Non-public networks (NPN) - Private Networks by another name

3GPP TS 22.261, Service requirements for the 5G system; Stage 1 gives a definition of non-public network which is simply defined as 'a network that is intended for non-public use'. Section 6.25 provides more info

Non-public networks are intended for the sole use of a private entity such as an enterprise, and may be deployed in a variety of configurations, utilising both virtual and physical elements. Specifically, they may be deployed as completely standalone networks, they may be hosted by a PLMN, or they may be offered as a slice of a PLMN.

In any of these deployment options, it is expected that unauthorised UEs, those that are not associated with the enterprise, will not attempt to access the non-public network, which could result in resources being used to reject that UE and thereby not be available for the UEs of the enterprise. It is also expected that UEs of the enterprise will not attempt to access a network they are not authorised to access. For example, some enterprise UEs may be restricted to only access the non-public network of the enterprise, even if PLMN coverage is available in the same geographic area. Other enterprise UEs may be able to access both a non-public network and a PLMN where specifically allowed.

The requirements section is interesting too:

• The 5G system shall support non-public networks.
• The 5G system shall support non-public networks that provide coverage within a specific geographic area.
• The 5G system shall support both physical and virtual non-public networks. 
• The 5G system shall support standalone operation of a non-public network, i.e. a non-public network may be able to operate without dependency on a PLMN.
• Subject to an agreement between the operators and service providers, operator policies and the regional or national regulatory requirements, the 5G system shall support for non-public network subscribers:
• access to subscribed PLMN services via the non-public network;
• seamless service continuity for subscribed PLMN services between a non-public network and a PLMN;
• access to selected non-public network services via a PLMN;
• seamless service continuity for non-public network services between a non-public network and a PLMN.
• A non-public network subscriber to access a PLMN service shall have a service subscription using 3GPP identifiers and credentials provided or accepted by a PLMN.
• The 5G system shall support a mechanism for a UE to identify and select a non-public network.
• NOTE: Different network selection mechanisms may be used for physical vs virtual non-public networks.
• The 5G system shall support identifiers for a large number of non-public networks to minimize collision likelihood between assigned identifiers.
• The 5G system shall support a mechanism to prevent a UE with a subscription to a non-public network from automatically selecting and attaching to a PLMN or non-public network it is not authorised to select.
• The 5G system shall support a mechanism to prevent a UE with a subscription to a PLMN from automatically selecting and attaching to a non-public network it is not authorised to select. 
• The 5G system shall support a change of host of a non-public network from one PLMN to another PLMN without changing the network selection information stored in the UEs of the non-public network.

I think it's like M2M (Machine-to-Machine) that is used commonly by the industry but the term used in 3GPP standards are MTC (Machine Type Communications)

— Zahid Ghadialy (@zahidtg) May 6, 2019

5G ACIA (5G Alliance for Connected Industries and Automation), a Working Party of ZVEI (German Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers’ Association) published a White Paper on '5G Non-Public Networks for Industrial Scenarios'.

This paper describes four industrial (IIoT) deployment scenarios for 3GPP-defined 5G non-public networks. The paper also considers key aspects, in particular service attributes that can help to highlight the differences between these scenarios. In contrast to a network that offers mobile network services to the general public, a 5G non-public network (NPN, also sometimes called a private network) provides 5G network services to a clearly defined user organisation or group of organisations.

The PDF of the white paper is available here.

Webinar: Where Edge Meets Cloud by Dean Bubley

Dean Bubley, Outspoken Telecoms & Mobile Industry Analyst, Consultant & Chair/Speaker on Networks, Wireless, Internet, AI & Futurism (as stated in his LinkedIn profile), recently did a webinar on Edge computing for Apis Training. The video recording is available online and embedded below.

Couple of things worth highlighting (but do listen to the webinar, it's got lots of interesting stuff) is as shown in the picture above and below. One of the benefits of Edge is Low latency. If that is the driver then you need to know where your Edge should be because latency will be affected based on the location. Another important point worth remembering is how many Edge-compute facilities can you afford. Latency & the number of facilities are linked to each other so worth thinking about in the beginning as it may not be straightforward to change later.

Anyway, here is the recording of the webinar.



Related post:

• Can Augmented & Mixed Reality be the Killer App 5G needs?

Evolution of Security from 4G to 5G

Dr. Anand Prasad, who is well known in the industry, not just as CISO of Rakuten Mobile Networks but also as the Chairman of 3GPP SA3, the mobile communications security and privacy group, recently delivered a talk on '4G to 5G Evolution: In-Depth Security Perspective'.

3GPP 5G Security via @3GPPLive - https://t.co/1r6xrpg1y0 #NewRadio #NR #NSA pic.twitter.com/AzRSB6347V

— Zahid Ghadialy (@zahidtg) August 9, 2018

The video of the talk is embedded below and the slides are available here.



An article on similar topic by Anand Prasad, et al. is also available on 3GPP website here.


