5G-A mmWave: Powering Grid Digitalization

The commercialization of 5G has injected strong momentum into digitalization across various industries, including the power industry, which has been exploring the concept of a "5G Smart Grid". As applications deepen, demands evolve. Millimeter wave (mmWave), a new spectrum introduced in 5G-Advanced (5G-A), offers unique advantages such as superior speed, ultra-low latency, and integrated sensing and communication (ISAC), providing more comprehensive support for the digital transformation of the power grid.

mmWave for Grid Digitalization

Since 2020, the power industry has been using 5G to empower smart grids. With characteristics such as low latency, high reliability, and slicing, 5G provides a ubiquitous communication network for power grids, benefiting remote control, data collection, and mobile inspections. As 5G applications deepen, grid demands  evolve. For instance, with the expansion of visual O&M and the coexistence of diverse O&M methods, there is a growing demand for uplink (UL) throughput, requiring greater communication bandwidth. Furthermore, ensuring power grid security against threats like illegal drone intrusions has become a major concern.

mmWave, a new spectrum in 5G-A, offers key advantages. First, the mmWave band is isolated from the current public 5G network, facilitating private networks that meet the power grid's high security isolation requirements. Second, mmWave offers large bandwidth, supporting the power grid's increasing data transmission demands. Third, the wide carriers of mmWave enable shorter transmission time intervals and lower latency, fully meeting the requirements of ultra-low latency applications. Finally, mmWave enables high-precision sensing to allow power grids to more accurately identify and respond to external intrusions.

The use of mmWave in the power grid accelerates digital transformation, expanding the breadth and depth of power digitalization. mmWave demonstrates its advantages in the following power grid applications:

High Capacity Services

As intelligent O&M advances, power generation, transmission, and transformation require video surveillance and robot/drone inspection services, characterized by high capacity and high UL throughput. For example, substations may have hundreds of cameras, several mobile inspection terminals like robots, and multiple sensors transmitting monitoring data. For video transmission, the single uplink capacity demand ranges from 6 to 25 Mbps (for 1080p to 4K), and when multiple services transmit concurrently, the substation's uplink data volume can exceed 1 Gbps, which mmWaves can accommodate.

Low-Latency and High-Reliability Services

To enhance grid intelligence, there are numerous real-time data collection and control services, such as differential protection, requiring low latency and high reliability. For differential protection, real-time comparison of current values at both ends or multiple ends requires end-to-end latency under 20 ms and reliability of 99.999%. mmWave fulfills these ultra-low latency and ultra-high reliability requirements.

Security Services

With increasingly severe security challenges, power grids need more intelligent and precise sensing capabilities for real-time monitoring and early threat warning. Common risks include unauthorized individuals, vehicles, and illegal drone intrusions into substation areas or other grid regions. mmWave supports ISAC, enabling a 24/7 precise sensing network to protect the power grid.

ZTE's mmWave Solutions for Power Grid Application  

For the power industry, ZTE provides a series of mmWave base station products, including high-performance outdoor macro stations and the industry's first distributed micro station, MiCell. ZTE also offers innovative scenario-based solutions to drive the digital transformation of power grids.

Flexible Frame Structure for Diversified Capacity Demands

Power grid services, such as video surveillance and drone inspection, are mostly uplink-oriented. ZTE supports the adjustment of frame structures to achieve high uplink data rates. Tests show that a peak uplink rate of 2 Gbps can be achieved with the “DSUUU” frame structure at 400 MHz bandwidth, fully meeting the power grid’s demands. Furthermore, ZTE exclusively supports AI-powered dynamic frame structures that can quickly predict and adjust the frame structure based on real-time uplink and downlink loads, perfectly matching real-time service demands.

NodeEngine (NE) for Local Processing and Deterministic Guarantee

NE, the industry's first base station-level edge computing solution, enables plug-and-play in BBUs to support local service offloading and deterministic assurance. In substation scenarios, where local inspection video platforms are often required, NE enables lightweight deployment without the need for core network UPF offloading. Furthermore, for low-latency services such as differential protection, in addition to the reduced radio-interface brought about by mmWave itself, NE enables direct local communication between terminals across base stations, significantly reducing transmission latency. NE also supports precise service identification and intelligent scheduling, ensuring deterministic assurance for low-latency, high-reliability services.

ISAC Solution for a 24/7 Seamless Air-Ground Security Network  

In the power grid, sensing rogue drones and monitoring the intrusion of ground vehicles and personnel is essential. ZTE's industry-first self-transmitting and self-receiving large-angle AAU can sense up to 600 m, creating an integrated air-ground "all-inclusive" network. Moreover, ZTE is the first in the industry to propose dual-waveform intelligent sensing technology, addressing both long-distance sensing and near-point blind spot elimination. Building on the basic sensing function, ZTE introduces an AI computing board into the BBU, equipping the base station with native AI capabilities to perform advanced functions such as identifying networked drone identities, thereby improving low-altitude airspace control. The sensing server can also be deployed lightly on the NE.

As a key element of 5G-A, mmWave technology holds enormous potential in the digital transformation of power grids. ZTE is committed to collaborating with industry partners to drive scenario exploration, technological R&D, and demonstration applications of mmWave in the power industry.