October 15, 2021

GTI calls for 2.3GHz Band Industry development to speed up

BEIJING, Oct. 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Ever since 4G, 2.3 GHz has been regarded as a golden frequency by global operators. Indeed, 2.3 GHz provides both capacity and coverage, which 5G makes full use of to significantly extend the performance of legacy 4G. In particular, the large channel bandwidth of 2.3 GHz is perfectly aligned to accommodate 5G capacity.

Despite pressure under the global health crisis, the industry behind 2.3 GHz has shown no signs of slowing down over the past year. In fact, it has even accelerated with the launch of several new smartphones supporting 2.3 GHz. With over 70 4G/5G commercial references on 2.3 GHz, it has been forecast that more operators and terminal vendors will take up 2.3 GHz in the near future.

To promote the further development of the 2.3 GHz industry, GTI leads industry partners such as operators and terminal vendors to call for:

1. Accelerate the allocation of TDD 2.3GHz spectrum (2300-2400 MHz) with TDD continuous large bandwidth up to 100 MHz, reduce the deployment cost per bit, and improve user experience across generations.

2. Remove possible barriers of the use of 2.3GHz. The industry is urged to work together to solve the problem of network coexistence and improve spectrum availability.

3. Promote the devices industry chain to make mandatory the support of NR 2.3GHz frequency in 2022, and better support key features such as EN-DC, carrier aggregation, SUL, 1T4R/2T4R SRS Antenna Switching and 80~100 MHz channel bandwidth.

4. Promote efficiently use of TDD 2.3GHz spectrum and accelerate commercial launch by global operators.

Video: https://v.qq.com/x/page/g3301egqnrw.html

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October 15, 2021

Huawei’s Yang Chaobin: Innovation for 5Gigaverse Society

DUBAI, UAE, Oct. 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — During the 12th Global Mobile Broadband Forum (MBBF) 2021, Yang Chaobin, President of Huawei Wireless Solution, delivered a keynote speech titled “Innovation for 5Gigaverse Society”.

“5G is developing rapidly worldwide, with more than 170 networks built and nearly 500 million users developed within two years. As 5G commercial deployment enters a new phase, users need more continuous experience, and industry digitalization poses new requirements on 5G capabilities. Therefore, we believe that the next step is to evolve 5G from hotspot to all-scenario continuous coverage, from Gbps to 5Gigaverse, and from pilot industry to all-industry digitalization, to build a ubiquitous gigabit network and a 5Gigaverse society,” said Mr. Yang.

Changes in user behavior and industry digitization pose higher requirements on 5G. According to the viewing statistics during the sport events held in Tokyo this year, the number of views through mobile devices increased by five times compared with 2012, while the amount of TV watching dropped by 50%. In terms of FWA, the number of users exceeds that of wired users. In addition, the 5G DOU has increased by three times compared with that of 4G as video services grow. Therefore, it is expected that by 2030, mobile networks will carry more traffic than wired networks and become the main bearer of internet traffic. In toB exploration, progress has been made in industry digitalization. 5G has enabled more than 10,000 scenarios in more than 20 industries worldwide. In the future, 5G capabilities will continue to evolve to incorporate fragmented connections in various industries, creating an IoT space with hundreds of billions of connections.

“So, a macro-pole-indoor 3D networking mode needs to be adopted to maximize the value of macro sites by deploying pole sites and indoor products on demand. In this way, we’ll be able to build 5G networks with continuous coverage to enable toB and toC and embrace a 5Ggaverse society,” said Mr. Yang.

Massive MIMO and ultra-wideband maximize macro coverage and capacity. Macro sites account for up to 45% of operators’ investment in network construction. Therefore, how to maximize macro capacity and coverage becomes a top concern. Two years of commercial 5G deployment has proved that the Massive MIMO and ultra-wideband technologies can improve user experience by 10 times and have become the choice of most operators around the world. “Different spectrum requires different strategies customized based on their characteristics. The TDD spectrum featuring high bandwidth and large capacity has weaker coverage compared with low frequency bands and requires coverage improvement, while FDD featuring wide coverage and fragmented spectrum requires capacity improvement. Therefore, we launched a full range of 5G base station products this year to help operators meet these requirements,” said Mr. Yang.

“It has become an industry consensus that Massive MIMO is the right choice for deployment with continuous large-bandwidth TDD bands. For markets with discrete spectrum, Huawei launched Massive MIMO AAU with 400 MHz bandwidth to enable simplified deployment. For markets with limited antenna spaces, Huawei offers BladeAAU that supports simplified single-antenna deployment through the integration of sub-3 GHz and Massive MIMO.” Huawei also released the new 64TRX MetaAAU with improved performance and energy saving.

