Over 100 researchers attended the 5G PPP Phase 3 ICT-19 information day held in Brussels on 14th September and heard Bernard Barani, Deputy Head of Unit, at the European Commission’s Future Connectivity Systems, say “There are many ways to get involved and there is plenty opportunity for newcomers in 5G PPP”.
The event was organised as part of the ongoing 5G PPP initiative whose latest Call for Proposals has a deadline on 14th November. Proposers must establish trials involving various sectors such as transport, eHealth, and media, (the verticals) built on the 5G infrastructure being developed by three projects recently funded under ICT-17.
The first half of the information day allowed vertical proposers to learn about offerings from the infrastructure providers. Coordinators from the three ICT-17 projects presented details on their own work and how ICT-19 proposals might integrate with them.
During the second half of the event, nearly 40 pitches were made by various SMEs, universities, and industry representatives on how they would contribute to the vertical trials. Setting the context for these pitches, Jacques Magen from the SME Worlking Group, outlined the role envisaged for SMEs in the 5G PPP. The latest Call is the third phase of the 5G PPP and SME contributions are expected to increase as deployment of the network and innovative 5G-based solutions and applications are coming closer to the market.
Full information on how to be involved in ICT-19 and more generally in Phase 3 of the 5G PPP is explained in a new video available on the 5G PPP YouTube channel.
SONATA powered by 5G TANGO
On September 12th, 2018, 5GTANGO announced the launch of an upgraded release of its integrated platform, SONATA 4.0 (powered by 5GTANGO), which enhances some features from the previous SONATA 3.0 software release, as well as it introduces a new component: the Validation and Verification (V&V) Platform. The V&V process allows service operators to have some level of confidence in third-party hosted code so they can be sure that network services will behave as expected immediately after they are deployed and put into production.
“This new release of the SONATA NFV platform is a great achievement for the 5GTANGO project and guarantees the evolution and sustainability of the open source software and its community. Special focus has been added to validation and verification of network services, with the introduction of this completely new functionality that enhances DevOps methodology”, says Josep Martrat, Coordinator of the 5GTANGO project and Head of the Telecom Market at Atos Research and Innovation.
“Novel features to SONATA NFV Platform include support for Network Slicing, policy and SLA management. These features add value to the Platform, and we are willing to contribute some of them to other open source software initiatives, as we have done in the past with ETSI OSM”, says José Bonnet, Technical Manager of 5GTANGO project and Senior Technology Consultant at Altice Labs.
5GTANGO has selected three pilots in relevant areas for 5G (smart manufacturing, immersive media and communications suite) in order to illustrate the added value of the service programmability, service validation and orchestration capabilities offered by the SONATA NFV framework. These pilots will be implemented, validated and demonstrated within the project lifetime with the participation of vertical representatives of the respective sectors.
SME participation in Call ICT-17-2018 at crossroads
More effort shall be made in the upcoming calls (ICT-18 and ICT-19)!
The European Commission provided information on the participation of SMEs (Small and Medium-sized Enterprises) in 1st call related to Phase 3 of the 5G PPP i.e. Call ICT-17-2018. The outcome of the analysis of those figures shows figures a bit below objectives in terms of budget and of number of participants. More effort shall be made in the upcoming calls (ICT-18, ICT-19) to ensure that the 20% SME participation KPI is achieved.
In terms of budget:
The requested EC contribution for all the proposals submitted is 252.5 M€. The share of SMEs in those proposals is 48.3 M€. The share of SMEs in budget at proposal stage is 19%.
The requested EC contribution for the selected projects is 51.5 M€. The share of SMEs in the budget of the selected projects is 8.5 M€. The share of SMEs in budget in the selected projects is 16.7%
In terms of number of participants:
There is a total of 80 participants in the selected projects, including 15 SMEs. The share of SMEs in number of participants in the selected projects is 18.8%.
There are 401 participants at proposal stage, including 98 SMEs. The share of SMEs in number of participants in the proposals is 24.4%.
