ZTE‘s User-Centric Network Innovation for Ubiquitous On-Demand Communication

Release Date:2025-01-21 Tang Xue, Gu Jun

5G-Advanced (5G-A) began commercial use in 2024 and has since been widely applied across various fields. 5G-A helps popularize XR applications in the consumer (ToC) domain, enabling people to obtain immersive experiences through wearable devices. By supporting network capabilities in the production domain, 5G-A continues to empower digital and intelligent industries in the business (ToB) domain. With 5G-A, the capability bases for ToX domain (new economy) are being expanded, including omni-domain sensing, computing, and control, as well as the integration of space, air, and ground, facilitating the development of the new economy. 5G-A has become a key technology for promoting the development of the mobile industry with its six scenarios and technical capabilities, including seamless 10-gigabit connectivity, ubiquitous intelligence, deterministic capabilities, space-air-ground integration, support for up to 100 billion connections, and omni-domain sensing. It not only improves network performance but also expands application scenarios, leading to higher-quality experiences and services.

In today's era of rapid digitalization and intelligence, the mobile industry is undergoing a major transformation from traffic-based operations to experience- and service-oriented operations. As smartphones have become widespread and mobile applications have grown exponentially, users' demands for networks are no longer restricted to the provision of data traffic, but are more focused on network experiences and personalized services. Meanwhile, the development trend of ubiquitous intelligence has led to the wide connectivity of various intelligent devices, increasing demands for coverage, stability, and response speed. In response to these changes, traditional network models face growing challenges, giving rise to user-centric networks. User-centric network technology aims to provide more efficient, intelligent, and personalized network services centered on users.

Since 2019, ZTE, in collaboration with industrial partners, has carried out all-dimensional network innovations across the time, frequency, spatial, and power domains. The company has developed and introduced a series of user-centric innovative solutions, including wireless intelligent orchestration, Cluster DXS (including Cluster DSS, Cluster DFS, Cluster DRS), D³-ELAA, power pooling, and a network-following-the-vehicle solution for high-speed rail scenarios, thereby enhancing network performance, expanding application scenarios, and upgrading operational modes. Regarding 6G, ZTE continues to innovate in areas such as pooled network architecture, distributed codebooks, cross-site high-precision synchronization, intelligent collaborative shaping, network-service collaborative perception and prediction, and integrated resource allocation based on large models, aiming to create an experience where users can get what they need anytime, anywhere, while addressing the future development requirements of immersive services, as well as ubiquitous intelligent agents and robots. The user-centric solutions of ZTE are shown in Fig. 1.

Radio Composer

Radio Composer is an intelligent orchestration solution based on the native intelligent architecture of the new-generation base station. Through the joint perception, which integrates terminal features, network features, service features, and cross-domain features, as well as scenario-based intelligent calculation and decision-making, precise resource allocation centered on users is accomplished. User orchestration enables intelligent guidance and intelligent scheduling of users in multi-layer networks, while network orchestration manages the network itself, enabling intelligent allocation of network resources such as multi-standard shared spectrum, TDD frame structure, and Massive MIMO beams.

This solution has been widely commercially verified by China’s three major operators, fully demonstrating its dual benefits for both user experience and network efficiency by enhancing edge rates, reducing latency, and improving spectrum efficiency. For example, in user orchestration, when a user accesses high-definition video services, the system guides the user to a network frequency layer with larger bandwidth and a more stable connection based on their higher requirements for bandwidth and stability. Thus, users can enjoy a smooth video playback experience,  and network resources are fully utilized, avoiding waste. Actual test data from commercial verifications in Liaoning, Yunnan, Sichuan, Guangdong and other locations indicates that user orchestration has increased edge rates by over 300% and reduced latency by over 50%.

Cluster DXS

The Cluster DXS series of solutions, built upon the intelligent orchestration foundation, include Cluster DSS, Cluster DFS, and Cluster DRS.

Cluster dynamic spectrum sharing (Cluster DSS): It alleviates the interference problem between 4G and 5G in traditional DSS through dynamic cluster-based spectrum sharing, achieving improvements in both user experience and spectrum efficiency.

