Tens of billions of connected devices are said to turn into intelligent and programmable systems over the next decade, which is expected to benefit almost every industry at large. Transportation and resource consumption, learning and work, and treatment of health and wellness will be the ones affected by this transformation. This will not only generate massive opportunities in the sector, but will also bring new capacity requirements for networks.
There are many groups across the globe already working on making it a reality, and Nokia is among them. Its subsidiary Bell Labs, along with several Finnish academics, have established a 5G network project called WIVE (WIreless for VErticals) which aims to make it possible for new industries to gain competitive advantage of the fifth generation wireless systems.
The two-year WIVE project is co-funded by the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation (Tekes) and several industry, research and academic partners which include names like Nokia, Teleste, Telia, ABB, Cargotec Kalmar, Finnish Broadcasting Company (Yle), Digita, regulator FICORA, key Finnish universities as well as VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland.
The WIVE project will cover media and entertainment, machine-type connectivity for application areas, which includes Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communications (URLLC) that serve smart grids and remotely controlled machines sectors, and Massive Machine Type Connectivity (mMTC) which allows a high number of devices to be connected with limited cost and energy consumption.
Nokia has also recently signed an agreement with Telefónica to evaluate technologies enabling an efficient network evolution to 5G in line with Telefónica’s business objectives. Both companies will study how higher performance 4G and 5G networks will lead to the creation of compelling new services.
Picture credit: Nokia
