BANGKOK – Recently, the 5G Core Summit 2022, hosted by Informa Tech and co-hosted by Huawei, was successfully held in Bangkok, Thailand. At the summit, Richard Liu, President of Huawei Cloud Core Network Product Line, delivered a keynote speech titled Evolving to 5.5G Core, from Connectivity to Service Enablement.
In recent years, 5G technologies have demonstrated astounding growth and as more application scenarios and metaverse applications emerge, the development of 5G is gaining even further momentum in the first wave of 5G markets. The powerful 5G network brings significant value with positive signs for its commercialization potential. qHowever, the rapid pace of development also poses greater requirements on the capabilities of the network, and therefore, 5G networks need to be continuously evolving and improved. Huawei is the first to propose the concept of 5.5G Core, aiming to comprehensively enhance network connectivity, move away from connectivity-based development to full-service enablement, and collaborate with industry partners to advance towards an intelligent world.
New Calling: In the voice sector, 5.5G Core offers enhanced mobile network calling capabilities, upgrading the calling service experience from audio/video calling to intelligent and interactive communication. As a result, calling services can serve as not only a bridge for communication but more importantly, a capability platform for telecom operators to roll out new services. New Calling leverages interactive data channels that are built upon the IMS to reshape the media plane. It provides a platform for operators to develop innovative calling services, helping upgrade calling services from conventional audio/video calling to UHD, intelligent calling, and then to interactive calling, elevating calling services to an entirely new level.
MEC to X: Based on “5G + MEC”, 5.5G will become an incubator for industry innovation, which may bring a huge boost to new application scenarios and services. At present, the application of 5G MEC has been broadly stretched out, from single-domain to dual-domain, from LAN to WAN, from campuses to industry fields, and from connectivity to “connectivity + computing”. In addition, the 5G MEC network architecture is evolving towards hyper-distribution and full connection, and MEC networks will further extend to campuses, production lines, and field networks. Coupled with data, operation, information, and communication technology (DOICT) convergence, 5G MEC can be leveraged to enhance connectivity capabilities and empower industrial production environments. All these contribute to the full connection of WANs and the ubiquitous access to private networks.
New Video: Network transmission and video communications will continue to evolve as mobile networks orientate themselves toward 5.5G, allowing video experiences to evolve from single-screen entertainment to multi-screen social interaction. 5.5G-oriented New Video will break through barriers and integrate video platforms with video calling services, so as to provide a brand new social-interactive video experience. As we move towards an intelligent world where all things are connected, large TV screens will be further integrated with small- and medium-sized screens, enabling them to collaborate with smart terminals such as smart doorbells, smart speakers, tablets, and VR headsets, promoting a greater range of home audio and video services.
Telco Cloud: The telco cloud infrastructure is fundamental for service enablement. After nearly a decade of exploration, operators have found their way to cloudify their NFV-based telecom networks. As a foundation for all kinds of services, the telco cloud continues to evolve in the 5G era. It supports the co-deployment of VMs and containers in a resource pool. Using native intelligence, it features high reliability, ubiquitous architecture, and intelligent and simplified O&M. One cloud will provide diversified computing power for thousands of industries, building a solid network foundation for 5.5G.
Autonomous Driving Network (ADN): The core network is becoming increasingly complex as a greater number of cloud-based networks and services are deployed, and the number of maintenance objects surges, posing great challenges to network O&M. The ADN is dedicated to improving intelligent O&M capabilities of the core network and implementing three value scenarios: high stability, simplified O&M, and optimal experience. Network assurance changes from passive handling to proactive prevention, ensuring the SLA of high-value users, lifting the network automation level to L4, and heralding a new era of cloud-based network O&M.
Focusing on the aforementioned aspects, Huawei will invest more on service innovation and collaborate deeper with industry partners, to roll out more services and together build new business models in the 5.5G era.