As 5G is commercialized more widely, lampposts are turned into micro base stations in cities. These smart poles are equipped with five major systems: 5G communication, smart pole management, AIoT applications, AI transport law enforcement, and edge computers. Huang Chung-yu, CTO at Pegatron, said lampposts provide the power the smart system needs, and they are right by the side of the road. These roadside smart lampposts, or smart poles, are small 5G base stations and they will be an indispensable part of the smart city.
Lamppost + EV charging
The smart poles launched by the 5G Smart Pole Standards Promotion Alliance in Taiwan not only serve as lampposts and EV charging stations, but also provide 5G networking, AIoT, and IoV. Huang pointed out that 5G uses high frequency spectrum and to increase coverage needs a lot of small cells.
EV charging station operator YES Energy, a subsidiary of carmaker Yulon, was among the initial members of the alliance. The smart poles they provide set the standards for the world's smart poles: each carries EV charging solutions, integrates with other carriers, and has particular hardware specifications. In the future, there will be parking spaces next to these smart poles so that EV drivers can park and charge their cars.
The alliance's POC is at the east-side square near Taipei city hall on Songzhi Road. The smart pole is made up of one main pole, two small poles, and a shared electrical panel. It carries a 5G small cell, a 5G modem, an EV charging station, LED alerts controlled by AI and edge computers, 802.11ad WIFI, smart lighting, traffic monitors, weather monitors, digital boards, and other applications.
Smart City
Lin Nien-chen, CEO at Taiwan Taxi, said when it comes to a smart city, some of the elements are smart transport, smart education, and smart medical care. Smart poles will be standard equipment in a smart city. Taiwan Taxi can help solve traffic problems by adopting smart transport. If the government can work with them, the traffic congestion during peak hours in Neihu can be solved as they can utilize the shared data collected from traffic lights, public transport, and taxis.
Industry sources also said that telcom operators from other countries are accelerating commercialization of 5G networks. Nearly 30 operators have adopted OpenRAN to integrate 5G with 3G and 4G networks. Many operators are also working with system integrators to launch 5G-driven applications including automated optical inspections (AOI), AR/VR, AGV, streaming services, collaborations between human and robots, and remote operations.
Taiwan has a complete 5G ecosystem from core network to components. Having worked with international operators in such aspects as terminals, local ends, core networking, cloud, and application development, Taiwanese operators possess good knowledge and the necessary technology base for 5G development and applications.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Janet Kang; Yusin Hu
Quelle/Source: Digi Times, 02.03.2022
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