Related posts and articles:

• The 3G4G Blog: Everything you need to know about 5G Security
• Security in Mobile Cellular Systems - 3G4G
• A Security Architecture for 5G Networks - IEEE Access
• Security Aspects of Network Capabilities Exposure in 5G - NGMN
• New security challenges in IMS networks - Orange
• 5G and IoT Security Update from ETSI Security Week 2018 - The 3G4G Blog
• 5G Security Updates - March 2018 - The 3G4G Blog
• Introduction to 3GPP Security in Mobile Cellular Networks - The 3G4G Blog

Wi-Fi 6 (a.k.a. 802.11ax) and other Wi-Fi enhancements

Last year I wrote about how Wi-Fi is getting new names. 802.11ax for example, the latest and greatest of the Wi-Fi standards is known as Wi-Fi 6. There were many announcements at MWC 2019 about WiFi 6, some of which I have captured here.

I came across a nice simple explanatory video explaining Wi-Fi 6 for non-technical people. Its embedded below.


The video is actually sponsored by Cisco and you can read more about Wi-Fi 6 and comparison of Wi-Fi 6 and 5G on their pages.

At MWC19, Cisco was showing Passpoint autoconnectivity on Samsung Galaxy S9, S9+ or Note 9 device. According to their blog:

Together, we’re working to provide a better bridge between mobile and Wi-Fi networks. At Mobile World Congress in Barcelona we’ll show the first step in that journey. Anyone using a Samsung Galaxy S9, S9+ or Note 9 device (and those lucky enough to have an early Galaxy S10) over the Cisco-powered guest wireless network will be able to seamlessly and securely connect – without any manual authentication. No portal, no typing in passwords, no picking SSIDs, no credit cards — just secure automatic connectivity.  How?  By using credentials already on your phone, like your operator SIM card.  Even if your operator doesn’t currently support Passpoint autoconnectivity, your Samsung smartphone will!  As a Samsung user, you already have an account for backups and device specific applications. This credential can also be used for a secure and seamless onboarding experience, supporting connectivity to enterprise, public and SP access networks.

It's worth mentioning here that the WPA2 authentication algorithm is being upgraded to WPA3 and we will see broad adoption this year, in conjunction with 802.11ax. See the tweet for details

WPA2 is being upgraded to WPA3 and we will see broad adoption this year, in conjunction with 802.11ax #Privacy #Security - slides from @RSAConference #RSCA2019 - https://t.co/gXYu9rlomX - via @avrilsalterUSA pic.twitter.com/BnpwAD4Fkb

— 3G4G (@3g4gUK) March 31, 2019

Broadcom announced their new BCM43752, Dual-Band 802.11ax Wi-Fi/Bluetooth 5 Combo Chip. Motley Fool explains why this is interesting news:

The chip specialist is rounding out its Wi-Fi 6 portfolio to address lower price points.

When Samsung announced its Galaxy S10-series of premium smartphones, wireless chipmaker Broadcom announced, in tandem, that its latest BCM4375 Wi-Fi/Bluetooth connectivity combination chip is powering those new flagship smartphones. That chip was the company's first to support the latest Wi-Fi 6 standard, which promises significant performance improvements over previous-generation Wi-Fi technology.

The BCM4375 is a high-end part aimed at premium smartphones, meaning that it's designed for maximum performance, but its cost structure (as well as final selling price) is designed for pricier devices that can handle relatively pricey chips.

Broadcom explains that the BCM43752 "significantly reduces smartphone bill of materials by integrating [radio frequency] components such as power amplifiers (PAs) and low-noise amplifiers (LNAs) into the device."

The idea here is simple: Since these components are integrated in the chip that smartphone makers are buying from Broadcom, those smartphone makers won't need to buy those components separately.

In the press release, Broadcom quoted Phil Solis, research director at the market research company IDC, as saying that this chip "reduced costs by going down to single core, 2X2 MIMO for Wi-Fi, integrating the PAs and LNAs, and offering flexible packaging options while keeping the same functionality as their flagship combo chip." 

Broadcom explains that this chip is targeted at "the broader smartphone market where high performance and total solution cost are equally important design decisions."

In addition to these, Intel showed a demo of Wi-Fi 6 at 6GHz. Most people are aware that Wi-Fi uses 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz & 60 GHz band. According to Wi-Fi Now:

So why is that important? Simply because 6 GHz Wi-Fi is likely the biggest opportunity in Wi-Fi in a generation – and because Intel’s demo shows that Wi-Fi chipset vendors are ready to pounce on it. The demonstration was a part of Intel’s elaborate Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) demonstration set at MWC.

“When this enhancement [meaning 6 GHz spectrum] to Wi-Fi 6 rolls out in the next couple of years, it has the potential to more than double the Wi-Fi spectrum with up to 4x more 160 MHz channel deployment options,” said Doron Tal, Intel’s General Manager Wireless Infrastructure Group, in his blog here. Doron Tal emphasises that the prospect of including 6 GHz bands in Wi-Fi for the time being realistically only applies to the US market.

Intel also says that a growing number of currently available PCs already support 160 MHz channels, making them capable of operating at gigabit Wi-Fi speeds. This means that consumers will get ‘a pleasant surprise’ in terms of speed if they invest in a Wi-Fi 6 home router already now, Intel says.

It may however take a while before US regulator FCC finally rules on allowing Wi-Fi to operate in the 6 GHz bands. Right now the FCC is reviewing dozens of response submissions following the issuing of the NPRM for unlicensed 6 GHz operation – and they will likely have their hands full for months while answering a litany of questions as to prospective new 6 GHz spectrum rules.

