While 2019 was the year when the first commercial 5G networks rolled out, 2020 will be the year to see 5G much broadly deployed around the world as well as the first 5G networks in standalone mode going live. However, just like any other technology upgrade, 5G operators, those upgrading to SA mode in particular, will be concerned about delivering on promises and generating profit from the increased investment.

Huawei recently launched three software and service solutions designed to address these concerns. They are designed to provide 5G operators with customer experience guarantee, revenue growth, and efficiency improvement.

CBS R20, the new Convergent Billing System
The latest iteration of Huawei’s Convergent Billing System, the CBS R20, delivers step improvement from the previous generations, in particular in its support for billing in standalone 5G networks. It is the world’s first operator billing system that supports both non-standalone (NSA) and standalone (SA) modes. In other words, CBS R20 can be deployed both on LTE Enhanced Package Core (EPC), which powers 4G as well as NSA 5G, and work in the Service-Based Architecture (SBA), a key characteristic of SA 5G core.

The latest unified billing system can support charging of more than 1,000 factor and dimension combinations and over 100 5G service offerings, and it can reduce the time to market of new services from weeks to minutes. By leveraging the more than 300 APIs enabled by the solution, 5G operators deploying CBS R20 can support their business and channel partners to quickly expand and upgrade their business to work in the new network environment.

In addition to helping 5G operators expand their monetization capabilities, CBS R20 also supports containerization and virtualization which can be realized in SA 5G cloud native networks. This can significantly lower operator OPEX through centralized management and operational automation. Customers using earlier generations of Huawei CBS can upgrade their billing systems over the top. The first deployment of the new CBS R20 in live 5G networks has already completed with STC Kuwait.

New generation Site Digital Twins
Site Digital Twins has come a long way from the trial mode a year ago. Although it still starts with a camera mounting on the field engineer's phone to conduct 360-degree scan of the site, much more intelligence has been added to the solution. When the panoramic scan is done, the images and related data captured by the application and phone sensors, as well as data from other proprietary and public sources, are aggregated and analysed using technologies from a plethora of disciplines. These include image recognition, curved surface geometry, photogrammetry, Building Information Modelling (BIM), and spatial vision technologies. The analysis results are used to build digital 3D models of sites, which are more accurate than results gathered through the conventional manual measurements.

These 3D digital replicas (“digital twins”) of the sites can be used throughout the site lifecycle, from planning and design to deployment and maintenance. Such models will not only replace the repeated site visits and measuring and calculating on 2D models, but also form the foundation of other network deployment and management processes. For example, they can be applied when microwave transmission networks are designed, to ensure the line of sight. Or, the 3D models can be used at site acceptance process, supported by ever improving machine learning tools, to make sure that the sites do not only meet quality requirements, but also comply with local laws and regulations. This will improve efficiency by replacing the conventional on-site rectification and acceptance processes.

So far, Huawei has delivered over 210,000 sites around the world using Site Digital Twins. These include both building new 5G sites and migrating, upgrading, and reconstructing legacy network sites to provide 2G, 3G, and 4G services.

5G Service Experience-Based Network Planning Criteria
While CBS R20 primarily targets at shoring up 5G operators’ monetization capability, and Site Digital Twins at improving operational efficiency, Huawei’s 5G Service Experience-Based Network Planning Criteria is focused on helping operators deliver supreme customer experience. Delivering supreme customer experience starts with optimal networks, in particular network coverage, and optimal networks start with the best possible network planning.

To improve the accuracy of 5G network planning, the SmartCare B.E.S.T. solution uses precise propagation model, 3D coverage simulation, ASP accurate site selection, and RF&Pattern optimization. These tools combined could reduce weak coverage rate by up to 15%, compared with the conventional network planning solutions. This is achieved by defining a set of user experience parameters, such as latency level, downlink and uplink speeds, etc. and mapping them with network planning criteria, including service experience, service quality requirements, and network capability baseline, then planning the networks to meet these criteria. Therefore, Huawei proposes the new SmartCare E-Planning model which includes “three-layer” and “two-step” mapping. The three layers start from user experience to service quality requirement, and then to network capability benchmark.

The two-step mapping breaks down user experience into a set of executable network planning criteria for carriers. Constructing the framework for the criteria, Huawei first proposed and applied six of its major research results, which are: TBR-model adopted for throughput, Burst-Model adopted for balance latency and bandwidth, MTP-Model adopted for latency, PLR-Model adopted for packet loss, Piecewise Fitting Methodology adopted for coverage, and Unified Planning and Domain Based Design adopted for End-to-End.

In summary, the three new software and service solutions Huawei has just launched are all developed on top of a long track record of successes by earlier generations of these solutions. However, these new releases are providing operators with more than just incremental improvements. They have been designed and developed for the new businesses enabled by 5G, including the upcoming SA 5G networks. And these new solutions are here to serve the purpose of enabling operators to deliver on their customer promises and to generate sustainable return on investment.

This content is sponsored by Huawei.

Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd