Supreme Network Promotes Win-Win Development in 5G Era

2018 was a year of rapid growth for 5G, as 5G standards were frozen, network products were ready to be launched, commercial terminals were released, and industrial and ecosystem cooperation was deepened. Statistics from GSMA in December 2018 showed that 201 operators in 83 countries around the world were testing or commissioning 5G networks. Among them, 86 operators in at least 46 countries have clearly defined that their 5G network deployment time and plans are mostly concentrated in 2019 and 2020. 2019 will be the first year of 5G scale deployment.

To meet the challenges of 5G deployment, ZTE helps operators provide supreme simplified 5G deployment, supreme intelligent 5G operations, and supreme user experience. ZTE's 5G solutions focus on 5G precise seamless coverage, multi-band multi-mode network collaborative development, operation efficiency enhancement, and vertical industry expansion. The 5G solutions cover technical issues ranging from chips, core technologies, end-to-end series products, to network convergence and long-term evolution, ubiquitous artificial intelligence (AI) applications, and 5G application exploration, fully empowering operators to enter the 5G era.

Supreme Simplified 5G Deployment

When deploying 5G networks, most operators will face the co-existence of 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G sites. Site resource reuse, multi-band multi-mode coordination, economical convenience, and long-term evolution are the core issues to be considered. ZTE's Unisite helps operators address their issues of commercial 5G site deployment. The highly integrated, high-performance multi-band multi-mode base station series make site deployment simple, economical and efficient.

Unisite provides differentiated solutions for diverse scenarios such as hotspots in dense urban areas, general urban areas, remote suburbs, and special indoor rooms. Among them, ultra-band radio unit (UBR) integrates three mainstream bands: 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, and 2100 Mhz, thus reducing the number of sites by two-thirds. With the innovative built-in combiner RRU, UBR enables all 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G sites at the bands below sub-3 GHz to use one antenna. 5G AAU commercial series have implemented full spectrum, full scenario, full range of macrocells with different specifications. Microcells such as Pad AAU/BBU have zero footprint and can be commissioned quickly and conveniently, helping operators cover hotspot and blindspot areas in a flexible and rapid manner. Multi-band multi-mode microcells and QCell support seamless indoor coverage under different conditions, with the most economical investment to ensure seamless coverage in all 5G scenarios and good network performance. 

From the perspective of overall network architecture, convergence with simplicity is an inevitable trend. ZTE's IT-BBU supports 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G, multiple networking modes such as CRAN and DRAN, as well as multi-mode network convergence and long-term evolution. The industry-first commercial 5G Common Core based on service-based architecture (SBA) supports full wireless (2G/3G/4G/5G) access and convergence, and also supports 3GPP R15 SA and NSA. The commercial 5G Common Core enables target architecture in one-step, flexible introduction of functions, and a reduction of investment cost by 40%.

Supreme Intelligent 5G Operations

In the 5G era, the wide application of new technologies such as multi-mode network and Massive MIMO will multiply the complexity of network operation and maintenance. The development of vertical industry will also bring about the needs for fragmented services, raising extremely high requirements on network capability, response speed and resource sharing. Therefore, the introduction of AI is imperative.

AI can better help operators improve operational efficiency, reduce operating costs, improve network performance, and thus achieve a self-evolution network. The AI engine self-developed by ZTE has implemented ubiquitous intelligence applications in full 5G scenarios, including optimal network management based on RF fingerprint, Massive MIMO weight adaption, mobility load balance to increase capacity, and intelligent shutdown to save energy and reduce consumption. Take the application of ZTE's wireless solution in China Telecom as an example. It took about six months to optimize the 1700 cells. After the AI solution is introduced, the optimization period will be reduced to three weeks and the efficiency will be improved by 88%.

ZTE launched its CloudStudio, the AI-based commercial 5G network operation system at the MWC2019 Barcelona. The CloudStudio has built-in 8000+ root cause analysis (RCA) rules based on machine learning that can fully support agile deployment, intelligent analysis and rapid self-healing and improve network operations efficiency by more than 30%. The CloudStudio can also provide end-to-end network slicing capability to fully meet the needs for fragmented services in the internet of everything (IoE) era.

ZTE also released ZTE ES600S MEC server with Intel to push AI to the network edge, significantly improving the edge computing and processing capability, reducing network latency and optimizing TCO.

Supreme User Experience

Supreme user experience comes from the supreme performance and seamless coverage of the network. ZTE offers solutions ranging from chipsets, key technologies to full-range products, while ensuring the performance of 2C and 2B businesses. With industry-leading, high-performance and highly integrated self-developed chips,  ZTE is able to provide IT-BBU with the strongest performance and the smallest 5G AAU in the industry. ZTE has more than five years of experience in commercial use of Massive MIMO, one of the core technologies of eMBB services. ZTE not only continuously optimizes product performance, but also delivers targeted commercial performance optimization solutions for various typical application scenarios such as CBD and stadium, providing users with optimal experience. 

For vertical industries and low-latency applications, ZTE has released the industry's first AI-based commercial 5G slicing operation system, lightweight edge cloud, and intelligent acceleration solutions, fully meeting the needs of consumers and vertical industry customers. The 5G service with supreme user experience will help operators survive the market competition. 

The world's first wave of 5G scale commercial deployment is about to start. With extensive 5G pre-commercial experience, rich product series and sophisticated network construction solutions, ZTE will be fully involved in 5G commercial deployment and continue to maintain its technological leadership. Also, ZTE will work with upstream and downstream partners in the industry to promote 5G commercialization and achieve a win-win development with its supreme 5G network.

To meet the challenges of 5G deployment, ZTE helps operators provide supreme  simplified 5G deployment, supreme intelligent 5G operations, and supreme user experience.