5G MAG

What is 5G MAG?

5G MAG is an association whose objective is to set up a framework for collaboration between the Media industry and the Telecommunications industry. The latter an attempt is made to include both carriers and manufacturers of the most IP and 5G sides. That is, companies that are looking to the future of technologies.

Right now, we are working on 5G, and not strictly on 5G as a standard, but collaborating with the standardization body, that is, 3GPP. This body comprises technologies such as LTE, 4G, 5G and soon to come, 6G.

Basically, we deal with global standardization bodies. The idea is that through the technologies that can be implemented on mobile devices with a global scale we will be able to develop technical solutions for, say, production of audiovisual content; as contribution networks, production tools; and for the part of content distribution -streaming, for instance-, use mobile networks to provide quality of service.

This is necessary because, for example, if you take a look at how distribution is currently being carried out, broadcast is done with standards such as ATSC or DAB. We, however, do it with 3GPP, which are the standards featured on mobile phones, cars and connected homes, etc.

It is about providing it with a global perspective so that we find technological solutions supported by standards that have a global scope. Why 3GPP vs ATSC or DVB standards?

This question can be answered by taking into account two aspects. From the point of view of broadcasting, getting involved in these standards associated with mobile telephony would give it a more globalized footprint than ATSC can provide. That is, phones are sold all over the world and there is 3GPP technology all over the world. Therefore, the opportunity to compete on this scale would provide greater opportunities.

On the other hand, technology is becoming global and, in addition, there is a lot of content consumption through new devices. This means that people no longer buy a radio to get radio content, but do so with their smartphones through a certain app and connecting to their device a headset or a smart speaker.

That is, we would get the advantage of introducing broadcasting into global technological ecosystems that are already firmly established on the Internet.

Is there any degree of reluctance to implement broadcasting to 3GPP standards?

The main obstacle that certain countries are facing is that they have committed to develop certain technology that a few years ago was on the forefront, which is now becoming obsolete.

Technology is moving in a direction that right now calls into question other, more specific standards. Is a young person going to buy a 60-euro device just to listen to the radio? Most likely not.

People who have committed to developing certain networks are directly fighting the direction that the evolution of technology is taking. We focus on the area of technological development for all those who may want to dive into a world of possibilities.

What timeframe do you foresee to meet the goal of bringing the broadcasting industry under the 3GPP standards?

We split the tasks into three steps.

The first one is a definition of use cases and opportunities: the technology that is being developed allows you to achieve all this series of functionalities. That would be the mantra. We also consider whether there is any need that the standard does not cater to. On that side we try to improve it to make it grow in the future.

The next step would be to achieve standardization. For example, the documents published by 3GPP have more than a thousand pages. In order for users to know how to carry out a specific function, they must search through a lot of information. Our job is to make profiles: shorter standards and more oriented to specific applications and services.

For example, should an end user want to provide streaming services on mobile applications with quality of service control or latency control, they would need to follow certain steps that address application design or network connection issues. Our duty is to provide brief, specific instructions for the various applications.

The third and final step is development and implementation. We have a software development community where, once use cases and standards are understood, they are put into practice. We have developed our own Github with software tools that can be installed on mobiles or networks.

In the long term, do you expect the broadcast industry to adhere to this set of standards? How soon could this situation occur?

It all depends on the users. If the trend in terms of using multimedia applications is for users to buy specific equipment, it will take longer. However, if users go for connected devices, however reluctant the industry may be, the industry will have to play along. Many times the traditional broadcast industry complains about global technology providers, but I don’t think those companies are more shrewd or intelligent; they simply cover a need that wasn’t being met. When you see companies like Amazon biting into the traditional broadcast market, perhaps it’s because this market hasn’t moved fast enough to offer solutions in that realm.

As for deadlines, 5G is actually a continuum. This means that it is subject to ongoing evolution. We don’t treat the 5G standard as something finite with a given launch date. Surely the 5G standard that we will see in two years has nothing to do with the one being implemented now.

What does the standard allow today and what does it have to achieve in order for this to become a regular possibility?

We are now seeing that there are three possible uses in production.

The first corresponds to the introduction of 5G SIM cards in backpacks. Actually, this solution has very little added value because what you’re doing is just swapping one card for another. However, the 5G standard provides much more value than simply the one linked to this use.

Regarding the evolution of added value, we find two cases. One would be the use of private networks. As the 5G network right now doesn’t offer the features needed to make a seamless video content contribution, what users do is deploy a private network to provide clean spectrum in order to create a dedicated channel. The other possibility is to do the same using the carriers’ 5G networks.

For both cases, what is needed are a series of configurations of the technical possibilities to be able to settle the solution in advance and guarantee the contribution. That is, a concrete way to negotiate with the network a series of parameters to achieve good quality in each specific project.

Truth is that in regard to the latter, all these functionalities are yet to be developed. Therefore, the industry should roll up their sleeves and get acquaited with the standards, understand the technology and opportunities and, above all, implement solutions that allow you to test that series of advanced functionalities.

One of the biggest handicaps most heard from content producers is that the network is not available to cover events that are not controlled.

Does that capability exist at present with the standards we have but not implemented yet?

And if so, what is the problem?

