5G進展概述及6G前景展望

2021-12-28 442

回顧行動通訊標準的整個發展歷程，國際電信聯盟（ITU）將3G標準命名為IMT-2000，4G標準命名為IMT Advanced，5G標準命名為IMT-2020，基本上是持續了十年的標準。正如2013年10月，工信部、國家發展和改革委員會、科技部聯合推動成立了IMT-2020（5G）推進小組一樣，2019年，工信部再次推動成立了基於6G的IMT-2020（5G）推進小組。今年6月，IMT-2030（6G）推進小組正式發布了《6G總體願景及潛在關鍵技術》白皮書，詳細闡述了6G的總體願景、八大業務應用場景以及十項潛在關鍵技術的展望。自此，從標準層面來看，可以說5G已經完成了提供基本完整標準版本的第一階段，業界的關注點也轉向了5G的演進和10G新技術的研究。在R17即將進入第二階段凍結之前，我們將概述5G的發展歷程並作簡要總結。

01網路商業進展

根據GSA的數據，截至今年5月，共有166家營運商在69個國家和地區發布了符合3GPP標準的5G商用網路（包括行動網路和固定無線存取），另有77家營運商正在進行5G SA商用網路的試點、規劃和部署。同時，133個國家的436家業者正以測試、試驗、試點、規劃和實際部署等形式投資5G網路。從頻段來看，主要集中在n77（3.3GHz、4.2GHz）和n78（3.3GHz~3.8GHz）頻段。

China's 5G construction speed leads the world. According to data from the Academy of Information and Communications Technology, as of the end of May this year, China has built 819,000 5G base stations. Although it is still small compared with the total number of 4G base stations of 5.44 million, it has accounted for more than 70% of the total number of base stations built in the world. At the same time, a total of 337 5G mobile phone models have been launched in the domestic market, with cumulative shipments approaching 300 million. Including overseas models, 5G mobile phone access terminals have reached 310 million.

025G terminal progress

The number of 5G terminal releases is growing rapidly. According to GSA data, as of the end of May 2021, a total of 128 equipment manufacturers have announced commercial or upcoming commercial 5G terminal equipment. The number of 5G terminal equipment released globally has reached 822, an increase of 8.7% compared to April, of which 62% have been commercialized, reaching 511 models, a significant increase of 26.5% compared to the previous quarter. The figure below counts the number of released and commercial terminals from March 2019 to May 2021.

終端產品種類也非常豐富，包括416款行動電話（至少350款已商用）、144款FWA CPE（56款已商用）、106款模組、45款工業/企業級路由器/閘道等。各產品佔如下圖所示：

035G晶片組進展

As the foundation of 5G terminal equipment, the chipset restricts the development of the industry chain to a great extent. There are five manufacturers in the world, including Qualcomm, MediaTek, Huawei HiSilicon, Samsung and Unisoc, that design and produce 5G chipsets. According to GSA statistics, as of May 2021, 5 chipset manufacturers have released a total of 35 commercial mobile platforms and 14 commercial 5G modem modules. At the same time, 4 mobile platforms and 5 5G modem modules are about to be commercialized. While chip manufacturers strive to expand their product range, terminal manufacturers have more and more chipset choices.

下圖統計了 2018 年第四季至今年 5 月 5G 晶片組（行動平台和數據機組）的發布數量，我們可以清楚地看到加速成長的趨勢。

045G應用進展

5G網路的大規模建設和商用加速了產業鏈（終端、晶片）的發展。然而，在應用程式方面，雖然用戶數量快速成長，以中國為例，5G用戶滲透率已超過應用「爆發點」的20%，但尚未出現能夠引發網路流量大幅成長的「殺手級」應用程式。 5G流量佔比遠低於用戶滲透率，業者也主要關注垂直產業領域。

產業專用網路是5G的重要應用領域。根據美國知名市場研究機構Grand View Research的報告顯示，2020年至2027年，全球5G專用網路市場規模預計將以37.8%的複合年增長率成長，到2027年達到7.1億美元。隨著國家和地方政策鼓勵5G與產業融合，產業專用網路自然成為營運商的重要拓展方向。 2020年，國內三大業者均已發表5G專用網路產品，並與業界攜手推動專用網路建置。根據工信部統計，目前全國正在興建的「5G+產業互聯網」項目超過1,500個，涵蓋國民經濟20多個重要產業。

