As we build out 5G infrastructure and applications, with more connected devices and data than ever before, we must all do everything we can to build and operate trusted, reliable networks that minimize our exposure to cyberattacks and espionage. The question, as ever, is how. TIA CEO Dave Stehlin calls for the use of industry-driven standards and programs to protect the security of the supply chain.
Judging by the amount of traffic many people face on their morning commutes, anticipating demand and traffic flow is often the greatest stumbling block. My daily commute to work is a prime example: I’m stuck in the traffic on a six-lane highway where it converges into just two lanes ahead. As the car inches forward each time, I find myself repeating in my head “Who designed this highway?” Clearly, I didn’t think this was the most brilliant approach to improve traffic flow. Data center managers go through similar thinking processes when designing the network. The design stage is critical; it practically decides the outcome of a project, and most importantly, whether the investments are fully maximized.
The rollouts for 5G will be expensive, but analytics and machine learning can help operators plan their 5G rollouts in the most effective and customer-centric ways. Here are three ways how: Troubleshooting 5G network performance; Scheduling beamforming in massive MIMO networks to maximize capacity and coverage investments; and improving the positioning of indoor base stations.
In a mere four years, more than one billion users will rely on 5G. The emerging fifth-generation broadband network promises speeds at least seven times faster than the average 4G LTE browsing experience. While the average 4G browsing speeds run at an average of 56 Mbps, 5G would bump speeds up to 490 Mbps. That increased speed and powerful connection means big things for businesses seeking to pull off competitive digital transformations. But a broader, faster network also brings greater risk. Cybercriminals are always on the lookout for new, sophisticated ways to attack, so they’ll naturally take advantage of 5G’s promise.
For the electrical contractor, the promise of IoT could be fully unleashed with 5G. The real game changer will be sensor density, potential installation transmitters and supportive technologies such as 5G distributed antenna systems (DAS). The construction site could also be enhanced when 5G hot spots emerge. Think of how low latency and high bandwidth could upgrade the performance of AR goggles, perhaps working with BIM on site and back at the office, and other wireless and mobile tech.
Hargray Fiber will provide the critical infrastructure at Curiosity Lab at Peachtree Corners, a 5G Smart City incubator. Throughout Curiosity Lab, Hargray’s fiber optic-cable will serve as the key infrastructure backbone, with all services using or connected to the lab’s network benefiting from Hargray’s efficient, seamless transfer of data.
Digital transformation is coming to a warehouse near you. In fact, it may already be in place. Consider this: there were 4,000 robotic warehouses in operation worldwide last year. By 2025, four million commercial robots will be at work in 50,000 warehouses across the globe, forecasts say. That’s a 12-fold increase in the span of just six years. The key to the success for a smart warehouse? Not the robots. Or the management systems. It’s connectivity that is making the industrial internet of things (IIoT) a reality on a massive scale. 4G LTE and 5G networks are up to the task.
In this interview with TIA’s Harry Smeenk, reviews how TIA has taken 5G and IoT, and network evolution and next-generation networking, and put them into use-case examples for edge data centers and smart buildings.
A growing number of operators recognize that the network efficiency brought about by automation is integral to their ability to manage the complexity of 5G. This is especially true with heterogeneous equipment meant to deliver end-to-end services. An early example is Vodafone, which increased its network optimization speeds by a staggering 45,000 percent by implementing AI-enabled augmented engineering.
Verizon has installed 5G Ultra Wideband service in Corning’s fiber optic cable manufacturing facility in Hickory, NC. Corning will use Verizon’s 5G technology to test how 5G can enhance functions such as factory automation and quality assurance in one of the largest fiber optic cable manufacturing facilities in the world. The companies are also working together to co-innovate new 5G-enabled solutions that can potentially revolutionize the way goods and services are produced.
