Huawei positions 5.5G as the key to unlocking mobile AI’s potential, enhancing connectivity and enabling real-time applications across various sectors.
In recent years, AI has captured the imagination of enterprises worldwide, transforming the impossible into the achievable.
What was once considered impractical or out of reach has become a tangible reality, thanks to the introduction of AI technologies across various sectors.
However, despite the AI era being in full swing, certain limitations persist. Whilst broadband can provide high-speed internet access, it lacks the mobility of cellular connectivity.
And although 5G has significantly improved cellular performance, it still falls short in delivering the ultra-low latency required to truly enable mobile AI applications.
These constraints have hindered the full realisation of AI’s potential in mobile environments, leaving a gap between the promise of AI and its practical implementation in on-the-go scenarios.
Yet Huawei sees the next era of AI being mobile. With their MBBF 2024 talk being about both AI for networks, and networks for AI, the IT leader offered compelling cases for why AI and mobile go hand in hand.
5.5G: a new era of AI
“It’s no coincidence that AI and 5G blossomed at the same time – AI needed the 5G infrastructure,” Alex Sincalir, CTO at GSMA told MBBF attendees during his keynote.
Just as AI blossomed from its more limited use to now seeping into our everyday life through the use of Gen AI, to unlock the full potential of mobile AI, a next step must be taken: 5.5G.
This next-generation technology promises to be ten times faster than its predecessor, 5G, marking a significant leap forward in mobile connectivity.
With speeds up to 10Gbps, 5.5G can deliver substantially more data than 5G, opening up new possibilities for data-intensive AI applications.
The enhanced stability offered by 5.5G is another crucial advancement. The improved stability ensures that critical AI-driven systems can operate without interruption, enhancing safety and efficiency across various industries.
Perhaps most importantly, 5.5G significantly reduces latency, enabling near-instantaneous communication between devices and AI systems.
This ultra-low latency is essential for real-time AI applications, allowing for immediate response times and seamless interactions between humans and AI-powered devices.
The combination of these enhancements makes 5.5G a game-changer in the realm of mobile AI, providing the necessary infrastructure to support the next generation of intelligent, connected technologies.
The advent of 5.5G technology is set to make the dream of fully autonomous driving and advanced robotics a reality.
The combination of 10 Gbps speeds and ultra-low latency means that communication can occur more frequently and with fewer drop zones or congestion issues. This translates to fewer accidents and more comprehensive control in autonomous systems, as AI-powered vehicles can exchange critical data and make split-second decisions with unprecedented reliability.
In the field of robotics, 5.5G enables more sophisticated and responsive AI-driven machines. With the ability to process and transmit vast amounts of data in real-time, robots can become more adaptable and intelligent, capable of operating in complex, dynamic environments.
This has far-reaching implications for industries such as manufacturing, healthcare, and disaster response, where AI-powered robots can work alongside humans with greater efficiency and safety.
AI in networks
Moreover, 5.5G’s enhanced capabilities mean that AI can be applied more effectively in network architecture, improving efficiency and performance in various scenarios.
5.5G networks are designed with AI integration at their core. This native AI capability allows for predictive maintenance, dynamic resource allocation, and improved overall network performance.
In the frequency domain, 5.5G leverages AI to dynamically adjust carriers or transmit and receive bandwidths based on service traffic.
This adaptive approach ensures that network resources are used efficiently, allocating bandwidth where it’s needed most and conserving energy when demand is low.
Similarly, in the space domain, 5.5G base stations can adaptively adjust the number of activated spatial elements to save energy, including the transmit unit, antenna panel, and logical antenna port.
The power domain is another area where AI plays a crucial role in 5.5G networks. Base stations can optimise TX/RX algorithms to adjust power or power spectral density whilst maintaining coverage and performance.
This intelligent power management ensures that networks deliver the necessary performance without wasting energy, contributing to both operational efficiency and environmental sustainability.
Additionally, predictive maintenance powered by AI can foresee potential network issues, allowing for proactive interventions that significantly reduce downtime.
Pioneering the future
Huawei’s 5G-AA solutions, launched at the MBBF 2024 aim to build multidimensional ultimate network capabilities through full-series Advanced Radio technology.
These solutions are designed to meet the ever-diversifying demand for services in the Mobile AI era, enabling operators to stay ahead in a rapidly evolving technological landscape.
The latest 5.5G solutions aim to equip networks with Level 4 autonomy through digital sites and RAN Agents. This high level of autonomy allows networks to self-optimise, self-heal, and self-manage with minimal human intervention.
Another notable 5.5G innovation is the Sub-1 GHz Massive MIMO technology. This groundbreaking solution builds a ubiquitous foundation layer for mobile AI, providing extensive coverage while improving downlink, uplink, and low-latency experiences.
By bringing Massive MIMO to low bands, Huawei has overcome significant technical challenges, ensuring that the benefits of 5.5G can be realised across a wide range of frequencies and deployment scenarios.
Another key innovation is the Blade AAU X, the industry’s first product that uses a single antenna to support Massive MIMO deployment across all sub-6 GHz bands.
This solution significantly reduces site space requirements and operational expenses, making it easier and more cost-effective for operators to upgrade their networks to 5.5G.
In the time domain, 5.5G can intelligently put cells and channels into dormant mode during light network loads, significantly reducing energy consumption without compromising service quality.
Equally, Huawei is collaborating with Vodafone Italia to implement Gen AI in the delivery of Vodafone’s intelligent network assistant.
This AI-based digital assistant provides instant access to network knowledge-based summaries, showcasing the practical applications of AI in network management and demonstrating how 5.5G can facilitate more intelligent and responsive network operations.
The path forward
As we stand on the cusp of the mobile AI era, 5.5G technology emerges as the key enabler for this transformative shift.
Huawei’s innovative solutions, from advanced antenna technologies to AI-driven network optimisation, demonstrate the potential of 5.5G to revolutionise mobile communications and AI applications.
The onus now lies with telecommunications companies to seize this opportunity and leverage 5.5G to its full potential.
By adopting these advanced technologies, operators can build robust foundation networks that meet the demanding requirements of mobile AI applications, using AI on said networks to meet them.
The mobile AI era, powered by 5.5G, promises to enhance our daily lives in ways we are only beginning to imagine, opening up new possibilities for human-AI interaction and collaboration.