At the industry application level, with the release of the "5G + Industrial Internet" 512 Project Promotion Plan in November 2019 and the subsequent policies and industrial levels, a large number of 5G industry applications have emerged. On May 31 this year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released the "Ten Typical Application Scenarios of "5G + Industrial Internet" and the Practice of Five Key Industries", which provides guidance on electronic equipment manufacturing, Cases from five industries including equipment manufacturing, steel industry, mining industry and electric power industry, as well as 10 scenarios including collaborative R&D and design, remote equipment control, equipment collaborative operation, flexible manufacturing, on-site auxiliary assembly, machine vision quality inspection, equipment fault diagnosis, factory intelligent logistics, unmanned intelligent inspection, and production site inspection, were released to guide the development of industry applications.

05Overview of the main projects of the 3GPP R17 standard

Overview of the main projects of the 3GPP R17 standard

Our analysis article on R16 last year"Understand 3GPP R16 with one picture"R17的主要項目概述如下：

NR 多播廣播服務 (NR_MBS)

Multicast and broadcast services already exist in 4G, namely eMBMS defined by 3GPP in the R9 version, which can support commercial use cases including mobile TV live broadcast, video on demand, advertising push, in-vehicle entertainment, public safety, and venue sports live broadcast. In the R14 version, the eMBMS function is further enhanced and enTV is launched, which systematically defines how to broadcast digital TV content through mobile communication networks.

NR_MBS provides multicast broadcast services in 5G and is regarded as a differentiated application by China Mobile's fourth operator, China Radio and Television. In fact, this project was proposed by China Radio and Television. This service can intelligently and dynamically switch between conventional unicast services and broadcast/multicast services according to real-time network requirements. While ensuring network utilization efficiency, it integrates unicast, multicast, and broadcast methods to form a "new broadcast" and expand the support capabilities of personal services and industry services.

IIoT和URLLC增強（IIoT_URLLC_enh）

主要目標是滿足更廣泛使用場景的需求。

衛星/非地面網路 (NTN)

In order to solve communication problems in remote mountainous areas, sea and other scenarios, non-terrestrial networks such as satellite networks are integrated with 5G to achieve three-dimensional network coverage. R16 has already studied the integration of 5G NR and non-terrestrial networks, and R17 has further studied the integration of NB-IoT and non-terrestrial networks.

NR Sidelink增強（D2D）

它主要包括V2X、業務通訊和關鍵通訊等。例如，Sidelink介面（也稱為PC5）用於V2X中UE之間傳輸V2X訊息。它還包括在一些關鍵用例中實現通用功能，並在滿足特定需求的同時，最大限度地提高Sidelink業務應用、V2X和關鍵通訊應用場景之間的通用性。

IAB增強（NR_IAB_enh）

IAB 是 5G NR 的整合無線存取和回傳技術。透過擴展 NR 以支援無線回傳（而非光纖回傳），包括帶內（接入鏈路和回傳鏈路使用同一頻段）和帶外（接入鏈路和回傳鏈路使用不同頻段），IAB 可以顯著降低網路部署的難度和成本，尤其適用於毫米波頻段網路。 R17 版本的 IAB 增強功能著重於提高效率並支援更廣泛的應用場景，包括雙工增強、增強的網路編碼能力、行動 IAB 等。

MIMO進一步增強（NR_feMIMO）

Further enhance MIMO capabilities, support more use cases, support high-speed mobility, better support FDD, improve beamforming and beam management, and reduce related overhead.

動態頻譜共享增強 (NR_DSS)

在 R16 的基礎上，R17 進一步探索了更好的跨運營商調度方法。

對 71GHz 的擴展支持

The 5G NR spectrum range is divided into FR1 (410MHz ~ 7.125GHz) and FR2 (24.25GHz ~ 52.6GHz). R17 expands the 5G NR frequency band range from 52.6GHz to 71GHz.

