Tag: Ericsson

GMV, FrontierSI, Ericsson and Optus prove 5G-based high-accuracy positioning

Trials in Australia are proving 5G LPP can support new positioning services. (Photo: Dan Woodrow, FrontierSI)

Several companies are joining to demonstrate 5G LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP) capabilities in field trials. The trials are part of the 5G Positioning Testbed funded under the Australian 5G Innovation Initiative.

Technology partners include GMV, FrontierSI, Ericsson and Optus, who are joining with industry demonstration partners Kondinin Group, Platfarm (a precision agriculture company) and Position Partners.

The results achieved by the project are considered a key step forward for the use of 5G technology for high-accuracy positioning. The testbed demonstrated each of the high accuracy GNSS-based LPP working modes, including Observation Space Representation (OSR), State Space Representation (SSR), and SSR with atmospheric corrections, integrated directly with user equipment supplied by demonstration partners to examine a variety of real-world applications. The field trials demonstrated that the solution can reach centimeter-level accuracy with fast convergence times using a commercial off-the-shelf receiver and antenna hardware.

GNSS precise positioning is the most common technology for calculating an absolute positioning solution at the user level. For uses requiring centimeter-level accuracy, it is often required to provide GNSS corrections to reduce errors.

Distribution of GNSS corrections is based on either the broadcast of precise point positioning (PPP) corrections through GEO satellites over the L-band, or the point-to-point transmission of real-time kinematic (RTK) corrections using NTRIP through the internet.

Both options have their drawbacks: GEO satellite broadcast requires complex ground infrastructure and can be expensive to maintain, while NTRIP distribution has poor scalability due to the point-to-point connections required for every user.

3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) — the standards organization focusing on 5G LPP — recently introduced the support of OSR corrections for RTK users in Release 15, and the support of SSR plus atmospheric corrections for PPP/PPP-RTK users in Release 16.

Support for these two approaches to high-accuracy GNSS positioning have increased interest in 5G LPP as a potential alternative to existing correction services. Service providers and positioning consumers can now consider the use of 5G LPP as a supporting technology in the provision of new positioning services directly through mobile networks.

The 5G Positioning Testbed has achieved end-to-end demonstrations of high-accuracy positioning solutions using GMV’s Corrections Service and Positioning Engine, delivered through the Optus 5G network using Ericsson network technology, to user equipment designed and operated by FrontierSI.

Field trials conducted in Australia involved real-world scenarios across three areas: precision agriculture, drone operation and augmented reality.

September 25, 2022
Companies achieve extended-range 5G data call over mmWave

Photo: JamesBrey/E+/Getty Images

U.S. Cellular, Qualcomm Technologies Inc. and Ericsson have successfully achieved the first extended-range 5G NR millimeter Wave (mmWave) data call in the U.S. on a commercial network.

The extended-range data call milestone was completed in Janesville, Wisconsin, over a more than 5-km distance with speeds greater than 100 Mbps. According to the companies, the achievement redefines the perception of 5G mmWave spectrum as an urban- or high-density-only deployment technology and offers new opportunities to use current infrastructure for broader 5G coverage.

This milestone demonstrates that mmWave can help close the “connectivity divide” and expand broadband services throughout rural, suburban, and urban communities. This breakthrough gives communications service providers a cost effective way to expand their coverage and deliver 5G experience to communities that previously were not serviced or may have lacked a reliable connection.

It will also open the door for new use cases, which will bring 5G benefits to homes and business everywhere, from urban to rural communities. For example, Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) installations can provide a cost-effective way to deliver fiber-like internet speeds wirelessly over mmWave to institutions such as schools, hospitals and town halls, and for addressing some of the “last mile” challenges in rural areas. FWA provides the bandwidth required to support high definition streaming services that can improve experiences like remote education and remote healthcare in suburban and rural environments.

Mike Irizarry, chief technology officer, U.S. Cellular, said, “This is a key strategic milestone in our 5G evolution. Expanding 5G mmWave coverage enables us to offer high-speed broadband services to consumers and businesses in rural areas and underserved communities and reinforces our commitment to technological leadership for rural America. It is a concrete example where U.S. Cellular is driving innovation leadership in extended range technology from Ericsson and promoting the high-power device ecosystem enabled by Qualcomm Technologies.”

