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Mobile Communications Technology 5G

Nov 5, 2020

Technology Development

Mobile Communications Technology 5G - The Near Future

Connecting ICT    References

While 5G is the successor to 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution), the fifth generation is a great deal more than just a new mobile communications standard. The extremely powerful mobile communications technology is what makes the promises of Industrie 4.0 and autonomous driving possible, and Fraunhofer is playing a decisive part in developing 5G technologies. The researchers know exactly what the potential of 5G is – and the hurdles that need to be overcome. 1)

5G will offer more to users than simply ultrafast communications; this better-than-WiFi mobile standard should also deliver enhanced positioning to users. Accordingly, it is set to enable a wide range of potential applications from continuously-tracked smart factories to swarms of high-precision drones and assisted or self-driving cars. 2)

The communication capabilities of current cellular networks are already used routinely to supplement satnav-based smartphone positioning performance. But 5G offers in addition positioning capabilities, thanks to its adoption of higher frequency signal bands to deliver wide bandwidth, low delay communications.

The shorter range of these higher frequency bands also demands a dense infrastructure of base stations, which make possible the easy triangulation of user positions by calculating the time and angle of signals.

Figure 1: The coming of 5G. ESA has launched a call for proposals to demonstrate the capabilities of new 5G cellular networks to support positioning and timing applications to complement satellite navigation, just as today’s smartphones harness cellular data to support their positioning services (image credit: ESA)
Figure 1: The coming of 5G. ESA has launched a call for proposals to demonstrate the capabilities of new 5G cellular networks to support positioning and timing applications to complement satellite navigation, just as today’s smartphones harness cellular data to support their positioning services (image credit: ESA)

Indeed, positioning is likely to become an inherent part of the 5G infrastructure, enabling optimal use of bandwidth across a given area while also helping usher the IoT (Internet of Things) into being.

ESA has opened a new call for proposals to European industry, looking to develop commercial ideas related to 5G for PNT (Positioning, Navigation and Timing).

Supporting this call – which takes place through ESA’s Navigation Innovation and Support Program (NAVISP), boosting the competitiveness of European industry in the PNT domain beyond solely satellite navigation – external experts joined Agency personnel in a recent webinar looking into possible use cases in detail.

“NAVISP’s ambition is to generate European champions in the PNT world,” said Pierluigi Mancini, NAVISP program manager. “Without linking with different technologies and differing markets that are essentially fostering opportunity for PNTs we will not be able to do this, and it is in this frame we are positioning this initiative.”

Figure 2: Driving into the future. A highly autonomous self-driving shuttle has entered service at ESA/ESTEC. Its official inauguration took place on Tuesday (27 October 2020), when it was assigned a suitably spacey name – 'Orbiter' – chosen through an employee competition (image credit: ESA, L. Cervantes)
Figure 2: Driving into the future. A highly autonomous self-driving shuttle has entered service at ESA/ESTEC. Its official inauguration took place on Tuesday (27 October 2020), when it was assigned a suitably spacey name – 'Orbiter' – chosen through an employee competition (image credit: ESA, L. Cervantes)

ESA/ESTEC in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, is being used as a testbed for the automated shuttle, to assess its viability as a ‘last mile’ solution for public transport. ESTEC was selected because it is a controlled private environment but with all common transport found on public roads – cars, bikes, pedestrians and roundabouts – the shuttle is able to operate in mixed traffic.

“Through the projects we’ve already implemented through NAVISP we realize that the kind of critical applications we’re talking about today require robust PNT solutions,” said Rafael Lucas Rodriguez, heading ESA’s NAVISP technical program office.

“Satellite navigation by itself is not enough, because of various environmental vulnerabilities. Accordingly, 5G for PNT is a potential backup solution in many cases, potentially allowing a seamless transition from outdoor to indoor coverage.”