5G 位置服務增強第二階段 (5G_LCS_ph2)

R16版本增強了LCS功能。具體而言，它利用MIMO的多波束特性定義了室內定位技術，例如訊號往返時間（RTT）、訊號到達時間差（TDOA）、到達角測量（AoA）和離開角測量（AoD）。定位精度可達3-10公尺。 R17版本旨在提供對極低延遲和極高精度定位的支持，包括水平和垂直定位服務等級以及5G定位服務區域。此工作項目也將使MCX UE能夠利用5G定位服務來確定自身位置。

終端節能增強（NR_UE_pow_sav_enh）

探索進一步降低 5G 設備功耗的技術。

支援多種 USIM 卡FS_MUSIM）

增強功能以支援使用多USIM卡的行動終端服務。

Other R17 standard research projects include: SON/MDT data collection enhancement (NR_ENDT_SON_MDT_enh), enhanced relay to improve energy efficiency and coverage (REFEC),Network Controlled Interactive Services (NCIS), Multi-Device and Multi-Identity Enhancement (MuDE), Multimedia Priority Service Phase 2 (MBS2), Connected Drone Enhancement (CAV), Multi-Access Dual Connection Further Enhancement (LTE_NR-DC_enh2), etc., we will conduct detailed analysis in separate articles.

06Overview of the main projects of the 3GPP R18 standard

R18, as the first version of 5G Advanced, is in the first phase of proposal stage. It is planned to end at SA#94 at the end of 2021. Please refer to the article "What is 5G R18 Talking About" by "Network Optimizer Mercenary" to collect and organize:

Network slicing access and support enhancements

網路切片是 5G 的關鍵功能。 R18 將繼續增強網路切片存取和支援相關功能，包括：支援 UE 在存在不同類型限制（例如無線資源、頻段等）的情況下接取網路切片，並最大限度地減少網路切片或分配資源變更時對服務中斷的影響；支援開放給第三方網路切片控制/配置和其他服務。

5G靈活授時系統

Vertical industries such as power, transportation, and finance have increasingly higher requirements for clock synchronization. R16 provides a means of timing service through 5G. The 5G Timing Resiliency System mainly targets the vulnerability of GNSS satellite timing services and studies other clock synchronization technologies consistent with the 5G system as a flexible clock source for end users to supplement, back up, or replace GNSS satellite timing services.

Ranging-based services

測距是一種實現定位的演算法，應用範圍廣泛。 R18 將研究測距服務需求的相關規範，涵蓋使用者設備間的測距操作、營運商在授權頻譜下對測距功能的控制、測距關鍵績效指標（距離精度和方位精度等）以及安全方面。

Low power consumption and high precision positioning in industrial IoT scenarios

High-precision positioning is a key application of the Industrial Internet. The project reduces positioning power consumption and improves positioning accuracy to meet the needs of more industrial Internet scenarios, such as chemical plants, underground mines and other dangerous scenarios.

Off-network railway communications

指的是用戶設備（UE）之間獨立於網路通訊的直接通信，稱為離網通訊技術。該技術已在3GPP MCX標準中引入。當網路故障或偏遠山區無網路覆蓋時，鐵路通訊可以使用離網通訊。 3GPP MCX規範規定，即使網路可用，鐵路通訊也可以使用離網通訊。 R18將研究基於離網通訊的未來鐵路行動通訊系統的新用例，以及服務品質（QoS）、優先順序、UE ID和位置識別、群播/廣播/單播、通訊範圍、潛在頻譜和其他相關技術。

支援觸覺和多模態通訊服務

Tactile and multi-modal communication refers to responding to input through multiple communication channels that affect user experience such as video, audio, environmental perception, tactile sensation, etc., combined with network capabilities such as ultra-low latency, ultra-high reliability and security, to achieve a truly immersive user experience. In order to support tactile and multi-modal communication services, 5G systems need to meet different network speed, latency and reliability requirements for different data streams, and also need to achieve synchronization of parallel multiple data streams. R18 will study new use cases involving tactile and multi-modal communication technologies, as well as technical indicators such as network reliability, availability, security, privacy, data rate, latency, transmission interval and other related to these use cases.