Also an important part of the 6 GHz story is the fact that the IEEE only weeks ago decided that – as far as the 802.11 standards are concerned – only Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) will be specified to operate in the 6 GHz band. That means 6 GHz will be pristine legacy-free territory for Wi-Fi 6 devices.

That brings us to the Wi-Fi evolution that will be coming after 802.11ax. IEEE 802.11 Extremely High Throughput (EHT) Study Group was formed late last year that will be working on defining the new 802.11be (Wi-Fi 7?) standards. See tweet below:

IEEE 802.11be Extremely High Throughput (EHT) is the next generation of Wi-Fi Technology, beyond 802.11ax. One of the interesting enhancements will be that new tech will be able to work from 1GHz to 7.125 GHz. More in this paper: https://t.co/ESs95805d4 pic.twitter.com/QtTMJRHTZG

— 3G4G (@3g4gUK) April 20, 2019

The interesting thing to note here is that the Wi-Fi spectrum will become flexible to operate from 1 GHz to 7.125 GHz. Of course the rules will be different in different parts of the world. It will also have to avoid interference with other existing technologies like cellular, etc.

According to Fierce Wireless, Huawei has completed a global deployment of its enterprise-class Wi-Fi 6 products under the new AirEngine brand. Speaking at the company’s Global Analyst Summit, Huawei said its Wi-Fi 6 products have been deployed on a large scale in five major regions worldwide.

Back at MWC, Huawei was showing off their Wi-Fi 6 enabled CPEs. See tweet below:

@Huawei touting it's broad portfolio of connected devices.

Meet the Huawei's 5G CPE router for Smart Home which drives Wi-Fi 6 with 5G backhaul.
Also include Huawei's HiLink smart home platform for controlling third party smart home devices#MWC19 #ConnectingTheFuture pic.twitter.com/lO7DcVHYbO

— Neil Shah (@neiltwitz) February 24, 2019

Huawei has many different enterprise networking products that are already supporting Wi-Fi 6 today. You can see the details along with whitepapers and application notes here. In addition, the Top 10 Wi-Fi 6 misconceptions are worth a read, available here.

Related Posts: 

• Operator Watch Blog: South Korea's Ministry promotes Wi-Fi 6, says WiFi is like 5G
• Connectivity Technology Blog: IEEE 802.11be Extremely High Throughput (EHT), a.k.a. Wi-Fi 7 

Slides and Videos from the 1st 6G Wireless Summit - March 2019

The first 6G wireless summit was held in Levi ski resort, in beautiful Lapland. According to the report by University of Oulu, 287 participants from 28 different countries spanning all inhabited continents took part. According to the report:

At the Summit, the participants’ were asked to project themselves into the world in 2030, potentially very different from today. As professor Matti Latva-aho, the director of 6G Flagship at the University of Oulu, and the driving force behind the vision of global 6G, puts it: ”The vision for 2030 is that our society is data-driven, enabled by near-instant, unlimited connectivity. We will be facing a growing and ageing population, demands for increased productivity and the need to connect the billions who are not currently connected. We challenged all of the conference attendants, pressing them to consider this future world beyond 5G and the most essential aspects of 6G research -- a decade in advance.”

Peter Vetter, Head of the Access Research at Nokia Bell Labs and a Bell Labs Fellow, took on Latva-aho’s vision for the future. Vetter says that in the future, the network needs to be thought of as a platform that creates network instances for specific environments. Specialized uses can be easily imagined including hospitals, elderly care, traffic and power plants. At the heart of it all is enhancing the human condition, Vetter says. “6G is still ten years and longer out, and I think that this is a consensus among the 6G Summit participants. However, it is time to start the research right now, because it takes 10-20 years before a new innovation sees a commercial launch,” Vetter says.

For wireless revolution to happen, there needs to be a revolutionary communication technology, a revolutionary application of that technology and a whole ecosystem for continued innovation, says Dr. Wen Tong, Head of Wireless Research and Head of Communications Technologies Laboratories at Huawei. “Wireless as a field has plenty of room for innovation. We need a young generation of researchers and an environment that will sustain continued innovation. This is very important, as without the young generation of research leaders the sustainability of the ecosystem will become problematic,” Dr. Tong explains.

Takehiro Nakamura, SVP and General Manager of the 5G Laboratories in NTT DoCoMo brought up the requirements for many future use cases, such as low latency, reliability, massive connectivity etc. and made a point that most of these will be met with 5G. “Then, there will be new combinations of extreme requirements for specific use cases. We need to provide extreme high reliability for a guaranteed quality of service for industry, peak data rates of over 100 Gbps, gigabyte-rate coverage everywhere, and to have everything run at extreme low energy consumption and cost,” Nakamura says. As Nakamura sees it, the future will have high-quality, real-time VR and AR. Massive IoT for anything and anywhere, like satellites in space. Broadband for flying mobility, which will need high coverage and high reliability.

Qi Bi, President of China Telecom Technology Innovation Center and CTO of China Telecom Research Institute thinks that 6G could be a turning point and a real revolution from 5G also in other terms besides technological. Even if we don’t yet know what 6G will be, it is going to be based on past generations and some traits will be there, Dr. Bi says. As far as gauging 6G research today, Dr. Bi says that the Summit was a great event for percolating a lot of ideas.