Figure 3: Smart factory 5G positioning needs (image credit: Fraunhofer IIS)
Figure 3: Smart factory 5G positioning needs (image credit: Fraunhofer IIS)

Karin Loidl of Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits – speaking for the industry body 5G-ACIA , the Alliance for Connected Industry and Automation – discussed one major indoor use case for 5G positioning: autonomously-operating smart factories, otherwise known as ‘industry 4.0’.

“Factories of today have to be very flexible and adaptive to changing situations,” she explained. “Production lines are not stable over 10 years or five years or months; they might have to change in a week. The need is for positioning of all the moving objects, for all the changes in this factory.”

Figure 4: Industry body 5G-ACIA, the Alliance for Connected Industry and Automation (image credit: ESA)
Figure 4: Industry body 5G-ACIA, the Alliance for Connected Industry and Automation (image credit: ESA)

5G-ACIA surveyed its 75 members to define their positioning needs for smart factories, amounting to demanding requirements in terms of accuracy, latency and availability.

“You normally like to track incoming goods, then you have forklifts operated both by humans and autonomously, responsible for the provision of goods to the assembly sites,” Karin Loidl added.

“Positioning is also important at the assembly site, because you like to track tools, robots and HR applications. There are also many sensors, not always fixed like in the past, whose positioning is needed too.”

She emphasized that overall industry demand for positioning was substantial, with the market for mobile robotics forecast to grow to €49 billion by 2023, asset tracking up to €23 billion by 2022, positioning-enabled augmented reality to €65 billion by 2024 and ‘geofencing’ – or the use of virtual boundaries – up to €1.5 billion in 2024.

Michael Baus, Project Director at Robert Bosch GmbH turned the focus outdoors to talk of the current and future positioning requirements of automobiles, from navigation systems and road tolling to eCall – sharing vehicle positioning with rescue services in the event of an accident – and assisted or self-driving cars.

“To know the position of your car is very important to use maps and all the rich information inside the maps,” he said. “Quite a vast range of functions make use of positioning, across differing application vehicles from motorcycles to trucks.”

Figure 5: Automotive positioning needs. The automotive sector has a variety of positioning use cases, seen from top left down: in-car navigation systems, eCall – giving your positions to emergency services in response to accidents – and vehicle to vehicle or vehicle or vehicle to infrastructure, to be made use of. From top right down: eCall for a variety of different vehicle types, assisted driving systems and finally automated driving (image credit: Bosch)
Figure 5: Automotive positioning needs. The automotive sector has a variety of positioning use cases, seen from top left down: in-car navigation systems, eCall – giving your positions to emergency services in response to accidents – and vehicle to vehicle or vehicle or vehicle to infrastructure, to be made use of. From top right down: eCall for a variety of different vehicle types, assisted driving systems and finally automated driving (image credit: Bosch)

The technology employed to do this needs to be stable, safe and usable all over the world, he added, and expressed hope that 5G could play a major role by increasing the coverage, availability and reliability of automotive positioning, at a reasonable price.

Cristiano Baldoni, CEO of d-flight looked skyward, anticipating a future when crewed aircraft are vastly outnumbered by all manner of automated aerial vehicles performing a wide variety of uses, what he termed ‘the internet of drones’.

He explained that the traditional air traffic control model needs to evolve to accommodate such a shift, based on automated monitoring, traffic management and collision avoidance.

5G could potentially serve as a means of drone-to-drone and drone-to-ground communication but also positioning for satnav-denied areas such as urban canyons, as well as sharpen the positioning of high-accuracy drone applications such as goods delivery, precision farming and infrastructure monitoring – and eventually person-carrying aerial taxis.

Figure 6: How drones will be used in future. The many uses of drones, whose numbers are set to dwarf the level of human-operated aircraft in the future (image credit: d-Flight)
Figure 6: How drones will be used in future. The many uses of drones, whose numbers are set to dwarf the level of human-operated aircraft in the future (image credit: d-Flight)

Ivan De Francesca, senior network transport expert at Telefonica Global Services highlighted the fact that while traditional cellular networks required only frequency synchronization, 5G demands much more rigorous time and phase synchronization to maintain network stability.

