Low flatbed semi-trailer: a pioneer in the transportation industry

On August 10th of this year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the National Development and Reform Commission jointly issued the "Three Year Action Plan for Expanding and Upgrading Information Consumption (2018-2020)", which proposes that by 2020, the scale of information consumption will reach 6 trillion yuan, with an average annual growth rate of over 11%. According to the deployment of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, China will achieve commercial use of 5G by 2020. Recently, many regions have set timelines and development goals for the layout of 5G construction. On August 13th, Beijing officially launched its first batch of 5G sites, marking the beginning of a major acceleration phase in 5G construction.

Lei Ming, a communication industry analyst at CITIC Securities: According to our calculations, the construction volume of 5G base stations is expected to reach 1.3 times that of 4G, and capital expenditure is expected to increase by 55% relative to 4G, reaching 1.16 trillion yuan. Based on the elasticity and certainty of returns, we are optimistic about the main equipment, RF and antenna, optical module, and PCB sectors. Due to the gradual promotion of 5G commercialization this year, 5G concept stocks have also continued to rise in the A-share market. Since July of this year, the three major stock indexes have continued to decline, with multiple individual stocks in the telecommunications sector, such as ZTE, Guangxun Technology, and FiberHome, rising by over 16%. In addition to being favored by funding, several 5G concept stocks have been recommended by institutions. Among them, stocks such as Zhongji Xuchuang, Dongshan Precision, Meituan, Rihai Intelligence, Hetai, and Tianfu Communication have been highly regarded by institutions and have received "buy" or "increase" ratings, but analysts have warned of short-term risks. Tang Haiqing, Chief Analyst of Communication Industry at Tianfeng Securities: The landing of 5G will take time, and it is highly likely that the next six months to a year will not be the stage for large-scale 5G investment landing, as it will also bring certain risks, such as the stock price rising too quickly, without a reasonable response to fundamentals, or the risk of overly advanced response to fundamentals. Wei Leping, Executive Deputy Director of the Communication Technology Commission of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology: The frequency band of 5G is relatively high, and it requires a large number of base stations to be invested in. Therefore, the overall investment strategy and return on investment are not certain, so it is unclear whether the equipment can achieve it and the expected price. The performance and price of these devices, as well as their potential for large-scale vertical applications as we anticipate, are all uncertain factors.

In the 5G era, downloading one movie in one second through VR live streaming enables real-time feedback

In 2018, 5G will undergo commercial trials in several cities in China, and multiple overseas operators are also preparing for pre commercial trials. In June of this year, the international standard for 5G was introduced. What changes will the new generation of mobile communication technology bring to our lives from 4G to 5G? At what stage has 5G technology progressed?

As the fifth generation mobile communication technology, the first impression that 5G network brings to people is "fast". Opening the mobile video client, downloading a high-definition video can be completed in just one second. The reporter conducted speed experience on a 5G experience car. In the mobile state, the average speed of the experience car on the road surface test on Linjiang Avenue of the Pearl River River New Town in Guangzhou exceeded 1Gbps, with a peak value of 3Gbps. Chen Qiming, 5G technology expert at China Mobile Guangdong Company: Compared to 4G, the biggest feature of 5G is its high speed. Its peak speed can reach 100 times that of 4G, and it supports simultaneous transmission of multiple high-definition 4K videos while in mobile mode. What we are seeing now is such a business demonstration of 16 way 4K simultaneous interpreting. In the future, while on the move, it will also be possible to support watching high-definition 4K videos online with over 50 users in the same location. Under 4G network, the delay from terminal to base station is generally 5 milliseconds, and the delay from terminal to server is 50-100 milliseconds. Under 5G network, the latency from terminal to base station can be reduced to 1 millisecond, and from terminal to server can reach 10 milliseconds. At present, the technician is demonstrating VR under 5G. The high-definition images captured by the 360 degree panoramic camera deployed near the the Pearl River are transmitted to the display screen of the experience car through 5G network. At the same time, the VR glasses and IPAD screens connected in the car can clearly display and return videos through 5G network. Chen Qiming, 5G technology expert at China Mobile Guangdong Company: What we are seeing now is a live 360 degree VR broadcast. The VR live streaming business cannot be achieved in the 4G era because it has very high requirements for data transmission. However, with 5G, we can not only see some scenes in front of us, but also the surrounding environment in 360 degrees. At the same time, we can freely observe some details of the scene by zooming in or out. In the future, this business can be applied to live events such as concerts, basketball sports events, and so on. 5G is an important part of achieving automation in high-speed environments, and a fast data transmission network is the foundation for ensuring vehicle safety. 5G will bring a new opportunity for automated driving in high-speed environments. In a pilot area of 5G in Shenzhen, reporters saw buses equipped with Alfaba intelligent driving bus system running on a 1.2-kilometer route. The system has currently achieved functions such as pedestrian and vehicle detection, deceleration and avoidance, emergency parking, obstacle avoidance, lane change, and automatic stop by stop under autonomous driving. Wang Qingyang, Deputy General Manager of Network Development Department of China Telecom Shenzhen Branch: Currently, we have completed the construction of three base stations on the Alfaba autonomous driving route in Futian Free Trade Zone, Shenzhen, covering the entire operating route. At present, real-time video feedback is provided in the car, and we plan to install 4K high-definition TV and IPTV on it. In addition, we will continue to develop high-precision positioning and remote driving on it in the future.

