Just when 4G connections are becoming commonplace, 5G is just around the corner. According to telecom provider KPN, 5G makes it possible to interconnect almost the entire society. A number of testing grounds where mobile technology has been used, including industrial environments, are already showing positive results.
By: Dimitri Reijerman
During the Telecom Infra event, on September 29 in Breepark in Breda, Titia Houwing will give a lecture about the 5G promise. But Jacob Groote, responsible for the B2B market at KPN, also sheds light on the latest developments in mobile communications for FHI Industriële Elektronica.
In Groote's view, it will not be long before 5G becomes widely available in the Netherlands from the three major providers. He says: “We are still confronted with an important precondition: we first need 5G frequencies. This frequency auction has not yet taken place in the Netherlands, but it has already taken place in Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The date for the multiband auction for the 700MHz band has not yet been completely determined, but is likely in Q1 or Q2 2020. The 700MHz frequencies have twice the range than the 4G frequencies at 800MHz. We don't know yet what the outcome will be for us. But in about a year's time it is very likely that it will already be built into all networks.”
Groote continues: “In the meantime, we are working on making our network 5G-ready, just like Vodafone and T-Mobile are doing. Consider replacing or upgrading antennas and the installations behind them. Our entire network is already based on fiber optic, perhaps a single mast far away from civilization still uses a radio connection.”
An important improvement of 5G is the significantly higher speeds that become possible for data communication, says Groote. This is also necessary, because demand is increasing rapidly: “Data growth is significant, between 50 and 65 percent per year. With 5G you will have more extra capacity available in your network, partly thanks to antenna techniques such as beamforming and mimo. This should make it possible to meet the demand.
Three big pluses
But there are more advantages to the new mobile network technology: “5G consists of three important components,” says Groote. “We call the first enhanced mobile broadband. That means a lot of extra capacity and speed. The second component is massive machine type communication. With 5G you can operate a factor of a hundred more devices than what we can currently do. Then you are talking about 1 million devices per square kilometer. But if you fill every waste bin, traffic light and room with sensors in a densely populated city, then you are talking about a lot of sensors.”
A third feature of 5G, ultra reliable low latency communication, could be a solution for companies and industry in particular, Groote thinks: “This means that we can provide customers with a kind of mobile VPN that provides them with a quality guarantee for guaranteed throughput. Then we use the slicing technique where we make a layer of the mobile cake available to the customer. The customer is guaranteed that he can always use that part. The low latency component ensures that the 5G network responds so quickly. In autonomous transport, for example, we expect the latency can be reduced from 20ms to 1ms.”
To test 5G in practice, KPN has set up a number of field labs in recent years. The technology is being tested in various applications together with companies. Groote: “KPN, together with Wageningen University, looked at the agro-industry in the north of the Netherlands. What can farmers do with 5G? It turns out: they need to spray 30 percent less on their potato or beet plants, while the yield increases and the footprint of the chemicals reduces. We do this by taking multiple spectral photos of a potato field, uploading them via 5G and analyzing them very quickly. Data is then sent back to a spraying machine. Like an inkjet printer, it only sprays where it is needed.”
A second project is underway at the Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam. There, KPN is looking at, among other things, 5G applications for the urban environment, for example for crowd control. “To ensure that the environment remains safe when matches for the European Football Championship are held next year,” says Groote.
5G in industry
Together with Shell, 5G was tested in a more industrial environment at the refinery in Pernis. “We looked at the connected worker. How can we equip people in such a way that they can use augmented and virtual reality to see which valve they need in this large complex? This way you can also deploy less experienced maintenance personnel safely. We also checked the 160,000 kilometers of pipelines for erosion with an 8K camera. For this you need a high color depth and a high upload speed. And with IoT we have placed sensors on pumps to monitor noise and temperature. This can indicate which pump will soon fail, making preventive maintenance possible. This way, Shell does not have to shut down the factory.”
KPN runs even more field labs – such as 5G trials for truck platooning and influencing traffic lights for ambulances – but in summary, Groote states that in his view 5G will provide much more connectivity than today: “With 5G you go much further than connecting people with each other. It is about connecting knowledge and information stored in applications, you are going to connect IoT devices with each other. All these elements can be connected with 5G. Fewer and fewer wires are needed.”
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