2024 marks the first year of commercial 5.5G deployment, which coincides with the booming adoption of AI. These achievements provided a catalyst for the ushering in of the mobile AI era, which will bring new opportunities for the development of digital intelligence.

At the upcoming Mobile Broadband Forum (MBBF), Huawei will invite global operators and industry partners together to discuss how to maximize network value in the mobile AI era, define key indicators of mobile AI foundation networks, and unveil the latest products and technical trends to build a digital foundation in the mobile AI era.

The Mobile AI Era Is Coming

AI services are developing faster than ever to invigorate various industries. On-device AI enables transformation in multiple aspects, such as interactions, device forms, and content production modes. Empowered by 5G and 5.5G networks, AI processes and analyzes data in real time, driving the implementation of intelligent applications, such as AI smartphones, AI assistants, AI glasses, AI driving, and humanoid robots.

Convergence of 5.5G and AI Is a Must for Technological Innovation

Services and networks mutually adapt and reinforce each other, which means ubiquitous AI applications and services require an advanced 5.5G network foundation. Stronger network capabilities will also enable the adoption of a wider range of AI technologies. Therefore, the converged development of 5.5G and AI is indispensable for technological innovation. It leads to connectivity upgrades and enables network requirements to evolve from focusing purely on downlink speed to focusing on multi-dimensional experience including uplink speed, latency, and reliability.

What Should Networks Do to Usher in the Mobile AI Era?

In the mobile AI era, connections for people, homes, vehicles, things, and industries are all becoming intelligent. This would be impossible without the support of powerful mobile networks. Against this backdrop, it is particularly important to build mobile AI foundation networks that provide excellent user experience in many dimensions.

In terms of connections for people, as on-device AI becomes increasingly popular, more than 3 million AI apps have been developed and released. By 2030, 70% of devices are expected to be AI-capable. AI mobile phones will maximize the power of cameras to drive the adoption of interactive AI applications, such as AI-based object recognition, AI real-time translation, and AI-generated content (AIGC). Without powerful networks, these applications would be unable to invoke AI anytime and anywhere.

In addition to content interaction, the mobile AI era is transforming content production from simple information retrieval to AI-driven content creation. The AI multi-modal interaction represented by ChatGPT-4o is promoting the explosive growth of mobile traffic. During this process, higher uplink capabilities are placed on networks in order to acquire more efficient and effective feedback while enabling a human-like AI interaction experience.

In terms of Internet of Vehicles (IoV), intelligent connected vehicles are developing rapidly. Vehicles are now gradually transforming into “super devices” that can be used not just for transportation but also for entertainment and work. An intelligent connected vehicle will upload more than 100 GB of driving data per month to help train intelligent driving systems in order to increase the accuracy of models and enable more precise sensing of and response to dynamic driving environments. In addition, millisecond-level vehicle-road synergy will increase the reliability and stability of driver assistance systems in real time, unlocking the full potential of IoV experiences.

Mobile networks that provide excellent experiences everywhere are also a prerequisite for enabling AI in connections for homes, things, and industries.

Users have a growing demand for various AI applications. Due to insufficient on-device computing power, device-cloud synergy is a must, which requires new network capabilities. 5.5G is the key to coordinating AI device-cloud computing power as it provides the high uplink bandwidth and low latency needed for real-time interaction scenarios such as AIGC, human-machine interactions, 3D video, and intelligent IoV. A ubiquitous uplink speed of 20 Mbps and latency of 20 ms will become standard network capabilities in the mobile AI era and provide a solid foundation for the development of various innovative applications.

MBBF Warm-up: Network-Service Synergy Pushes Huawei to Expand the Boundaries of Solutions

At the upcoming MBBF on October 30, Huawei will hold the Mobile AI Foundation Network Summit with industry partners to embrace the bright future of the mobile AI era. Global operators and industry representatives will discuss the trends and applications of the mobile AI industry and their impact on 5G and 5.5G networks and analyze the network construction standards of mobile AI foundation networks. At the summit, Huawei will unveil new solutions that enable 5G and 5.5G networks to become a mobile AI foundation to drive the development of mobile AI services that provide excellent user experiences. Such solutions will also help operators seize opportunities in digital transformation and lead the industry towards a more intelligent future.

The 15th Global Mobile Broadband Forum, with a tagline of ‘5.5G Leads Mobile AI Era’, will run from October 30 to 31 in Istanbul, Türkiye. It will be hosted by Huawei with support from our industry partners GSMA and GTI. Together with operators, vertical industry leaders, and ecosystem partners, we will share the industry’s latest advancements and explore new opportunities. Industry stakeholders will discuss how to achieve 5.5G business success in the Mobile AI era, and leverage the success of 5G to attain even greater achievements with 5.5G. For more information, please visit MBBF2024 at: https://www.huawei.com/en/events/mbbf2024