Energy Harvesting from 5G

Requirements to run IOT Systems. 

Energy harvesting: energy-autonomous IoT communication in 5G networks

Press release / November 09, 2022

Minimal vibrations, temperature differences and even light can be used to generate power for small electronic systems. At Booth B4/258 of the electronica 2022 trade show, Fraunhofer researchers will demonstrate how 5G radio modules with higher energy consumption can now be powered autonomously through energy harvesting — without the use of batteries and cables.

A piezoelectric vibration converter supplies energy to sensors used in a building condition monitoring system. © Kurt Fuchs / Fraunhofer IIS

Sensors are key elements of the Internet of Things (IoT). They collect information, for example, about the condition of a machine or an infrastructure, process it and pass it on. The numerous sensors can obtain the required energy from batteries or via a cable connection. Fraunhofer researchers have now found a way to harvest enough energy to operate these sensors using vibrations from machines, equipment or buildings, as well as from temperature differences between pipes, lines or valves, and the environment.

“Powering a sensor node through energy harvesting technology makes it independent from other energy supplies. This saves the cost arising from energy-storage devices, such as a batteries, and eliminates the maintenance effort required for battery replacement. It also makes cable installations redundant,” says Dr. Peter Spies from the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS in Nuremberg, explaining the advantages. The autonomous sensors are used for data collection and transmission, e.g., for the condition monitoring of machines, buildings or bridges, as well as for smart metering systems.

Spies and his team have been researching for some time how and where energy harvesting technologies can be optimized and deployed. Due to the rise in energy prices, their field of research is rapidly gaining relevance, and inquiries from industry are piling up. Their latest development is a so-called NarrowBand IoT module that collects and transmits utility data in a 5G network. To ensure that the modules and sensors can be operated energy independently, they were specially measured and optimized for energy consumption. This opens up new possibilities for autonomously powering not only LPWANs (low-power wide-area networks) but also other radio systems with higher energy consumption and more advanced functionalities, such as bidirectional communication. The systems could then also be operated in a public network.

At the electronica 2022 trade show, held from November 15-18 in Munich, Fraunhofer IIS will be using the NarrowBand IoT module and a mioty® radio sensor to show how these sensors can be operated entirely without cables or batteries using a thermo-electric generator or a vibration converter. Also on display will be a smart screw connection whose preload force can be monitored remotely thanks to energy-autonomous sensor technology. This means that loose screws should no longer pose a safety risk to bridges, machines or buildings in the future.  ... ' 

Network Models for VR Applications

Interesting. thinking how this would be useful.  ....

CACMmag (@Communications of the ACM) Tweeted: #Mathematicians at @UniversityRudn have proposed a model for calculating the optimal parameters of a #5GNetwork for #VirtualReality applications. 

Mathematicians Propose 5G Network Model for VR Applications

By Russian Foundation for Basic Research, December 28, 2021

Mathematicians at Peoples' Friendship University of Russia have proposed a model for calculating the optimal parameters of a 5G network for virtual reality applications. It is simpler than but performs similar to state-of-the-art algorithms, the researchers say. Their results are published in Future Internet.

The proposed model is based on the example of virtual reality applications in which both multicast and unicast transmission schemes are combined. It allows one to estimate how many basestations are needed for a given quality of services provided. The algorithm makes it possible to obtain estimates no worse than alternative options using simulation modelling, but at the same time it is simpler, the researchers say.

"Our work provides a simple yet efficient algorithm for estimating the density of basestations needed to support a given density of VR devices and certain service quality parameters," says Daria Ostrikova, deputy director at the university's Institute of Applied Mathematics & Communications Technology.

From Russian Foundation for Basic Research

Ericsson 5G Radios for Urban Locations

Spreading 5G Radio in Urban Deployments 

New Ericsson street solutions equip busy urban locations with low-visibility, high-performance 5G radios

PLANO, Texas, Aug. 30, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) is expanding its portfolio of 5G radios with three new offerings geared toward urban environments. Part of Ericsson Street Solutions, these radios will allow communications service providers (CSPs) to build robust 5G service across all bands in urban environments while blending in seamlessly with the cityscapes.