All details are available in the latest annex to the SME WG Newsletter #3.
5G-XHaul final demo event
5G-XHaul had recently gone through its Final Demonstration Event in the city of Bristol, UK.
5G-XHaul is a Phase 1, collaborative project funded by the European Commission under the framework of the 5G Public Private Partnership. The project consortium comprises twelve partners, including several Operators, Vendors, SMEs, Research Centers and Universities.
The objective of the project is to address the requirements of future 5G networks, where the increased demand for mobile connectivity introduces the need for a large number of smaller cells at specific locations. This makes traditional distributed Radio Access Networks, costly, inefficient and unsustainable, introducing the need for new and more centralized architectural models. To solve this issue the Cloud Radio Access Network architecture has been proposed, but requires high bandwidth low latency transport links, known as fronthaul.
In view of these challenges, 5G-XHaul focused on the development of a converged optical and wireless network solution offering both FH and BH services. This converged infrastructure is controlled by the flexible and scalable 5G-XHaul control plane. The combination of these technologies make the overall solution able to jointly support end-user and operational services.
To enable these novel concepts, the 5G-XHaul consortium developed:
1. A novel data plane architecture integrating together a variety of heterogeneous wireless and optical technologies and the required data plane interfaces across domains.
2. High throughput and low-cost wireless BH technologies including mmWave and Sub-6 technologies.
3. A hybrid optical transport network integrating active and passive technologies. These include: the Time Shared Optical Network, supporting elastic and fine bandwidth allocation, and Passive
optical networks adopting wavelength division multiplexing for increased capacity.
4. A flexible and scalable control plane relying on the software defined networking architectural model that controls both wireless and optical technologies.
The 5G-XHaul technologies have been demonstrated and tested in various partner laboratories and as a final activity they are also integrated in the city-wide testbed Bristol is Open, in Bristol. This final demonstration aims to showcase the overall 5G-Xhaul architecture and perform integration of the novel optical and wireless technologies. In addition, it aims to verify the control plane features and evaluate the end-to-end performance in a real network environment. The specific functionalities that will be shown include:
-a converged infrastructure supporting jointly FH and BH services,
-transport network slicing creating independent and isolated networks across the common
infrastructure, and
-the use of SDN control to enable automatic recovery from failures.
The European 5G Pioneer Award, announced by Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society Mariya Gabriel earlier this year, is now open for submissions. This award is an initiative organised by the European Commission and the GSMA, which represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, to highlight the role of pioneering organisations in Europe that are adopting 5G technology. The deadline for entries is 21 November 2018, and the award will be presented at the Global Mobile Awards (GLOMO) ceremony at the Mobile World Congress 2019.
The European 5G Pioneer Award will showcase the exceptional achievements of front-runners adopting 5G in Europe and preparing for the commercial launch of 5G services. 5G will be a key factor for European competitiveness in the next decade, as 5G connectivity has the potential to digitize all sectors of the economy and bring many benefits for an increasingly digital society.
This award is open to all companies, organisations, municipalities or partnerships, which have launched fully-fledged commercial or pre-commercial 5G service initiatives in the EU, (i.e. 5G services opened or about to be available to consumers and/or businesses under commercial terms), at city, regional, or other appropriate geographic level.
The award will be co-presented by the European Commission and the GSMA at the GLOMO Award Ceremony at the MWC’19 in Barcelona (25-28 February 2019).
The European 5G pioneer award is now open for submission of projects that have adopted 5G technology in their products or services. The deadline for submission is 21 November 2018.
5G Brasil is hosting the 6th Global 5G Event – 5G Technology Changing Paradigms of a New Society – with other leading 5G organizations from China, European Union, Japan, Republic of Korea and United States of America on November 28-30, 2018 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The Global 5G Event is an event where the world’s leading 5G organizations will discuss the latest research and development achievements and views on 5G. About 50 experts from around the world, including business leaders, researchers, engineers, professors, technical experts and policymakers, will present their views on 5G in eight panels and four keynote sessions. The following aspects on 5G will be addressed: government policies, challenges, opportunities, spectrum harmonization, regulatory issues, standardization process, research and technological trends, infrastructure, trials, precommercial launches, vertical markets and use cases.
