5G, which was a hot topic at MWC 2018, will become the absolute protagonist next year

As time marches into March 2018, the annual MWC has come to an end. Looking back at this grand event in the global mobile communications field, international giants such as Samsung and Sony have attracted attention with their actual products, while domestic manufacturers such as Xiaomi and vivo have taken the opportunity to build momentum for their next new product. Of course, there are also companies like Alibaba Cloud that are here to take advantage of the hype...

However, amidst all the complexity, what truly demonstrates the essence and original intention of this conference is another theme that is happening and about to come - 5G; and there are also many manufacturers carrying this theme.

As a global communications manufacturer, Huawei has become a regular at MWC. However, unlike in the past few years, Huawei did not focus on the P series of mobile phones in the first half of this year, but used Matebook X Pro as a substitute device and then focused on its foundation field 5G.

At this MWC, Huawei released a full range of end-to-end 5G product solutions based on 3GPP standards. The so-called end-to-end refers to the entire 5G product chain covering core network, transmission, sites, baseband, and terminals. Huawei claims that this series of products is also the only 5G end-to-end full range of product solutions that the industry can provide. Let's take a look at Huawei's layout at each node in the chain:

• Core network: Huawei's 5G core network solution is based on a fully cloud-based architecture design and adopts a microservice-centric software architecture. It can simultaneously support 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G, and achieve smooth evolution from NSA (non-standalone networking) to SA (standalone networking).

• Transmission: In the transmission link, 5G networks need to achieve 50GE (GE stands for Gigabit Ethernet, with a speed of Gbps) or even 100 GE transmission capabilities; for this purpose, Huawei has launched a multi-scenario, multi-media, and multi-form 5G bearer product portfolio. For example, the 5G microwave series products for backhaul scenarios can achieve a large bandwidth capability of 10 Gbps and a low latency of 25 microseconds based on traditional microwave frequency bands, while the 50GE/100GE adaptive slicing router can support smooth evolution from 10GE to 50GE & 100GE.

• Site: 5G sites are the top priority of Huawei's 5G construction. In this regard, Huawei's solutions can cover all frequency bands from millimeter wave to C band to below 3G, and also cover all site forms of tower stations, pole stations and small stations. Among them, the C-band 64-transceiver and 32-transceiver Massive MIMO AAU both support 200MHz large bandwidth, which can control cell coverage at close or far points, in various scenarios such as building coverage or uniform coverage, maximize user experience, and achieve 20 times or even 30 times network capacity; while millimeter wave products support 1GHz bandwidth, and the antenna port equivalent power (EIRP) can reach 65dBm, the highest in the industry.

• Baseband: Compared with the above three aspects, Huawei's baseband and terminals are relatively closer to ordinary consumers. Huawei Consumer Business CEO Yu Chengdong released the first 5G commercial baseband chip based on the 3GPP standard - Balong 5G01; Huawei said that Balong 5G01 supports the world's mainstream 5G frequency bands, including Sub6GHz (low frequency) and mmWave (high frequency), and can theoretically achieve a data download rate of up to 2.3Gbps, supporting both NSA and SA networking modes.

• Terminal: Based on the above-mentioned Balong 5G01, Huawei released two 5G commercial terminals that meet the 3GPP standard - Huawei 5G CPE. Huawei said that this is the smallest 5G commercial terminal in the world, and the world's first batch of 5G-friendly commercial users were born in Canada and Seoul. Of course, Huawei will also launch 5G mobile phones in 2019.

In general, Huawei has great ambitions in the 5G era, and it hopes to cover all aspects of the 5G industry from core networks to terminals. It is divided into two business parts. The first part (core network, transmission and sites) has a strong To B attribute, mainly serving mobile operators around the world, which is also the core business that Huawei started with; the second part (baseband and terminals) is more To C, mainly serving various IoT smart terminal devices under Huawei, including smartphones.

