Huawei Flags 5G Network Slicing Landmark, Signs New 5G Deal

Huawei may be fighting political battles on a growing number of fronts, but the China-based vendor continues to forge ahead with new 5G network developments, as well as new contracts with mobile operators.The vendor announced what it clearly regards as a significant breakthrough in end-to-end network slicing, which is expected to play a large role in network transformation as 5G moves closer to reality. It claimed that it implemented the first application of 5G network slicing in large-scale live broadcasting, in collaboration with China Mobile and its entertainment subsidiary, Migu.Network slicing is a technology that will enable mobile operators to provide portions of their networks for specific use cases, including IoT and smart factories. It is part of the 5G network architecture and will allow operators to create multiple virtual networks using a shared physical infrastructure. ABI Research recently predicted that the technique will create $66 billion in value for enterprise verticals by 2026.The Huawei and China Mobile demonstration was clearly designed to show how the technology can also be applied to a live broadcast in the 4K UHD format, which requires specific network attributes such as low latency and high bandwidth, with the aim of building dedicated channels for live broadcasting over 5G networks. Huawei said it deployed its end-to-end 5G network slicing solution to ensure a “guaranteed experience for 4K UHD video playback”.China Mobile Research Institute (CMRI), Migu, and Huawei are already collaborating on the development of standards for multi-media technologies based on 5G within the 5G Multi-media Innovation Alliance (5MII), established in 2017. The three partners now plan to further explore application innovation in 5G and multi-media, and will share their findings with 5MII and the 5G Slicing Association (5GSA).