Confirmed speakers and panelists will be announced soon. For more information on the program of the Symposium, visit http://5gbrasil.telebrasil.org.br
The following Global 5G Event will be coupled with EuCNC’19 in Valencia, Spain in June 2019. The Global 5G Events will become annual as from 2019. The 8th Global 5G Event will be orgnaised in 2020 in China.
ICT-2018: Imagine Digital Connect Europe
Vienna, Austria – December 4-6
ICT 2018: Imagine Digital – Connect Europe will take place in Vienna on 4-6 December 2018. This research and innovation event will focus on the European Union’s priorities in the digital transformation of society and industry. It will present an opportunity for the people involved in this transformation to share their experience and vision of Europe in the digital age.
The event is organised by the European Commission and the Austrian Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
ICT 2018 will have four main components converging around the theme Imagine Digital – Connect Europe: Conference, Exhibition, Networking opportunities and Innovation and Startups forum. The Conference programme will feature influential speakers and debates around the EU’s digital policy. The programme will involve relevant parties from industry, research and public bodies. The ‘Imagine18’ campaign will reach out to generations ranging from teenagers to the elderly to learn how citizens feel about the digital revolution and its effects on daily life. As part of the ICT 2018 Exhibition programme, EU-funded research and innovation successes will be presented to the public. Visitors will also have the chance to meet the innovators behind these projects. The Innovation and Startups forum will bring together market-oriented innovators and investors, and will present marketable research and innovation results from EU-funded projects.
Explore the conference and the exhibition here. Registration is open.
ONE5G & 5G-XCast WS @IEEE Globecom
Abu Dhabi, UAE – December 13
One5G and 5G-XCast organise a Full Day workshop titled “5G Advanced : The Next Evolution Step of 5G New Radio” (WS-14)
ONE5G has focused on key technology components for 5G New Radio (NR) Advanced, specifically extensions that support the cost-efficient provision of services both in Megacities and in Underserved Areas. This encompasses PHY/MAC link and multi-link advancements as well as network and user experienced E2E performance optimization and context awareness specifically for the vertical sector.
Broadcast and Multicast Communication centric 5G-Xcast project aims at developing media delivery solutions while taking into account the more extensive use cases of 5G including services to vehicles, public safety and health, IoT etc. to ensure they dovetail together.
They also have a special session, “The Local Impact of 5G” to attract regional SMEs and Startups.
In addition to the latest NFV and SDN concepts and mechanisms, the 2018 IEEE NFV-SDN conference will focus on first operational results related to virtualized networks functions (VNFs) as well as designing, describing, orchestrating, and managing new applications made of VNFs which smarten networks and their usage.
s3GPP hold a Workshop aimed at informing the ITU sanctioned Evaluation Groups, policy makers and interested experts on the progress of the 3GPP work to meet and exceed the performance requirements for IMT-2020 radio interface technologies. The Workshop will be hosted by The European Commission, in Brussels.
This event is in addition to the evaluation material being sent to the ITU, using the IMT-2020 ‘submission templates’ detailing the service, spectrum and technical performance results achieved by 3GPP Radio Interface Technologies (RITs) or Set of Radio Interface Technologies (SRITs).
The presentations at the Workshop will cover the detail of these formal submissions, breaking down their key elements to help the evaluation groups study the technical merits of the 3GPP proposal (encompassing NR and LTE) and its ability to meet the IMT-2020 objectives.
Additional information and program is available here.
Berlin 5G Week / FOKUS Fuseco Forum
Berlin, Germany – November 12-16 (12-16 for Berlin 5G Week, 15-16 for FFF)
During the two days of the FFF’18 and together with leading operators, manufacturers, integrators, and solution providers the objectives will be to understand and assess 5G-related technologies, infrastructures, and their use in various business sectors enabling innovative business models, value chains, productivity gains, and new revenue opportunities. In addition, the emphasis will be on the challenges of 5G rollout, legacy interworking, and migration.