“Urban deployments are critical for reaching the full potential of 5G,” said Kevin Zvokel, Head of Networks for Ericsson North America. “We know CSPs are looking for ways to deploy quickly and with simplicity, maximizing the 5G user experience while leveraging minimally intrusive equipment. Ericsson’s solutions do just this and can bring a complete 5G network to life across all bands.”  ... ' 

Qualcomm Launches 5G and AI to Target Commercial Drones

Qualcomm 5G Drones using  AI for Commercial Connectivity Platform

Smartphones in the sky: Qualcomm launches first 5G and AI platform targeting commercial drones

After supplying computer chips for NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter on Mars, Qualcomm has unveiled next generation technologies to help power safe, beyond line-of-sight drone flights on Earth.

BY MIKE FREEMAN  AUG. 17, 2021 6:08 PM PT

Fresh off being in the limelight for its processors powering NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter on Mars, Qualcomm has rolled out its next-generation technologies for drones on Earth — aiming to drive adoption beyond hobbyists and into commercial industries.

The San Diego wireless technology company announced its Flight RB5 5G Platform on Tuesday. It is the first drone system to include 5G connectivity and artificial intelligence technology, which eventually could help enable autonomous, beyond-line-of-sight flights for such things as crop inspection, search and rescue, powerline/wind turbine monitoring, package delivery, mapping and so on.

In addition to the processing/connectivity platform, Qualcomm also launched its first-ever reference design kit for drone developers — essentially an aircraft body, rotors and other necessities to help companies develop drones faster and easier. ... '   

5G Telemedicine and the Military

Brought to my attention by Walter Riker.  Will ask for more comment from the VA, sure it is being looked at. 

Telemedicine with 5G could be a gamechanger for military health

FederalNewsNetwork, July 22, 2021

Telehealth became an even bigger industry during COVID-19. Doctors were forces to think of creative ways to see patients as people were forced to stay home to avoid the spread of the virus.

However, as 5G is starting to roll out, telehealth may be breaking into a completely new plane. At Joint Base San Antonio (JBSA) the Air Force is testing capabilities that could be the future of medicine.

“5G brings a whole new paradigm and architecture to the table. From what we’ve seen before even up through the current 5G  non-standalone that you see advertised on TV today,” Jody Little, executive program manager for 5G NextGen at JBSA, said during a Federal Insights discussion sponsored by Verizon. “Now you can bring large amounts of data forward or back to it and operate in the forward edge. You can virtualize these applications and get very ultra-low latency. And now you’re supporting lots of sensors. Whereas in, say, 4g, you could support maybe 100. Here, you can support 1000s.”  ... ' 

AI at the Edge

 UK and elsewhere, attempts at merging advanced tech efforts.

Towards Broad Artificial Intelligence (AI) & The Edge in 2021  by 7wData

Artificial intelligence (AI) has quickened its progress in 2021. 

A new administration is in place in the US and the talk is about a major push for Green Technology and the need to stimulate next generation infrastructure including AI and 5G to generate economic recovery with David Knight forecasting that 5G has the potential - the potential - to drive GDP growth of 40% or more by 2030. The Biden administration has stated that it will boost spending in emerging technologies that includes AI and 5G to $300Bn over a four year period.

On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, the EU have announced a Green Deal and also need to consider the European AI policy to develop next generation companies that will drive economic growth and employment. It may well be that the EU and US (alongside Canada and other allies) will seek ways to work together on issues such as 5G policy and infrastructure development. The UK will be hosting COP 26 and has also made noises about AI and 5G development.

