NEC announces successful transmission of live 8K video using 5G

NEC has announced the successful transmission of live 8K video using 5G.

In conjunction with France's largest television station, France Televisions, NEC successfully transmitted footage of the recent French Grand Slam tennis tournament at Roland-Garros.

The demonstration used NEC's VC-8900 8K material transmission encoder to transmit high-definition live 8K video of the tournament to 8K video monitors and 5G smartphones and tablets at a location within the tournament's venue.

The NEC's VC-8900 8K material transmission encoder utilises real-time video compression technologies to make it possible, along with the use of high-bandwidth 5G technology.

Significant step forward

It's a significant step for the future of how we'll consume live television with 8K the natural step following 4K footage. It also builds upon NEC's efforts last January which had them working together with Japanese telecommunications firm NTT DOCOMO and Tobu Railway, where they conducted video transmission tests through 5G base stations that support 4.5GHz and 28GHz bands.

In this case, the test used an 8K live video sample of a steam locomotive transmitted from a 5G base station installed along the railroad tracks to a 5G mobile station connected to an 8K display inside the moving train. It also used pre-recorded VK video content to confirm the effectiveness of 5G in the transmission of data-dense video content.

Moving from one display to multiple smartphones and tablets at Roland-Garros is a big step forward in NEC's plan for revolutionising how we consume media in future.

"Building on the success of this initiative, NEC will further promote the realization and expansion of next-generation broadcasting services using high-definition video in 2020 and beyond," explained Takeshi Inoue, General Manager, Broadcast and Media Division of NEC.

While no other plans have yet been announced for what NEC is set to do next, it's clear that such tests are paving the way towards a future where 8K video footage is more readily accessible and potentially enhancing what we're able to see when attending major events.

Source: 5g.co.uk

Sierra AirLink RV55 simplifies connectivity for renewable energy and smart city applicatations.

Compact, Industrial Grade, Low Power LTEAdvanced

Connectivity.

The AirLink® RV55 is the industry’s most rugged, compact, LTE-Advanced Pro

router. Simple to install, and easy to manage, the RV55 router is designed for

connecting critical remote assets, infrastructure, and vehicle fleets. The RV55

is especially well suited for applications in energy, utilities, smart city and public

safety. The RV55 provides real-time remote connectivity for SCADA, distribution

management systems and metering.

The RV55 high-performance LTE-Advanced Pro connectivity, Wi-Fi and GNSS and

location-based applications and dual connectivity for vehicle fleets and mobile

workforce. An LTE-M/NB-IoT variant is perfectly suited for hard to reach conditions.

The RV55 supports an extensive range of LTE bands worldwide, and its LTEAdvanced

Pro capabilities deliver up to 600 Mbps downlink speeds. The RV55 also

supports new unlicensed LTE bands (eg. CBRS) to support dedicated Private LTE service.

Benefits

• Centrally managed, secure LTE broadband connectivity for both remote, fixed or vehicle applications in harsh environments.

• Ultra-Low Power consumption ideal for solar or battery powered installations.

• Connect your field workers and devices with flexible dual Wi-Fi, and ethernet.

• Reduces complexity in connecting legacy equipment with dual-serial, ethernet, and multi-protocol support.

• Powerful remote cloud-based or on-premises management solutions.

• Proven reliability and over 3 million AirLink routers and gateways deployed.

• Peace of mind-included 3-year warranty, direct 24/7 support, and device management access (1st year 24/7 direct technical support and device managent access included FOC).

Cloud-Star supply the full range of Sierra Wireless routers. Please click here for more information>

Huddersfield Uni wins £1M grant for 5G training and research

The University of Huddersfield received £1 million in funding from the EU’s Horizon 2020 program to launch a new 5G research and training project. The UK university will have a central role in the Europe-wide project that involves ten academic and industrial partners to further the development and understanding of 5G technology.

The program is called MOTOR5G, which is short for “Mobility and Training for beyond 5G Ecosystems,” and it received a total of £3.6 million from the EU’s Horizon 2020 research funds, of which Huddersfield Uni received £1 million. The aim is to advance the state of the art in many dimensions of 5G.

Led by Dr. Pavlos Lazaridis, Reader in Electronic and Electrical Engineering, four doctoral researchers will be based at the university to conduct lab work, theoretical studies and work closely with the project’s academic and industrial partners, which include Rohde & Schwarz, the UK’s National Physical Laboratory, Denmark’s Aarhus University and the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

The project will focus on several aspects of 5G technology: embedding artificial intelligence into 5G systems; using drones to improve communications; and developing beam-forming antennae. The researchers will work on the antennae at Rohde & Schwarz’s headquarters in Munich and will have an opportunity to train in metrology at the National Physical Laboratory.

In addition, the researchers will also have opportunities to work with a 5G-based video production and distribution network that is being installed at the Olympic Stadium in Athens.

Funding 5G Research

As it is still early days for 5G technology, many governments are making funds available for research and development. In the UK, the government has appropriated £25 million for the national 5G Testbeds and Trials Programme. The UK government also recently announced a competition for a share of £1 million for 5G research projects.

Source Michelle Donegan