Cluster dynamic frame sharing (Cluster DFS): It meets the differentiated needs of uplink and downlink services in different scenarios through cluster-level frame sharing, realizing multiple functions with a single network and supporting the integrated development of ToB and ToC services.

Cluster dynamic radio sharing (Cluster DRS): It enables dynamic multi-cell collaboration based on user experience requirements, transforming network resource strategies from being cell-centered to user-centered. This innovation safeguards the development of new business forms such as the low-altitude economy. In low-altitude communication scenarios, 5G-A base stations dynamically generate base station clusters centered on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), adapting to flight trajectories and service characteristics of UAVs. Within these clusters, multiple cells conduct airspace collaborative transmission and reception, while inter-cluster interference is reduced through means such as collaborative scheduling and power control, ensuring stable real-time high-definition video transmission from UAVs. Cluster DRS not only solves the bottleneck for low-altitude UAV communication but also lays the foundation for enhancing the user-centric capabilities in 5G-A networks. In the future, Cluster DRS will be commercially applied in more fields, driving digital, intelligent, and green development. For example, in smart city construction, Cluster DRS can provide low-altitude coverage for urban transportation, environmental monitoring and public safety, realizing more intelligent urban management.

D³-ELAA

The dynamic, distributed and deterministic-extremely large antenna array (D³-ELAA) scheme is user-centered, aiming to achieve zero fluctuation in users' mobile experiences while supporting the long-term evolution of future wireless technologies.

Its key technologies include quickly identifying multiple base stations around users to form a "user-centered" base station cluster. Within this cluster, multiple cells conduct precise joint collaboration and form a dynamic, extremely large antenna array through technologies such as precise base station synchronization and distributed beamforming. This scheme offers several advantages.

  • lThe dynamic networking of distributed base stations forms an extremely large antenna array, enabling a larger-scale antenna array based on the existing 5G commercial equipment. This breaks the capacity limitations of individual devices and achieves an optimal balance between capacity and cost.
  •  It overcomes the cellular boundaries of traditional mobile networks, providing users with a stable "full signal everywhere" experience and ensuring, continuous network connections while they are on the move. For example, during the user's movement, regardless of location, a good network connection is always maintained, enabling a seamless real-time HD video experience.
  • It also offers stable network support for new applications and scenarios such as the Internet of Vehicles and immersive services. In the Internet of Vehicles scenario, vehicles need to communicate in real-time with surrounding traffic facilities and other vehicles to ensure safe and efficient driving. The D³-ELAA scheme provides vehicles with low-latency, high-reliability network connections to meet these requirements. In immersive service scenarios, such as virtual reality games and remote medical services, D³-ELAA delivers a ubiquitous, high-rate, low-latency network experience.

 

In the future, users' demands for personalized services will become stronger. To meet this demand, technologies will evolve in a more intelligent and precise direction. For example, AI and big data analysis technologies will be used to deeply mine and analyze users' behaviors, preferences, and usage scenarios, providing users with more personalized network services. Technologies like artificial intelligence generated content (AIGC) enables the generation of texts, images, audio, and video contents tailored to users' personalized needs, offering a richer and more diverse experience. In network services, the principles of AIGC can be applied to generate customized network configurations, service packages, and more, based on users' personalized requirements. Meanwhile, intelligent IoT technologies can be utilized to enable personalized services in fields such as smart homes, smart healthcare, and smart education.

Faced with the demand for ubiquitous personalized services, the continuous innovation of user-centric technologies requires closer collaboration across the industrial chain. Operators, equipment manufacturers, and content providers should strengthen cooperation to jointly drive the development and application of technologies. Operators can increase efforts in network construction to improve network coverage and performance. Equipment manufacturers can launch more advanced equipment and user-centric solutions to meet differentiated needs. Content providers can develop more applications and services optimized for mobile networks to enrich users' experiences. Through deeper collaborative innovation and application promotion across the industrial chain, a new future experience integrating networks and services will be co-created.