“Our brand-new MetaAAU introduces the extreme-large antenna array (ELAA) technology and the innovative AHR Turbo solution, marking a new breakthrough in Massive MIMO coverage and energy efficiency. Compared with the traditional AAUs with 192 antenna elements, ELAA features 384 antenna elements and is integrated with the ultra-light integrated array and SDIF technologies to improve both coverage and integration. AHR Turbo, an adaptive high-resolution beamforming algorithm, enables the MetaAAU to be precise, dynamic, and targeted, greatly improving user experience and cell capacity. By now, this product has been put into commercial use in four cities by the three tier-1 operators in China. MetaAAU provides 3 dB better coverage and 30% better user experience compared with 64T, and 6 dB better coverage and 60% better user experience compared with 32T. It allows base stations to achieve the same level of cell edge coverage with a lower transmit power, reducing energy consumption by about 30% compared with traditional AAUs.”

For markets where new TDD bands are not licensed yet, the legacy FDD spectrum can be used to modernize installed bases using the Massive MIMO and ultra-wideband technologies, reducing deployment costs and improving 4G and 5G experience and capacity.

Huawei’s high-power, ultra-wideband 4T4R RRU, unique in the industry, supports three bands (700 MHz, 800 MHz, and 900 MHz; 1.8 GHz, 2.1 GHz, and 2.6 GHz/1.4 GHz) in one box, simplifying multi-band network deployment. It enables full-band and all-RAT dynamic power sharing, improving user experience by 30% and reducing power consumption by 30%. For modernization of legacy spectrum, Huawei launched ultra-high-power, ultra-wideband 8T8R RRU, which is also unique in the industry. This product supports 1.8 GHz and 2.1 GHz bands in one box. It works with the first Hertz platform-based 8T8R native antenna, greatly improving coverage and capacity.

For high-capacity scenarios with limited antenna spaces, Huawei will launch FDD BladeAAU which packs Massive MIMO and the sub-3 GHz full-band antenna in one box this year, enabling simplified deployment of sub-3 GHz sites. The FDD BladeAAU and MetaAAU can be used together to further empower simplified deployment of all frequency bands, enabling Massive MIMO to provide coverage that can match 900 MHz 2T2R. This allows operators to achieve a wide, seamless gigabit experience.

Pole sites extend macro coverage with on-demand simplified deployment for coverage hole fill-up and at hotspots. This is important for mobile networks in streets and residential areas where site acquisition is challenging, as they offer a simple approach to deploy macro sites by leveraging lamp poles and walls. The pole sites must support both TDD and FDD bands to cover both 4G and 5G users. In 2020, Huawei launched a series of simplified solutions, TDD and FDD dual-band EasyMacro 3.0 and BookRRU 3.0, to help operators quickly fill up 5G coverage holes. This year, Huawei released a new pole site product EasyBlink 2.0 to further simplify pole site deployment. The industry’s smallest and lightest AAU product – just 20 L and 10 kg – EasyBlink 2.0 supports 32T32R and uses optimized antenna arrays, lending itself to conveniently improving coverage or capacity in areas such as streets where coverage holes often occur or capacity is limited due to challenging macro deployment.

Huawei provides the industry’s only distributed Massive MIMO solution for 5G indoor ubiquitous Gbps experience. In indoor areas, simplified deployment is crucial for operators to implement multi-RAT and multi-band deployment that can ensure optimal user experience. Huawei’s LampSite solution supports TDD and FDD bands of multiple radio access technologies in one box and supports indoor distributed Massive MIMO. These features enable it to improve network capacity fourfold compared with 4T4R, ensuring indoor ubiquitous Gbps experience. It is the best suited to provide coverage in major indoor areas, such as airports, railway stations, and shopping malls.

Huawei provides a simplified 5GtoB solution for different campus scenarios. In factories and campuses, custom coverage is often required on the macro networks that are used to ensure continuous coverage. LampSite and EasyMacro provide an ideal choice for operators to quickly implement 5G coverage in indoor and outdoor campus areas, respectively. The SUL solution further enables operators to provide Gigabit uplink data speed. Huawei’s 5GtoB solutions also enables operators to conveniently meet the differentiated requirements of different industries in uplink ultra-wideband, high-precision positioning, low latency, and high reliability.