“The technology gap comes with the most demanding applications, like high-accuracy positioning or self-driving cars,” he said. “We might need to adapt or modify the current architecture we are using today, and that is where this 5G for PNT initiative comes into the scene, because its results are going to be vital to understand how to move forward.”

ESA's Alessandra Fiumara, responsible for managing this call for proposals, clarified the requirements and the planning for submission of proposals, encouraging all interested bidders to submit their proposals before 31 January 2021 and take advantage of the networking platform specially put in place for this call to facilitate the formation of teams.



 

Connecting Terrestrial ICT (Information and Communications Technology) with Space ICT

• December 6, 2021: Efforts to enable seamless connectivity and reduce the digital divide by using telecommunications satellites to enhance terrestrial 5G services have leapt forward. 3)

Figure 7: Satellite for 5G infographic. The next generation of communication services – 5G – will rely on a harmonious integration of networks, driving a convergence of fixed and mobile services, including satcom services. ESA’s Satellite for 5G (S45G) programme aims to promote the value-added benefits of space to 5G, by developing and demonstrating integrated satellite- and terrestrial-based 5G services, across various markets and use cases. - ESA supports the technological and supply chain evolutions that are required to weave together terrestrial and space services, focusing on the transport sector (maritime, aviation and land), public safety, and media and broadcasting (image credit: ESA)
Figure 7: Satellite for 5G infographic. The next generation of communication services – 5G – will rely on a harmonious integration of networks, driving a convergence of fixed and mobile services, including satcom services. ESA’s Satellite for 5G (S45G) programme aims to promote the value-added benefits of space to 5G, by developing and demonstrating integrated satellite- and terrestrial-based 5G services, across various markets and use cases. - ESA supports the technological and supply chain evolutions that are required to weave together terrestrial and space services, focusing on the transport sector (maritime, aviation and land), public safety, and media and broadcasting (image credit: ESA)

- A new era of digitalisation and connectivity, between everything and everyone, has the potential to change how people interact, live and work – as well as enabling the internet of things and autonomous transport, which will improve road safety and reduce harmful emissions. Ensuring that everyone benefits from such connectivity is key.

- To empower this digital transformation, ESA is backing a research project to build a software-based platform that will allow satellites to communicate with terrestrial mobile networks. It aims to extend 5G coverage for mobile phone network operators and companies that are building 5G towers into regions that are otherwise hard to connect.

- Trials across Africa and Europe are planned to take place from 2023.

- The project, called INSTANT5G, will define and develop a software-based platform that will allow the convergence of telecommunications satellites and 5G mobile networks. It will create, test and validate novel technologies to deliver a platform that facilitates the seamless service management of 5G satellite connections.

- ESA and the satellite communications company Avanti of London are leading the INSTANT5G project, with support from academics from the University of Surrey and experts from information technology consulting company CGI and mobile-satellite integration software company Lasting Software, as well as the UK Space Agency and the Romanian Space Agency.

- Kyle Whitehill, Chief Executive Officer at Avanti, said: “We are delighted to be able to take a leading role in shaping the services of 5G over satellite on this ground-breaking research programme, and proud to be working alongside renowned global partners and academic experts. At Avanti, we believe everyone has the power to ‘be more’. By helping to break down the barriers that prevent mobile network operators and tower companies from accessing 5G coverage, we will unlock opportunities that will enable these businesses to thrive. It is a really exciting time for the satcom industry.”

- Elodie Viau, Director of Telecommunications and Integrated Applications at ESA, said: “Satellites play a crucial role in enabling seamless and ubiquitous connectivity to reduce the digital divide, support the digital transformation and enable new carbon-neutral applications and services. We are proud to explore novel technologies for the design and development of integrated space and terrestrial networks.”

• November 24, 2021: Space-enabled 5G technologies – which will transform connectivity and reinforce the internet of things – have come a step closer, thanks to the formation of a new partnership. 4)

- ESA is working with Eureka, an international organisation for research and development funding and coordination, and its Celtic-Next cluster, which is developing next-generation communications for a digital society.