Some of the hot topics in 5G and in 6G are machine learning and artificial intelligence. Head of Ericsson Research Magnus Frodigh is a big believer in the coming 5G evolution. As networks are Ericsson’s strong point, Frodigh says it will be very interesting to see what distributed AI is going to bring to the game.

You can read the complete report here.

All the slides that were shared, can be downloaded from here.

Finally, embedded below are the videos that have been made available.

Related posts:

• Beyond-5G and 6G at #MWC19
• ITU 'Network 2030': Initiative to support Emerging Technologies and Innovation looking beyond 5G advances

Slides from Parallel Wireless Webinar: 5G at #MWC19

I hosted a webinar for Parallel Wireless* yesterday about all the stuff related to 5G at Mobile World Congress 2019. The slides are embedded below and can be downloaded from BrightTalk here. You can also listen to the webinar there.

Parallel Wireless Webinar: 5G at #MWC19 from Parallel Wireless, Inc.

Related posts:

• Distributed Massive MIMO using Ericsson Radio Stripes
• 5G and Innovation by Latvian MNO LMT
• Beyond-5G and 6G at #MWC19
• Can Augmented & Mixed Reality be the Killer App 5G needs?
• Drones at Mobile World Congress 2019 and my upcoming webinar on 5G at #MWC19

*Full Disclosure: I work for Parallel Wireless as a Senior Director in Strategic Marketing. This blog is maintained in my personal capacity and expresses my own views, not the views of my employer or anyone else. Anyone who knows me well would know this.

Distributed Massive MIMO using Ericsson Radio Stripes

One of the interesting things that caught my attention in MWC 2019 was the Ericsson Radio Stripes.

Emil Björnson explains it nicely in his blog as to how this works.

Distributed MIMO deployments combine the best of two worlds: The beamforming gain and spatial interference suppression capability of conventional Massive MIMO with co-located arrays, and the bigger chance of being physically close to a service antenna that small cells offer. Coherent transmission and reception from a distributed MIMO array is not a new concept but has been given many names over the years, including Distributed Antenna System and Network MIMO. Most recently, in the beyond-5G era, it has been called ubiquitous Cell-free Massive MIMO communications and been refined based on insights and methodology developed through the research into conventional Massive MIMO.

One of the showstoppers for distributed MIMO has always been the high cost of deploying a large number of distributed antennas. Since the antennas need to be phase-synchronized and have access to the same data, a lot of high-capacity cables need to be deployed, particularly if a star topology is used. 
...

For those who cannot attend MWC, further conceptual details can be found in a recent overview paper on Cell-free Massive MIMO. An even more detailed description of radio stripes can be found in Ericsson’s patent application from 2017.

The paper explains the Radio stripe system design and also lists the advantages of such a system:

The radio stripe system facilitates a flexible and cheap cell-free Massive MIMO deployment. Cheapness comes from many aspects: (i) deployment does not require highly qualified personnel. Theoretically, a radio stripe needs only one (plug and play) connection either to the front-haul network or directly to the CPU; (ii) a conventional distributed massive MIMO deployment requires a star topology, i.e., a separate cable between each APs and a CPU, which may be economically infeasible. Conversely, radio stripe installation complexity is unaffected by the number of antenna elements, thanks to its compute-and-forward architecture. Hence, cabling becomes much cheaper; (iii) maintenance costs are cut down as a radio stripe system offers increased robustness and resilience: highly distributed functionality offer limited overall impact on the network when few stripes being defected; (iv) low heat-dissipation makes cooling systems simpler and cheaper. While cellular APs are bulky, radio stripes enable invisible installation in existing construction elements as exemplified in Fig. below. Moreover, a radio stripe deployment may integrate for example temperature sensors, microphones/speakers, or vibration sensors, and provide additional features such as fire alarms, burglar alarms, earthquake warning, indoor positioning, and climate monitoring and control.

According to the Ericsson post:

One of the inventors and researchers behind the concept, Jan Hederén, Strategist at Ericsson 4G5G Development, says: 

"Although a large-scale installation of distributed MIMO can provide excellent performance, it can also become an impractical and costly "spaghetti-monster" of cables in case dedicated cables are used to connect the antenna elements.

To be easy to deploy, we need to connect and integrate the antenna elements inside a single cable. We call this solution the "radio stripe" which is an easy way to create a large scale distributed, serial, and integrated antenna system." Says, also inventors and researcher behind the concept."

This visionary concept is an extension of how to build and enhance the capability of current networks. The Radio Stripe systems offers, so to say, new colors and flavors in how we increase the performance of mobile networks.

The Radio Stripe vision is focused on improvements to the reach and quality of radio connectivity in the access part of the mobile network. It shares all other resources (transport, baseband, management, core) with current mobile solutions.

I am looking forward to reading a lot more about this kind of approach in the future and probably some deployment videos too.

Related post:

• Drones at Mobile World Congress 2019 and my upcoming webinar on 5G at #MWC19

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo



I am running a webinar this week looking at 5G @ MWC 2019 on behalf of Parallel Wireless (#PWTechTrain) . Along with antennas, I plan to talk about lot more things. Register here.