Intelligent engine drives networks to autonomous driving. In this decade, multi-band and multi-standard co-existence will be a major trend. Operators must coordinate macro, pole, and indoor 3D network O&M, meet differentiated experience of toB, toC, and toH users, and maximize network performance with minimized power consumption. This further highlights the urgency of developing intelligent wireless networks. With this in mind, Huawei has launched its intelligent engine, which covers PowerStar 2.0, Capacity Turbo, WTTx Suite, and 5GtoB Suite to promote autonomous driving networks. PowerStar 2.0 introduces intelligence to base stations. It analyzes factors such as coverage, load, and service type and generates energy saving policies to help reduce network energy consumption by 25% while maintaining premium performance. Capacity Turbo implements 3D coordination among macro, pole, and indoor networks through intelligent analysis and decision-making, such as beam measurement, traffic map, and user rate, achieving optimal experience in all scenarios on all frequency bands. As a result, user experience can be improved by more than 30%. The 5G WTTx Suite provides accurate rate evaluation based on user locations and identification and optimization of poor-performing CPEs. It enables operators to determine where services can be provisioned and what user experience should be provided while reducing poor-performing CPEs by 30%. The 5GtoB Suite provides intelligent and precise planning and proactive device/network O&M functions to help enterprises plan toB networks and manage toB QoS. With the 5GtoB Suite, the network planning time for a factory is reduced from more than 40 hours to about 8 hours. In addition, the 5GtoB Suite can be used to quickly locate and rectify faults within 15 minutes.

“Innovation will never stop. The next decade will be a decade of 5G. 5G will continue to evolve and innovate toward 5.5G. We hope to work with global partners to continuously innovate based on user experience and industry requirements to take user experience to new heights while digitally transforming industries.”

The 12th Global Mobile Broadband Forum offers an opportunity for the mobile and adjacent vertical ecosystems to reconnect, rebuild, and reimagine a fully connected, intelligent world. Topics currently under discussion with global partners range from maximizing the potential of 5G, including industry use cases and applications, to advancing the mobile future.

For more information, please visit: https://www.huawei.com/en/events/mbbf2021.

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October 15, 2021

Huawei’s Ma Hongbo: 5Go S.M.A.R.T., Ushering Wireless Networks into the Intelligent and Autonomous Era

DUBAI, UAE, Oct. 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Ma Hongbo, President of Huawei Wireless SingleOSS Product Line, delivered a keynote titled “5Go S.M.A.R.T., Ushering Wireless Networks into the Intelligent and Autonomous Era ” at the 4th Wireless Autonomous Driving Network Industry Forum. The forum was held within the framework of the 12th Global Mobile Broadband Forum. In his speech, Mr. Ma highlighted the importance of network autonomy for 5G operators, predicting five key areas of evolution for wireless networks: Simplified, Maximizing, Agile, Robust, and Thinking (5Go S.M.A.R.T.). These changes will bring about autonomous driving networks featuring automated O&M, ultimate performance, and low carbon footprint.

Figure: Five trends for wireless autonomous driving networks

Operators Focus on Autonomous Driving Networks

Over the past decade, wireless network evolution has brought new opportunities along with increased network OPEX and O&M complexity. With 5G, the mobile communications industry is promoting the concept of autonomous driving networks by integrating wireless networks with intelligence.

During the keynote, Mr. Ma explained that operators are gradually and hierarchically implementing autonomous driving networks as their core strategy. In fact, according to research by TMF Autonomous Networks in 2021, over 80% of the 42 independently interviewed operators believe that they will deploy a large-scale fully autonomous driving network in the next decade.

5Go S.M.A.R.T.: Five Trends for Wireless Autonomous Driving Networks

Wireless autonomous driving networks will integrate both network and site intelligence, developing independent intelligence processes and gradually evolving toward intelligent autonomy.

Trend 1 Go Simplified: Network construction will become more intelligent and simplified throughout its lifecycle. Intelligence will be introduced to sites, facilitating intelligent sensing and simplified site configuration, sort of like adding “eyes” and a “brain”. The intelligence of networks and base stations will collaborate to adapt to a variety of contexts, resulting in network self-configuration and intelligent auxiliary site acceptance. Ultimately, the entire lifecycle of network construction will be simplified.

Trend 2 Go Maximizing: Vertical collaboration will maximize network potential. Intelligence will also be introduced to the air interface, along with using technologies, such as channel graph and scheduling dictionary, for more flexible resource scheduling and spectrum decoupling, maximizing the single-site performance. The network will use 3D beam scheduling and intelligent parameter optimization to maximize performance on all frequency bands. Along with improved performance and experience, the network will balance and maximize network energy efficiency using energy-saving technologies at the site, device, and network layers.

