The need to smooth issues around QoS has become critical in order to satisfy the demand for live and interactive streaming experiences which are expected to skyrocket as 5G is introduced.
Early operator launches however are using a ‘non-standalone’ deployment focused on using the combined power of 4G and 5G to deliver enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) initially addressing urban centres and locations of high footfall.
Most operators are targeting 2022 when releases 16-18 of the 3GPP standard will deliver the higher bandwidth and lower latency required to enable apps like augmented reality and cloud gaming to mobile.
Phase 3, from 2023, will introduce Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communications (URLLC), Network Slicing and multi-gigabit-per-second speeds. This phase of 5G will enable applications like ‘tactile internet’, where a sense of touch can be added to remote real-time interactions.
For consumer media and entertainment applications, video over 5G breaks broadly into three overlapping areas of activity: contribution for live event production; widescale delivery of video applications including AR/VR; and augmentation or even replacement of infrastructure for broadcast.
The use of 5G as a contribution network for live events is predicated on network slicing which would guarantee broadcasters a minimum standard of speed and throughput. Multiple trials have been made of this application with the largest scale practical use to date being designed to deliver some feeds for the host production of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The chief advantage of 5G for production is to deliver more content more economically and is part of the wider transformation of outside broadcasts in which expensive dedicated facilities are replaced by virtual, centralised software-based solutions and automated (AI-driven) production equipment.
Again, the Tokyo Olympics will provide the largest scale commercial demonstration of this as large elements of the host production will be routed through Alibaba’s cloud, enabling rights holders access to more content at faster turnaround speeds than with previous infrastructure.
Coupled with 5G as a distribution network and consumers will eventually be able to view and interact with more personalised content at high resolution and at gigabyte speeds.
There is also work among broadcasters and standards bodies to develop a dynamically adaptable 5G architecture that will enable switching between unicast, multicast and broadcast. One possibility is that 5G can complement DVB-T2 transmission by adding extra features such as an interactive return channel.
The newly formed 5G Media Action Group (5G-MAG) which is run by the EBU intends to develop a multicast layer network in which unicast services combine with multicast and even satellite.
The BBC also views 5G as a key to developing Object-based Broadcasting (OBB) in which content is delivered dynamically to a viewer in context of their device and viewer preferences. Bandwidth-heavy objects are delivered over multicast, while personalised and bandwidth-light objects are delivered over unicast.
“This approach shows how object-based media experiences could be delivered at scale over future fixed and 5G networks, while improving the user experience and conserving network resources,” explains BBC R&D.