5G testing is intensively underway, and operators are seeking breakthroughs in application technology

At present, all three major communication operators have entered the "5G era". The commercialization of 5G in 2020 means the need for various terminal products to enter the market, and currently there is only one and a half years left for research and development, testing, and production in the industry chain. So, what are the difficulties and bottlenecks in the pilot process of 5G technology currently?

The reporter visited the ZTE Park in Xili, Shenzhen and saw that Hu Xian and his colleagues were conducting 5G pilot speed testing. Hu Xian has been conducting research on communication network construction for decades. He stated that the higher the frequency band, the lower the penetration. The high-frequency characteristics of 5G require operators to pay attention to indoor penetration issues. The next step for operators' networking plans, as well as how 4G and 5G networks can operate smoothly, requires breakthroughs in technological connectivity. Hu Xian, Manager of Network Construction Department of China Unicom Shenzhen Branch: We are currently in a 5G experimental scenario, and according to the testing results, the speed of 5G is about ten times that of 4G. The different requirements of customer applications, especially the demand for high-speed applications, bring about an increasingly refined network structure. So, in terms of the coverage area of individual units, it is becoming smaller and tending towards grid like, and may even be in the form of finer mesh networking in the future, which may be the biggest difference from previous technologies. It is reported that multiple operators have announced that they will lay out 5G trial networks that support 5G commercial scenarios in field trials and conduct network testing. The testing content includes the coverage capability and strength of 5G signals, handover between base stations, interoperability between 4G and 5G core networks, etc. Different testing services are equipped for different cities' development plans. Cai Weiwen, General Manager of Planning and Technology Department of China Mobile Guangdong Company: Since 2018, we have entered a scale test, mainly aiming to test end-to-end interoperability between multiple manufacturers and some business tests. In terms of application testing, we will collaborate with some application scenarios. For example, we have signed some cooperation agreements with Guangzhou Automobile Group and Southern Power Grid, and are currently promoting testing in areas such as autonomous driving and smart grid. Zhu Changbo, Vice President of China Unicom Network Technology Research Institute: We have also chosen to conduct this 5G pilot in 16 cities. So in different places, we will have some demonstrations of 5G applications targeting different industries, and also combine different advantageous resources in different places to demonstrate the application of 5G. For example, in Qingdao, we are conducting pilot applications for 5G+VR, and in Chongqing, we are focusing on intelligent transportation, smart finance, smart healthcare, and so on in Shenzhen. Industry insiders have introduced that compared to 4G, 5G can better meet the transmission guarantee of vertical industries in terms of security and services. However, this requires operators to build new 5G core networks and connect existing core networks and user data well. At present, China's 5G spectrum has not been allocated yet, and uncertain frequency allocation will affect the industry's support for equipment development and other aspects. Zhang Yong, President of China Unicom Network Technology Research Institute: Currently, the vast majority of industries are still blank for 5G based applications. Whether it is in terms of terminal or application standards, application scenarios, or some feasibility aspects of future marketization, we need to explore them.