“This major milestone of using mmWave for an extended-range 5G data transfer is paving the way to implement fixed broadband services for broad coverage in urban, suburban and rural environments,” said Alejandro Holcman, senior vice president, engineering, Qualcomm Technologies. “With the introduction of the Qualcomm QTM527 mmWave antenna module as part of the Qualcomm Snapdragon X55 5G Modem-RF System, we are empowering operators and OEMs to offer high-performance, extended-range multi-gigabit 5G broadband to their customers — which is both flexible and cost-effective, as they can leverage existing 5G network infrastructure.”

Per Narvinger, head of product area networks, Ericsson, said, “Ericsson is constantly pushing the boundaries of 5G technology to bring its benefits everywhere across the globe. Ericsson has a long and successful track record in extending coverage across generations of mobile technologies. Working with our partners, Ericsson has now demonstrated the commercial viability of long-range 5G radio capability for mmWave spectrum.”

The milestone was achieved by applying extended-range software to commercial Ericsson hardware — including AIR5121 and Baseband 6630 — and a 5G CPE device powered by the Snapdragon X55 5G Modem-RF System with the Qualcomm QTM527 mmWave antenna module.

September 17, 2020
Though exhibitors cancel, MWC Barcelona to continue — with health measures
Mobile World Congress (MWC) Barcelona will still take place Feb. 24-27, despite exhibitors dropping out because of the coronavirus. According to a statement by GSMA, some large exhibitors have decided not to come to the show this year because of the coronavirus, while others are still contemplating next steps. Despite this, the show is expected to boast more than 2,800 exhibitors.

According to Reuters, as of Feb. 9, there are two confirmed cases of coronavirus in Spain.

GSMA and its partners have implemented several safety measures for attendees, the organization said, including:
- Increased cleaning and disinfection across all high-volume touch points, such as catering areas, surfaces, handrails, restrooms, entrances/exits and public touchscreens, along with the use of correct cleaning/sanitizing materials and products
- Increased onsite medical support
- Awareness campaign via online and onsite info-share and signage
- Availability of sanitizing and disinfection materials for public use
- Awareness and training to all staff on standard personal preventative measures, such as personal hygiene, frequent use of sanitizing/disinfection products, etc.
- Advice to exhibitors on implementing effective cleaning and disinfection of stands and offices, along with guidance on personal hygiene measures and common preventive behavior
- Public health guidelines and communication with Barcelona hotels, public and private transport, restaurants and catering outlets, retail, etc.
- Installing new signage onsite reminding attendees of hygiene recommendations
- Implementing a microphone disinfecting and change protocol for all speakers
- Communicating advice to all attendees to adopt a “no-handshake policy”
- A 24-hour telephone security and medical service for all attendees, available Feb. 12 to Feb. 29. This number will appear on the back of badge holders, in the event app and on signage around the venue.
Companies Back Out

Because of the coronavirus, several companies have backed out of attending MWC Barcelona. Several of these companies include Sony, Ericsson, LG, Nvidia and Amazon.

“Due to the outbreak and continued concerns about novel coronavirus, Amazon will withdraw from exhibiting and participating in Mobile World Congress 2020,” Amazon said in a statement. According to CNN Business, the company was due to host a dozen sessions covering topics such as 5G connectivity and artificial intelligence.

Other companies have expressed similar concerns.

“Sony has been closely monitoring the evolving situation following the novel coronavirus outbreak, which was declared a global emergency by the World Health Organization on January 30,” the company said in a statement. “As we place the utmost importance on the safety and wellbeing of our customers, partners, media and employees, we have taken the difficult decision to withdraw from exhibiting and participating at MWC 2020 in Barcelona, Spain.”

As an alternative, Sony’s press release will take place on Feb. 24 via a video through its official Xperia YouTube channel.

“We’ve informed GSMA, the organizers of MWC Barcelona, that we won’t be sending our employees to this year’s event,” Nvidia said in a statement. “Given public health risks around the coronavirus, ensuring the safety of our colleagues, partners and customers is our highest concern. We’ve been looking forward to sharing our work in AI, 5G and vRAN with the industry. We regret not attending, but believe this is the right decision.”
February 10, 2020
Ericsson verifies 5G coverage with Rohde & Schwarz drone

Photo: Rohde & Schwarz

Test and measurement specialist Rohde & Schwarz has supplied mobile network testing tools used in drone-based network coverage, performance and operation tests managed by Ericsson, a global leader in network infrastructure.

Testing mobile coverage. A project team based in Jorvas, Finland, and led by Ericsson’s 5G Readiness Program RAN Technical Lead Richard Wirén, has developed— together with Centria University of Applied Sciences — a novel system for testing cellular mobile network coverage.

