5G-CLARITY

Description

The first generation of 5G networks launching commercially in 2019 will focus on the eMBB service for the retail sector. Thus, public 5G networks will not be able to address, in the short term, the promise of novel critical communication services required by vertical users. Private 5G and beyond 5G networks are seen as a promising way to bridge this gap, allowing private venues to deploy the required 5G capabilities early on. Factories and private venues, like stadiums or transportation hubs, are seen as key early adopters of these technologies.

5G-CLARITY puts forward a beyond 5G architecture for private networks, which features a novel access network integrating 5G, WiFi, and LiFi, computer and transport resources, and novel management components to enable AI driven network automation. Based on this architecture, 5G-CLARITY will define communication services that deliver measurable enhancements with respect to the eMBB and URLLC services defined by 3GPP in Release 16, in terms of low latency, area capacity, reliability, and accurate positioning and synchronization capabilities. In addition, 5G-CLARITY will develop a management plane featuring SDN/NFV components together with an AI engine that will automate network management by receiving high level intent policies from the network administrator.

5G-CLARITY brings together an ambitious consortium that ensures the delivery of the project innovations to standard bodies, where 3GPP, O-RAN, IEEE802.11bb, and ETSI-ZSM, have already been identified as preferential targets. Finally, the 5G-CLARITY technology will be demonstrated in two relevant use cases, including a human-robot interaction application in a museum in Bristol, and a network slicing and AGV positioning application for Industry 4.0 services in a factory near Barcelona. Potential for individual and joint exploitation of the project results has already been identified during the proposal preparation phase.

Estimated impact

5G-CLARITY’s ambitious technical scope guarantees a long-lasting impact on multiple fronts. In terms of enabling economic growth, 5G-CLARITY addresses the important emerging market of 5G and beyond 5G private networks. Besides contributing to European growth in key economic sectors, the technologies proposed by 5G-CLARITY hold the potential of having a significant social impact.

5G-CLARITY will be instrumental in demonstrating how the multi-WAT infrastructure can be used to deliver novel experience in museum environments, including robot-human interactions.

5G-CLARITY will also be used in demonstrating how beyond 5G networks can disrupt factory automation, through the practical demonstration of the developed technologies in a real factory environment.