Connectivity Technology Blog

On April 1, 2024, two of Japan's leading connectivity organizations—the 5G Mobile Promotion Forum (5GMF) and the Beyond 5G Promotion Consortium (B5GPC)—joined forces to create the XG Mobile Promotion Forum ( XGMF ). This merger symbolizes a pivotal step in accelerating the adoption of next-generation wireless technologies. In May 2024, XGMF's Millimeter Wave Promotion Ad Hoc (Millimeter Wave AH) hosted the International Workshop on Millimeter Wave Dissemination for 5G. This event aimed to foster the adoption of millimeter wave (mmWave) technology in Japan and beyond, drawing an audience of approximately 200 attendees and broadcasting in both English and Japanese. The workshop featured opening remarks by Mr. Naohiko Ogiwara, Director of the Radio Department, Telecommunications Infrastructure Bureau, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC). Key speakers included: Mr. Takanori Mashiko (MIC, slides ) Mr. Sam Gielges (Qualcomm, online - no slides) Mr. Christopher Pric...

It's been nearly four years since we made a tutorial on Fixed Wireless Access ( FWA ). Since then a lot has changed. 5G has rolled out much more rapidly then anticipated, more of the LEO satellites are being launched and more operators are being convinced to roll out mmWave based FWA.  At the Qualcomm 5G Summit 2022, Federico Agnoletto – senior economist, GSMA Intelligence, held a Fixed Wireless Access MasterClass. In that, he explained the key business and technical considerations that impact the cost to deploy and operate Fixed Wireless Access networks and services. The following is from the masterclass summary: As 5G Fixed Wireless Access continues to grow and transform broadband access, this masterclass teaches operators how to maximize the return on investment for these technologies. GSMA Intelligence gives insight into the results of its detailed business analysis of Fixed Wireless Access, including comparisons with alternatives, and addressing ever-growing customer and soci...

We wrote about  Futuristic Glass Antenna by NTT Docomo and AGC back in 2019. It's good to see the partnership continue with this new announcement about use of metasurface lens to enhance radio signal reception indoors.  Metamaterials is one of the focus areas of 6G as highlighted here . Samsung's 6G Vision whitepaper explains it as follows: A metamaterial is usually constructed by arranging multiple tunable elements (PIN diodes, varactor diodes, etc.) in repeating patterns, at scales that are smaller than the wavelengths. Its precise shape, geometry, size, orientation, and arrangement enable smart properties capable of manipulating electromagnetic waves, e.g., blocking, absorbing, enhancing, or bending waves, to achieve benefits that go beyond what is possible with conventional materials. In addition, each element constituting a metamaterial can be controlled independently to achieve desirable characteristics of the electromagnetic waves such as the direction of propagati...

Back in summer, Telecom Infra Project (TIP) published a Playbook for Smart Cities. For people who may not understand, you can think of a Playbook as a case study but playbook is much more than case study. A case study shows how a company did something but it may not be relevant for anyone else or any scenario. If a scenario is repeatable then a playbook can be created with a complete process, workflows, procedures, communication needs, strategies, etc. Other companies can then follow the playbook to provide similar results and outputs. The Executive summary of the playbook states : This playbook is an output of the Smart City Connectivity sub-group within the Telecom Infra Project (TIP) mmWave Networks Project Group. It’s the result of a collaboration between TIP Members —operators, infrastructure providers, system integrators, and equipment vendors—to provide guidance to key audiences (especially municipalities) about the deployment of communication services at the street level. Coll...

I wrote a detailed blog on The 3G4G Blog late last year about what IAB is and what will be available this year as part of Release-16 and what enhancements are planned as part of Release-17. It's available here . In the Ericsson Technology Review last month, there is a short section on IAB which is reproduced below for anyone wishing to dig deep into this topic: IAB provides an alternative to fiber backhaul by extending NR to support wireless backhaul. As a result, it is possible to use NR for a wireless link from central locations to distributed cell sites and between cell sites. This can simplify the deployment of small cells, for example, and be useful for temporary deployments for special events or emergency situations. IAB can be used in any frequency band in which NR can operate. However, it is anticipated that mm-wave spectrum will be the most relevant spectrum for the backhaul link. Furthermore, the access link may either operate in the same frequency band as the backh...