5G: an operators 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

Devices

Services
growing volumes of video traffic

more tablets

gaming

more sensors in handsets (e.g.

movement detection for gaming)

PMR: public safety and private

networks
machines connectivity: smart cities,
eHealth, communicating vehicles

Google glasses (always active?)

communicating objects

Users behaviours & expectations

Applications
relying on fixed access data

same expectations on fixed and

mobile accesses

AND typical mobile data (e.g.

gelocalization)

increased self-exposure?

cloud-hosted

more user-generated contents

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

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Requirements on the technology

Network

User experience

Higher capacity

higher user data rates

energy & cost efficency

lower latency

ease of deployment & operation

mobility

robustness

QoS, QoE

Future proofness

flexibility for evolution

Enablers for Internet of Things

support of more connected devices,

with a wide range of trafic patterns

Enablers for public safety

support of Device-toDevice communication

high reliability

Orange Labs

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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

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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 operators 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
Ultra-dense small cells networks: 1 Tx/Rx point per UE?
Sites acquisition, backhaul & energy, network mngmt?
High frequency bands (e.g. 6 60 GHz)
New channel models, handling of large BWs?
Massive MIMO
Impact on RF design, form factor?
New multicarrier modulations
Benefits against OFDM?
Full duplex: Tx and Rx on the same resources
Feasibility, domain of application?
Optimize mobile applications for reduced radio use
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Incentive
to the application developers?
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Potential technology components currently

considered in research in industry and academia

Evolutions of concepts already addressed in standardization

MIMO evolutions
Active antennas / 3D MIMO

Interference mitigation techniques

Interference coordination, advanced receivers
Centralized architecture
Cloud RAN and slow-coordination central controllers
Inter-Radio Access Technologies interworking
Especially between LTE and WiFi
Broadcast
Live events and pre-download of popular contents
Device-to-Device (D2D)
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Unclear commercial services, potential offload benefits

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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

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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 nonbackward compatible carriers

Deployment constraints (EMF regulation, difficulty to find new sites,

spectrum fragmentation) might affect the future development of mobile
networks
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thank you

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