Trend 3 Go Agile: The entire process of 5G services will become more agile. Today, every industry requires better network construction and maintenance than in the past. As such, intelligence will be introduced to the planning, construction, maintenance, and optimization phases of toB networks. This will result in automatic service intent translation, precise intelligent network planning, and proactive service assurance, making 5GtoB service rollout more agile.

Trend 4 Go Robust: 5G networks will become more reliable. Intelligence capabilities, such as fault feature self-learning and intelligent time sequence analysis, will be introduced to implement accurate fault identification and intelligent root cause analysis. This will transform troubleshooting from manual to automatic, implement fault prediction and prevention, transition from passive response to proactive maintenance, enhance network robustness, and ultimately build more reliable 5G networks.

Trend 5 Go Thinking: 5G networks will be able to “think”. Together, site and network intelligence will become the foundation for wireless autonomous driving networks. Base stations will gradually become intelligent, creating digital twins. They will also possess device-pipe federated learning capability to add intelligence to each terminal. The powerful computing capability of the wireless intelligent engine will be able to self-learn and self-evolve using massive network data along with algorithms and models. Finally, wireless networks will essentially be able to think.

Ma Hongbo noted, “Currently, autonomous driving networks in the mobile communications field are at the levels between L2 and L3. To achieve fully autonomous driving networks requires the joint efforts of all industry stakeholders in terms of level criteria, evaluation systems, and application collaboration. Huawei will continue to work with operators and industry partners to innovate S.M.A.R.T. and enable autonomous networks.”

For more information, please visit: https://www.huawei.com/en/events/mbbf2021

About Huawei
Founded in 1987, Huawei is a leading global provider of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and smart devices. We have more than 197,000 employees, and we operate in more than 170 countries and regions, serving more than three billion people around the world.
Our vision and mission is to bring digital to every person, home and organization for a fully connected, intelligent world. To this end, we will drive ubiquitous connectivity and promote equal access to networks; bring cloud and artificial intelligence to all four corners of the earth to provide superior computing power where you need it, when you need it; build digital platforms to help all industries and organizations become more agile, efficient, and dynamic; redefine user experience with AI, making it more personalized for people in all aspects of their life, whether they’re at home, in the office, or on the go. For more information, please visit Huawei online at www.huawei.com or follow us on:
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October 15, 2021

US Donates 9.6 Million Additional COVID Vaccine Doses to Pakistan

The United States announced Friday an additional 9.6 million doses of Pfizer coronavirus vaccine are being shipped to Pakistan through the global vaccine-sharing COVAX initiative.

The shipment brings to more than 25 million the total number of COVID-19 vaccine doses donated by Washington to the Pakistani people, said the American Embassy in Islamabad.

“The United States is proud to partner with Pakistan to get effective, life-saving Pfizer vaccinations into the arms of Pakistanis, and Pakistan has done a great job of distributing our donated vaccines,” U.S. Chargé d’affaires Angela Aggeler was quoted as saying. “This donation comes just in time for young Pakistanis over age 12 to get their first jabs.”

COVID-19 infections are decreasing in Pakistan, with fewer than 1,000 new daily cases reported on average. The government last week eased restrictions on almost all public movement, education activities and businesses across the country of roughly 220 million people.

The latest government data show there have been 1,262,771 confirmed cases of infections, 39,953 of them active, and 28,228 COVID-19-related deaths since the pandemic hit Pakistan.

Officials reported Friday that more than 95 million doses have been administered to Pakistanis, including roughly 1 million in last 24 hours alone, since the national vaccination drive was rolled out in February.

The vaccination campaign has largely relied on Chinese vaccine, but the U.S. donations are helping officials overcome critical shortages of Western-developed anti-coronavirus shots.

“These Pfizer vaccines are part of the 500 million Pfizer doses the United States purchased this summer to deliver to 92 countries worldwide, including Pakistan, to fulfill President [Joe] Biden’s commitment to provide safe and effective vaccines around the world and supercharge the global fight against the pandemic,” the U.S. Embassy noted in its statement.

Washington has also delivered $63 million in COVID-19 assistance to Islamabad.

The COVAX program is co-led by Gavi (the Vaccine Alliance), the WHO (World Health Organization) and CEPI (the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness). The United States is the single largest contributor supporting the initiative toward global COVID-19 vaccine access.

Source: Voice of America

October 15, 2021

US Health Panel Recommends Booster Shot for Johnson &amp; Johnson Vaccine

A panel of U.S. health advisers has recommended the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorize a second shot of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine for anyone who has received the single-dose inoculation.

The panel expressed concerns Friday that Americans who received the shot are not as protected as those who were given a two-dose vaccination from drugmakers Pfizer or Moderna.

