It has been nearly a year since 5G came to the homes of ordinary people, and the number of 5G users of the three major operators has accumulated to tens of millions.
In September last year, there was a message that "since January 1, 2020, 5G terminals that apply for access to the network should in principle support both independent and non-independent networking." Recently, the official website of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology published the "Notice of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on Promoting the Accelerated Development of 5G", "requiring the full promotion of 5G network construction", "supporting basic telecom companies to target 5G independent networking (SA) and controlling non-independent The construction scale of the networking (NSA)."
In the recent 5G Phase II tenders of the three major operators, they all requested 5G SA base stations in unison.
What is an independent network, and how is it different from a non-independent network?
Uh, this story is a bit long, try to be simple.
NSA and SA, you have to make a clear distinction
From the structural point of view, all wireless communication systems are divided into core network (CN) and radio access network (RAN); of course, there are terminals used by end users, such as mobile phones, which are called UE in the 3GPP organization specifications. The overall structure, like this
Generally, the concepts of the core network and access network of each generation of communication technologies (1G, 2G, 3G, 4G...) are introduced and deployed simultaneously, and the core network is forward compatible to a certain extent. This law was broken to a certain extent when the fifth-generation wireless communication technology appeared. The 5G system we currently use is called NSA 5G. NSA is Non-Standalone, non-independent networking. What is non-independent networking? It is the 5G access network, which is hung under the 4G core network and works with the 4G access network.
The 5G SA (Independent Networking), which will be launched soon, is clean and completely free of dependence on 4G, and is a purer and independent networking solution.
Comparing the two, it’s like this
SA is good, you have to know
Why is the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology so resolute in its requirements for 5G independent networking? What is the change compared to non-independent networking?
5G under non-independent networking (NSA) can elevate the experience of similar 4G services to a new level, and it is still mainly for C-end customers like you and me.
As a developing country, my country's communication infrastructure is the world leader in popularization. Everyone's internet speed is getting faster and faster, and the tariff per unit of traffic is significantly reduced. With the near-saturation of mobile penetration (at least one mobile phone and more than one number), it is difficult for operators to increase their revenue from existing users. The construction of the network cannot keep up with the demand of traffic growth. Forcibly expanding the capacity to make ends meet can be used to quench thirst. People's expectation of "speed increase and fee reduction" is continuing, so we must open new sources and innovate to collect.
On the other hand, thousands of enterprises have their own requirements for the network, but at this stage it is not easy to obtain services that match their needs. Once it is done, it is a new source of income. Fortunately, independent networking is the antidote.
The whole business that has come out after thousands of calls
5G under independent networking (SA), in addition to traditional services, it also expands more possibilities: including the realization of high-reliability and low-latency services (URLLC), large-scale connection services (mMTC), and for enterprise customers Specific services and so on. It is also possible to assign "slices" to individuals or companies or apps in need.
On-demand network slice
What, slice? What is that... =.=|||
"From the perspective of mobile operators, the network slice that runs through chips, terminals, base stations, transport networks, and core networks is an independent end-to-end logical network that runs on a shared physical infrastructure and can provide agreed quality of service. , Network slicing technology is transparent to commercial customers. The 5G network combined with network slicing technology allows connections and data processing to be customized according to specific business needs."
speak English!
It is a dedicated network resource for one person and one room, resolutely isolated.
For applications with high standards and strict requirements for experience, proprietary network resources can be isolated and supplied separately.
In fact, the pipes provided by operators need to meet the different requirements of the network in all aspects. Through the end-to-end network slicing technology, different vertical industries can be provided with different QoS (quality of service requirements) to support various services.
Upward experience of flying fairy
With the rise of short video and live broadcast services, the upstream experience has become an element of user attention.
In addition, corporate customers have many more businesses that need to guarantee high-speed, high-traffic, and low-latency uplinks. Under SA networking, Huawei has introduced super uplink and auxiliary uplink solutions to overcome uplink bottlenecks. In the tests that have been completed, the two technologies have achieved 4 times the current level and 1 Gbps uplink rate respectively.
So what is going on?
Since SA is so good, why not deploy SA from the first day?
The industry chain has not matured so quickly. From 2G 3G to 4G 5G, we have finally reached the leading position from bystanders to followers. We must bear the weight of leading and experience the "pain" of leading.
SA is here, how should the NSA in the "transitional phase" deal with it? No, it is completely unnecessary. After all, the 5G mobile phones sold on the market in the past six months generally only support NSA, except that Huawei supports NSA/SA dual-mode. It is still necessary to ensure that these phones have network support during their life cycle.
So a very important question comes, whether 5G base stations can work in two states at the same time.
The answer must be yes. For newly deployed SA scenarios, Huawei’s end-to-end solution naturally supports NSA SA two modes; for deployed NSA 5G base stations, only remote software upgrades are required.
Is 5G SA simpler or more complicated? Simpler and more complicated.
Simply means that the networking is simpler and the interaction between network elements is simpler;
Complexity means that business goals are richer and control mechanisms are more refined.
It also leaves the simplicity to the customer and the complexity to itself.
With the acceleration of deployment, the SA-based 5G network will be fully commercialized in my country during the year. The Chinese will soon experience the world's leading network services, and more innovative fruits will be born on the fertile black soil.
Edit | Chen Jinglan
Proofreading | Li Zi
Source: Net Optimization Mercenaries
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