On Day 2 of the Global MBB Forum 2024, Yang Chaobin, Huawei's Board Member and President of ICT Products and Solutions, opened the keynote speech with the declaration that the mobile AI era is roaring in.
Yang stated that it would “create huge opportunities for the mobile industry and profoundly shape the decade to come”, will underlining that the evolution of 5.5G technology will unleash the potential of mobile AI.
The dual evolution of 5.5G and AI was touched on in the previous day’s keynote, which asserted that the technologies enable each other in a reciprocal way. Yang encapsulated this idea by defining the trends as “mobile going AI” and “AI going mobile” – mobile internet services are being transformed by the services enabled by AI and the business models required to capitalise on them, while huge business opportunities are being unlocked by new mobile services like smart vehicles and humanoid robots which require AI. The interplay between these two trends is creating new momentum and opportunities for both society and the mobile industry, which Yang believes will usher in a “new era of mobile AI.”
Yang asserted that mobile AI will grow much faster than mobile internet. While over 5 billion people have accessed mobile internet services over the past five years, by 2030 there will be more than 5 billion AI agents for individuals, which will help reshape mobile internet services. Essentially, everyone will have a personal smart assistant, which means AI agent networks will need to support real-time services. Agents for individuals will need to operate across around five or six devices, and more than 90% of interactions will be based on multimodal AI to allow the AI to understand the nuances of human speech, factoring in elements such as emotions.
AI will also enable the internet of vehicles, with cars set to feature smart cockpits by 2030. AI driving will become common, and this will mean smart vehicle networks will need to deliver high uplink speeds – this will be made possible by the capabilities of 5.5G.
Robotics is a third focus area, with Yang asserting that generalized embodied intelligence will enable new productivity across various sectors, but in particular a 10 billion-unit AI-robot market, which means future robotics networks will need comprehensively higher capabilities.
Yang explained that 5.5G networks can support the diversified connections, experiences, and services that are needed to address these new requirements coming from AI agents, smart vehicles, and embodied intelligence as the networks drive innovation and evolution in five key areas.
First, 5.5G can provide high-bandwidth networks that help address the diversification of experience requirements that arises from the increased use cases enabled by AI. Sub-100 GHz bands can be integrated on demand to flexibly deliver the network capabilities needed for superior multi-factor experiences, while "0 Bit 0 Watt" technology can improve energy efficiency.
Second, 5.5G allows a single network to integrate all-scenario IoT connections, thereby reducing device TCO. RedCap and passive IoT technologies are lowering the cost of IoT, and 5.5G is required to maximise the number of connections that can be supported simultaneously, and network capabilities must be upgraded to facilitate the spread of IoT connections.
Thirdly, 5.5G can provide unified portals that support differentiated experience assurance and monetisation - something that carriers will need to cope with increasingly diverse service requirements. 5.5G core networks have the capacity to deliver the user, service, and network awareness capabilities needed for differentiated experience-based monetisation.
Fourth, 5.5G can provide a unified service portal that makes mobile AI more affordable and supports diversified smart services. Carriers can use this to share network capabilities with third parties, making smart services available on more affordable mobile devices.
Fifth, 5.5G can enable high-level network autonomy - and realize the concept of "0 Touch, 0 Wait, 0 Fault" – by using Telecom Foundation Model, which provides two types of applications—copilots and agents—and three types of digital experts for full-stack intelligence.
The presentation was closed by Cao Ming, Vice President of Huawei and President of Huawei's Wireless Solution, who heralded the advent of 5.5G as enabling an era of mobile AI. This ‘pervasive intelligence’ places increasingly higher requirements on networks, requiring their capabilities to be maximised for mobile AI applications and services. Huawei's 5G-Aᴬ solutions can achieve this through the full-series Advanced Radio, as well as enabling full-domain site digitalization through Ambient Site and L4 network autonomy through the Agent-based digital engineers team.
Returning to the theme of 'Networks for AI' and 'AI for Networks', Cao explained how Huawei's 5G-AA solutions will deepen the convergence of 5.5G and AI. Optimising networks for AI will make them powerful enough to address differentiated service requirements, improving both network performance and user experiences. Meanwhile, ‘AI for networks’ will see networks equipped with L4 autonomy through digital sites and RAN Agents, which can help operators adapt to a wide range of scenarios to retain their leading edge.
"Mobile AI is on the horizon. We will continue to work with all industry partners and innovate to promote the integration of 5.5G and AI," concluded Cao.