Last month, the FDA authorized a third booster shot for the Pfizer vaccine for seniors as well as adults who are at high risk for COVID-19. On Thursday, the FDA advisory panel recommended a similar course of action for Moderna boosters, except using lower doses.

Johnson & Johnson is the only COVID-19 vaccine approved in the United States that is only one dose. Initially, it was hailed for its ability to take effect quickly, but soon ran into concerns that it led to a rare blood clot disorder and a neurological disease called Guillain-Barre syndrome. It is now facing criticism that it is less effective than rival brands.

Only about 15 million Americans received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine out of 188 million Americans who are fully vaccinated.

In other developments Friday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it would accept mixed-dose coronavirus vaccines from international travelers. It has said it would allow travelers to have received any vaccine authorized for use by the FDA or the World Health Organization.

Earlier in the day, the White House said it would lift COVID-19 travel restrictions for international travelers who are fully vaccinated on Nov. 8.

In France, health officials ended a policy Friday of allowing free COVID-19 tests for everyone in an effort to persuade people to get vaccinated. Now, only those who have been vaccinated, who have a prescription from a doctor, or minors will be allowed to take free tests while others will have to pay.

Health ministry data Friday showed COVID-19 cases are on the rise in the country, with 6,099 new cases up from last Friday’s 4,470 cases.

South Africa said Friday it would start vaccinating children between the ages of 12 and 17 next week using the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. The government is trying to meet a goal of vaccinating 70% of the adult population by December.

Pfizer and its partner BioNTech said Friday they have submitted data to the European Union’s regulatory agency to approve their coronavirus vaccine for children ages 5-11. The companies have already taken a similar step with U.S. regulators.

In Italy, officials made health passes mandatory for all workers Friday. The passes must show proof of vaccination, a negative test or recent recovery from infection in order to work.

Scattered demonstrations were held across the country to protest the new rules, including 6,000 protesters in the northeastern port of Trieste.

And in Russia, the coronavirus task force said the daily number of new coronavirus infections and deaths surged to another record Friday. It reported 32,196 new confirmed coronavirus cases and 999 deaths in the previous 24 hours.

Source: Voice of America

October 15, 2021

Canada Sees Benefits from Delaying Second COVID Vaccine Dose

Recent studies indicate Canada’s decision to extend the interval between the first and second doses of COVID-19 vaccines can actually lead to increased resistance to the virus. It also finds mixing the brand and type of doses gives better protection.

The decision by Canadian authorities to immunize as many people as possible with any available dose of COVID-19 vaccine, then extending the time until administering the second dose, appears to be paying off.

Recent data compiled by the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control and the Quebec National Institute of Public Health also show the strategy of using the first available vaccine for a second dose, even if not the same brand as the first, actually increased effectiveness and saved lives.

Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca all recommend 21-28 days between the two shots. Canada’s experience suggests protection is even stronger after a six-week interval.

For the Pfizer vaccine, this effectiveness went from 82% after a three- to four-week interval, to 93% when the booster, or secondary dose was given after four months.

The study also finds two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine gave less protection than the mRNA vaccines of Pfizer and Moderna. However, those who received an mRNA as a booster dose have the same protection as if they had two of the same, even if their first dose was AstraZeneca.

All three vaccines were found to be more than 90% effective in keeping recipients out of the hospital for COVID-19.

Throughout the pandemic, Dr. Bonnie Henry, the provincial health officer for the Canadian province of British Columbia, has encouraged first doses to be administered as quickly as possible — and not to worry whether the second dose is from a different vaccine.

Overall, she said, Canada’s experience could provide insights for the rest of the world.

“We don’t want countries to have to hold doses back or wait for manufacturers to be able to give people the full protection they need when they’re seeing outbreaks in other countries — and we saw this in India, for example,” she said. So it is really important globally that we’re able to use whatever vaccines are available to support people to have good protection.”

Joan Robinson, a pediatric infectious disease doctor and professor at the University of Alberta and Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton, said increasing the time between the doses can be good for the long term in areas with stable or low coronavirus levels.

However, Robinson said, there is one downside for the short term, especially in areas where there are high concentrations of COVID-19 cases.

“So the delay between the doses during the time between your first and second dose, you’re much more likely to get COVID than if you had got this second dose earlier,” she said. “Certainly with the delta variant, one gets the impression that one dose may be less effective.”

The findings of researchers in British Columbia and Quebec, which are thousands of kilometers apart, are almost identical.

This most recent Canadian data have not been widely published or peer reviewed, but researchers released the information early to make it available globally as soon as possible.

Source: Voice of America