Some interesting April Fools' Day 2019 Technology Jokes

This year April Fools' Day wasn't as fun as the last one, even though it was on Monday. Many tech companies that make effort didn't make one this year. In fact Microsoft went even further and banned any public facing April Fools' pranks. Anyway, here are some of the jokes that I found interesting.

Parallel Wireless 7G Vision
This one was important for me as it features me (Yay!) and also enhanced my video editing skills. Grateful to CW (Cambridge Wireless) for being part of it too.

Parallel Wireless would today like to announces our 7G Vision (#7GVision) - https://t.co/Ffj63NX5F3 - Cambridge Wireless (@cambwireless) will form new Special Interest Group (SIG) to support the 7G Vision with @zahidtg joining the team too. pic.twitter.com/puz3cOoOGn

— Parallel Wireless (@Parallel_tw) April 1, 2019

Video is slightly long but funny hopefully



In short, the focus for the next few years will be do design a 7G logo that can explain the vision and connect with people. Did I mention 7GPPPPP?

"#7G Public Private Political Polling Partnership (7GPPPPP) with many different companies and organizations has also been formed to work on this vision."

Well played @Parallel_tw @cambwireless! ;)#AprilFools https://t.co/Lhxqk2Eifq

— Emanuel Kolta (@EmanuelKolta) April 1, 2019

Google Sssnakes on a map

Google temporarily added a version of the classic game Snakes into its Google Maps app for April Fools’ Day this year.

The company says that the game is rolling out now to iOS and Android users globally today, and that it’ll remain on the app for the rest of the week. It also launched a standalone site to play the game if you don’t have the app.

Jabra Ear bud(dy)

World’s first shared headphone - engineered for shared music moments. The website says:

The headphones come with an ultra-light headband that extends seamlessly to accommodate the perfect fit for every pair of buddies, so you’ll never have to enjoy another music moment alone. The Jabra Earbud(dy)™ comes with a unique Buddy mode that promises a shared music experience that is tailored to suit each person’s preferences. Fans of voice command will be thrilled to know that with just one touch, the Jabra Earbud(dy)™ can connect to dual voice assistant.


T-Mobile Phone BoothE

T-Mobile USA and their CEO John Legere never disappoints. They always come up with something interesting. Here is a video of the prank


From MacRumours:

T-Mobile is again fighting one of the so-called pain points of the wireless industry with the launch of the Phone BoothE, a completely sound-proof and high-tech phone booth that lets T-Mobile customers escape from noisy areas to make their phone calls. Inside the Phone BoothE you can charge your devices, connect to a smart screen called "Magenta Pages" to mirror your smartphone display, and adjust the lighting to take great selfies.

In regards to the name, T-Mobile is taking a shot at AT&T's misleading 5GE label: "The Phone BoothE is an evolution towards the new world of mobility. Like many in the tech and wireless industry today, we decided that by adding an "E" to the name, you would know it's a real technology evolution." 

Although this is an April Fools' Day joke, T-Mobile has actually built the Phone BoothE and deployed them in select locations around New York City, Seattle, and Washington, DC, where anyone will be able to use them. The company on Monday also revealed the T-Mobile Phone BoothE Mobile EditionE, which is more in line with a straightforward April Fools' Day hoax, as it's "literally a magenta cardboard box with a hole in it." 

While the actual site disappeared after April 1, the archived version can be seen here.

X-Ray vision Nokia 9 PureView

UPDATE: Getting ready for go-live! pic.twitter.com/ijsAXz8QhG

— Juho Sarvikas (@sarvikas) April 1, 2019

The Nokia 9 PureView has plenty of cameras on its back, but did you know that the black sensor isn’t a 3D ToF camera but rather an X-Ray sensor? Can be unlocked with the new Nokia X-Ray app in Play Store


"Digi-U" from Ericsson Digital

We announce a new innovation from our @EricssonDigital team - a Digi-ize yourself app called: "Digi-U". This app is available for download to your smart phone and within 10 minutes you will have transformed yourself into a mini-me hologram.

For more: #HappyAprilFoolsDay :-) pic.twitter.com/iCDiU1lHhj

— Ericsson Digital (@EricssonDigital) April 1, 2019

Parallel Wireless Adds AMPS (1G) Capabilities to Their Unified ALL G Architecture

From the press release:

Worlds First Fully Virtualized AMPS (vAMPS) to enable Modernization and Cost Savings

Parallel Wireless vAMPS is compatible with: Total Access Communications Systems (TACS) in the U.K.; Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT) System in Scandinavia; C450 in Germany; and NTT System in Japan, among others, and will allow global operators to modernize their 1G infrastructure. The 1G vAMPS solution is also software upgradable to vD-AMPS, for operators who wish to follow that path.

Truphone foldable SIM (F-SIM) for Foldable Smartphones

From Truphone website:

F-SIM – the foldable SIM – designed especially for the new foldable smartphones and tablets demonstrated at this February’s MWC Barcelona, including Huawei’s Mate X and Samsung’s Galaxy Fold.

Widely tipped as the next generation in SIM technology, the foldable SIM works on minute hinges that allow it to fold smaller than any previous SIM form factor. Made specifically for foldable phones and other devices, Truphone’s latest innovation fulfils on its broader brand promise to engineer better connections between things, people and business—anywhere in the world.

