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China gets world’s first 5G-powered rail station in Shanghai

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China gets world’s first 5G-powered rail station in Shanghai
By Chen Qingqing in Shanghai Source:Global Times Published: 2019/2/18 21:13:39
Despite US-led campaign, Chinese firms lead in commercialization: analysts
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5G moved from hype to reality on Monday in China. Thanks to that reality, passengers at the Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station can soon enjoy ultra-fast mobile networks, where downloading a high-definition movie will only take 20 seconds.

They can also enjoy other 5G-backed services from seamless virtual reality gaming experiences to ordering a can of soda from a robot.

Chinese telecom carrier China Mobile Shanghai, along with Huawei Technologies, demonstrated how the railway station of the future will look on Monday at the Hongqiao Railway Station, which is one of Asia's biggest railway hubs in terms of passenger throughput.

By installing a 5G digital indoor system (DIS) provided by Huawei, the station became the world's first railway station to install 5G DIS, with the aim of achieving deep indoor 5G coverage within the whole station by the end of 2019. This development is also seen as a key milestone in 5G commercial deployment across the city, setting an example for 5G deployment nationwide, industry representatives said.

Empowered by Huawei's DIS for indoor 5G networks, the peak speed could reach 1.2 gigabits per second, representing super-fast speed.

The 5G railway stations of the future will meet passenger demand for high-speed connectivity and mobile payments anytime and anywhere. They will also support services including 4K HD video calling and multi-way ultra-HD video uploading.

This is the first 5G DIS application worldwide, which will set an example for other scenarios in China and help carriers maximize these applications, Zhou Yuefeng, chief marketing officer of Huawei Wireless Solution, said at the launch event on Monday in Shanghai.

"Globally, China, South Korea and Japan are now leading in 5G commercialization. The advantage that China has is the huge market scale and potential," Zhou told the Global Times.

Moving ahead

The hallmark event on Monday also had a significant meaning in that a US-led well-organized geopolitical campaign has not stopped Chinese firms and carriers from moving ahead in 5G development. On the contrary, accumulated investment in information technology and telecoms networks in China has been paying off, analysts said.

"China will act as an important engine to help accelerate the entire industry's growth in 5G evolution, which opens up a new era for the mobile internet and connecting everything," Zhou said.

The Shenzhen-based company has invested more than $2 billion in 5G over the past decade for large-scale commercialization of the next generation of mobile technology. As of mid-January, Huawei had won 30 5G contracts worldwide, shipped 25,000 base stations, and filed 2,570 5G patents.

China has been in a leading position in 5G application, driven by strong policy support and growing 5G patents, Li Zhen, an industry expert at Beijing-based CCID Consulting, told the Global Times on Monday.

"This indoor 5G network solution will inspire more industry representatives to explore new business models, setting an example for 5G commercialization," he said.

The US-led global campaign to ban Huawei from the development of 5G networks also encountered a backlash in Western countries. The British intelligence agency noted that Huawei risks are manageable, which, observers say, shows that the UK has not been successfully persuaded by US politicians to ban equipment provided by the Chinese company.

"Foreign carriers could not avoid Huawei when it comes time to consider cost and operating performance," Xiang Ligang, chief executive of telecom industry news site cctime.com, told the Global Times.

Bright future

The latest 5G indoor networks are built on self-developed technologies, as core equipment such as antennas and chipsets are now internally supplied, according to Huawei.

"South Korea has seen faster speed in its 5G network deployment thanks to Huawei's involvement, as the company is the only supplier that could make shipments of 5G equipment," a source close to Huawei's wireless business told the Global Times.

Turning technical issues into geopolitical discussions will also slow the process of 5G deployment, as some countries like Japan that follow suit by banning Huawei from their 5G networks for security reasons, will lag behind in 5G commercialization, he said.

"This US-led campaign will end up with nothing," Xiang said, noting that evaluation of suppliers will be eventually based on facts and tests.

http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1139289.shtml
 
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参观华为上海全球首个5G火车站

大包科技随笔55分钟前

昨天,上海移动和华为在虹桥火车站启动全球首个5G室内数字系统建设,我也应邀参加了启动仪式。因为不想写太正式的八股文,就在这里谈谈参观的体验和感想。

上海的数字化建设是走在前列的,甚至是超前的。比如虹桥火车站的洗手间都是智能的。

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虹桥火车站成为全球首个5G火车站,要感谢华为上海研究所持续10年投入5G研发(超过20亿美元),华为无线网络首席营销官周跃峰介绍说,上海研究所是华为无线研发的大本营,大家在媒体上听说的华为各种黑科技很多都来自这里。

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火车站这种人流密集的区域,确实是5G商业应用的最佳场所。2019年春节7天,全国移动互联网总流量195.7万TB,同比增长130%。上海虹桥火车站作为春运的枢纽,单日客流突破33万人次,2019年春运期间单日流量突破7000GB,而且明年还会大幅增长。

