TEST & MEASUREMENT FEATURE
The Data highway to 5G and the road to realisation
At a recent 5G event hosted by National Instruments (NI) alongside the 3GPP RAN Working Group meetings in Dresden, Professor Gerhard Fettweis, Vodafone Chair at TU Dresden, explained the extent of the Mobile data consumption situation: “Data rates are exploding – according to Moore’s Law, they double every 18 months. In the year 2025, we engineers have to deliver a terabit WiFi solution.” Here’s more on what the future holds
critical with the idea that humans could control humanoid robots with their movements. This could allow robots to go into hazardous situations, whilst still performing tasks with the dexterity and decision making of a human. For that, the wireless connection between human and robot must have very low latency. Imagine if the robot dropped a wrench
and needed to be quick to catch it – it would hit the ground within half a second, so the reaction time needs to be fast to have a chance to prevent it hitting the ground. Fettweis terms this “the Tactile Internet”. This tactile Internet could give rise to
truly cyber-physical systems. Imagine a sports stadium with thousands of fans videoing on their smartphones – or maybe even wearable technology. If all of those video streams could be synchronised and rendered together, a full 360 degree view of the game could be created, providing the spectators with an entirely new viewing experience. Another frequently referenced
T
he innovative uses of future communications networks will drive
the desire for greater data rates. Right now, yes, it’s annoying if the video we’re streaming buffers, or if it takes a few seconds to load the webpage we’re looking for, but ordinarily you would not say it is critically debilitating. However, the growing credibility of virtual reality (VR) could force the need for improved latency and data rate. Take VR goggles, for example. When we turn our heads or move our hands in reality, we see a reaction in milliseconds, so we would expect to see the same in a VR environment. It would be frustrating to have the
image buffering, or nauseating to be in a jerky environment caused by slow updates. This could become even more
/ ELECTRONICS Figure 1:
National Instruments has recently collaborated with Lund University on the development of a test bed capable of prototyping a massive MIMO system
application that could benefit from this technology is autonomous vehicles. “It’s not just about faster and faster data,” explained Fettweis, “but also about a complete new world. Just imagine autonomous cars and people crossing intersections without traffic lights. Imagine those cars were controlled by a new central infrastructure, and we could use our phones to turn on a “personal bubble”, to avoid casualties—this is a complete new world!” Also at the event, Professor Fredrik Tufvesson, researcher at Lund University, explained another concept that is expected to be key to 5G. Massive MIMO (multiple input multiple output) technology utilises huge numbers of antennas for transmitting and receiving data, with the idea that the more signal paths are available, the better the
performance in terms of data rate and reliability. Current wireless standards architectures use up to eight antennas, whereas massive MIMO is typically defined as using more than 64. Using these large numbers of antennas, massive MIMO focuses the energy on targeted users with precoding techniques. Not only does this reduce the radiated power, it also reduces interference, making 5G networks theoretically capable of accommodating more users reliably and efficiently. Massive MIMO presents system
challenges that have not previously needed to be considered. These include managing overhead, synchronising many distributed RF receivers and scaling interfaces by orders of magnitude. Such emerging obstacles make prototyping vital, and the quicker researchers can move from theoretical work to physical test beds, the sooner 5G technology will be in the hands of the consumer. Professor Tufvesson described Lund
University’s recent collaboration with NI on the development of a test bed capable of prototyping a massive MIMO system. Using the NI Massive MIMO Application Framework, they used 50 USRP RIO software-defined radios to realise a 100- antenna configuration for a base transceiver station, which is the first test bed to reach this level of magnitude and complexity on the road to 5G. The framework, built upon LabVIEW software, can scale from just a few nodes to over 100 antennas, making it flexible enough to adapt to new configurations as wireless research needs change over time. Think how basic Snake feels today. How
old fashioned a physical number pad, a monochrome display and even a polyphonic ringtone seem. 5G technology has the potential to make our current smartphone usage seem outdated. Where we once streamed video, we could explore virtual reality. Where we played online games, we could control the world around us. None of this will be possible without researchers having the capability to prototype solutions and test out the new communications protocols of emerging 5G technologies.
National Instruments
www.ni.com/5g 01635 523 545
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