The F-SIM comes in ‘steel grey’ and, for only £5 more, ‘hot pink’. Pricing structures vary depending on data, storage, roaming charges and device model.


Google Screen Cleaner in the Files app




Mother of All USB-C Hubs for Apple Macbook - HyperDrive Ultimate Ultimate Hub

The Mother of All USB-C Hubs for Apple Macbook - HyperDrive Ultimate Hub with built-in battery, speaker, 3.5" floppy disk drive, parallel, serial, PS/2, AT ports & 40 other ports from @Hyper - https://t.co/KpbZflRDcY #AprilFoolsDay #AprilFools2019 #AprilFools pic.twitter.com/xLIGXLcr8G

— 3G4G (@3g4gUK) April 2, 2019

Other funny April Fools jokes:

• Captain Marvel Universal Pager
• Polite Car Horn from Honda Canada
• Duolingo Push
• Shutterstock Announces Plans to Build World’s Largest Brick-and-Mortar Library
• Parody Apple Ad: "The Sound Gardener"
• Audible for Fish
• Logitech Hamsters
• Nissin/HyperX Limited Edition Cup Noodle Headphones
• Roku Press Paws Remote for Pets
• OnePlus Warp Car - Los Angeles to Las Vegas on a single 20 minute charge
• Google Tulip: Decoding the language of flowers
• Introducing Waymo Pet - a self-driving service for pets
• Nvidia R.O.N.: The world's first AI powered virtual gaming assistant.

One of the funniest jokes is Qualcomm's HandSolo that was released back in 1998. You may enjoy watching here.

Related posts:

• Some interesting April Fools' Day 2018 Technology Jokes
• Some interesting April Fools' Day 2017 Technology Jokes
• Some interesting April Fools' Day 2016 Technology Jokes
• Some interesting April Fools' Day 2015 Technology Jokes
• Some interesting April Fools' Day 2014 Technology Jokes

Drones at Mobile World Congress 2019 and my upcoming webinar on 5G at #MWC19

Mobile World Congress featured many different drones for many different purposes and applications. While I wouldn't claim to have seen all or even most of them, I managed to go to the GSMA seminar 'The Internet of the Skies – Connecting Drones'. Key topics of the seminar included:

• The support of safe BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line Of Sight) and autonomous operation of unmanned aircraft (UA)
• The use of mobile connectivity to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of UA, by enabling BVLOS operation, supporting real-time data transmissions from on-board cameras and sensors
• Mobile connectivity requirements for registration and identification, flight planning and approval, the transmission of meteorological information, geo-fencing, geo-caging and tracking

The best thing is that the presentations are available for anyone interested. Link at the bottom of this post. I have embedded some videos from the seminar in the playlist as well.

Interesting to hear about @TelefonicaIoT Antifire drones here at #MWC19 - can help with couple of UN SDG's pic.twitter.com/8J1Ps0ttTl

— Parallel Wireless (@Parallel_tw) February 26, 2019

During the seminar, Telefônica talked about their fire fighting Antifire drones which are helping detect, survey and combat fires before, during and after a fire breaks out.

Turkcell talked about their Dronecell. The 5G connected drone can be used for many different purposes from inspection, photos and videos to providing temporary coverage in case of disasters. One of the interesting use cases was also surveillance (see video). They are also working with a local drone company, see here. For Dronecell they are testing with different vendors like Huawei, Airspan, etc. and also have their own hardware (see pic above).

More drone innovation at #MWC19 from @mansLMT - like the tagline, endless opportunities 👍 pic.twitter.com/7UWMS9fDWP

— Parallel Wireless (@Parallel_tw) February 26, 2019

The Latvian mobile operator Mans LMT talked about how Drones in combination with Sensors and AI can provide endless opportunities. In addition drones can also be used for delivering goods and rescue missions. Finally, LMT with Lufthansa Systems are working on a mobile, connected UTM platform for drone solutions and traffic management (see video below).

A perfect start to second day of #MWC19, bumping into our old colleague Rob Joyce at @ooredoo stand and then getting a virtual ride in 5G aerial taxi. Loved it! pic.twitter.com/GSKyF5Day7

— Zahid Ghadialy (@zahidtg) February 26, 2019

In addition enjoyed a virtual ride in Ooredoo’s 5G-enabled Aerial Taxi. Also happened to bump into Robert Joyce who used to work for Telefonica O2 UK and used to be very active in O2's small cells rollout during 2012 London Olympics. See here, here & here.

Huawei showed SkySite: A Drone with 5G base station & '5G Book' RRU. I blogged about it here.

