Technologies

A new generation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions will prove their value in 2019. This trend is led by voice-driven solutions and pick-and-place robots in smart warehouses, as companies advance in the use of robotic process automation.

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the USA have developed a method to evaluate and select optimal antenna designs for future fifth-generation (5G) cell phones, other wireless devices, and base stations.

The edge will be the epicenter of data center innovation in 2019, with activity focused on enhanced intelligence designed to simplify operations, enable remote service and management, and address the growing skills gap. This advancement in edge development is among the trends to watch in 2019, according to Vertiv experts worldwide.

Keysight Technologies, Inc. has announced the results of the 2018 Keysight State of 5G Survey, which reveals that companies are primarily investing in 5G technology to secure their market leadership, meet customer demand, and take advantage of flexible and scalable networks.

The Ministry of Economy and Business, through the State Secretariat for Digital Advancement; the public entity Red.es and the Mobile World Capital Barcelona Foundation (hereinafter MWCapital) have signed an agreement for the creation of the National 5G Observatory.

For the first time in the world, the Port of Hamburg Authority, Deutsche Telekom, and Nokia are testing new aspects of the 5G standard using various applications under real-world industrial conditions at the Port of Hamburg in Germany. Covering approximately 8,000 hectares, the Port was transformed into a testing ground last January to assess the innovative technology and its suitability for deployment in an industrial environment.

The SD-WAN market is gaining significant traction in Spain and the EMEA region, primarily because companies are beginning to realize that their digital transformation must go hand in hand with the evolution of their WAN infrastructure. IDC Research Spain forecasts that the SD-WAN market in Spain will reach €288 million between 2018 and 2022, achieving sustained growth of 60% (CAGR) between 2016 and 2022.

ZTE has worked with KPN to successfully complete the trial of the first 5G application for precision agriculture. It was conducted in Kompas (Drenthe, Netherlands), in cooperation with the province of Drenthe, Wageningen University & Research, the Dronehub GAE Foundation, Agrifac, and Innovation Veenkoloniën.

A team led by Alexander Holleitner and Reinhard Kienberger, professors of Physics at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), has achieved, for the first time, the generation of short electrical pulses on a chip using metal antennas only a few nanometers in size. They then run the signals a few millimeters above the surface and read them back in a controlled manner. This technology enables the development of new, powerful terahertz components.

Fifth-generation (5G) wireless systems, the optimist says, will revolutionize our lives just as 3G/4G systems did. While most people are still waiting to connect to the 4G network, major telecom companies have already begun the race for the next generation of mobile communications. 5G is expected to bring autonomous vehicles, virtual reality, and the Internet of Things to life, making science fiction a reality.

There are many barriers to innovation in wireless communications. Inadequate documentation; uncooperative chipset manufacturers; a wide variety of hardware and software specifications; a steep learning curve during the experimentation phase; and difficulties in prototyping are among the main problems hindering development.

5TONIC, the Madrid-based 5G co-creation lab, along with some of its member companies, is playing a vital role in three high-level, EU-funded 5G development projects. These three projects are designed to contribute to the innovation and testing of 5G vertical market applications and services within the end-to-end communications environment that is a key feature of 5TONIC's facilities.

Still in the testing phase in most countries, the 5G network, with frequencies of 28 GHz, 37 GHz, and 39 GHz, provides connectivity not only between mobile devices, such as cell phones, but also with various cloud services that, at a new level, would now be interconnected. Many discuss the 5G network in relation to the Internet of Things, talking about future applications; however, little is said about the steps needed to achieve 5G. More important than a distant future is how businesses are organizing themselves to reach it.

Indra and the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM) have given a new boost to the construction of highly innovative solutions to improve the management of Smart Cities with the creation of a cyber-physical systems laboratory.

Many talk about 5G, but few have described what it takes to create a healthy 5G market, including network deployment, service development, business models, and customer demand.

A consortium of twenty companies and organizations in the telecommunications sector has announced the successful completion of the European research project 5G-Crosshaul, coordinated by the Carlos III University of Madrid (UC3M). After three years of work, they have defined what is now the de facto concept of an integrated 5G transport network, a crucial step towards the implementation of the future 5G communications system.

The Voyager 2 spacecraft has traveled an almost unimaginable 17 billion kilometers from Earth and continues to send signals back to the ground station. This is possible thanks to maser technology, which works on principles similar to lasers and is capable of amplifying weak microwave signals with virtually no noise.

Network function virtualization and software-defined networks, two of the most revolutionary technologies in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector, are protagonists, along with cloud computing, in new scientific research that seeks to achieve dynamic and high-performance processing of traffic in 5G networks.

NI has announced plans to collaborate with Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. on the development of 5G test UEs for 5G New Radio (NR). The first public event of this collaboration showcased Samsung's 28 GHz base station communicating with an NI test UE at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2018 in Barcelona.

Uni-fi Roaming Solutions has announced the results of the first global research project on eSIM in the context of international roaming. The survey, conducted among mobile network operators worldwide, provides insights into current strategic views and an estimated timeline for the deployment of eSIM services.