The world needs to find a way to successfully end the Covid-19 pandemic and in the post pandemic world move into a phase of economic growth with job creation. An opportunity exists for a new era of highly skilled jobs with sustainable economic development built around next generation technologies.  ... '

Security Implications for 5G in IOT

Was unaware of these implications.  Intro below:

Is 5G Opening Security Holes in the Internet of Things?  By David Geer, Commissioned by CACM Staff, May 25, 2021

Market research company Research and Markets, looking at the intersection of the Internet of Things (IoT) and the increasingly popular fifth-generation cellular broadband technology 5G, said, "The global 5G IoT market size is expected to reach USD$11.35 billion by 2027."

The 5G technology and IoT devices are inextricably linked. According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report 5G Wireless Capabilities and Challenges for an Evolving Network, IoT devices are primary consumers of 5G networks.

In the 5G IoT market, IoT devices will multiply exponentially as 5G wireless connectivity enhances their capabilities. Smart factories in industry 4.0, for example, will leverage 5G and an abundance of industrial IoT to increase data visualization and enhance productivity while turning away from wired solutions, according to NetworkWorld .

Yet criminal hackers stand to benefit, too. With 5G wireless, sprawling IoT networks, and the flood of IoT device communications that follow, IoT becomes more vulnerable. As with all infant technologies, we hardly have an inkling about 5G wireless security flaws alone, and IoT is no less subject to attack as vendors trade native security capabilities for swift time-to-market.

Their combined shortcomings will open IoT to many more exploits.  ... '

Artificial Emotional Intelligence

Fascinating thoughts on emotional intelligence.   Given how much I trust all the ads pushing 5G I see, scary too.  

Artificial emotional intelligence: A safer, smarter future with 5G and emotion recognition   by Incheon National University

With 5G communication technology and new AI-based systems such as emotion recognition systems, smart cities are all set to become a reality; but these systems need to be honed and security issues need to be ironed out before the smart reality can be realized. Credit: macrovector on Freepik

With the advent of 5G communication technology and its integration with AI, we are looking at the dawn of a new era in which people, machines, objects, and devices are connected like never before. This smart era will be characterized by smart facilities and services such as self-driving cars, smart UAVs, and intelligent healthcare. This will be the aftermath of a technological revolution.

But the flip side of such technological revolution is that AI itself can be used to attack or threaten the security of 5G-enabled systems which, in turn, can greatly compromise their reliability. It is, therefore, imperative to investigate such potential security threats and explore countermeasures before a smart world is realized.

In a recent study published in IEEE Network, a team of researchers led by Prof. Hyunbum Kim from Incheon National University, Korea, address such issues in relation to an AI-based, 5G-integrated virtual emotion recognition system called 5G-I-VEmoSYS, which detects human emotions using wireless signals and body movement. "Emotions are a critical characteristic of human beings and separate humans from machines, defining daily human activity. However, some emotions can also disrupt the normal functioning of a society and put people's lives in danger, such as those of an unstable driver. Emotion detection technology thus has great potential for recognizing any disruptive emotion and in tandem with 5G and beyond-5G communication, warning others of potential dangers," explains Prof. Kim. "For instance, in the case of the unstable driver, the AI enabled driver system of the car can inform the nearest network towers, from where nearby pedestrians can be informed via their personal smart devices."   ... " 

India Bets Big on 5G

Have yet to see any compelling arguments for new business models.    My new phone seems to have quietly dropped the option.

India Bets Big on 5G Technology Going Mainstream in 2021

Business Standard

The role of 4G networks in helping to keep the global economy afloat during the pandemic has helped convince leaders in India to support the nation's telecommunications sector and launch future technologies like 5G faster. K. Ramchand with India's Department of Telecommunications said it would soon announce 5G spectrum bands for auction, signaling that 5G adoption is a government priority. Cellular Operators Association of India director general S.P. Kochhar said, "5G technology is poised to open up a plethora of possibilities in terms of business models, and overall, enhanced lifestyles for one and all. We seek the support of the government in enabling the industry to play its role as an enabler of horizontal growth and a boost to the nation's economy."

DISH and Qualcomm 5G RAN

More development of robust network infrastructure planned.