Saudi Telecom Company (STC) had a drone flight simulator. I didn't see it but tweet below

Vu au #MWC2019 #MWC19 : simulateur de vol en drone #funny #Barcelona pic.twitter.com/OBz1YOmRUz

— bertrand mocquet (@BertrandMocquet) February 28, 2019

There were 10 Catalonian companies showing smart drones. Tweet below

Èxit d’assistència a l’estand Catalonia Smart Drones durant el #MWC19. Hi van participar 10 empreses i entitats del sector #UAV català i una representació dels @mossos i d'@agentsruralscat. https://t.co/drw6pnnkuE pic.twitter.com/uH4ZUl8y9D

— Catalonia Smart Drones (@CataloniaDrones) March 5, 2019

Finally, Samsung Electronics, Cisco and Orange unveiled "A Drone carrying a very low latency, high-quality video system is piloted from the Orange booth at the Fira de Barcelona. The drone, which is located outdoors at an Orange datacenter, carries a 5G router (CPE) that is used to transfer commands to the drone and transmit a high-quality video feed with low latency. At the Orange booth, the pilot can be seen controlling the drone by using a 5G tablet. Aeromedia, a leading drone operator, collaborated in this demo." Sadly, I didn't manage to find this and couldn't see any videos either.


Here is a video playlist of Drones from MWC.

I am also running a webinar next week looking at 5G @ MWC 2019 on behalf of Parallel Wireless (#PWTechTrain) . Along with drones, I plan to talk about lot more things. Register here.


Presentations from "MWC19 Barcelona Seminar: The Internet of the Skies – Connecting Drones" available here.

GSMA IoT contains good amount of information on drones. Link.


Related Posts:

• Drones, More Drones & Droneway
• Drone cells are becoming a reality
• Flying Small Cells are here...
• Turkcell Marks a 'First in the World in 5G' with Domestic Drone Technology
• Macrocells, Small Cells & Hetnets Tutorial

Ultra Reliability: 5x9s (99.999%) in 3GPP Release-15 vs 6x9s (99.9999%) in 3GPP Release-16

We made a tutorial some time back explaining how to calculate reliability and what is the difference between 5x9s in 3GPP Release-15 5G vs 6x9s in 3GPP Release-16. Slides and video below

Beginners: Reliability - 5x9s vs 6x9s from 3G4G

Related posts:

• Updated 5G Terminology Presentation (Feb 2019)
• Prof. Andy Sutton: 5G Radio Access Network Architecture Evolution - Jan 2019
• Theoretical Throughput Calculation of FDD 5G New Radio (NR)
• Can Augmented & Mixed Reality be the Killer App 5G needs?
• What is Industrial IoT (IIoT) and how is it different from IoT?

Mobile Network Infrastructure Sharing in Japan over Electric Power Infrastructure

On the 3G4G Small Cells Blog, I have written about the Autralian operator Telstra trialing small cells on Tasmania’s power poles to fix mobile black spots. This looks like a similar initiative in Japan but at a much larger scale.

KDDI have an announcement in Japanese here but Rakuten has one in English:

TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power COmpany) Power Grid, Incorporated, KDDI CORPORATION, SoftBank Corp. and Rakuten Mobile Network, Inc. announced that the four companies have reached an agreement to collaborate on trials of base station site and equipment sharing utilizing TEPCO PG’s utility poles and other electric power infrastructure, ahead of the introduction of 5th generation mobile communications systems (5G) in Japan. The trials are due to be begin in the first half of FY2019.

5G utilizes high frequency bands in order to enable higher speeds and greater capacity. As a result, the number of base stations required for 5G is expected to be larger than for 4G. The growing number of base stations not only creates difficulties in securing installation locations, but also calls for consideration on the impact too many antennas and other equipment might have on the landscape.

TEPCO PG has been working together with KDDI to explore the shared utilization of utility poles and other electric power infrastructure and base station equipment between mobile network operators, and as preparations are now complete, the companies are set to begin the trials using actual equipment.

The trials, which SoftBank and Rakuten Mobile Network are also set to join, aim to verify the feasibility of location and equipment sharing between mobile network operators. Specifically, the trials will evaluate the equipment, layout, workability, serviceability and the level of radio interference resulting from sharing the antenna for base station installations on utility poles. There are also plans to expand the number of companies participating in the trials to include other organizations planning to utilize 5G in the future.

Sharing utility poles among a number of mobile network operators makes it possible to flexibly build out base stations in urban areas and rapidly launch services in rural areas. It is also expected to address the issue of securing locations for base stations and lowers the impact of base station equipment on the landscape.

Through the trials, TEPCO PG, KDDI, SoftBank and Rakuten Mobile Network aim to reduce the infrastructure construction costs and contribute to the smooth nationwide introduction of 5G.

The picture on the top is from KDDI press release, translated using Google Translate.


Related Posts:

• The 3G4G Blog: Quick tutorial on Mobile Network Sharing Options
• The 3G4G Blog: A practical use of MOCN in ESN

What is Industrial IoT (IIoT) and how is it different from IoT?

We made a tutorial some time back looking at how IIoT is different from IoT using some examples. Slides and video embedded below

Beginners: What is Industrial IoT (IIoT) from 3G4G

Related Links:

• 3G4G: Internet of Things (IoT) and Machine-2-Machine (M2M)
• The 3G4G Blog: M2M vs IoT
• The 3G4G Blog: Bluetooth 5 for IoT
• The 3G4G Blog: 5G New Radio Standards and other Presentations
• The 3G4G Blog: ITU-NGMN Joint Conference on “Licensing practices in 5G industry segments"
• The 3G4G Blog: The business case of densifying LoRaWAN deployments

Update from 3GPP on LTE & 5G Mission Critical Communications

Adrian Scrase, CTO of ETSI & Head of MCC, 3GPP presented an update at BAPCO / CCE 2019 on Public Safety LTE and 5G. His presentation is embedded below.

