ITU to study network standardization for 5G

NEW DELHI: International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has established a new Focus Group to identify the network standardization requirements for the ‘5G’ development of International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT).

The network studies will be hosted by ITU’s Standardization Sector (ITU-T), benefiting from the strength of ITU-T standardization in wireline communications.

These 'IMT-2020' systems will enable wireless communication to match the speed and reliability achieved by fiber-optic infrastructure. The potential application fields of IMT-2020 systems, in addition to voice and video, span from healthcare to industrial automation, virtual reality, automated driving, and robotic systems controlled with an imperceptible time lag.

One-millisecond end-to-end latency is necessary for technical systems to replicate natural human interaction with the environment, a goal that experts say should be within reach of future networks, a statement said.

In 2012, ITU established a program on International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) for 2020 and beyond, which provides the framework for IMT-2020 research and development worldwide. ITU’s Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) is coordinating the international standardization of IMT-2020 systems.

"Air interfaces and radio access networks are progressing rapidly, but there is a need to devote more attention to the networking aspects of IMT-2020. Wireline communications will transform significantly in support of IMT-2020, and the coordination of ITU’s standardization and radiocommunication arms will ensure that the wireline and wireless elements of future networks develop in unison,” said ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao.

“Following on from the successful development of IMT-2000 and IMT-Advanced, the standards for all of today's 3G and 4G mobile systems, the work to be carried out by ITU-T on the network aspects will be an important complement to the activities undertaken by ITU-R in developing the radio interface standards for IMT-2020,” said Director of the ITU Radiocommunications Bureau, François Rancy.

"5G will power a wide range of new user experiences, but the bottleneck remains the speed of the network. Everyone in the ICT ecosystem needs to work together. This is the most important condition for us to realize 5G, and this is the reason Huawei is contributing to ITU’s efforts to consider what the road to 5G demands of all parts of the ecosystem,” said Head of 5G Research and Development at Huawei, Wen Tong.

The Focus Group, which is open to participation by any interested party, will provide the launching point for ITU-T’s contribution to IMT-2020 standardization. The group will follow an intensive work plan to complete its study prior to the December meeting of ITU’s standardization expert group responsible for future networks, cloud computing and network aspects of mobile communications.

IMT-2020 research and development is underway in a wide range of industry and public sector bodies. The Focus Group’s scope of activity will be concentrated in identifying the standardization needs of the wireline elements of 5G networks, building on an analysis of IMT-2020 studies being undertaken by other entities.