DISH and Qualcomm to Collaborate on the Development of the Nation's First O-RAN Compliant 5G Network

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. and SAN DIEGO, Nov. 11, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- DISH Network Corporation and Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. today announced their collaboration to test open and virtualized RAN 5G solutions containing the new Qualcomm® 5G RAN Platforms to help fast track DISH's rollout of the nation's first cloud-native, Open RAN-compliant 5G network. DISH will utilize the Qualcomm 5G RAN Platforms through DISH's network vendors and device partners. The platforms are designed to allow emerging network  ... " 

via  https://www.prnewswire.com/

Nokia Research on 5G

Indications of the importance of emerging 5G:

In Global newswire:
SomeindNew Nokia research reveals biggest 5G drivers for enterprise IT and OT

Press Release New Nokia research reveals biggest 5G drivers for enterprise IT and OT Survey finds 65% of IT decision-makers are aware of 5G, one-third are using it today and 47% have started their 5G planning Businesses identify video as most .... '

5G Rollout is Proceeding Well

What will the implications be for broad rollout of 5G?

Qualcomm President: 5G Rollout Is Doing Just Fine

Qualcomm has spent three decades working on the next big thing in wireless. The company’s sales peaked at $26.5 billion in 2014, as fourth-generation, or 4G, phones came of age. Now the smartphone chip maker is waiting for a new, 5G peak. It’s coming. Qualcomm expects 175 million to 225 million 5G handsets to be sold worldwide this year, even amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Wall Street expects Qualcomm’s revenue to hit $28 billion in 2022.

Barron’s recently spoke with Qualcomm (ticker: QCOM) President Cristiano Amon, a 25-year veteran of the company, about the much-anticipated 5G rollout, global technology competition, and the coronavirus.   ... " 
 

Building Private 5G Networks

Assume we will be getting useful information from these tests.

German Industrial Firms to Build Private 5G Networks
The Wall Street Journal
Catherine Stupp

Automakers BMW and Volkswagen, chemicals company BASF, airline Deutsche Lufthansa, and other German industrial firms intend to build their own private 5G networks, now that the German Federal Network Agency has started accepting applications for that portion of the radio spectrum. The regulator said 33 companies have to date purchased 5G licenses. Private 5G networks are particularly useful for industrial applications like operating robots and driverless vehicles within factories, which experts say require fast, reliable connections that perform tasks in real time. The firms also claim the private networks will fortify cybersecurity, as they will be able to configure the networks to suit their needs, use customized security features like encryption, and avoid sharing bandwidth with other companies. ... " 

Nokia Introduces Beacon for Wi-Fi 6 Mesh

Good to see more out of Wifi for enhanced communications.    Nokia puts out a useful overview of the capabilities.

Nokia introduces new Wi-Fi 6 mesh router and technology innovations to deliver ultimate gigabit experience in a 5G world

 

Nokia adds the Beacon 6 to its whole-home WiFi portfolio, which already includes the Beacon 1, the Beacon 3 and family of mesh fiber gateways

Beacon 6 is the first Nokia Wi-Fi device to support Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi Certified EasyMesh™ along with the Nokia WiFi Cloud Controller to manage mesh WiFi remotely.

Nokia first to deliver a seamless transition for mobile devices moving between 5G and Wi-Fi 6 to maintain throughput and low latency for video streaming and cloud gaming applications

Nokia also pioneering support for low-latency technology innovations for Wi-Fi networks that revolutionize the way users experience the internet and gaming applications

Nokia Bell Labs researchers have significantly contributed to development of Wi-Fi 6

19 March 2020

Espoo, Finland – Nokia today announced it is adding a new Wi-Fi 6 Beacon to its whole-home WiFi portfolio, helping operators to deliver a powerful user experience. Providing a high-capacity, high-performance in-home solution, the new Beacon 6 uses Wi-Fi 6 to deliver 40 percent faster speeds than previous Wi-Fi generations.

