Huawei is already invested in upgrading 5G networks to a transitional technology dubbed 5.5G. At the company's industrial event, Huawei wireless chiefs extolled the potential of 5.5G, pointing to a wide number of new use cases expected to be delivered by 10Gb/s uplink and downlink alongside technology supporting mass IoT deployment.

Executive director and chairman of ICT infrastructure managing board David Wang and president of wireless solution Yang Chaobin outlined their visions of 5.5G. Chaobin noted the upgrade of 5G would enhance existing abilities while also supporting revolutionary wireless use cases. Huawei is targeting 2025 for deployments.

He highlighted the new network technology would need to support 100 billion IoT connections within the next ten years, and provide uplink and downlink speeds of 10Gb/s for improved enterprise applications. The speed target is for both fixed and wireless networks. Chaobin warned, however, that the industry needed to move away from the fragmentation of industrial wireless technology connecting IoT devices to enable wide-scale deployments.

Outside of these areas, Wang noted the 5.5G era needed to deliver improved enterprise opportunities beyond connectivity; greater computing power and data storage performance; better wireless network autonomy; and energy efficiency advances compared with current generation technology. Specific use cases of the network technology cited include advanced manufacturing, high precision positioning of sensors, automotive applications, greater use of automation and robots in industry, and interactive communications.

Highlighting the need for collaboration to achieve this new level of connectivity Wang added: “By 2025 we know there will be diverse and demanding requirements [for connectivity technology, but] we also have major market potential and opportunities. So Huawei would like to join industry partners and telecom operators to discuss how we should evolve to the 5.5 era.”