其他項目包括5G智慧電網通訊基礎設施、車載5G中繼、住宅5G增強功能、個人物聯網等。未來，我們將繼續追蹤和分析這些提案及其研究內容，並進行較深入的探討。

07 6G願景、應用及潛在關鍵技術

作為6G研究的推進機構，IMT-2030（6G）推進小組在成立一年半後發布了《6G總體願景及潛在關鍵技術》白皮書。而IMT-2020（5G）推進小組發布《5G願景及需求白皮書》至今也已過去七年。該白皮書的主要內容包括：

overall vision

From mobile Internet (4G) to Internet of Everything (5G), the 6G era will realize the overall vision of intelligent connectivity and digital twins of everything. By extension, towards 2030 and beyond:

社會層面：

人類社會將進入智慧化時代，均衡、高端的社會服務、科學、精準的社會治理、綠色、節能的社會發展將成為未來社會的發展趨勢。

技術層面：

6G將建構人、機器、物智能互聯、智慧實體高效互通的新型網路。在大幅提升網路能力的基礎上，它將具備內生智能、多維感知、數位孿生、內生安全等新功能，並充分利用低、中、高頻譜資源，實現空、空、地無縫全球覆蓋，隨時隨地滿足「人、機器、物」安全可靠的無限連接需求。

業務層面：

6G will provide fully immersive interactive scenarios, multi-dimensional perception and inclusive intelligence integration and symbiosis, and deep integration of virtuality and reality.

6G發展的宏觀驅動力

社會結構改變的驅動力：

收入結構不平衡需要利用數位技術來提高包容性；

人口失衡呼喚數位科技提高人力資本和配置效率；

社會治理結構的改變迫使社會治理能力現代化。

高品質經濟發展的驅動力：

永續的經濟發展需要新技術注入新的動力；

服務全球化趨勢要求進一步降低全方位資訊溝通的成本。

Environmentally sustainable development drivers:

減少碳排放和促進「碳中和」需要提高能源效率和實現綠色發展；極端天氣和流行病等重大事件推動建立更廣泛的感知能力和更緊密的智慧協作能力。

6G潛在應用場景

沉浸式商業

1）Immersive cloud XR services require end-to-end delay <10ms and user experience rate of Gbps level;

2) 全像通訊服務需要 Tbps 的使用者體驗速率；

3) Sensory interconnection services require millisecond-level latency, high-precision positioning and high security (privacy protection);

4) Smart interactive services require latency <1ms, experience rate >10Gbps, and reliability reaching 99.99999%.

智慧商業

5) Communication sensing business requirements: 6G networks can use communication signals to realize sensing functions such as target detection, positioning, identification, and imaging. Wireless communication systems will be able to use sensing functions to obtain surrounding environment information, intelligently and accurately allocate communication resources, tap potential communication capabilities, and enhance user experience;

6）普惠智慧業務將個人和家用設備、各種城市感測器、無人駕駛車輛、智慧機器人和其他新型智慧終端轉化為智慧實體。透過持續學習、通訊、合作和競爭，它可以實現對物理世界運作和發展的超高效模擬和預測，並做出最優決策；

7) The digital twin business digitally mirrors entities or processes in the physical world in the digital world. Intelligent interactions between people, people and things, and things and things can be realized through mapping in the digital world. By simulating, verifying, predicting, and controlling physical entities or processes in the digital world, the optimal state of the physical world can be obtained. Digital twins require networks with trillion-level connection capabilities, sub-millisecond latency, Tbps-level transmission speeds, and security requirements.

全球業務

8) Full-area coverage integrates terrestrial cellular networks with space networks including high-orbit satellite networks, mid- and low-orbit satellite networks, high-altitude platforms, and drones to build a global wide-area coverage space-space-ground integrated three-dimensional network to provide users with broadband mobile communication services without blind spots.

潛在關鍵技術

增強型無線空中介面技術：

無線空中介面實體層基礎技術、超大規模MIMO技術與全雙工技術。

新型物理維度無線傳輸技術：

智慧超表面技術、軌道角動量、智慧型全像無線電技術。

太赫茲和可見光通訊技術：

太赫茲通訊技術、可見光技術。

跨領域整合關鍵技術：

溝通感知整合。

一種具有內生智能的新型網絡：

具有內生智能的新型空中介面和具有內生智能的新型網路架構。

Key network technologies:

Distributed autonomous network architecture, satellite-ground integrated network, deterministic network, computing power-aware network, and network endogenous security that supports multi-mode trust.

6G的研究才剛開始。在此之前，5G將得到更廣泛的部署和應用，5G的成功商業化應用將為6G的演進奠定堅實的基礎。

參考