ZTE Opens New Horizons of 5G-Advanced

The global 5G network is advancing steadily. By the end of September 2023, 300 operators in 114 countries and regions had launched commercial 5G networks based on 3GPP standards. 290 operators in 113 countries and territories had either launched or soft-launched 5G mobile services. As of Q3 2023, the total number of 5G base stations deployed worldwide had exceeded 4.81 million, with an addition of 330,000 in the quarter and a cumulative increase of 1.17 million for the year. This represents a year-on-year growth of 56.17% and a quarter-on-quarter growth of 7.3%. At the same time, driven by new technologies and business scenarios, the boundaries of wireless communication are continually expanding. 5G development is accelerating towards the new stage of 5G-Advanced, serving as the intermediate stage in the evolution towards 6G. 5G-Advanced is not only the cornerstone of 5G application development in the next decade but also the key to shaping the future digital society.

ZTE expands and evolves the technological capabilities of 5G-Advanced based on six major scenarios: seamless 10 Gbps+, Massive IoT, deterministic capability, integrated sensing and communication, ubiquitous connectivity, and universal intelligence (Fig. 1). It aims to deliver value in three key areas of 5G-Advanced: B2C (consumer-oriented) for a smart digital life, connecting virtual and real worlds; B2B (business-oriented) to build a smart digital industry, penetrating the production domain; B2X (society-oriented) to solidify a smart digital society, expanding the new economy of connected vehicles and low-altitude satellites.  We will analyze the capabilities and value of 5G-Advanced based on these six scenarios, as well as introduce ZTE’s accumulated expertise and practice in each scenario.

Seamless 10 Gbps+: Ubiquitous Wide Bandwidth, Enhanced Experience, and Scenario Expansion

The network is the foundation of all applications. Emerging business forms such as autostereoscopy, cloud computer, XR metaverse, ultra-high-definition live streaming, and 5G machine vision are driving the 5G experience from Gbps+ to 10 Gbps+. ZTE is the first in the industry to achieve a mid-frequency evolution from 64 TR to 128 TR, doubling the 5G network capacity. With FR2 products based on the industry’s largest 1.6 GHz bandwidth, ZTE achieves a super capacity of 28 Gbps. Coupled with the industry’s first dynamic reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) base station collaboration, it enhances base station coverage by more than 30%, supporting a ubiquitous, wide-bandwidth experience.

The seamless 10 Gbps+ network infrastructure has given birth to diverse 5G-Advanced application scenarios. In Shanghai, the “5G vehicle-ground system” featuring small cells on vehicle and 10 Gbps+ wireless backhaul has achieved the world’s first launch with a backhaul capacity of up to 15 Gbps on the downlink and 2 Gbps on the uplink, providing passengers with stable 5G connection and high-speed experience anytime, anywhere. The industry’s first 5G-Advanced ship-ground backhaul system creates a 10 Gbps+ cruise ship, reaching a peak downlink speed of over 11 Gbps for a single terminal, and can simultaneously support hundreds of anchors for ultra-high-definition live streaming in Hangzhou. In the China Media Group’s production and broadcasting technology exhibition area at the Hangzhou International Expo Center, the 5G-Advanced integrated computing network CampSite solution, with its simplified architecture and flexible deployment, achieved a measured uplink speed of over 2 Gbps, over 10 Gbps downlink speed, and a network transmission delay of less than 4 ms. This supports fast deployment of ultra-high-definition shallow compression, and virtual and real-time video production and broadcasting. The 5G-Advanced 10 Gbps+ network can also support dozens of concurrent XR services, empowering new industries such as smart game viewing, cultural tourism, and gaming with immersive experiences, all without the need for backpacks.

Massive IoT: Seamless Connectivity Across High, Medium, and Low-Speed Scenarios

The Internet of things (IoT) demands seamless interconnection across various IoT technologies to meet industry-wide needs of digitization transformation. The industry has basically formed a coordinated development pattern for NB-IoT, 4G, and 5G networks. In the early stage, the high cost of 5G modules and terminals somewhat constrained the large-scale deployment of 5G applications. To address this challenge, 5G-Advanced introduces the lightweight 5G IoT reduced capability (RedCap), achieving cost and power reductions in terminals through capability trimming, thereby strengthening the IoT network foundation. ZTE has been committed to promoting the commercial deployment and accelerating the application of RedCap, collaborating with operators to undertake extensive deployments.

