PR86659

BEIJING, Nov. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

Interview with Zhang Ping, academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering and

professor of Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications

A report from Science and Technology Daily | IUSTC:

5G is one of the most dynamic areas in this decade, and China is a

well-deserved leader in 5G technology and industry. According to the latest

statistics from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, as of the

end of September, 690,000 5G base stations have been built in China, and 5G

network coverage has been completed in areas like Beijing, Shanghai, and

Guangzhou. The cumulative number of terminal connections has exceeded 160 million.

In Zhang Ping's view, the speed of China's network construction and the network

user increment is one step faster. The construction of the 5G network and the

implementation of the 5G industry are moving forward step by step. However,

China still needs a more ideal solution in the field of industrial interconnection.

Obviously, he paid more attention to find the solution of industrial

interconnection. On November 26, the second World 5G Conference will be held in

Guangzhou. In an exclusive interview with Science and Technology Daily, Zhang

Ping said: "When everyone discusses 5G technology, on the one hand, they should

discuss not only achievements and experience, but also questions about how to

deploy stations, how to deal with interference between existing stations, and

how to increase the speed of users. On the other hand, it is more critical to

discuss how to better integrate ICT technology and manufacturing so that

'cyberpower' can promote' manufacturing power'.

Industrial Internet cannot copy the Internet Development Model

On June 30th, the 14th meeting of the Central Committee for Deepening Overall

Reform deliberated and approved the "Guidelines on Deepening the Integrated

Development of New Generation Information Technology and Manufacturing". The

meeting emphasized that the integration of new generation information

technology and manufacturing should be accelerated.

It is necessary to comply with the new round of technological revolution and industrial

transformation trends and speed up the innovative development of the Industrial Internet.

We also need to accelerate the fundamental transformation in production mode

and enterprise form in the manufacturing industry, as well as improving the

level of digital, networked, and intelligent development of the manufacturing industry.

"5G is an enabling technology. 20% of the market is on the consumer side and

80% on the industrial side. That is the blue ocean of 5G applications." Zhang

Ping said. And for industry users, their demand for 5G networks is nothing more

than two points-cheap and user-friendly. However, to lay out the Industrial

Internet by adopting the idea of consumer Internet has natural drawbacks-high

cost and complicated technology.

More importantly, each industry and even each company has its own needs and

characteristics, resulting in the great difference in requirements for

communication. "The traditional model is to meet all needs through a single

network. This can be achieved in the consumer Internet. However, in terms of

industry applications, it is impossible to solve all industry problems with a

single communication network, and it is not necessary." Zhang Ping emphasized.

Therefore, in his opinion, the Industrial Internet should abandon complex

methodology and start with distributed networks to solve the specific and

single scenario needs of industry enterprises. "In order to accelerate the

integration of 5G technology and entity economy, we need to continuously dig

deeper into the demand of industry scenario for information technology, combine

enabling technologies like edge computing and artificial intelligence and

develop wireless private networks and convergent networking through new ideas

such as frequency coordination,." Zhang Ping said.  And this also requires an

impressive platform to play a penetrating and leading role and empower

thousands of industries.

New communication iterations are driven by scenarios, not rates

Zhang Ping said that mobile communications have been rapidly iterating for the

past 30 years, and the need to increase the communication speed is the main

driving force behind it. This logic has also accompanied the development of

each generation of mobile communications. However, 5G has a revolutionary

difference. 5G not only represents a pure rate increase, but also establishes

three scenarios, i.e. enhanced mobile broadband, massive machine communication

and ultra-high reliability and low latency, thus opening up a new era of

communications as everything is to be connected.

"The driving force for the evolution of mobile communications will be

transformed from the single rate requirement of the 1G/2G/3G/4G era through the

three scenarios of 5G, and finally transformed into the basic evolution

paradigm driven by scenario." Zhang Ping believes that in the process of the

evolution to 6G, the traditional technical route of following the stacking

processing mode and adopting complexity in exchange for performance gains is

not sustainable, and new theoretical innovations are urgently needed. "6G

should not only increase the speed and expand the space, but also improve the

wisdom and research on a new system for the interrelationship among

intelligence, communication and the future of mankind." Zhang Ping said that in

the 6G system, people and network nodes can interact more deeply through

semantics, be integrated and evolve together. Last year, they have launched the

first 6G international cooperation project in China.

"Communication is always a rigid need of human society. Through the flow of

information, the problem of uncertainty would be solved as well as human

intelligence enhanced." Zhang Ping said that the future of 5G+ is an ideal

vision. How to implement it requires further exploration and planning by the

government, academia, and industry.

SOURCE  Science and Technology Daily | IUSTC