, and passive components. Compared to traditional separate component designs, Qualcomm’s 5G module solution can reduce the circuit board footprint by 30%, and using Qualcomm’s 5G solution can significantly reduce the complexity and cost of terminal design, accelerate deployment, and lower entry barriers. The solution is expected to be showcased in 2019, possibly integrated into the Snapdragon 855 chip.
Announced the launch of the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 700 series mobile platform, bringing AI engines and image signal processors previously only available in the 800 series to global OEM manufacturers and consumers at a more affordable price. Compared to the Snapdragon 660, the Snapdragon 700 series has made significant improvements in AI, photography, and battery life. Among them, AI performance has doubled compared to the Snapdragon 660 mobile platform; in terms of performance, it has achieved up to 30% efficiency improvement. It will be commercially available to customers in the first half of 2018.
Summary
Device manufacturers’ 5G R&D is progressing smoothly, and memorandums of understanding have begun to be signed.
Currently, 3GPP has released the 5G NSA feature package, and the 5G air interface technology has matured. Each company has released its products and conducted end-to-end experimental demonstrations, such as Huawei’s commercial terminal and base station testing; ZTE’s testing with Qualcomm, etc.
5G standalone networking standards are expected to be finalized between June and September of this year, at which point the 5G core network standards will be established. According to the current discussions in the 3GPP meetings, cloudification of the core network has become a consensus, and designing cloudification based on the China Mobile led SBA architecture has become the direction for various manufacturers. Before the freezing of the standalone networking standards at this MWC, the attention of various manufacturers to standalone networking has naturally increased. From the existing results, device manufacturers have all made layouts in the core network area.
Additionally, although the next-generation transport network was not mentioned at MWC, it is also a direction of great interest for device manufacturers. The upgrade of the transport network is still under discussion by organizations such as ITU, and domestic device manufacturers have made many contributions in this field, even leading the establishment of some standards.
Subsequently, the market promotion of various manufacturers becomes increasingly important. According to media reports, the number of memorandums of understanding signed by Huawei, Ericsson, Nokia, and ZTE with telecom operators in various regions are: 25, 38, 31, 20. However, the final procurement share still needs to be determined through testing and evaluation.
Operators Promote Standard Implementation, Accelerating 5G Maturity
During this conference, China Mobile, as a representative of operators, expressed a positive attitude towards the implementation of 5G. Through the 5G SA breakthrough action and the 5G terminal pioneer program, it supports the maturity of the 5G industry chain. The maturity of the industry chain will reduce the cost of network deployment, helping operators deploy networks with lower capital expenditure.
China Mobile also jointly established the ORAN Alliance with partners. The ORAN Alliance aims to lower the barriers for device manufacturers to interconnect, promote compatibility of telecom network equipment, encourage competition among device manufacturers, and accelerate the maturity of the industry chain.
China Mobile’s attitude also represents the attitude of a series of operators: while hoping to accelerate 5G and enhance operational revenue through 5G deployment, they are very concerned about the costs of 5G network construction, hoping to establish a mature ecosystem to reduce costs.
In the existing telecom networks, various device manufacturers have formed certain product characteristics, and device manufacturers represented by Huawei are more prominent in highlighting their own equipment barriers in the face of 5G construction.
We believe that in the short to medium term, device manufacturers will still be the technical driving force in the construction of 5G networks, while operators have certain gaps in technical advancement. Therefore, while ORAN is a long-term trend, it will be difficult to implement in the short term.
Conclusion:
Device manufacturers showcased leading 5G technologies at MWC, and large-scale implementation is expected to be achieved by 2020. Meanwhile, operators, under pressure from network construction costs, are striving to unify device manufacturers’ hardware through standardized approaches to reduce the premium space of device manufacturers. This also reflects the long-term game relationship between device manufacturers and operators.
Overall, the most benefited sector from 5G remains the wireless equipment sector, facing the huge market of 5G, possessing core technologies of 5G, and future performance will improve with the layout of 5G.
We recommend paying attention to the development of companies leading in 5G technology, such as [ZTE], [Zhongji Xuchuang], [FiberHome], etc. At the same time, the demand for optical fibers and cables due to 5G construction will be boosted, so we suggest paying attention to [Hengtong Optic-Electric], [Zhongtian Technology], [Tongding Interconnection]. Additionally, many applications of 5G in the Internet of Things (industrial, medical, etc.) were showcased at MWC, so we recommend focusing on basic module and cloud platform providers like [Rihai Communications].
Risk Warning:5G construction may not meet expectations.