- The coming era of digitalisation and connectivity – between everything and everyone – is likely to change the way that people live and work, as well as causing huge disruption to existing companies and business models. Consultants predict that the 5G and its successor 6G economy will be worth up to €11.7 trillion by 2035 – about 5% of all global real output in that year.

- Telecommunications satellites will play a crucial role in enabling the seamless and ubiquitous connectivity on which high-data-rate 5G and 6G networks rely. They will allow entrepreneurs to develop new products and services, as well as enabling existing companies to offer products and services to customers who have specialised needs.

Figure 8: Signatories of the partnership between ESA, Eureka and Celtic-Next. From left: Eureka Chairman Miguel Bello Mora, Elodie Viau – Director of Telecommunications and Integrated Applications and Head of ECSAT at the European Space Agency (ESA), and CELTIC Office Director Xavier Priem (image credit: ESA)
Figure 8: Signatories of the partnership between ESA, Eureka and Celtic-Next. From left: Eureka Chairman Miguel Bello Mora, Elodie Viau – Director of Telecommunications and Integrated Applications and Head of ECSAT at the European Space Agency (ESA), and CELTIC Office Director Xavier Priem (image credit: ESA)

• November 23, 2021: Eureka Cluster CELTIC-NEXT (CELTIC-NEXT) and the European Space Agency (ESA) signed a Memorandum of Intent (MoI) today, which aims to bring their respective communities closer together. This will enable the faster convergence and development of terrestrial and non-terrestrial network and service technologies in the innovative field of Space ICT. 5)

- The MoI will help to foster economic growth and jobs through coordinated R&DI activities and the commercial exploitation of integrated space and terrestrial systems enabled by 5G and 6G. The collaboration aims to leverage the complementarity of ESA and CELTIC-NEXT and build on synergies to maximise the return on investment and to support achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

- The MoI will focus on technology pathfinders and solutions to develop and validate research & development projects initiated by ESA and CELTIC-NEXT. In addition, the MoI includes the organisation of joint events as well as the dissemination of relevant information to terrestrial, non-terrestrial, and combined operators and vertical market stakeholders.

- More specifically, the MoI will encourage terrestrial ICT and Space ICT industry collaboration with other industry verticals to facilitate the adoption of advanced Space ICT technologies in the business models and processes of all industry sectors. The focus of the cooperation is to consider the issues in a holistic way by considering the end-to-end perspective of new communications services enabled by 5G and 6G technologies, including an understanding of the economic, environmental, and societal benefits.

- ESA is a key actor in the development of all aspects and fields of space activity. Establishing a close collaboration between EUREKA, CELTIC-NEXT and ESA is, thus, a major step in mobilising the full innovative potential and synergies of terrestrial ICT and Space ICT technologies.

- The combination of ESA’s long-term experience and track record of success in satellite telecommunications programmes with the demonstrated capacity of Eureka and the CELTIC-NEXT Cluster in organizing and financing international consortia for business innovation is a strong success factor that has motivated the strategic collaboration agreement.

About EUREKA: Eureka is a global intergovernmental network of national funding agencies and ministries, with 35 years of existence and gathering more than 45 countries, including countries outside of Europe such as Canada, Singapore, South Africa and South Korea. The network supports global market-oriented research, development and innovation (R&D&I) projects of companies, universities and research organizations in all technology fields. Such collaboration across these like-minded countries enables Eureka to tackle global challenges, increase competitiveness and the innovation capacity of its businesses.

- Portugal is currently holding the Presidency and Chairmanship of Eureka from July 2021 until June 2022, following on from the Portuguese Chairmanship of the Council of European Union (January-June 2021), and in parallel to the co-Chairmanship by Portugal of the Council of the European Space Agency (ESA) at Ministerial level. Portugal will use the momentum of these roles to explore unique synergies for promoting new programmes and activities within the Eureka Network, and to strengthen ties with the European Union and ESA activities.