5G commercialization enters sprint stage, communication providers expand R&D investment

According to the "Report on Forecasting the Development Prospects of China's 5G Industry and Analyzing Investment Opportunities in the Industry Chain", in the early stage of 5G commercialization, the income of equipment manufacturers brought by network equipment investment will become the main source of direct economic output of 5G. It is expected that in 2020, the total revenue from network equipment and terminal equipment will be about 450 billion yuan, accounting for 94% of the total direct economic output. So, how will these network device manufacturers seize this opportunity? In June of this year, the introduction of the 5G international standard was seen as the "shell breaking" of 5G, marking the official release of the first truly complete international 5G standard. The freezing of SA's independent networking solution means that mobile terminal devices based on 5G networks can begin research, development, production, and testing under a unified standard. It is reported that in 2019, commercial terminals based on 5G chips will be launched, including Intel's fully connected PCs and Huawei's 5G smartphones. Recently, OPPO, vivo, Xiaomi, and Huawei have also announced new developments in 5G smartphones. Huawei Honor President Zhao Ming: (Currently) has released our Kirin 980 (mobile phone) and Balong chip 5G solution. So based on this solution, we have fully validated the entire 5G link and 5G based RF to baseband RF and business in the laboratory. The next step is actually to wait until the commercial network standard layer of the operator is released, and then release the corresponding verification standards for 5G terminals. With the release of these standards, our 5G products will also be launched. 5G mobile applications require basic technical support. Xiangjiying has been engaged in the research and development of 5G device core technology for many years. In the first half of this year, their team developed multiple 5G devices to meet the different needs of operators for 5G spectrum. Xiang Jiying stated that the three major scenarios of 5G business correspond to three core performance indicators: bandwidth, latency, and number of connections, and the requirements in these three aspects are significantly higher compared to 4G. To meet these requirements, the team has developed and adopted a large number of new technologies. ZTE Chief Scientist Xiang Jiying: The one we have above is our 3.5G, 64 antenna 5G Massive MIMO device, and the one below is a 3.5G device with 16 antennas. However, there may be some spectrum redistribution now, so we have developed a 2.6G version specifically for both 64 and 16 antennas, which is currently under development. Because 5G has higher frequency bands besides the low frequency band, which are 28G and 39G.

Yang Zhaohua's company has been preparing for the equipment required for 5G in recent years. Currently, more than 50% of the company's R&D personnel are invested in 5G research and development, and many 4G equipment production lines have also been transferred to prepare for the production of 5G equipment. Yang Zhaohua, General Manager of Network Output Line at FiberHome Communication Technology Co., Ltd.: On the basis of the original personnel, there was an increase of 20%. Now, the entire R&D team has exceeded 50% and is dedicated to the development of 5G. In terms of production and manufacturing, it is separate. In addition, equipment production lines have been added for this 5G production line. We estimate that by the end of this year, there may be a decline of approximately 20% in 4G production capacity.

According to the "Report on Forecasting the Development Prospects of China's 5G Industry and Analyzing Investment Opportunities in the Industry Chain", starting from the official commercialization of 5G in 2020, it is expected to drive about 484 billion yuan in direct output and 1.2 trillion yuan in indirect output that year. By 2030, the direct output and indirect output driven by 5G will reach 6.3 trillion yuan and 10.6 trillion yuan respectively, with an average annual compound growth rate of 29% and 24% for the two. Wei Leping, Executive Deputy Director of the Communication Technology Commission of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology: The international market has just begun to commercialize this (5G), and we are also just starting now, so the gap is not significant. The total investment, just the investment in the operator sector, is definitely not a problem for the three major operators to exceed one trillion yuan. At the same time, it will also drive the effect. If the driving effect is calculated at 3.3 times, it can at least drive social investment of 4 trillion yuan, so this market is very considerable.