Recently, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology approved China Mobile to use part of its 4.9GHz 5G frequency resources to carry out 5G ground-to-air communication (5G-ATG) technology tests in relevant provinces in China. This technology will establish a ground-to-air communication link between the ground and the aircraft cabin, allowing passengers to access the Internet through wireless LAN access in the cabin, which will further improve the spatial dimension of 5G network coverage and better meet the growing demand of air passengers for air access to the Internet.
From the ground to the sky, the coverage of 5G networks is getting wider and wider. Can such a wide range of 5G networks be used for other purposes than communications? In this regard, Deng Zhongliang, a professor at Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, answered "yes".
"5G + Beidou" is exactly the answer given by Deng Zhongliang. "5G is a network on the ground, Beidou is a network in the sky, and integrating the two to achieve 'integrated construction of communication and conduction' can bring massive high-precision, high-timeliness geographic big data." Deng Zhongliang said.
Like the 5G communication network, the Beidou satellite navigation system is another "big country heavy weapon" in China. Since 1994, Beidou-<> satellite navigation system has been developed and constructed, and after the "three-step" strategy, Beidou satellite navigation system has become one of the four major satellite navigation systems in the world, providing services to users around the world.
Why integrate 5G and Beidou
"'5G + Beidou' can achieve seamless positioning both indoors and outdoors." Deng Zhongliang said, "Although satellite navigation positioning solves the basic needs of outdoor open area positioning, and the Beidou system has been able to provide more reliable positioning performance in outdoor open areas, its signal cannot cover indoor and has poor environmental immunity, which is difficult to meet the needs of indoor positioning and outdoor occlusion and other complex area positioning." ”
Deng Zhongliang told reporters that due to the weak strength of satellite positioning signals, easy interference from environmental factors such as occlusion, it is difficult to locate indoors is a difficult point that needs to be solved urgently in countries around the world.
Satellite signals from the sky are difficult to enter the room, but communication signals on the ground are almost everywhere. So, can communication signals be used for positioning and navigation? In response to this problem, Deng Zhongliang and his team proposed the "communication and conduction integration" idea of "5G + Beidou".
"'Channeling and conduction' is the use of mobile communication networks for positioning and navigation." Deng Zhongliang told reporters, "Originally, there were satellite signals only outdoors, not indoors, but now that communication signals are used instead of satellite signals, positioning services can 'run' from outdoor to indoors." Deng Zhongliang said that the ground base station that was originally only used for communication can also provide positioning functions, and the signal coverage of the two complements each other, which can greatly improve the location service capability.
The idea of "conductive fusion" can not only improve the breadth of positioning signal coverage, but also greatly enhance the accuracy of positioning.
"At present, satellite positioning and navigation, using four satellites can calculate your position, and the accuracy of positioning can reach about ten meters. However, if you want to further improve the accuracy to the meter level, decimeter level, and centimeter level, you must have a star base, foundation and other enhancement systems. However, these enhanced signals cannot be accurately located indoors, underground, urban canyons and other areas. Deng Zhongliang said that "5G + Beidou" can achieve wide-area coverage of positioning signals, "5G high speed, large capacity characteristics, can stably transmit Beidou ground to enhance space-time position correction signals, so that Beidou's space-time accuracy is higher, coupled with the strong coverage capability of mobile communication networks, high-precision positioning services can cover all spaces involved in human and mechanical energy." ”
What fields can "5G + Beidou" be applied to?
"'5G + Beidou' can empower thousands of industries." Deng Zhongliang said that the integration and mutual empowerment of 5G and Beidou is essentially the integration of time and space based on communication, "The two work at the same time, can produce disruptive technologies, and will give birth to different applications in different scenarios." ”
In the transportation field, Beidou's seamless positioning and navigation technology inside and outside solves the problem of missing satellite signals in tunnel scenarios.
Deng Zhongliang introduced that in the past, because satellite signals could not reach the underground and could not be accurately located, there was a blind spot under the tunnel, and once an accident occurred, it would bring great trouble, but now, "5G + Beidou" provides a new idea for solving the problem - "Although there is no satellite signal in the tunnel, there is a communication signal." Nowadays, using the idea of 'communication and conduction fusion', high-precision positioning can also be achieved in tunnels, which helps to improve tunnel traffic efficiency, reduce the frequency of accidents in tunnels, and reduce property losses caused by tunnel accidents." ”
"There is also our commonly used mobile phone taxi - as soon as you open the taxi software, it is immediately clear where the car is and where the person is, and this cannot be done by simple satellite positioning." Today, the integration of satellite positioning and ground communication positioning can achieve accurate positioning of people and vehicles. Deng Zhongliang said.
In the construction of smart mines, "5G + Beidou" also has a good performance.
Relying on 5G network and combined with Beidou positioning technology, it is expected to realize unmanned remote control of mine excavation, transportation, monitoring and other links. Deng Zhongliang said: "5G network has the advantage of low latency, coupled with high-precision positioning, the combination of the two, people on the ground, can achieve real-time monitoring of underground machines, so as to realize the idea of smart mines." For risky mining areas, production safety can be maximized to achieve zero safety accidents and zero casualties. ”
In addition to mining and transportation, "5G + Beidou" can also be used in surveying and mapping, unmanned agricultural machinery operations, UAV power inspection, smart elderly care, command and management of major activities and other aspects.
According to data released by China Mobile, up to now, China has built 4400,5 high-precision positioning reference stations, forming the world's largest "5G + Beidou" high-precision positioning ground-based enhancement network. As Deng Zhongliang said, "In the future, the application potential of '<>G + Beidou' will only be limited by our imagination." ”
(Guangming Daily reporter Cui Xingyi, correspondent Cai Yuqi)