Of course, as a participant in the entire 5G industry chain, Huawei must cooperate with other relevant manufacturers to complete its layout. However, given that it has positioned itself as a global leader in the 5G field, Huawei's ambitions in the 5G field are evident.

It has to be said that Huawei's practice of "forcing the first place" in the terminal field with a 5G CPE that it claims to have been "commercially used in Seoul and Canada" is indeed a bit unkind. Sure enough, Qualcomm, which has been deeply involved in the 5G terminal field for many years, couldn't stand it anymore. So at a media communication meeting on February 26, Qualcomm "criticized" Huawei without naming it, saying that Huawei's 5G chipset was "large in size and not suitable for mobile needs", and said:

Our goal has always been to ensure that 5G chipsets meet the requirements of mobile terminals for size, performance and connection speed.

When it comes to Qualcomm's 5G chipset, it is easy to think of the Snapdragon X50 5G modem that Qualcomm released in October 2016. This was the world's first 5G modem. In October 2017, Qualcomm announced that this modem chipset completed the world's first 5G connection, and in early February 2018, it reached cooperation agreements with many operators and terminal manufacturers on the Snapdragon X50 5G chip in advance.

At this MWC, Qualcomm has three main moves in the 5G field: the first is to announce and display the results of 5G experiments, the second is to release 5G module solutions, and the third is the Always Connected PC.

On February 25, Qualcomm released the results of its 5G real network simulation experiments. There are two main experiments: one is an NSA 5G new air interface network in Frankfurt, Germany, running on a 3.5GHz spectrum with a bandwidth of 100MHz; the other is a hypothetical 5G new air interface network in San Francisco, running on a 28GHz spectrum with a bandwidth of 800MHz. Both experiments use existing cellular base station locations and ultimately demonstrate the significant improvement of the user experience of 5G new air interfaces and their terminals.

However, in comparison, the 5G module solution released by Qualcomm at MWC 2018 has a more far-reaching impact on Qualcomm itself and the entire smart terminal (especially smartphone) industry. The purpose of the entire solution is to enable smartphone manufacturers to quickly deploy 5G in 2019. In short, it has the following features:

• It includes several module products and integrates more than 1,000 components, reducing the complexity of terminal design and lowering the threshold for 5G. Manufacturers only need to combine a few simple modules to design.

• It integrates components covering digital, RF, connectivity and front-end functions, with key components including application processors, baseband modems, memory, PMIC, RF front end (RFFE), antennas and passive components.

• Due to its ultra-high integration, this module solution can also reduce the board area for customers by up to 30%.

Qualcomm actually wants to say one thing: the whole solution is simple, fast and space-saving, and mobile phone manufacturers who want to embark on the 5G road should just buy it. However, as Leifeng.com has said before, Qualcomm does have such strength. Qualcomm is almost the only manufacturer in the world that can provide the key components mentioned above at the same time.

In addition to smartphones, Qualcomm's layout in 5G terminals also includes PCs. Also at MWC 2018, Qualcomm announced that it will launch fully connected PC devices that can connect to 5G networks together with HP, Lenovo, Asus and other manufacturers, also in 2019; considering that Qualcomm is already an important partner of Microsoft's Win10 On ARM plan, the support of 5G for Snapdragon flagship processors will allow Qualcomm to form a two-wing force in the future development of the PC field.

Compared with Huawei and Qualcomm, Intel's expansion from semiconductors to mobile communications can be said to be a long and arduous journey. Since the acquisition of Infineon's wireless division in 2010, Intel's baseband business has entered a relatively marginal period for 6 years; fortunately, Intel did not give up and finally became associated with iPhone 7/Plus with an XMM 7360 baseband chip in the fall of 2016. With the advent of the next generation of mobile communication technology, Intel has become an expert in the 5G field.

