Promoting "Manufacturing Power" by Using 5G Technology

BEIJING,Nov. 17,2020 -- A report from Science and Technology Daily | IUSTC:

5G is one of the most dynamic areas in this decade,and China is a well-deserved leader in 5G technology and industry. According to the latest statistics from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology,as of the end of September,690,000 5G base stations have been built in China,and 5G network coverage has been completed in areas like Beijing,Shanghai,and Guangzhou. The cumulative number of terminal connections has exceeded 160 million.

In Zhang Ping's view,the speed of China's network construction and the network user increment is one step faster. The construction of the 5G network and the implementation of the 5G industry are moving forward step by step. However,China still needs a more ideal solution in the field of industrial interconnection.

Obviously,he paid more attention to find the solution of industrial interconnection. On November 26,the second World 5G Conference will be held in Guangzhou. In an exclusive interview with Science and Technology Daily,Zhang Ping said: "When everyone discusses 5G technology,on the one hand,they should discuss not only achievements and experience,but also questions about how to deploy stations,how to deal with interference between existing stations,and how to increase the speed of users. On the other hand,it is more critical to discuss how to better integrate ICT technology and manufacturing so that 'cyberpower' can promote' manufacturing power'.

Industrial Internet cannot copy the Internet Development Model

On June 30th,the 14th meeting of the Central Committee for Deepening Overall Reform deliberated and approved the "Guidelines on Deepening the Integrated Development of New Generation Information Technology and Manufacturing". The meeting emphasized that the integration of new generation information technology and manufacturing should be accelerated.

It is necessary to comply with the new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation trends and speed up the innovative development of the Industrial Internet.

We also need to accelerate the fundamental transformation in production mode and enterprise form in the manufacturing industry,as well as improving the level of digital,networked,and intelligent development of the manufacturing industry.

"5G is an enabling technology. 20% of the market is on the consumer side and 80% on the industrial side. That is the blue ocean of 5G applications." Zhang Ping said. And for industry users,their demand for 5G networks is nothing more than two points-cheap and user-friendly. However,to lay out the Industrial Internet by adopting the idea of consumer Internet has natural drawbacks-high cost and complicated technology.

More importantly,each industry and even each company has its own needs and characteristics,resulting in the great difference in requirements for communication. "The traditional model is to meet all needs through a single network. This can be achieved in the consumer Internet. However,in terms of industry applications,it is impossible to solve all industry problems with a single communication network,and it is not necessary." Zhang Ping emphasized.

Therefore,in his opinion,the Industrial Internet should abandon complex methodology and start with distributed networks to solve the specific and single scenario needs of industry enterprises. "In order to accelerate the integration of 5G technology and entity economy,we need to continuously dig deeper into the demand of industry scenario for information technology,combine enabling technologies like edge computing and artificial intelligence and develop wireless private networks and convergent networking through new ideas such as frequency coordination,." Zhang Ping said. And this also requires an impressive platform to play a penetrating and leading role and empower thousands of industries.

New communication iterations are driven by scenarios,not rates

Zhang Ping said that mobile communications have been rapidly iterating for the past 30 years,and the need to increase the communication speed is the main driving force behind it. This logic has also accompanied the development of each generation of mobile communications. However,5G has a revolutionary difference. 5G not only represents a pure rate increase,but also establishes three scenarios,i.e. enhanced mobile broadband,massive machine communication and ultra-high reliability and low latency,thus opening up a new era of communications as everything is to be connected.

"The driving force for the evolution of mobile communications will be transformed from the single rate requirement of the 1G/2G/3G/4G era through the three scenarios of 5G,and finally transformed into the basic evolution paradigm driven by scenario." Zhang Ping believes that in the process of the evolution to 6G,the traditional technical route of following the stacking processing mode and adopting complexity in exchange for performance gains is not sustainable,and new theoretical innovations are urgently needed. "6G should not only increase the speed and expand the space,but also improve the wisdom and research on a new system for the interrelationship among intelligence,communication and the future of mankind." Zhang Ping said that in the 6G system,people and network nodes can interact more deeply through semantics,be integrated and evolve together. Last year,they have launched the first 6G international cooperation project in China.

"Communication is always a rigid need of human society. Through the flow of information,the problem of uncertainty would be solved as well as human intelligence enhanced." Zhang Ping said that the future of 5G+ is an ideal vision. How to implement it requires further exploration and planning by the government,academia,and industry.