EU-JapanprojectRAPID5Gbrings5GtothepublicVeryrecently,inJuly2017,theRAPID5G(www.rapid-5g.eu)projectdemonstratedthefirstpubliclyaccessiblelivedemonstrationofits60GHz5Gtechnology.

Oneofthekeyusecasesofthenext,i.e.the5th,mobilegenerationisenhancedmobilebroadband(eMBB),whichisdrivenbytheconsumers‘everincreasingusageofmobiledata.TheRAPID5GconsortiumhasidentifiedthekeyperformanceindicatorsrequiredtosupporteMBBandtoprovidebestuserexperienceandhighestdataratesincrowdedareas.

OnJuly12th,RAPID5Gdemonstrateditsnew5Gtechnologyforthefirsttimeinapublicspaceunderreal-lifeconditions.ThedevelopedRAPID5GmobileenvironmentenablesinteroperabilitybetweenheterogeneousmobiletechnologiesincludingLTE,WiFiand60GHz5G.Thereby,allmobiletechnologiesaresupportedbyacentralizedfiber-opticfronthaulnetwork.InadditiontoeMBB,theRAPID5Gsystemalsosupports“hotspot”usecasesallowingusersindenseareastodownloadmultimediacontentorprovidingwirelessconnectivitye.g.forvirtualreality(VR)glasses.

Interoperabilityisanimportantfeature,asthenew5Gtechnologycannotjustreplacelegacysolutions,buthastocoexistwitholdermobilegenerations.RAPID5GusesmobileIPtechniquestoenhanceuserexperiencebyprovidingseamlesshandoverbetweenthedifferentwirelesstechnologies.Inthepublicshowcase,themobileIPhomeagentautomaticallyswitchesthedatatraffictothebestavailableservicebetweenWiFi,LTEand60GHz5G.Thisway,connectionlossispreventedanddowntimeduetonetworkregisteringisvastlyreduced.

Forthepublicshowcase,theBlueCityshoppingmallinWarsawhasbeenconnectedtoaremotedatacenterusinga11kmlongdarkfiber.Intheshoppingmall,adistributedantennasystemisemployedtoprovideconnectivitybetweentheserverroomoftheshoppingmallandthevariousantennassitesinthepublicareaoftheshoppingmall.ForbeingabletoproviderealLTEtraffictothecustomers,theRAPID5GconsortiumhasbeensupportedbyamajorPolishtelecomoperatorwhoprovidinganLTEbasestation.

Duringtheshowcase,horizontalhandoverbetweenWiFi,LTE,and60GHz5Gaswellasverticalhandoverbetweendifferent5Gcellswasshowntocustomersandjournalists.WhenthemobileuserisconnectedtotheRAPID5G5Gtechnology,thedownloadratecouldbeincreasedtobeyond800Mbit/s.ItisimportanttomentionthattheemployedRAPID5G60GHztechnologyprovidesbeam-steering,i.e.the60GHzantennaishighlydirectiveandthebeamcanfollowtheuser.

Inaddition,theRAPID5Gconsortiumhasdevelopedthetechnologyfora5G60GHzvideohotspotsupportingcellcapacitiesbeyond6Gbit/s.Inthepublicshowcase,thehotspotinfrastructureprovidedsmallcellcoveragetomultipleusersusingsteerableanddirective60GHzbeams,e.g.fordownloadingmultimediacontentorstreaminguncompressedreal-timevideos.Otherapplicationsofthishotspottechnologyincludewirelessaccesse.g.intrains,airportsorothercongestedindoorareasaswellaswirelessconnectivitye.g.toTVscreens(wirelessbeamer)orvirtualrerality(VR)glasses.Duringtheshowcase,thecustomersandjournalistscouldexperiencean8K360°VRheadsetthatwasconnectedwirelesslyviatheRAPID5G60GHzmobileservice.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 643297.

TheRAPID5GconsortiumTheRAPID5GconsortiumconsistsoffiveEuropean(UniversitätDuisburg-Essen,Exatel,Corning,Siklu,andUniversityKent)andsixJapanese(UniversityOsaka,Hitachi,ENRI,DoshishaUniversity,CRIEPI,andKODEN)academicandindustrialpartners(www.rapid-5g.eu),whicharededicatedtothefutureofmobile5Gcommunicationsnetworks.TheprojectisjointlycoordinatedbyProf.Dr.AndreasStöhrfromUniversityDuisburg-Essen,GermanyandProf.Dr.HiroshiMuratafromOsakaUniversity,Japan.

TheRPAID5GtechnologyisshowcasedinashoppingmallinWarsaw,EuropeandafootballstadiuminOsaka,Japan.

SchematicillustrationoftheRAPID5Ginfrastructureinstalledintheshoppingmalltoprovideheterogeneous(WiFi,LTE,and60GHz5G)mobileservicesaswellasa5Ghotspot.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 643297.

Accesspoint(AP)installationsforWiFi,LTEand60GHz5GinthecellingoftheBlueCityshoppingmall.

MichalSzesnyfromEXATEL,explainingtheRAPID5GtechnologytopublicandinvitedjournalistsintheBlueCityshoppingmallinWarsaw,Poland.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 643297.

Customerexperiencing8K360°VRstreamingsupportedbytheRAPID5Ghotspottechnology.

MasonLange,MatthiasSteeg,MichałKościeszaandAndrzejSzczypawka(fromlefttoright)fromUDEandExatelshowingRAPID5G’sover800Mbit/smobiledatarateintheshoppingmall.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 643297.