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Private Networks

How are private networks transforming industry?

With established use cases like computer vision and autonomous guided vehicles bringing major efficiencies to key verticals like manufacturing and logistics, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. Senior Director of Technology Xiaoxia Zhang lays out the long-term vision of digital transformation as bolstered by private networks. During an interview at Mobile World Congress 2023, Zhang discusses the importance of precise positioning and RF sensing, and also talks through the idea of adaptive operations designed to evolve with a private network deployment.

Private 5G and Wi-Fi network innovations

Private 5G and Wi-Fi networks are key in the push to Industry 4.0 and the benefits that come from technology-enabled industrial efficiencies. During Mobile World Congress 2023, Qualcomm highlighted its advancements in this space. With the Qualcomm Edgewise Suite, intelligent scheduling can boost private 5G network efficiency, and multiple Wi-Fi access points can synchronize over the air – a world first – for major throughput gains with Multi-Access Point joint transmission. The first demo shows how industrial and enterprise operators of private 5G networks can benefit from adaptive RAN operations to adapt their network’s configuration for diverse applications and network conditions. The next demo shows how intelligent scheduling in a disaggregated and virtualized private 5G network platform with open interfaces can yield more accurate channel estimation and interference prediction with AI/ML  and make for a more efficient 5G private RAN capable of accommodating more 5G devices. In the final demonstration, Wi-Fi network performance is improved with joint transmission technology in a live Wi-Fi testbed using over-the-air synchronization for joint transmissions from multiple access points to multiple clients for significant gain in throughput.

5G precise positioning and RF sensing

Qualcomm demonstrates the complementary nature of precise positioning and high-res RF sensing which has significant implications in the context of 5G for a vector of digital transformation and support for the Internet of Things. Precise positioning provides more location awareness and accurate navigation even in challenging radio environments. Working with China Unicom and ZTE, Qualcomm showed centimeter-level positioning in complex industrial facilities. Building on precise positioning, RF sensing uses changes in radio propagation to detect and track device-free objects.

Wide-area 5G IoT evolution

In demos at Mobile World Congress 2023, Qualcomm showcased how the Internet of Things coupled with 5G Advanced can extend network coverage and deliver more accurate positioning for narrow bandwidth IoT devices. The first demo shows that device mesh networking could extend coverage for low-power IoT devices, as well as providing a timing source in the absence of line-of-sight to GPS satellites. The second demo examines how multi-cell downlink angle of departure (DL-AoD), a device-based positioning technique, can deliver cost-efficient, low-power, and wide-area positioning for narrowband 5G devices like wearables and IoT sensors.

 

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