5G TRIALS BY DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATION IN PUNE.

Department of Telecommunications (DoT) on 27.05.2021, for 5G testing in Pune, allotted license and spectrum to Vodafone Idea Limited in Pune (for urban) and Chakan (for rural) with Ericsson as a technology partner and  Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. in Pune (urban) with Nokia as a technology partner.

On 25.11.2021, the steering committee of MH LSA (Maharashtra unit of Department of Telecommunications), DoT for 5G, comprising of Shri Vishwanath Kendurkar, ITS, MH LSA Head, Shri Jaykumar N Thorat Director, Shri Vinay Jambhali Director and Shri Badawath Naresh Assistant Divisional Engineer, visited the demonstration site at Ramee Grand Hotel, Pune.

As mentioned above, DoT has allocated 26 GHz and 3.5 GHz spectrum in the mmWave band, for 5G network trials and use cases. During the demonstration, the DoT team was found that VIL has achieved peak speeds over 1.2 Gbps on 3.5 GHz, around 4.2 Gbps on 26 GHz.

Following few use cases from various technology partners like Ericsson and Nokia, along with ecosystem players and Indian start-ups including L&T Smart World & Communication, Athonet, Vizzbee & Tweek Labs) were demonstrated and evaluated  to the MH LSA, DoT team:

1. Remote Diagnosis: Healthcare in remote parts of the country is very important. With the high data speed, low latency in milliseconds and reliability of 5G, a doctor located in an urban centre/hospital locally or globally can carry out an ultrasound scan on a patient who is in a remote rural location. The doctor moves the joystick and the rural health supervisor gets movement instructions in the specialized Haptic gloves to move the ultrasound scanner in specific directions. Finally, the diagnosis and instructions are passed on by the Doctor as proper prescription. This showcases the power of 5G to reach healthcare to remote parts of the country. This is very important for countries like India with a very poor Doctor-patient ratio.
2. Smart Construction: A digital twin of an under-construction tunnel has been created with 4K HD cameras placed at locations inside the construction sites and integrated with the digital twin. This is then used for training of staff, monitoring of operations and remote supervision & expert guidance to personnel at the site by remote teams. A digital twin is a virtual representation of a real-world entity or system which acts as a mirror to provide a means to simulate, predict, forecast behaviour, and possibly control the real-world entity where applicable. Thus the site supervisors can be expertly guided by remote location experts with a virtual online environment and instructions
3. Connected and Monitored worker: A smart workplace to improve worker productivity, meet health compliances and regularity requirements, quicker emergency response and safe working conditions are possible due to 5G technology. Facemask compliance, track people movement to keep out of no-go zones, counting people, therefore, preventing overcrowding is easily achievable. Video stream from multiple cameras installed on strategic locations in an office will be provided to a video analytics server. Real-time AI will identify human movement for health and safety compliance. This will identify compliance to using masks, helmets, machinery movements, zone restrictions, etc.
4. Public safety: This demonstrates how 4K HD video cameras streaming through the 5G network and integrated with a real-time analytics platform and AI capabilities can help improve public safety in our cities. For example ladies safety in particular areas in the nighttime, dropping of suspect baggage in public places etc… can be remotely monitored and alerted with AI technology. This is part of the L&T Smart City Project which will benefit from faster 5G technology and help maintain the security environment of the city efficiently.
5. Smart and connected health (Full Ambulance connectivity): The 5G smart and connected health demonstrated on an ambulance showcases how to utilize the “GOLDEN HOUR” to commence diagnosis, get expert views and infrastructure ready at the hospital for emergency procedures while the patient is rushed en-route to hospital in an emergency. The technology enables the paramedic in the ambulance to establish video connect with the emergency doctor at the hospital.  An online ECG from Ambulance was monitored at the Central location in the hospital as the patient was travelling towards it. The doctor can study all the body vitals and instruct the paramedic about the first aid or guide the ambulance to another medical facility if required. This enables Emergency treatment in the Golden hour to save the life of a critical patient.
6. Driver Monitoring System: This use case monitors the driver’s alertness – whether he is sleepy, drowsy etc.. and conditions on a near real-time basis using Face detection and AI analysis. The video feed enables a command centre personnel to deliver safety instruction/alarms or bring in intervention directly to the driver to avert an accident or unwanted safety incident. With 5G it is possible for automotive OEMs to design such features and for consumers to access this cutting-edge technology inside passenger and commercial vehicles.
7. OTT Infotainment on the Go: In this use case, the rear seat car experience gets a new fillip with 5G now enabling HD content streaming inside the car. It could be gaming, streaming of your favourite OTT content, sports feed etc.
8. Aerial Traffic Management (UTM) for Drones etc..: This use case demonstrates the public safety and law enforcement applications for ground personnel and medical delivery and search and rescue operation using drones which are controlled through the 5G network and also provide HD videos on the 5G network.
9. Full-body motion capture system solutions: The athletic performance is monitored via IMU and special sensors strapped onto the forearm, thighs, legs etc.  In the demonstrated case this gives alignment of the cricket fast bowler and suggests improvements. A cricket coaching centre can monitor and suggest improvement to many aspiring bowlers continuously at a time. Experts can also analyse and guide remotely. With data streaming over the 5G network, it creates a self-contained system that transmits data to the cloud for analytics and gives long term improvement.