The new system uses mobile network-testing scanners and smartphones from Rohde & Schwarz mounted on a drone that can be programmed to execute automatic tests with considerable flexibility, for example for precise route selection and drone speed control.

This solution is especially valuable for industrial use cases. It also has the advantages over traditional walk and drive tests by providing unprecedented repeatability and positional accuracy with the ability to verify beamforming and map coverage in 3D.

Drone-mounted scanner. The R&S TSMA6 network scanner is mounted on a drone and is able to simultaneously verify important LTE and 5G NR coverage metrics such as reference signal received power (RSRP) and signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) in accordance with 3GPP standards.

When combined with the R&S QualiPoc Android smartphone-based optimizer, IP trace, application quality of service (QoS) metrics such as serving cell parameters are possible. The solution currently uses LTE user equipment (UE) but will soon be further developed to include 5G UEs such as the Samsung S10 5G.

The drone can be programmed to follow an exact three-dimensional route.

Repeatable tests. More than 20 successful measurement flights conducted so far have shown the solution procedure and results to be extremely repeatable. The drone flights were of various duration, altitudes and routes, depending on the test case.

Control, authentication and air traffic control are considerable challenges to the development of robust drone-based solutions. In this new system they are conducted over cellular networks, eliminating the requirement for line-of-sight connection between the drone and its pilot.

The unique procedure enables unprecedented 3D accessibility, positional accuracy and repeatability of the testing.

It also opens up new possibilities to ensure end-user QoS for demanding 5G use cases such as industry 4.0, automotive and public safety, Rohde & Scwarz said.

5G New Radio. The deployment of 5G New Radio (NR) brings new applications of cellular networks for subscribers, government and industry. It also makes the verification of the correct coverage, performance and operation of networks more critical, increasing the demand for accuracy and accessibility in traditional field network tests.

“For 5G to realize its promise, field verification of operation and quality is essential, and this development is a pioneering way to ensure our customers receive the network performance they require,” said Richard Wirén, 5G Readiness Program RAN Technical Lead from Ericsson. “We are delighted to utilize test solutions from Rohde & Schwarz that have proven themselves very reliable and are excited that we now have access to solutions based on commercially available 5G NR UEs such as the Samsung S10 5G.”

“We are delighted to combine our industry-leading mobile network testing know-how with Ericsson’s long tradition of network innovations to ensure the delivery of end-user Quality of Experience as 5G NR becomes a reality,” said Hanspeter Bobst, vice president of mobile network testing for Rohde & Schwarz.

Ericsson and Rohde & Schwarz are collaborating with Tampere University and Centria University of Applied Sciences, and the project forms part of the Business Finland 5G FORCE program.

Future developments will focus on testing critical 5G applications such as public safety and machine-type communications for Industry 4.0, extending the frequency to extremely high frequencies of the mmWave bands and testing in an urban environment.

November 26, 2019
PNT Roundup: Ericsson HQ gets indoor positioning upgrade

Photo: senion.com

With personal or work-issued smartphones, more than 4,000 employees can now use a corporate app to easily find available rooms and spaces to work in the 500,000-square-foot, 20-floor, four-building Stockholm headquarters of telecom company Ericsson.

The Senion StepInside indoor positioning system, designed by partner Flowscape, helps Ericsson employees reduce wasted time searching for people, places or things, thereby increasing productivity.

The StepInside software development kit (SDK) offers location readings in latitude, longitude and floor level in real time. The SDK can easily be integrated into any smartphone application. StepInside relies on an advanced sensor fusion algorithm that works with the smartphone’s movement and radio sensors to provide accurate and robust positioning.

“Indoor positioning technology is perfect for large offices with multiple floors, offices, and meeting spaces — the bigger and more intricate the better,” said Christian Lundquist, CEO and co-founder of Senion. Ericsson’s StepInside implementation is part of the company’s larger global platform designed to enable rapid IoT application development.

The system as implemented today is the starting point for a bigger roll-out with additional workplace enhancements at Ericsson.

Senion’s comprehensive IPS services include analytics, wayfinding, geofencing, friend-finder and tracking. With more than 300 indoor positioning system installations globally, Senion has worked closely with shopping malls, hospitals, corporate campuses and more to improve workflows. Senion is headquartered in Linkoping, Sweden, and San Francisco.

September 25, 2017
Ericsson HQ gets indoor positioning upgrade

StepInside and partner Flowscape to help Sweden HQ team easily find available workspace and colleagues

The Senion StepInside indoor positioning system has been deployed in the 500,000-square-foot Kista (Stockholm) headquarters of telecom company Ericsson.

