The three companies step up their 5G efforts with demonstrations of 5G UHD and VR streaming, cloud gaming, smart city sensors and real-time security camera analytics

Samsung Electronics and Cisco announced today that they have successfully completed a friendly-user trial and series of 5G demonstrations with Orange in Floresti, Cluj, Romania.

Since the announcement in February by the three companies of the first multi-vendor 5G fixed wireless trial in Europe (Link), the friendly-user trial has been running for a month and a half across multiple homes in Floresti, Cluj district, Romania. The trial makes use of Samsung’s 5G solutions including the virtualized RAN, one of the smallest 5G access units and multiple indoor and outdoor 5G routers (CPE), as well as Cisco’s Meraki Z3 WiFi Router and Ultra Gateway Platform which delivers a 5G virtual packet core on top of Cisco NFV Infrastructure that brings enhanced throughput and flexibility.

By leveraging the wide bandwidth available at 26 GHz and advanced antenna technologies such as massive MIMO and beamforming, the companies were able to achieve coverage beyond 1 km at 1 Gbps speed for a single user in real live conditions. Measurements in these conditions also show aggregated cell downlink throughputs of 3 Gbps with few users, although the system capacity is significantly higher.

On July 2 and 3, Samsung and Cisco together with Orange are holding a demonstration near Floresti City Hall to present the results of the trial and showcase some of the most promising 5G-powered smart city and home entertainment solutions in front of media and partners from across the industry.

Smart City Applications

Samsung’s Connectivity Node is installed on a streetlamp to provide wireless connectivity for temperature and humidity sensors and security cameras. Sensors and cameras are connected wirelessly to the node, which is then connected to the core network via 5G. The Connectivity Node is a compact, high-capacity, easy-to-install and economical alternative for places where wireline deployment is unfeasible or costly.

Home Entertainment Applications

Several parallel UHD videos and VR sessions are streamed simultaneously over the same 5G broadband connection. All of the content is transmitted via the 5G core and 5G radio link. The 5G system capacity is crucial to this demonstration as it not only allows simultaneous UHD streaming over multiple screens under one roof, but also provides extra capacity in case content consumption further increases.

In another demonstration, two players compete against each other in a live cloud video game over the 5G network. Their split-second actions and the game’s seamless operation are made possible by the network’s extremely low latency.

Real Time Security Camera Analytics

Cisco Meraki MV21 cameras are deployed, providing video coverage as well as advanced video-based analytics. Three major use-cases are demonstrated with application for Smart Cities solution as well as for B2B verticals such as retail. Video data can be used to provide accurate count of people moving in the camera field, deliver precious information to improve disposal of products in retail environment and better organise space for efficiency and improved service.

“Thanks to this first successful test of 5G Fixed Wireless Access in the 26 GHz band, Orange has been able to verify several use cases enabled by this technology. We can now better understand the way in which this technology works in real usage environments in order to complement wireline solutions. This is a major step in driving forward the development of 5G in Europe and Africa.” said Arnaud Vamparys, Senior Vice President, Radio Networks and Microwaves, at Orange.

“5G will be more than just a faster internet connection. 5G will make cities safer and more convenient than ever before, and it will bring home entertainment to new levels that only existed in our imagination,” said GY Seo, Senior Vice President and Head of Global Sales & Marketing Team, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “These demonstrations offer a glimpse into some of the new, groundbreaking services and capabilities that people across Europe will be able to enjoy in their everyday lives in the future.”

“With 5G we have the opportunity to help service providers like Orange broaden their portfolios to deliver new levels of connected experiences for consumers, businesses and governments,” said Yvette Kanouff, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Service Provider Business, Cisco. “Our work with Samsung and Orange on this project is a great example of how we are enabling an innovation eco-system to test and deliver a broad range of 5G services that will offer the communities in Romania faster connections to more devices and applications that make their lives better.”