At the Global Mobile Broadband Forum (MBBF 2024), Huawei, with its profound technology accumulation and innovative spirit, presented another major breakthrough in the field of wireless communications to the world, the release of the White Paper on Antenna Digitalization. This white paper is not only a comprehensive summary of Huawei's cutting-edge exploration of antenna technology, but also a profound insight into and guidance for the future development trend of intelligent wireless communication networks. Through detailed discussions and vivid cases, Huawei revealed the core value, technical details, industry impact, and broad prospects of antenna digital technology, providing strong support and guidance for the upgrading and transformation of the global wireless communication industry.
1. Digital antennas: technological innovation leads the future
In the White Paper on Antenna Digitalization, Huawei points out that with the rapid development of mobile communication technology, especially the arrival of 5G and the future 6G era, mobile wireless networks are accelerating their evolution to intelligence and automation. In this context, the importance of base station antennas, as the "nerve endings" in wireless communication systems, is becoming increasingly prominent. Traditional antenna design mainly focuses on the optimization of physical characteristics, such as gain and directionality, while the emergence of digital antennas means that antennas will be transformed from a single physical entity to a digital component with intelligent perception and remote control capabilities, becoming an indispensable part of building an intelligent network.
Huawei's digital antenna technology innovation focuses on two core directions: remote management capability and multi-dimensional adjustable capability. The remote manageable capability realizes real-time monitoring and feedback of antenna working parameters through built-in intelligent sensors and algorithms, including but not limited to antenna inclination angle, beam width, polarization mode, etc., providing accurate and comprehensive data support for the network management system. This capability not only improves the efficiency of network O&M, but also provides a scientific basis for network optimization, enabling the network to dynamically adjust according to actual needs and achieve optimal resource allocation.
Figure: At the Global Mobile Broadband Forum (MBBF 2024), Huawei released the White Paper on Antenna Digitalization
The multi-dimensional adjustable capability further enhances the flexibility and adaptability of the antenna. Through remote command control, the digital antenna can adjust its radiation direction and beam shape in real time to adapt to the communication needs of different scenarios. For example, in densely populated urban centers, antennas can automatically adjust the beam to cover a wider area; In remote mountainous areas, the signal penetration can be enhanced by optimizing the beam direction to ensure communication quality. This dynamic adjustment capability greatly improves the coverage and communication quality of the network, bringing users a more stable and high-speed network experience.
2. Technical details and advantages: accurate and efficient, empowering the future
The core competitiveness of Huawei's antenna digitalization technology lies in the built-in next-generation AISU and advanced algorithm support. AISU can monitor the parameters of the antenna in real time, and feed this information back to the network management system accurately and timely through an efficient data transmission mechanism. In addition, combined with Huawei's self-developed algorithms, the system can conduct in-depth analysis of this data, identify potential network problems, and propose optimization suggestions.
In practice, the advantages of digital antenna technology are fully demonstrated. Taking 5G network construction in a province as an example, Huawei's antenna digitization technology has implemented the SON (Self-Organizing Network) function, greatly reducing the time cost of network deployment. Traditionally, the opening of a single station requires manual on-site commissioning, which takes up to 20 minutes; After the digital antenna is adopted, the opening time of 100 stations only takes 3 minutes through remote automatic configuration, and the whole process is automatically monitored to ensure that the data configuration is accurate and the efficiency is increased by hundreds of times.
In addition, the digital antenna can automatically adjust its operating state according to changes in the network environment to achieve the best network performance. This adaptive capability not only improves the stability and reliability of the network, but also effectively reduces operating costs, bringing significant economic benefits to operators.
3. Industry impact: Work together to create a new era of intelligent networks
Sun Youwei, President of Huawei's Antenna Feeder Business Unit, said at the press conference: "The antenna digitalization white paper released this time is an in-depth analysis and forward-looking prediction of the direction of the antenna industry in the mobile AI era. Antenna digitalization is an inevitable choice for the evolution of network intelligence, which will promote the entire industry to move towards more efficient and intelligent wireless networks. This view has been widely recognized by the industry.
With the popularization of antenna digital technology, the intelligent level of wireless communication networks will be significantly improved. Operators will be able to fine-tune network management and optimization based on real-time and accurate data, improve user experience, and enhance market competitiveness. At the same time, digital antenna technology will also provide more flexible and customized communication solutions for vertical industries, and promote the development of emerging fields such as the Internet of Things, smart cities, and autonomous driving.
As an industry leader, Huawei has always been committed to promoting innovation and development of antenna technology. By releasing the White Paper on Antenna Digitalization, Huawei not only demonstrated its deep experience in this field, but also expressed its determination to work with global industry partners to promote the digitalization of antennas. In the future, Huawei will continue to increase R&D investment, deepen cooperation with upstream and downstream enterprises in the industry chain, and jointly explore the infinite possibilities of antenna digitalization to provide users around the world with better and more intelligent network services.
4. Conclusion and future prospects: Intelligent networks are within reach
The release of the Antenna Digitalization White Paper marks another milestone in Huawei's achievements in antenna technology. The emergence of digital antennas not only provides strong technical support for the intelligent evolution of wireless communication networks, but also brings a more convenient and efficient network experience to users around the world. With the continuous maturity and popularization of 5G and 6G technologies, digital antennas will become an indispensable key element in building intelligent networks.
Looking ahead, we have reason to believe that Huawei will continue to play a leading role in antenna digitalization and promote technological innovation and industrial upgrading. By breaking through technical bottlenecks and deepening cooperation with industry partners, Huawei will work with users around the world to usher in a new era of more intelligent, efficient, and convenient networks. In this era, digital antennas will become a bridge connecting the world, making intelligent networks accessible and making our lives better because of technology.