On November 15th, Jean-Pierre Bienaimé, 5G IA Secretary, will co-chair a track (track 4) on “Getting 5G ready: Testbeds & Rollouts” with Stefan Covaci, Fraunhofer FOKUS and Dr. Ashutosh Dutta, AT&T, USA.
Additional information and program is available here.
TU-Automotive Europe 2018
Munich, Germany – October 30-31
The 16th annual TU-Automotive Europe Conference & Exhibition (30-31 October, Infinity Hotel & Conference Resort, Munich) – Europe’s largest event for the connected car – will discuss how to collaborate and integrate through partnerships, understand consumer needs and more. Speakers include Renault Group, Skoda, Renault Nissan Alliance, NIO and more. Dr. Colin Willcock, Chair of the 5G Infrastructure Association will be there and speak at two sessions on Tuesday 30 October : The Data Fuelled Vehicle@11:40 am and Through the fog – Cloud vs. Edge @16:35 pm.
Main topics include:
When do we make money with mobility?
Mobility as a Service – Adapting to a new ecosystem
Connected Commerce in the Car – The New Consumer Marketplace
Investing in the Future of Mobility – Adding value to the customer journey
Customer Experience as one of the key new paradigm of the automobile
The Key to Securely Drive Current and Future OEM Business Models
Enjoy the 100 USD discount code (5GPPP100) on prices to attend the conference if you are a 5G IA member or a subscriber to the 5G PPP newsflash/newsletter!
The editor of the 5G PPP newsflash on behalf of the To-Euro-5G Project is: Carole Manero, IDATE DigiWorld, CS94167 – 34092 Montpellier cedex 5, France. The IDATE DigiWorld team is led by Frédéric Pujol.
On September 12th, 2018, 5GTANGO announced the launch of an upgraded release of its integrated platform, SONATA 4.0 (powered by 5GTANGO), which enhances some features from the previous SONATA 3.0 software release, as well as it introduces a new component: the Validation and Verification (V&V) Platform. The V&V process allows service operators to have some level of confidence in third-party hosted code so they can be sure that network services will behave as expected immediately after they are deployed and put into production.
The European Commission provided information on the participation of SMEs (Small and Medium-sized Enterprises) in 1st call related to Phase 3 of the 5G PPP i.e. Call ICT-17-2018. The outcome of the analysis of those figures shows figures a bit below objectives in terms of budget and of number of participants. More effort shall be made in the upcoming calls (ICT-18, ICT-19) to ensure that the 20% SME participation KPI is achieved.
5G-XHaul is a Phase 1, collaborative project funded by the European Commission under the framework of the 5G Public Private Partnership. The project consortium comprises twelve partners, including several Operators, Vendors, SMEs, Research Centers and Universities.
The 
ICT 2018: Imagine Digital – Connect Europe will take place in Vienna on 4-6 December 2018. This research and innovation event will focus on the European Union’s priorities in the digital transformation of society and industry. It will present an opportunity for the people involved in this transformation to share their experience and vision of Europe in the digital age.
One5G and 5G-XCast organise a Full Day workshop titled “5G Advanced : The Next Evolution Step of 5G New Radio” (
s3GPP hold a Workshop aimed at informing the ITU sanctioned 
The 16th annual TU-Automotive Europe Conference & Exhibition (30-31 October, Infinity Hotel & Conference Resort, Munich) – Europe’s largest event for the connected car – will discuss how to collaborate and integrate through partnerships, understand consumer needs and more. Speakers include Renault Group, Skoda, Renault Nissan Alliance, NIO and more. Dr. Colin Willcock, Chair of the 5G Infrastructure Association will be there and speak at two sessions on Tuesday 30 October : The Data Fuelled Vehicle@11:40 am and Through the fog – Cloud vs. Edge @16:35 pm.