Using personal or work-issued smartphones, more than 4,000 employees working throughout 20 floors distributed over four buildings can now use a corporate app to easily find available rooms and spaces to work, the company said.

The indoor positioning system is designed by Senion’s longtime partner Flowscape. With StepInside integrated into the Flowscape platform, the two companies will help Ericsson employees reduce wasted time searching for people, places or things, increasing productivity.

The StepInside software development kit (SDK) offers location readings in latitude, longitude and floor level in real time. The SDK can easily be integrated into any smartphone application. StepInside relies on an advanced sensor fusion algorithm that works with the smartphone’s movement and radio sensors to provide accurate and robust positioning.

“Indoor positioning technology is perfect for large offices with multiple floors, offices, and meeting spaces — the bigger and more intricate the better,” said Christian Lundquist, CEO and co-founder of Senion. “We’re seeing that large companies are taking serious measures to combat friction in order to increase both productivity and employee satisfaction. We now aid Ericsson in giving back time to their employees so they can be more efficient in their day-to-day work.”

The implementation of StepInside at Ericsson is part of the company’s larger global platform designed to enable rapid IoT application development.

“We looked carefully at the benefits of using IPS [indoor positioning system] in our offices, and determined the system would pay for itself in productivity savings alone,” said Magnus Arlidsson, global head application platform for IoT at Ericsson. “Our initial roll-out focuses on productivity improvements by saving employees time they might waste searching for things, such as conference rooms or places to work.”

The system as implemented today is the starting point for a bigger roll-out with additional workplace enhancements at Ericsson.

Senion’s comprehensive IPS services include analytics, wayfinding, geofencing, friend finder and tracking. With more than 300 indoor positioning system installations globally, Senion has worked closely with shopping malls, hospitals, corporate campuses and more to improve workflows. Senion is headquartered in Linkoping, Sweden, and San Francisco.

August 1, 2017
CTIA Connected Car Panel Highlights Safety, Innovation
When comedian Larry Wilmore started out Day 2 at CTIA Super Mobility Week by reporting from a connected car on the show floor, he was only half joking when he said, “It’s almost like you’re driving in a smart phone, and with smart phones getting bigger it’s not too far off. I think I saw an HTC this size.”

The experts in the keynote Connected Car panel agreed: The car is the new smart phone.

Just ask Ralph de la Vega, CEO of the just-formed AT&T Mobile and Business Solutions Group, who called the Chevy Corvette “the best smart phone I’ve ever gotten to test.” The Corvette was conveniently displayed next to the stage, along with a connected Tesla Model S.

As CTIA CEO Meredith Atwell Baker pointed out, what was once relegated to the CTIA show floor is now in dealerships all across the U.S. The statistics thrown out by de la Vega supported this observation. Thirty-two percent of new cars sold globally (and 60% of new cars sold in the U.S.) by 2017 will be embedded with cellular technology. Seventy-two percent of people would delay a new car purchase one year to buy a connected car by their preferred automaker.

De la Vega co-moderated the panel with Glenn Lurie, his successor as CEO of AT&T Mobility. Panelists representing General Motors/OnStar, Ericsson, VoiceBox and Tesla overwhelmingly agreed that the emphasis on the connected car going forward has to be safety.

“[Drivers are] trying to fill the time and be productive. People naturally want to do that. They’re going to bring the phone in, reach over, grab it and try to do things. And the more capabilities, the more they’ll do it,” said Mike Kennewick, co-founder & CEO of VoiceBox, maker of natural language technology. “It’s imperative as we bring the Internet into the car, there’s a component that allows you to do it safely.”

What that would mean, exactly, though, was a matter of opinion. Each panelist had a chance to discuss their company’s recent and coming advancements.
- De la Vega says AT&T’s studies show people prefer a shared family data plan that would allos them to share data across people and across devices, and a belief by the wireless provider that customers should be able to add their cars to their rate plans.
- GM has successfully integrated 4G/LTE into 33 different models in the U.S. and Canada and next plans expansion in Europe, Mary Chan, President of Global Connected Consumer at GM shared.
- VoiceBox’s Kennewick calls the voice recognition in cars today “just like the movies” but says VoiceBox strives to simplify the apps in cars and make voice activation less about reiterative command-and-control.
- Telsa, a leader in over-the-air auto updates, will be launching a mass market car “in a few years” and is now exploring how best to keep the customer experience focused in the car. Tesla CIO Jay Vijayan also said the company is considering opening up its infotainment stystem to other partners.
September 10, 2014