There has been quite a progress in this area since I wrote my last post on Release-14 here.

This is the list of features that are planned for Release-16. There is also an update on Satellite communications but I will look at it separately in another post. Here are the slides:

Keynote Address: Critical communications standards supporting a multi-vendor and interoperable environment from 3G4G

The presentation can be directly downloaded from 3GPP website here.

Related posts:

• Update on UK's Emergency Services Network (ESN) from #BAPCO2019
• Tutorial on Network In a Box (NIB)
• Summary of 3GPP Release-14 Work Items

Update on UK's Emergency Services Network (ESN) from #BAPCO2019

I have discussed about the UK's Emergency Services Network (ESN) multiple times but I manged to hear about the progress first hand this week. Bryan Clark, ESN Programme Director, Home Office gave a keynote address at BAPCO on Day 2 and the title of his presentation was "2019: The year vision becomes reality"

British APCO or BAPCO Annual Conference and Exhibition 2019 was going to be a big launchpad for the ESN network. The ESN LinkedIn post said "Representatives from ESN and EE will be on hand to discuss coverage and ESN Assure. See an installation of the ESN Gateway solution within a police car, plus a live demonstration showing how ESN coverage can be extended from a vehicle into a building. We’ll also have a ‘Motorola Zone’ where you can watch demos of Kodiak and the ESN self-service portal – and a large touchscreen demo of the Samsung ESN Galaxy"

Bryan started by cracking a joke about people referring to 'ESN' as 'ES When' programme because it has been delayed multiple times. He said straight in the beginning that he going to talk about what the ESN programme is doing now and what comes next.

He started with this short video, embedded below but detailed info available on this LinkedIn post

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So here is a short summary of the talk:

• There are roughly 350,000 customers of this service
• There are 137 separate organizations that will take advantage of this new this new technology. 
• There are couple of vehicles in the display area (pic on the top and video below) and roughly 50,000 vehicles that need to have a kit
• Over 100 aircraft need to have an air network access that currently isn't there. 
• There are nearly 30 direct suppliers to the program and that doesn't include the whole supply chain through each of those suppliers.
• Looking at the coverage, there is a commitment to providing a signal along half a million (0.5 million) kilometers of roads in England, Scotland & Wales. It extends 12 nautical miles out to sea and 10,000 feet in the air right across England, Scotland & Wales.
• In London alone there are over 400 kilometres of tunnels that were actually almost finished cabling out.
• 300 masts are being built as part of the ESN programme to extend services into remote areas.
• EE has extended their network by adding 700 additional masts. 
• Thousands of special locations will need to have effective access to ESN network
• ESN is a large programme so it's hardly surprising that it's very late. It's Bryan's job over the past 10 months to work out how to get it back on track. 
• People are going through quite a detailed review of where ESN has got to in terms of next steps. 
• The programme now has a very clear and approved plan to complete the technical element of the work, most of it should be done by late summer next year.
• One of the first products, Assure, is a way of testing the effectiveness of the network in the field. 
• A demonstration of Push-To-Talk (PTT) on a 4G network will be demoed within 3 weeks.
• This is the first generation end-to-end solution
• Emergency services is critical national infrastructure so any new solution can only replace the legacy once we are absolutely confident that we've got an effective replacement
• Even though the technical piece is quite challenging, when you compare it to the business change that follows, the technical part looks pretty simple. 
• To ensure that everything works effectively operationally, plans are in place but more detailed plans are going to follow in the coming three to four months.
• Individual components are already being tested in the field
• Programme deployment should start by the end of 2019 in terms of having basically completed laying the core components and a clear plan will be in place for how to test in an operational context. 
• The ESN programme is not only responsible for the replacement solution but also for operations to date based on the Airwave contract with Motorola currently
• The number one priority is to provide critical voice communications of sufficient quality that people can rely on in the field and enable them to move away from the TETRA technology that served them so well. So we aren't going anywhere until we've got rock solid critical voice communications. It's our number one priority, simply because people's lives depend on it.

The following are various videos from the ESN demo area. The Gateway device (which is a mobile small cell) is supplied by Parallel Wireless*.



In case you missed BAPCO, Ken Rehbehn, a very well known Industry Analyst who works as a Principal Analyst at Critical Communications Insights and is also Montgomery County Firefighter/EMT, shared his observations and reflections from conference. Very grateful for his interview which is embedded below



Further Reading:

• Building a new critical communications network that keeps you safe - Bryan Clark, Programme Director, Emergency Services Network

Related posts:

• 3G4G Small Cells Blog: Meshing for BYOC (Bring Your Own Coverage)
• The 3G4G Blog: Quick tutorial on Mobile Network Sharing Options
• The 3G4G Blog: A practical use of MOCN in ESN
• The 3G4G Blog: EE's vision of Ultra-Reliable Emergency Network
• The 3G4G Blog: Update from 3GPP on LTE & 5G Mission Critical Communications

*Full Disclosure: I work for Parallel Wireless as a Senior Director in Strategic Marketing. This blog is maintained in my personal capacity and expresses my own views, not the views of my employer or anyone else. Anyone who knows me well would know this.