IEEE 5G Tech Focus
Volume 1, Number 4, December 2017

In This Issue

Call for Articles

The December issue of IEEE 5G Tech Focus is dedicated to regional updates on 5G standardization and research efforts in China and across Europe. There is indeed universal interest in 5G among industry proponents and while the first version of 5G compliant cellular standards, the so-called new radio wireless access (NR), is being completed by 3GPP, the initial release expected towards the middle of 2018 will merely establish the framework for the most fundamental features identified during the 5G study item. More features will need to be standardized and more research efforts are still required before the industry truly embraces its next generation of 5G standards.

In the meantime, the race for 5G among network operators across the world has accelerated. While some operators are taking a more conservative approach to joining the 5G bandwagon, others have adopted more aggressive 5G plans. For example, Europe’s leading telecommunications companies have all endorsed a ‘5G Manifesto’, which is positioned as a roadmap for the development and deployment of 5G across the continent; China is aiming to lead in the 5G race by pushing for heavy industry investment and innovation-friendly regulation. Collectively, other than the usual talk about common standards, ecosystems, and consensus, Pan-European 5G trials are being prepared before and after the anticipated first hard 5G standard deadline in the middle of 2018. More than ever, there is a need to foster collaboration and investment to make 5G a global success story.

Scope of future special issues / feature topics

The IEEE 5G Tech Focus is looking to include well-informed status updates in regional research, development and deployment plans for 5G, as well as the standardization effort in major organizations such as the IEEE, ETSI, 3GPP, IMT-2020, and IETF to name a few. This feature topic will bring clarity of diversified views to the table and help the global R&D community focus on the key levers to ensure future 5G success.

The articles selected for publication will constitute valuable information to policymakers, vendors, network operators and research institutions, and the goal is to align the global effort and encourage collaboration where possible.

Articles will be accepted on an on-going basis and should be forwarded to Amine Maaref, Managing Editor, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

Use cases and requirements, especially in vertical industries and industrial applications
Recent standardization progress
Joint collaboration and ventures
Roadmaps and plans
Public investment in 5G R&D, trials, and large-scale demonstrators

Adding Value to 5G Ecosystem by Joint Innovation

Yuhong Huang, Chih-Lin I, Guang Yang, Jiang Yu, Xiaoming Shen and Ke Li, China Mobile Research Institute, CMCC

A strong, diversified cross-industry ecosystem is crucial for the success of the 5th Generation mobile communications (5G). In order to build such an ecosystem and promote joint innovation of 5G with partners from telecom, internet, and vertical industries, China Mobile has launched the 5G Joint Innovation Center. This paper presents the vision, objective, working scope and progress of the Center. Several pioneer projects are presented.

Driving UK's 5G Agenda - Strategy & Case Studies

M Dohler, King's College London, UK, D Simeonidou, University of Bristol, R Tafazolli, 5G Innovation Centre at the University of Surrey, UK, S Revell, 5G Innovation Centre at the University of Surrey, UK, A Nix, University of Bristol, M Beach, University of Bristol, A.H. Aghvami, Kings College London, UK

The race for the first pre-commercial 5G system has started with exciting solutions emerging in the US, Asia and Europe. This article exposes the plans of development and rollout of the world’s first end-to-end 5G system in the UK. The uniqueness of this initiative is that it is conducted across different academic institutions, all collaborating with different vendors and operators, and placed in different cities. A successful completion will prove viability and scalability of 5G within a very heterogeneous ecosystem.

Multi-Access Edge Computing: An Overview of ETSI MEC ISG

Fabio Giust, NEC Laboratories Europe, Germany, Xavier Costa-Perez, NEC Laboratories Europe, Germany, and Alex Reznik, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, US

The introduction of vertical industries use cases in future 5G networks imposes major architectural changes to current mobile networks in order to simultaneously support a diverse variety of stringent requirements (e.g. automotive, ehealth, public safety, etc.). Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) is widely accepted as a key technology in order to enable ultra low-latency requirements as well as a rich computing environment for value-added services closer to end users. In this article we provide an overview of MEC as per the activities carried out in the ETSI MEC Industry Specification Group (ISG).

From Standards to Service - the European Way to 5G

Manuela Bargis and Giovanni Romano

Europe considers 5G as an opportunity to promote the whole European economy and the so called “Gigabit Society”. In order to achieve this goal, the European Commission identified some action points and a roadmap to ensure 5G will be a reality by 2020, with Euro2020 football games a showcase for the new system.

This paper provides an insight of the European vision to 5G and the steps required to transform 5G from standards on paper to services to the citizenship.

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IEEE 5G Tech FocusVolume 1, Number 4, December 2017