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5G: an operator’s perspective

Presenter: Eric Hardouin, Orange Labs

LTE World Summit

Amsterdam, Netherlands, 25 June 2013

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The 2020 wireless society: what we can guess…

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Services

�– growing volumes of video traffic

�– gaming

�– PMR: public safety and private networks

�– machines connectivity: smart cities, eHealth, communicating vehicles�…

Devices

�– more tablets

�– more sensors in handsets (e.g. movement detection for gaming)

�– Google glasses (always active?)

�– communicating objects

Users behaviours & expectations

�– same expectations on fixed and mobile accesses

�– more user-generated contents

�– increased self-exposure?

Applications

�– cloud-hosted

�– relying on fixed access data

�– �…AND  typical mobile data (e.g. gelocalization)

…  but  need to account also for what we will not guess!

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Requirements on the technology

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Enablers for public safety

�– support of Device-to-Device communication

Enablers for Internet of Things

�– support of more connected devices,

�– �…with  a  wide  range  of  trafic patterns

�– high reliability

User experience

�– higher user data rates

�– lower latency

�– mobility

�– QoS, QoE

Future proofness

�– flexibility for evolution

Network

�– Higher capacity

�– energy & cost efficency

�– ease of deployment & operation

�– robustness

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Candidate technology families for 2020 networks

3GPP/WiFi are expected to remain leader in licensed/unlicensed spectrum

�– with convergence and increasing level of cooperation between them

Complementary technologies might get traction for specific purposes

�– e.g. personal area network, ultra-high coverage for specific M2M services Orange Labs

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5G: LTE evolution or revolution?

We  do  not  know  at  the  moment,  but�…  

�– The EU-funded project METIS was launched in October 2012 to join industry and academia forces on 5G research, and will help answering!

5G could be

�– a continuous evolution of the LTE technology in the <6 GHz frequency bands, complemented with disruptive add-ons for higher frequency bands

�– alternatively, a completely new air interface also for the current bands, if justified by significant benefits

�– and/or the reunion of complementary technologies (3GPP and non 3GPP)

Key points to consider from an operator�’s perspective

�– Cost of deploying a new technology versus leveraging past investments

�– Preference to limit the number of technologies to minimize operation costs

�– Need for cooperation capabilities between 5G and legacy systems

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Potential technology components currently considered in research in industry and academia Potential disruptions

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Ultra-dense small cells networks: 1 Tx/Rx point per UE? • Sites acquisition, backhaul & energy, network mngmt?

Massive MIMO • Impact on RF design, form factor?

High frequency bands (e.g. 6 �– 60 GHz) • New channel models, handling of large BWs?

Optimize mobile applications for reduced radio use • Incentive to the application developers?

Full duplex: Tx and Rx on the same resources • Feasibility, domain of application?

New multicarrier modulations • Benefits against OFDM?

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Potential technology components currently considered in research in industry and academia Evolutions of concepts already addressed in standardization

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MIMO evolutions • Active antennas / 3D MIMO

Interference mitigation techniques • Interference coordination, advanced receivers

Centralized architecture • Cloud RAN and slow-coordination central controllers

Device-to-Device (D2D) • Unclear commercial services, potential offload benefits

Broadcast • Live events and pre-download of popular contents

Inter-Radio Access Technologies interworking • Especially between LTE and WiFi

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Practical deployment aspects

Network densification challenges

�– Sites acquisition, backhaul, energy, and network management complexity

�– Increasing need for self-configuration/optimization of the network (SON)

Difficulty of installing antennas on rooftops

�– More frequency bands, increased number of access technologies, MIMO

�– Antenna techno. improvements to support more bands in a compact space

Reduction of Electromagnetic Fields (EMF) exposure

�– Some cities set very low EMF exposure thresholds, which can make difficult to deploy new carriers, an additional technology and/or small cells

Economic pressure

�– has a strong impact on mobile operators who are now trying to reduce OPEX and CAPEX as much as possible through network sharing

�– Mobile network technologies need to allow/facilitate network sharing Orange Labs

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Conclusion

The METIS collaborative project will help setting the foundations of 5G

It is yet unclear what 5G will be, but several candidates technology component are under study

�– Evolutions of known concepts: 3D MIMO, C-RAN, inter-RAT interworking, etc.

�– Disruptive concepts: ultra-dense small cells, massive MIMO, etc.

�– High frequency bands (> 6 GHz) may be needed around year 2025

The benefits of departing from the LTE technology will need to be carefully analysed

�– significant changes to the air interface could be incorporated into LTE via non-backward compatible carriers

Deployment constraints (EMF regulation, difficulty to find new sites, spectrum fragmentation) might affect the future development of mobile networks Orange Labs

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thank you