At the recent PyeongChang Winter Olympics, Intel's 5G technology was put to good use, completing Olympic-related tasks while also making headlines. As soon as the PyeongChang Winter Olympics ended, MWC 2018 was coming, and Intel certainly would not miss this opportunity, so it took the opportunity to announce that its own 5G technology has already been booked for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

However, for Intel, 5G mobile terminals are more important, especially Intel's main battlefield - PC. At this MWC, Intel demonstrated a two-in-one PC device that can be connected through an early 5G modem (Intel launched the XMM 8000 series 5G modem in November last year). Intel also announced a partnership with Dell, HP, Lenovo and Microsoft before the official opening of MWC to use the Intel XMM 8000 series in PCs, which is expected to be available in the second half of 2019.

In addition to the main battlefield of PC, Intel also does not want to miss the smartphone market, which was almost dominated by Qualcomm in the 4G era. Just before the opening of MWC 2018, Intel and China's Unisoc announced a partnership to combine Intel's 5G modem with Unisoc's application processor technology to create a mobile platform for smartphones. Intel said Unisoc will launch the first 5G smartphone platform equipped with Intel XMM 8000 series modems in the second half of 2019.

It can be seen that while Qualcomm Snapdragon series processors continue to move towards desktop PCs, Intel's XMM series basebands have also been working hard to expand to mobile terminals, and the intersection of the two sides is 5G; whether it is a 5G smartphone or a 5G fully connected PC, Qualcomm and Intel are working hard to achieve full coverage, and the competition between the two sides is bound to intensify in the 5G era.

Perhaps the performance of S9/S9+ at this MWC was so impressive that it not only overshadowed the new mobile phones of other manufacturers, but also overshadowed Samsung's own 5G field. But in fact, Samsung's accumulation in the 5G field cannot be ignored.

At this MWC, Samsung announced a set of 5G FWA certified by the US FCC, which includes a commercial form factor 5G home router for indoor and outdoor use (including wireless access unit and virtualized RAN5G wireless access network and 3D radio frequency planning tools and services using AI technology); this product has been confirmed to be launched together with Verizon's first commercial 5G network in the United States at the end of this year.

Samsung also said that by leveraging its internal technologies and assets, it has successfully developed the first commercial ASIC-based 5G modem and millimeter wave RFIC (radio frequency integrated circuit), enabling the design of compact access units and CPE (customer terminal equipment).

Leifeng.com learned that during CES 2018 in January, Samsung showed its 5G modem prototype Exynos 5G series to partners in a closed-door meeting. Its theoretical speed is expected to reach 5Gbps, while being backward compatible with 4G LTE, 3G and 2G networks. More and more news indicates that Samsung will also launch its own 5G modem and 5G smartphone next year. In addition, at this MWC conference, SK Telecom CTO Park Jin-Hyo also revealed to reporters:

Samsung has made great strides with its 5G technology and will be launching 5G phones in the near future.

Considering Samsung's development in the 4G era, the Korean giant will not miss the historical opportunity of 5G, and Samsung also has enough strength to achieve its goal of self-developing 5G baseband and related products. However, judging from the current product rhythm, Samsung does not seem to be in a hurry to compete with rivals such as Qualcomm and Intel.

In addition to the above-mentioned giant companies, chip companies such as MediaTek and Unisoc and many other companies in the 5G industry chain also demonstrated their strength in 5G at MWC. It should be pointed out that in the 5G era, we must not only continue to connect people with each other, but also realize the full interconnection between people and things, and things with things; therefore, at this MWC, there are also a large number of 5G-based related industry application cases, such as the Internet of Things, VR/AR, autonomous driving, interactive games, etc., which together show the development prospects of 5G in the next few years.

However, overall, 5G is still in the preheating stage before its official launch at this year's MWC. A large number of 5G products are still conceptual and planned, and are at least a year away from actual application scenarios. Leifeng.com predicts that as the 5G standard will be completed in mid-2018, 5G will become the absolute protagonist at next year's MWC, and related 5G products will gradually be launched.

Of course, the first to be implemented is likely to be smartphones.

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