Deterministic Capability: Empowering 5G Penetration into Core Production Areas with Bounded Latency

The digitization transformation of vertical industries empowered by 5G has achieved significant results, entering a critical period of large-scale replication in the application management domain. The next step involves further development and penetration into the core production domain. Deterministic capability is the primary challenge, and ZTE addresses this by providing extreme determinism with a low latency of 4 ms at 99.999% reliability and µs-level ultra-low jitter. It also offers gigabit-per-second or higher uplink capacity. ZTE achieves the integration of communication and computing through the base station computing engine NodeEngine and communication-computing-in-one UniEngine, thereby creating a full-stack 5G industrial field network solution. This enables flexible deployment of cloud-based programmable logic controllers (PLC) and other production-line-level applications, supporting the deep integration of 5G into core industrial production processes. Currently, the deterministic capability of 5G has been verified in various scenarios, such as steelmaking, manufacturing, empowering the transformation and upgrading of intelligent production.

Integrated Sensing and Communication: Paving the Way for New business Opportunities

5G-Advanced breaks communication boundaries, enhancing sensing capabilities with a single station sensing range exceeding 1 km and sensing accuracy reaching sub-meter level. Based on the integrated capabilities of communication, sensing, and computing power, 5G-Advanced empowers new digital social economies, such as vehicle-road coordination and low-altitude services.

ZTE continues to lead in communication and sensing integration trials and exploration in various scenarios. It has achieved several industry firsts: the first to achieve communication and sensing integration of a single AAU, and the first integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) networking test, verifing the sensing capability from single-site to multi-site networking. In the V2X scenario, ZTE completed the industry's first 5G-based communication-sensing-computing-in-one V2X architecture trial in Zhuhai. This trial successfully enabled real-time warnings for blind spots through the entire Uu interface. Moreover, it created the industry’s first 5G ultra-stable network in Suzhou, supporting the construction of a 5G vehicle-road-cloud integrated autonomous driving technology experience route. In the low-altitude scenario, ZTE completed the industry's first trial of a "5G based communication-sensing-computing-control integration" low-altitude unmanned aerial vehicle route in Shenzhen. It also realized the application trial of low-altitude unmanned aerial vehicle management based on the communication and sensing integrated AAU in the Hangzhou Asian Games Village.

Ubiquitous Connectivity: Converging Satellite and Terrestrial Networks for True Connectivity Everywhere

Ubiquitous connectivity, a key goal of 5G-Advanced, is realized through non-terrestrial network (NTN), an innovative satellite communication technology. By leveraging satellite coverage, NTN integrates with mobile communication standards for connectivity across air, space, sea, and land. This allows smartphones and IoT devices to directly connect to satellites, supporting applications such as emergency communication and wide-area IoT, and ushering in the era of “consumer-grade” satellite communication.

ZTE, in collaboration with industry partners, has conducted successful technical trials and commercial applications. These include the first domestic field trial of 5G NTN mobile phones connecting directly to satellites, the first domestic laboratory trial of NR-NTN low-orbit satellite broadband services, and the first 5G NTN test in marine areas. Real-time service trials in marine and uninhabited island scenarios, covering aspects like water quality monitoring, temperature and humidity monitoring, and emergency rescue, have been completed. These achievements have laid a solid foundation for the commercialization of 5G NTN.

Universal Intelligence: Comprehensive Smart Solutions Enhancing Quality, Efficiency, and Innovation Integration

Universal intelligence has become a vital core capability in the new stage of 5G-Advanced. It supports autonomous network (improving O&M efficiency), promotes green development (intelligent energy savings), and facilitates business intelligence operations (stimulating B2C traffic and ensuring B2B determinism). ZTE realizes intrinsic intelligence in wireless networks within a single domain through an end-to-end intelligent architecture encompassing the physical network layer, intelligent service layer, and scenario application layer. This provides operators and partners with support for cross-domain closed-loop, collaboration, and orchestration. By combining intent-driven, foundation models, digital twins, and other advanced technologies, ZTE achieves intelligent management and empowerment throughout the entire lifecycle and all-scenario services of wireless networks.

ZTE continues to advance its commitment to intelligence by pioneering the DeepEdge solution. This innovative solution, utilizing intrinsic intelligence in base stations, enables precise identification and differentiated assurance for over 16,000 service types. This dual enhancement significantly improves user perception and cell traffic. ZTE has also successfully implemented the industry’s first high-speed rail precise planning innovation solution based on digital twins in Tianjin, supporting more accurate visual network planning through higher-precision twinning modeling, and facilitating engineering optimization in the planning stage. At the 2023 World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit, ZTE employed an AI foundation model assurance assistant for on-site assurance, achieving a 5-fold efficiency improvement compared to traditional methods.

As a key stage in the evolution from 5G to 6G, 5G-Advanced will build upon current 5G achievements. Focused on six major scenarios including seamless 10 Gbps+, massive IoT, deterministic capability, integrated sensing and communication, ubiquitous connectivity and universal intelligence, 5G-Advanced will continually enhance capabilities, explore new business opportunities, and expand its scope. These six scenarios will also seamlessly transition to the subsequent 6G network, laying a solid foundation and conducting innovative experiments for the evolution to 6G.