To further enhance the in-home experience, Nokia is also adding low-latency technology built on Nokia Bell Labs innovations to its Wi-Fi portfolio. Drastically improving residential Wi-Fi networks, the Nokia Beacon 6 provides operators with an easy to install solution that can support low-latency applications such as gaming and gigabit speeds essential for creating a seamless end-to-end 5G experience.

Ben Wood, chief of research at CCS Insight said: “The benefits of 5G are going to change user experiences and customers’ expectations. The blend of the latest Wi-Fi 6 technology, low latency performance and in-home Wi-Fi mesh solutions linked to 5G will allow operators to deliver a seamless communications platform for next generation applications and solutions.”

Currently more than 25 percent of homes globally are connected to a Wi-Fi network and there are about 5 billion Wi-Fi-connected devices in the home including home computing, smart TVs and smart home devices. To cope with this growth, operators and end-users are investing in devices that support Wi-Fi 6, a new Wi-Fi standard that improves speed by at least four times in dense areas and reduces latency by 75 percent1.

The Beacon 6 is the first Nokia WiFi device to showcase several new technologies working seamlessly together. This includes:   ... "

Nokia 5G Tests with Connected Cars

Tests moving forward.  Look forward to seeing how this will change the way we interact with automobiles, before and after they become autonomous.  More details at the link.

Nokia supporting SoftBank Corp. in completing the world-first 5G connected car test  in Streetinsider

Nokia supporting SoftBank Corp. in completing the world-first 5G connected car test Press Release SoftBank Corp. installed 5G network with Nokia’s end-to-end offering at a Honda Research and Development site.   ... 

Espoo, Finland – Nokia provides end-to-end 5G portfolio to SoftBank Corp. to become first in the world to have successfully completed tests demonstrating that non-standalone 5G technology can be used to commercially operate connected cars. ... " 

Possibilities Created by 5G together with IOT

Some useful starting thoughts on the possibilities driven by the emergence of these technologies.   Sill qite a bit to do to make this really remarkable, like data security.

Mind-Blowinguossibilities Created by 5G-Enhanced IoT
Sadia Mehmood in ReadwriteWeb

We all know 5G and IoT have been making a splash since 2016. However,  we won’t see its standard commercial network until later in 2020. But now that the time has arrived let’s see what possibilities IoT and 5G will create together. Here are the mind-blowing possibilities created by 5G-enhanced I0T.

A Brief History of 5G
Now the question arises why it was hyped at such an early age? If you look at the cycle from 2G to 3G and 3G to 4G, it almost took ten years to get from one generation to another. Nonetheless, the same is the case with 5G.

The reason is how the entire standard body is constructed, it’s a very complicated process to introduce a new generation, though it works really well globally. But you need to get everybody on the same table, and agreements have to be made on every single thing — such as antenna, modulation, security, mobility, authentication, and billing.

You have the entire ecosystem there, that’s why it took years to build an entire generation of cellular connectivity.   ... " 

5G Tests Underwhelm

Some interesting first views of 5G.   As in most cases a 'killer app' experience is needed to sell the increased cost of hardware quickly, but it will sell as a natural update. 

5G Underwhelms in Its First Big Test    By The Wall Street Journal
January 7, 2020

Users of 5G services in South Korea say the first implementation of the next-generation network technology has fallen short of expectations.

Users of 5G services say the first implementation of the next-generation network technology in South Korea has fallen short of expectations.

Starting last April with simultaneous rollouts by carriers KT, SK Telecom, and LG Uplus, nearly half of South Korea's population could access 5G services with a network-enabled device.

Strategy Analytics' Woody Oh said the lack of a killer app is one reason adoption has been soft.

5G's most obvious current benefit is the ability to rapidly transfer large data volumes, like faster movie downloads and seamless streaming of high-resolution content.

However, telecom experts said smartphone users get few benefits with 5G, with maintaining connections especially challenging.

Experts expect the technology's chief impact will be felt with driverless cars or smart cities.

