The company said it is “committed to developing the best end-to-end 5G solutions”, which include 5G base stations that support all scenarios and its Blade AAU (active antenna unit).
The Blade AAU can work under all sub-6 GHz frequency bands and support 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G networks. This addresses the issue of limited space for antenna installation and reduces the total cost of ownership (TCO) by over 30% when compared to existing solutions.
Ken Rehbehn, directing analyst at IHS Markit, explained the significance of these new products. He said, “Huawei's 5G portfolio announcements tackle a variety of pain points mobile network operators face when ramping up credible 5G service offerings. The 5G antenna is a case in point. Last year, the company announced a new 5G massive MIMO antenna that packed 32 transmit and 32 receive antenna elements in small case weighing 25 kilograms. This is important for easy installation without cranes. This year, the company doubled the number antennas in the small case without increasing the weight. The advancement this year means increased 5G radio performance 5G with better coverage and economics, without sacrificing the benefits that arrived last year.”
A new 5G network, made up of a series of solutions, was also launched at the event. This brings together:
- A simplified radio access network – this includes the Blade AAU, a massive MIMO antenna and a wideband AAU
- The smart IP network – this includes Huawei’s FlexE-based flexible network slicing, the Network Cloud Engine, and In-situ Flow Information Telemetry (iFIT)
- The ultra-high-bandwidth transport network – which uses Huawei's 800G module
- “Green connections” – made up of an AUU that uses highly integrated chips to reduce power consumption, together with Huawei’s AI-enabled PowerStar solution
- AI-enabled end-to-end 5G services – a collection of lifecycle management solutions
Other solutions that were showcased included a live broadcast backpack and the HiCampus solution. The former is embedded with a 5G module to help make live broadcasting easier to achieve and the latter brings together Huawei’s AirEngine Wi-Fi 6, Campus OptiX, and the Horizon Digital Platform. In addition, Huawei formalised its Liquid OTN Optical Transport Solution, an upgrade of the Intelligent OptiX Network Strategy that it released in 2019.
The company also announced that it has won 91 commercial 5G contracts and shipped over 600,000 5G Massive MIMO antennas globally.
Finally, Huawei highlighted that, together with its global partners, the company has delivered multiple 5G projects, covering industries including new media, campus, healthcare, and education. Huawei plans to invest US$20 million into innovative 5G applications over the next five years through its 5G Partner Innovation Program.
