Academician Wang Jiangzhou: China leads in 5G equipment, while the United States is the leader in chips

"Major events often give rise to technological innovation and breakthroughs. In order to ensure our country's leading edge in 5G development in the world, we must adhere to the established goals to develop and build 5G."

At the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, Academician Wang Jiangzhou was concerned about whether the development speed of 5G would be affected by the epidemic.

During the epidemic, a series of 5G application scenarios have emerged, including telemedicine, remote education and office, infrared thermal imaging temperature measurement, 5G+ cloud live broadcast, 5G networked drones, automated factories, etc., which have suddenly made 5G technology, which has not yet been applied, shine, and people have to take a new look at its development potential.

From a national perspective, several meetings in early March proposed accelerating the development of new infrastructure such as 5G networks and data centers, and local governments have also introduced policies and announced 5G development goals for 2020. The term "new infrastructure" has become popular.

There seems to be no need to worry about the obstruction of 5G development. Wang Jiangzhou, who noticed this situation, came to believe that the epidemic is unlikely to disrupt development, but will promote the implementation of 5G.

Wang Jiangzhou is a world-class expert in communications engineering and is currently a tenured professor at the University of Kent in the UK (Nobel Prize winner in Literature Kazuo Ishiguro, Orlando Bloom, the "elf prince" in The Lord of the Rings, and Fu Ying, a well-known Chinese female diplomat, are all alumni of this university). In 2017, Wang Jiangzhou was elected as a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE Fellow), and in 2018, he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.

The Royal Academy of Engineering is the highest scientific research institution in the engineering community in the UK. It was established by the royal family with a royal charter. The academicians include the most outstanding engineering and technology experts in various fields. Wang Jiangzhou said that the reason why it is named "Royal" is not only because it represents one of the most important scientific research institutions in the UK, but also because heavyweights in the royal family, such as the Queen's husband Prince Philip or son Prince Charles, sometimes attend important events of the Academy of Engineering, reflecting the country's attention.

(Then President of the Royal Academy of Engineering, Academician Dowling, presents Wang Jiangzhou with a certificate of newly elected academician, 2018)

Wang Jiangzhou has been engaged in communications research for more than 30 years. According to the official website of the Royal Academy of Engineering, he has made outstanding contributions to the development of several generations of mobile communications engineering technology from 2G to 5G. His pioneering research - the invention and innovation of signal detection and multiple access technology in wireless mobile communications, has been widely adopted in the global communications industry.

Today, Wang Jiangzhou and his team have begun research on 6G, and they also maintain close cooperation with domestic government departments and scientific research institutions.

Because of the COVID-19 outbreak, Wang Jiangzhou's original plan to return to China for an exchange visit after the Spring Festival was interrupted. When he accepted the exclusive interview with the reporter of NetEase Technology's "Masters of Science", he was in the UK, where Wang Jiangzhou has been working and living for a long time.

Wang Jiangzhou's hometown is Huangmei County, Huanggang City, Hubei Province. Huanggang is adjacent to Wuhan. During the COVID-19 epidemic in China, the city had a total of 2,907 confirmed cases. In terms of numbers, it ranks third in the country, and is only separated from Wuhan City (50,005 cases) by Xiaogan City (3,518 cases).

Wang Jiangzhou's mother and other relatives all live in China. According to him, all his family members in China are safe during this epidemic, and his local relatives in Huangmei are also doing well.

While the epidemic in China is easing, the novel coronavirus is spreading widely around the world, and Europe is one of the regions affected by the epidemic. In the UK where Wang Jiangzhou is located, the number of confirmed cases continues to increase, but Wang Jiangzhou's tone is relaxed and he does not show any anxiety.

"It's not serious yet, unlike other European countries like Italy, Spain, Germany and France, where the cases are very serious. Compared to them, the cases in the UK are relatively small."

"We rarely see people wearing masks here." Wang Jiangzhou said that news about this has become the main topic of conversation among colleagues, but "no one wants to wear masks for prevention."

Although the coping mentality and mechanisms vary in different countries, no one can deny that COVID-19 is currently a global health challenge. Therefore, our interview inevitably involves the current public health emergency. In terms of his professional expertise, Wang Jiangzhou also shared with us the development situation and problems of 5G communications, which have been of great use in this epidemic, including the external challenges faced by the communications giant Huawei.