From The Wall Street Journal

Whats a 5G World Look Like

Useful examples of where the new technology will be relevant:

A First Look at What a 5G-Enabled World Looks Like, Courtesy of Samsung and IBM
 Written by: Steve Canepa

Built on the IBM Cloud, the new platform created in partnership with Samsung will now allow firefighters and other first responders to track first responders’ vitals, including heart rate and physical activity, to determine if that person is in distress and automatically dispatch help. (Photo attribution to Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd)

For years thought leaders in the technology, telecommunications, and media spaces have offered tantalizing visions of how 5G will transform society: lightning-fast video downloads, self-driving cars, eSports, robotic factories, and other revolutionary technologies yet-to-be imagined.

But these predictions often include qualifying language, reminding readers that, of course, no one can really predict the future, and anyway the real effects of 5G won’t be felt for some time.

It turns out the future is a lot closer than some thought. IBM’s major investments in Open and Secure Hybrid cloud – which enables enterprises of all kinds to collect, store and analyze data they generate – and developments in Artificial Intelligence and IoT, some of the groundwork has been laid for opportunistic companies to start building our collective future, now.

Enter IBM and Samsung. The recent announcement that the two companies are launching a new platform that will bring important new capabilities for first responders is one of the first, examples of how 5G – through cloud and edge computing – is transforming the world, right at this moment.

This platform, which brings together Samsung’s best-in-class 5G-enabled connected devices and services and IBM’s public cloud and AI, is designed to make first responders safer, but has potential applications far beyond that purview in many industries.

It is, in many ways, a model for future 5G applications. Here’s how it works: Samsung’s Galaxy Watches with biometric sensors and Galaxy smartphones enabled with 5G capability, can detect if a firefighter or police officer is suffering from stress or heat exhaustion, and IBM AI alerts other professionals to a potential problem before it becomes a life-threatening condition via IBM Cloud. ... "

Michael Goodkin on Getting Answers Faster

Recent reading inspires some thoughts.

Struck me that such methods what we are doing today.  Is faster always better?  And may be further advanced by technologies like 5G.   Depends on the risk involved and how it is managed.

The Wrong Answer Faster: The Inside Story of Making the Machine that Trades Trillions

(Michael Goodkin).   His company's original investment techniques became known as statistical and quantitative arbitrage. By 1996, these techniques accounted for most of the volume on the global exchanges and the financial derivatives market. Having resettled in Chicago, Goodkin then set out to make the market less risky by introducing computational physics to derivatives risk management.[1]

Goodkin’s most successful start-up was Numerix. Recruiting a group of academic physicists, including Mitchell Feigenbaum, winner of the MacArthur grant and the Wolf Prize in Physics for his pioneering work in Chaos Theory, Numerix was founded in 1996. The company’s initial product was a software algorithm that dramatically reduced the time required for Monte Carlo pricing of exotic financial derivatives and structured products. Numerix remains one of the leading software providers to financial market participants.[3]   .... "

Qualcomm Creates Fund for 5G Use Beyond Phones

Being speed, what are the applications in play?  Where can we predict particular useful ventures that we should support?

Qualcomm creates $200 million fund for 5G uses beyond phones in Reuters

Qualcomm Inc on Thursday said it has created a $200 million venture capital fund to invest in startup companies looking to use 5G technology in devices other than smartphones.

(Reuters) - Qualcomm Inc on Thursday said it has created a $200 million venture capital fund to invest in startup companies looking to use 5G technology in devices other than smartphones.

Qualcomm is supplying chips for 5G, the next generation of mobile networks rolling out this year, to phone makers such as Samsung Electronics Co Ltd The San Diego company is the biggest supplier of chips for mobile phones, but that market has stopped growing.

Qualcomm is looking to invest in companies that will use 5G in other areas, such as connecting industrial and agricultural equipment to the internet or enabling self-driving cars to communicate with infrastructure such as traffic lights and signs.

“5G will transform industries and should be viewed as a business strategy for all,” Steve Mollenkopf, Qualcomm’s chief executive, said in a release.  .... "