At the 8th Global Mobile Broadband (MBB) Forum held 15 November 2017 in London, Huawei's "Position Paper on 5G Spectrum" presents its 5G insights and recommendations while calling for spectrum harmony.
With the 5G standard still yet to be finalised, it's no wonder that one of the world's major 5G players, Huawei, has released a detail, 18-page Position Paper on 5G spectrum policy while also calling upon the industry's organisations and regulators to "facilitate spectrum harmonisation and ensure timely availability for early deployment and large-scale commercial use of 5G."
As Huawei reminds us, "5G is the next generation of MBB technology, capable of ultra-fast speeds, low latency, and excellent reliability."
On top of this is "the 5G New Radio (5G-NR) interface" which can provide "superior MBB services for end users anytime and anywhere, while releasing the Internet of Things (IoT)."
{loadposition alex08}As you'd expect, Huawei says this will "enable a diverse range of innovative use cases, such as smart manufacturing, connected cars, smart logistics, and wireless home broadband," with 5G "poised to create a super connected world."
While this makes some shudder at the thought of privacy being destroyed forever, with everything then part of the 5G Internet of Trackable Things, this isn't the main problem at the moment.
You see, we're told that "5G assumes the responsibility of promoting digital transformation throughout society and requires a wide range of spectrum resources."
To solve the issue of these resource issues, "Huawei proposed a multi-layer spectrum approach in consideration of divergent requirements of 5G services and different characteristics of related frequency bands."
Huawei identified the 'Coverage and Capacity Layer' as relying upon the "2 to 6 GHz range (e.g. the C-band, 3.3-4.2 and 4.4-5.0 GHz) to deliver the best compromise between capacity and coverage," with Huawei stating this layer "will emerge as the world's first band for the much anticipated commercial deployment of 5G."
Then there's the 'Coverage Layer', which "exploits the spectrum below 2 GHz (e.g. 700 MHz) providing wide-area and deep indoor coverage."
Yet another layer is the 'Super Data Layer' which "relies on the spectrum above 6 GHz (e.g. 24.25-29.5 and 37-43.5 GHz) to address specific use cases requiring extremely large capacity and high data rates."
So, what this means is that "the availability of spectrum resources in the 5G era needs administrations' planning and allocation of contiguous spectrum.
"The C-band is the key primary frequency band for the introduction of 5G by 2020. Each operator will need at least 100 MHz contiguous channel bandwidth to support Massive MIMO to boost peak, average, and cell-edge throughput with affordable complexity.
"The 5G-NR system on the 3.3-3.8 GHz band is expected to be commercially ready by 2018. As the first step of 5G deployment, it is highly recommended that 3.3-3.8 GHz or a portion of it be allocated as soon as practicable."
Huawei also states "high frequencies (above 6 GHz) will also play an important role for 5G," with the company suggesting that "at least 800 MHz of contiguous spectrum can be allocated to each operator at the initial stages to meet 5G requirements for ultra-high capacity of wireless home broadband (WTTx) and for high mobility especially in hotspot areas."
In addition, "5G-NR will embrace many new features and technical innovations including LTE/NR uplink spectrum sharing, Massive MIMO, network synchronisation (inter-operator), duplex flexibility, and others. These innovative features and technologies provide an opportunity for regulators to adjust regulations for more efficient and flexible spectrum utilisation."
Huawei also says that "LTE/NR uplink spectrum sharing lifts the restriction on a single band for both uplink and downlink. For example, the 5G-NR uplink at 3.5 GHz can exploit spectrum resources at 1.8 GHz that have been used for LTE. This scheme allows improved network coverage and spectral efficiency. Regulatory frameworks need to embrace the principle of technology and service neutrality for the most efficient spectrum allocation and sharing.
"Regulatory masks should be revised to support the proliferation of Massive MIMO antenna systems. The incentives for network synchronisation in 5G networks are necessary for efficient deployment of 5G-NR networks in unpaired assignments. Meanwhile, provisions to support duplex flexibility should also be considered as the next step to allow for a more flexible use of the spectrum resources."
Huawei concludes by noting that "More than improving performance from previous generations of mobile technologies, one of the core targets of 5G is to provide wireless connectivity to vertical industries.
"The success of 5G will therefore depend on positive collaboration between the telecom industry and a broad range of potential industrial users of 5G networks, reaching beyond the telecom sector. A globally harmonised spectrum enables economies of scale, facilitating cross-border coordination and roaming for end users. Consistent spectrum timelines and harmonisation measures are key enablers for the successof 5G."
Whether the Ericssons, Nokias and other major 5G players of the world will agree is yet to be seen, but as the march towards our 5G future marches on regardless, we certainly hope that it does so as harmoniously as possible.
More details on Huawei's detailed, Position Paper on 5G Spectrum can be found here.
