PARTNER CONTENT: Li Jie, president of 5G & LTE TDD Product Line at Huawei, shared in an in-depth interview with Mobile World Live at MBBF in Istanbul, Turkiye, how the company’s strategy to tap emerging AI capabilities not only improves network efficiency but also enables operators to better address the needs of different user groups.

New AI applications are putting 10-times higher demands on mobile networks, which means current capabilities needs to be expanded, Li noted, adding some 3 million AI apps are running on Apple, Google and Huawei’s Harmony OS platforms.

The advantage of new 5G-Advanced (5G-A) network technology is it that it has low latency, high-bandwidth capabilities and can offer differentiated and deterministic experience assurance to applications, he stated. “This makes 5G-A the best choice to ensure AI applications enjoy a better experience.”

Looking at the benefit of using TDD spectrum, he explained that if 5G-A is to provide deterministic latency, and increased downlink and uplink speeds for AI applications, the technology in the RAT needs more spectral resources. TDD has the most sufficient spectral resources, such as the C Band, 4.9GHz band in China, mmWave outside of China, and perhaps 6GHz in the future.

Li argued all these TDD bands are the foundation for providing experience assurance. “Only when TDD spectrum or TDD networks are built properly, can we build robust 5G-A networks, and only with TDD spectrum can AI applications enjoy an optimal experience.”

He descripted AI as an intelligent system supported by computing power and storage on the cloud, which is the brain of the AI system, while smart terminals, including smartphones, AI glasses and embedded AI in the vehicles and robots, are the limbs of the system.

“To connect the brain and the limbs, we need to build networks that function like the neural network of a human, which is what we’re doing with 5G-A networks.”

Focus areas
To make this a reality, Li said Huawei is working on a number of technologies, with a focus on adding intelligence to the network, supported by its cloud network and terminal AI capabilities. The company is taking steps to apply intelligent technologies to upgrade its network autonomy to level four to allow operators to simplify their operations and maintenance (O&M) and network planning in a multi-band and multi-RAT wireless network.

He added Huawei is using MIMO to support the upper 6GHz to enable a similar level of coverage as the C Band. “These technologies can make TDD networks pervasive.”

To ensure 5G-A can deliver on its speed promise, he suggested operators aggregate at least the three carrier components. “Only then can 5G-A deliver the headline access speeds. In the future, with the adoption of mmWave, perhaps the speed provided by 5G-A can go up to 10Gb/s.”

As TDD bands are usually in higher frequencies, which have more limited coverage compare with other bands, Huawei developed extremely large antenna array (ELAA) technology, which allows TDD bands to overcome coverage issues, and it allows mmWave spectrum to enjoy the same kind of coverage as the C Band.

Huawei is also pushing to create a number of energy-saving technologies.

TDD bands feature high bandwidth, but Li noted it’s not efficient to use one box to support only a single band, as the energy consumption will be high across the entire network, which is a major challenge for operators. Huawei’s equipment allows power sharing across different bands, with one box supporting multiple bands.

Its ‘0 bit 0 watt’ solution will make sure energy consumption drops significantly when deploying 5G networks, he said.

Adding value
Operators in the 4G area defined their data packages to be traffic oriented. In China, for example, there was a time the traffic growth rate was as high as 56 per cent, with mobile players enjoying a sizable traffic dividend. But he pointed out with 5G the traffic growth is much lower than with 4G, less than 20 per cent, so the traffic dividend of the past has disappeared.

“This is why telecoms operators are facing challenges and need to find new ways to break the downward trend.”

With the arrival of 5G, operators are realising users now have different expectations, with an improved experience able to create new value to operators. “We want to find new value from the different experiences for telecom operators.”

In Beijing, for example, China Mobile has launched the world’s first 5G-A differentiated experience service, including packages for business travel, live streaming, gaming, and stadiums, which has increased ARPU by more than 30%.

Li believes operators now have sufficient resources to address the different expected experiences of users and reckons China Mobile and China Telecom will evolve to a business model based on experience.

Operators in other regions are moving in this direction. An operator in the Middle East rolled out fixed wireless access (FWA) packages offering latency assurance in gaming, resulting in the operator developing a large base of gamers, which has led to an increase in ARPU.

In Thailand an operator launched VIP assurance for hotspot access at various tourist attractions. A limited number of users are offered guaranteed speeds at a location at a premium rate.

Addressing different needs
In the era of experience operation, he insisted it is essential operators have sufficient network resources to address the differentiated needs of different user groups, because they can’t afford for the experience of some users to suffer while guaranteeing the service level for another group.

He added 5G-A is not just about assuring the experience, it is also about enhancing the brand of telecoms operators.

In China, for example, mobile operators are now able to deliver 5Gb/s speeds on their new 5G-A networks. All services certainly don’t require that speed, but being able to offer that kind of performance enhances their brand by showcasing their networks are in the position to offer world-class speeds.

Li stated that enhanced ability marks the beginning of the 5G-A era, which gives operators the network capabilities to address diverse business service needs and offer assurance. Multi-carrier components, however, must be in place to support intensive download requirements, such as live streaming.

The executive emphasised the core of experience management is to meet users’ personalised needs by providing richer and higher-quality resources to improve the user experience.

Taking the aviation industry as an example, he explained when larger planes became available, airlines were able to introduce business and first-class service. “By providing better hardware resources, such as spacious seats, entertainment systems, and better service, including priority boarding, exclusive lounges and better catering, it met the personalised needs of users and provided high-quality services.”

Civil aviation companies have increased business value by more than 30 per cent.

“The principle of experience management in the aviation industry is the same as network management. 5.5G capability improvement is like the upgrade of a Boeing 747,” he added.

Since 5G-A networks now have sufficient network resources, he suggested operators can dedicate a specific band to offer SLAs for services demanding low latency and ultra-high reliability. “Operators need to innovate their business models, which increasingly depend on 5G-A network capability. That’s why we need to enhance our capabilities to make sure experience can be monetised.”

Within five years, the mobile AI era will arrive, he said. How networks are built will dictate how intelligent AI agents are. “Huawei would like to work with operators and partners to build sufficiently robust networks, so when the AI era actually arrives, they are able to tap into these network capabilities and can improve their operations and enjoy a new wave of growth.”