About CELTIC-NEXT: CELTIC-NEXT is the EUREKA Cluster for developing and fostering Next-Generation Communications for a secure, trusted, and sustainable digital society. Within the EUREKA Clusters Programme, CELTIC-NEXT constitutes the communications pillar, focussing on the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) domain, including 5G and 6G aspects, and the Space ICT dimension, to stimulate and orchestrate international collaborative projects in the ICT field, as demonstrated in both CELTIC-NEXT’s strategic roadmap and portfolio of projects.

- CELTIC-NEXT is an industry-driven initiative, involving all the major ICT industry players as well as many SMEs, service providers, and research institutions. The CELTIC-NEXT activities are open to all organisations that share the CELTIC-NEXT vision of an inclusive digital society and are willing to collaborate to their own benefit, aligned with their national priorities, to advance the development and uptake of advanced ICT solutions in EUREKA Countries and associated.

- The Eureka Cluster CELTIC-NEXT brings the major European telecommunications vendors and operators together into an ambitious European intergovernmental R&D programme that orchestrates projects to address the end-to-end “system of systems” approach and provide innovative ICT services and communications, while integrating and supporting the vertical sector applications.

About ESA and the Telecommunications and Integrated Applications Directorate: The European Space Agency is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. ESA is an international organisation with 22 Member States. By coordinating the financial and intellectual resources of its members, it can undertake programmes and activities far beyond the scope of any single European country.

- The Telecommunications and Integrated Applications Directorate (TIA) supports innovation to boost the competitiveness of European industry in the global space market. This involves a wide range of activities, from space-based technology, systems, product for telecommunications development to the down-to-Earth application of space-based services. It also calls for engagement with a wide range of industrial, academic and institutional partners.

About Strategic Line – Space for 5G and 6G: 5G and 6G are the next two generations of cellular connectivity and the next big leap forward for terrestrial and satellite telecommunications.

- They will allow us to be connected to everything, everywhere, at any time and nearly any speed. Satellites and space technologies are instrumental to build and operate such future 5G and 6G networks. They offer unique advantages in terms of security, resilience, coverage, and mobility; they remain the only way to make 5G and 6G available everywhere, accessible to enterprises and citizens all across Europe.

- ESA`s strategic programme line Space for 5G & 6G demonstrates the essential nature of satellites for 5G and 6G. It sets the standards and frameworks for systems and services interoperability, as well as the base for integrating terrestrial networks with satellites.

- We draw technology and product roadmaps; we support and foster the development of integrated satellite terrestrial systems and value-added services.



References

1) ”Mobile communications technology 5G,” Fraunhofer, 2020, URL: https://www.fraunhofer.de
/en/research/current-research/5G-mobil-communications-technology.html

2) ”5G to help smart factories and masses of drones find their way,” ESA Applications, 4 November 2020, URL: https://www.esa.int/Applications/Navigation/
5G_to_help_smart_factories_and_masses_of_drones_find_their_way

3) ”ESA spurs 5G digital connectivity,” ESA Applications, 6 December 2021, URL: https://www.esa.int/Applications/
Telecommunications_Integrated_Applications/ESA_spurs_5G_digital_connectivity

4) ”ESA accelerates 5G digital transformation,” ESA Applications, 24 November 2021, URL: https://www.esa.int/Applications/
Telecommunications_Integrated_Applications/ESA_accelerates_5G_digital_transformation

5) Milon Gupta, ”Strategic Collaboration between Eureka, CELTIC-NEXT and ESA ARTES,” Press Release of Eureka PT Char, Eureka Cluster-CELTIC and ESA ARTES, 23 November 2021, URL: https://www.celticnext.eu/strategic-collaboration-between-eureka-celtic-next-and-esa-artes/
 


The information compiled and edited in this article was provided by Herbert J. Kramer from his documentation of: ”Observation of the Earth and Its Environment: Survey of Missions and Sensors” (Springer Verlag) as well as many other sources after the publication of the 4th edition in 2002. - Comments and corrections to this article are always welcome for further updates (eoportal@symbios.space).

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