Huawei will herald a new era in telecommunication with the launch of a complete set of commercial 5.5G network equipment in 2024.
The China ICT giant’s concept of a 5.5G Era is based on an end-to-end solution that integrates comprehensive evolved technologies including 5.5G, F5.5G and Net5.5G. This solution will safeguard operators’ investment in 5G while improving network performance by 10 times.
The new era will feature 10 gigabit peak downlink speeds and gigabit peak uplink speeds to meet increasingly diverse service requirements. It will also refresh the industry vision by using new technologies such as passive IoT to unlock a market of 100 billion IoT connections.
“With a clearly defined standardisation schedule, the 5.5G Era is already poised for technological and commercial verification. In 2024, Huawei will launch a complete set of commercial 5.5G network equipment to be prepared for the commercial deployment of 5.5G,” said Chaobin Yang (top), Board Member and President of ICT Products and Solutions at Huawei.
Huawei has been working with multiple players across the industry on R&D and verification of key 5.5G technologies. Significant progress has been made in this verification process, specifically for extremely large antenna array (ELAA) which underpins 10 gigabit downlink, flexible spectrum access which helps realise gigabit uplink, and passive IoT which can enable 100 billion IoT connections.
50G PON technology enables 10 gigabit speeds for F5.5G ultra-broadband networks, and is expected to be extensively used in homes, campuses, and productions in the future.
Huawei has worked with more than 30 operators around the world on technological verification and application pilots for these technologies.
Yang said that the company has been working on applying AI-native technologies to 5.5G core networks to continuously enhance network capabilities and availability. This would allow AI capabilities to be delivered to the very ends of networks, so that they can better serve numerous industries.
Net5.5G promises 10 gigabit access, ultra-broadband transport, and microsecond-level latency over AI networks, allowing it to serve as a next-generation network foundation for industrial digitalisation by providing high-quality network access.
With 6G is early development, many have turned to 5.5G as their milestone for future development. The 10-fold improvement in network capabilities in the 5.5G Era is set to enable numerous industries to unleash the productivity of digital technology.
Entelechy Asia 