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在这样的室内环境中,5G带来的更大的容量显然是非常有意义的,而华为厉害的地方在于,升级到5G的过程非常便捷,“线不动,点不增”,不仅施工便利,而且蕴藏着黑科技。

我们知道,5G的频率更高,所以单个点位的覆盖范围就小。

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但是华为根本不用动原来的线和点,就平滑地从4G升级到5G,这就是技术功力的体现了。据了解,一个5G DIS覆盖范围是半径25-30米的范围,整个上海虹桥火车站需要1000个DIS设备。

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这得益于华为DIS架构采用IT线缆,可以长期平滑演进。另外我在现场还问了周总,华为这个DIS系统的自主化程度如何,答案是芯片和天线都是自主研发。不过我不给华为打广告,这里也实事求是,芯片应该是确凿无疑的自主研发,但是天线方面华为的宣传比较模糊,可以肯定天线小型化的矩阵设计是华为的自主创新,但天线技术是不是华为100%自研我还是打一个问号(欢迎打脸),另外射频方面华为没有宣传,应该不是采用自主技术。

无论如何,华为这个DIS头端像换灯泡一样方便,确实是全球首个这样的产品,令人印象深刻。我在虹桥火车站还拍了照片,你能找得到吗?

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根据华为周总展示的材料,华为在进度上确实也是领先,所以这次的“全球首个”实至名归。

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让人伤心的是,中兴看来受到打击的影响还不小的

不过华为这个产品再好,因为5G手机还没有推出,我在现场无法体验到。现场提供的只是把5G信号转换成wifi间接供大家使用,而且出于安全原因只能上12306网站。

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这次重点宣传的5G应用场景,是送餐机器人和VR云游戏。

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下面到了泼冷水时间。前面说过,5G火车站是真实需求应运而生的,是为人流密集的室内环境提供更好的无线上网服务。但是这次展示的应用场景,确实还不够具有说服力。

我相信5G一定能找到更好的杀手级应用,对于中国这样一个有规模优势的国家来说,这真的只是时间问题。我也姑且假定,送餐机器人和VR游戏对于火车站来说是可能存在的需求,就假设真的晚点了乘客想体验一下VR游戏打发无聊吧(VR游戏由于眩晕目前并不适合多数人,但火车站可以定制一些不眩晕的休闲游戏),但问题出在哪里?这几个场景都不是移动的,就好比你在火车站开了一家智能餐厅或者VR影院,这是在固定的小区域内需要网络服务,那么5G和免费的wifi相比究竟优势在哪里?毕竟坐在高铁上都能用wifi了。

这也是我问周总的问题,他的回答是他和同事在家手机都懒得打开wifi了,因为现在4G信号这么便宜。恕我直言,这个回答不太令我满意,大部分中国家庭特别是上海的家庭,室内面积还是比较小的,光纤入户又如此普及,在家不用wifi现在还不现实。

如果是美国家庭那种大house,可能wifi在覆盖上确实不行,对华为来说确实有机会,任正非讲过一段话:“西方实际上就是大农村,就是高等的大农村,因为是别墅群,大规模的别墅群,他们每家每户铺光纤进去,成本很高。这个时候他想看8K的电视,他拿什么看?我们小基站一装,方圆这一片就看了。这个全世界只有华为能做到。”但进入美国市场也不容易,华为不仅要说服美国政府,还要说服那些本质上是农民对高科技毫无兴趣的美国人买8K电视。

当然,现场还有一位上海交大的专家,她的回答我是满意的,她说wifi和5G会是两种服务长期并存,她还指出免费的东西必然有缺点。确实如此,让你接入陌生的wifi你也觉得不安全,这种时候一定有很多人愿意选择付费。这些我都认同,5G本质上是为了获得更好的体验,说一千道一万,上网体验好就是最大的竞争优势,只要做到了这一点,更好的应用一定会产生。

如果在我的设想中,更合理的应用场景不应该是机器人、VR这些属于某一家店的产品,因为这些设备不离开这家店,不移动起来,对移动网络的需求就不强。什么是移动的?还是用户本身,微信、移动支付也是因为手机移动到哪里都需要用,才成为4G的杀手级应用,5G也应当从用户随身随时的需求上寻找痛点。

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现场的5G体验还是扫码连接wifi的方式,比较遗憾,这也说明,目前能想到的场景很可能都不是5G真正的需求。换句话说,5G火车站目前还是有些超前的事物,演示的场景还不合理也完全正常。华为的5G手机马上就要发布了,而真正的5G应用场景出现我相信还需要等几年时间。

最后,还是要小小吐槽一下,演示的机器装的居然是windows xp系统,这个系统很久不更新了,安全上存在巨大漏洞。我一开始就说了,上海在数字化、信息化上走在了前列,但即便在5G火车站这样一个超前的地方,依然透露出我们在扶持国产化系统上决心还是不足。我相信自主软硬件完全能够安全地服务于火车站的日常需求,与5G一样,许多人缺少的恐怕只是相信中国人能够做好的勇气。

(文中部分图片来自华为无线网络首席营销官周跃峰提供的演示文稿,在此致谢)
 
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