India’s Ascent on the 5G Ladder

The advent of 4G technology has led to radical changes all over the world, especially by way of smart phones that have had a staggering impact on our lives. Far from being a mere evolutionary successor of 4G, 5G technology is slated to revolutionize the telecommunications sector in the near future. 5G technology will go much beyond connecting people – 5G applications include integrating a whole range of machines into the internet, such as smart metering (electricity/water/gas), industrial sensors, tracking of people/assets, machined farming, agri-tech, perishable goods management, pollution monitoring, healthcare applications, video surveillance etc.
Given that critical national infrastructure such as electricity grids, and various public services offered by local Government bodies will soon run on 5G, security considerations are crucial in the selection and ownership of such technology, as it will have a bearing on the nation’s ability to control the equipment as well as secure the delivery of such critical services. On the economic front, within the next decade, 5G/IoT is expected to add hundreds of Trillions of USD to the world economy. This is an unprecedented economic opportunity that India cannot afford to let go of. So far, only a few Indian entities have begun to address such opportunities in the 5G/IoT space.
Recently, the Department of Telecommunication (DoT), Government of India, has sanctioned the “Indigenous 5G Testbed” program with a project outlay of 224 crores INR. This program, started yielding results in the form of prototype base stations, CPE/UE and NB-IoT chipset that are being demonstrated under lab conditions. One of the partner institutes in this project (IITH), has major contributions to key 5G technologies such as cloud RAN base station with massive MIMO capability, 5G UE prototype, and cellular NB-IoT chipset for connecting sensors and meters to the internet. IITH is expected to demonstrate these 5G prototypes during 2020.
In this talk, Prof. Kuchi will first discuss the 5G scenario in India and the unique Indian requirements that 5G is expected to address. This is followed by a tech talk that highlights his efforts in designing 5G NR technology. The talk will comprise of video “demos” followed by a Q/A session.