Such capability does exist and the problem, in my opinion, is in the lack of communication between the industry and mobile carriers. If you use a private network you do not need to negotiate anything with a carrier, but should you need it you would have to make them understand what your requirements are, what tools you would like to see implemented on that network and be as specific as possible concerning your needs. A consensus must be reached regarding functionalities or technologies. Once agreed, you can establish a business model with the network collaborator. In

Industry 4.0, things are being done in a more synchronized way, in terms of functionalities, but the audiovisual industry lacks unity in regard to several aspects of technology.

It seems that everyone is waiting for atotal availability of a network that would offer infinite possibilities, but that still does not arrive, and the feeling is that

5G is not delivering to promises. Would this be a wise reflection?

Of course, that conclusion is what I constantly see in the industry. You expect a lot, but without specifics in terms of requirements. Many variables have to be taken into account. What do you exactly need? What is your bandwidth? What is your scenario? How many base stations do you need? What capacity do you need: constant or dynamic? All these questions are often not answered, but they are necessary. From the carriers’ point of view, too much is being asked and things are not being made easier. The industry must understand that 5G is under continuous development and laso that Release 18 provides many more facilities than Release 15, launched in 2020.

You say that carriers need to know a series of requirements, but how do they access that knowledge?

The key is to establish a framework for exchange and collaboration. The industry has to understand what can be done and carriers have to understand what the technical requirements are. You also have to be patient, sometimes some things will go well and sometimes they will not, but even when things go wrong you may be able know why is so and what to do to improve them.

I have attended to some lectures and the case has been presented to connect cellular bonding with 5G. Then they tell you that the latency was a second or two and blame 5G for it. The problem is that you are using cellular bonding, and that involves some protocols and incredible latency times, and maybe if you knew that the 5G network can be configured properly to offset this you would not have to resort to cellular bonding and thus you would prevent those huge latency times. Functionalities have not been properly understood and in the end the result is not as expected. That’s why it’s so important to know technology firsthand by sharing experiences and knowledge.

To what extent has 5G-MAG achieved this collaboration goal?

Since 5G-MAG was created in 2020 until now there has been an immense evolution in terms of technology understanding and software or product development. We’ve done quite an important work to improve it, but above all, the most useful thing has been the implementation of the standards and development of software.

For example, we have a development program called 5G-MAG Reference Tools and I would like to highlight two main products: one would be integration of 5G broadcast on streaming platforms -a streaming platform where linear content is broadcast that will broadcast that content directly on the smartphone or through a certain app-; and the other is Media Streaming which is a set of standards -where I would highlight the case of BBC, which distributes radio through mobile networks but providing quality of service to radio users through the Internet.

We also have our own CDN node, based on the 3GPP standard. It can be implemented both on the network and with the service provider. It guarantees a whole series of functions for configuration, and it provides statuses on behavior, reception, quality of service and control of buffers on the phone.

These practical cases of which you speak of are a reality and offer the quality you comment, right?

All this already exists, and we are developing it and putting it into practice, but it was -so to speakhidden.

Would you highlight any other case studies that may underline these unknown 5G capabilities we’re talking about?

From a production and contribution point of view, 5G-MAG ran a study on three use cases.

Regarding production of content, examples of camera-to-studio or camera-to-cloud, what we did was find out what network functionalities are useful for that type of service.

The second use case was developed within a private network for production, not only contribution of videos, but producing something by interacting with signal sources and receivers. And last, what we think is more complex. The implementation of 5G over microphones on a musical stage. That is, using 5G instead of using the current analog microphones with certain frequencies on the UHF band.

In this regard, we have analyzed the different capabilities or technical requirements to perform all this, resulting in the launch a work item. That is, develop a specific work theme so, for example, when you arrive with cameras or professional devices to a 5G network, all this equipment can be registered in the network automatically without having to acquire SIM Cards from a carrier. The standard allows you to make an automatic record of all the equipment, which will disconnect once you finish covering the event. It allows you to set up a totally private network. Another issue would be timing and synchronization. That is, you would not have to use a master clock provided from outside, but the 5G network itself would provide it. This is a functionality that the network allows, but one that has not yet been put into operation.

And then there’s the whole service part in terms of uplink, network slicing, how to download some features from the equipment devices to the network or Edge Computing issues. That is, if you have to carry out some complex operations, how to interact with computational tools within the 5G network.

It is necessary to detect which processes, due to latency or performance issues, can be carried out on the network and which ones cannot, and what the limits are. Many times, I’ve heard things like “do the encoding on the network”, but it doesn’t make any sense. Encoding has to be done on the equipment because, having a wireless connection, what you need is that connection to be optimized. So, is the goal to get a number of features and functionalities of the whole standard that will serve in a common way to everyone or not?

It is, and it is not. On the one hand it is not so because each application can have its own requirements. However, what would be very useful is understanding if any of these functionalities that are very specific for an audiovisual scenario have features in common with other scenarios.

And are you also working on achieving something like that?

Exactly. In fact, at 5G-MAG we are taking a look at other partnerships as, for example, 5G-Eisia, which is in charge of the automation of industries. In these instances, we have detected use cases and technology that is basically the same. 