With the acceleration of the industry's digital transformation process, data communication networks, as "digital critical infrastructure", continue to meet new opportunities and challenges.

On October 28, at the Global Ultra-Broadband Summit Forum (UBBF 2022) held in Bangkok, Thailand, Hu Kewen, President of Huawei Data Communication Product Line, talked about the new business growth of operators' B2B services and the new requirements of the basic bearer network for the evolution of Net5.5G.

At the Intelligent Cloud Network Summit, Huawei discussed with global operators and analysts innovative business cases in scenarios such as IP integrated bearer network, intelligent cloud network, data center network, and enterprise campus network. It is understood that Huawei will promote the continuous innovation of intelligent cloud network and move towards the era of Net5.5G.

In addition, OMDIA and the industry jointly released a heavy white paper, which comprehensively elaborated on Net5.5G, pointed out the intergenerational evolution trend of the network and the latest progress in digital technology for the industry, and built a solid foundation for the development of computing power network and cloud universe.

The author wonders, what kind of network is Net5.5G? The development of metaverse and AI computing power network is accelerating the continuous evolution of the network. What kind of capabilities should the network infrastructure have in the future? Why does the development of digital age and computing power network need Net5.5G?

Lifting the Veil: Seeing the Truth of Net5.5G

Maybe everyone is curious, what exactly is Net5.5G? Through the white paper released by OMDIA, we get a glimpse of the true face of Net5.5G——Net5.5G is an evolutionary form of Internet infrastructure for the era of ubiquitous computing power and all-factor digitalization.

In addition to the capabilities of existing network facilities, Net5.5G is more focused on the deep integration of computing and networking, and the upgrade of the ability to realize the intelligent connection of all things. It can carry new application scenarios such as metaverse, AI diverse computing power, and industry digitization in the future.

For example, to experience a VR game that is close to reality in "Super Gamer", new dimensions such as smell, touch, and taste need to be added; holographic projection requires a network with higher bandwidth and lower latency. All of these require the positioning of the existing network to change from "the information highway of the physical world" to "the nervous system connecting the physical world and the virtual world".

At the same time, with the acceleration of the digital transformation process of thousands of industries, the focus of Internet innovation will also extend from "consumer Internet" to "industrial Internet of all industries and elements", and finally have new scenarios such as intelligent manufacturing and industrial Internet.

From the perspective of network deployment scenarios, the core of Net5.5G is to enable end-to-end IPv6+/SRv6 networking capabilities and support the carrying of mobile and fixed networks, ubiquitous computing networks, industrial office and production networks in the 5.5G era.

To this end, OMDIA analyst Ian Redpath pointed out that IPv6 Enhanced, network intelligence, high resilience and low latency, green ultra-broadband, wide-address heterogeneous Internet of Things, and ubiquitous security constitute the characteristics of Net5.5G.

In my opinion, IPv6 Enhanced, network intelligence, high resilience and low latency are the cornerstones to ensure that Net5.5G can carry new applications, and they are also the vane to help operators grasp the future network development direction. Green ultra-broadband, wide-address heterogeneous IoT and ubiquitous security are the main directions of the evolution of the existing Internet, which can enable the network to have self-awareness, better carry various applications, and play a good role in the "highway" of computing power transmission character of.

Tracing back to the source: Why should the data communication network move towards Net5.5G?

Many people may be curious, why is the network evolving towards Net5.5G if the current data communication network can carry the existing applications? To answer this question, we need to analyze the development trend of applications and the capacity that the network will carry in the future.

First, the network needs to evolve towards cloud-network integration capabilities. According to Huawei's prediction, by 2030, the global general computing power will increase by 10 times, and the AI ​​computing power will increase by 500 times. In addition, with the large-scale deployment of edge computing and diverse computing power, and the advancement of my country's east-to-west computing project, computing power resources need to be further integrated to achieve global optimal scheduling of ICT resources across the country.

However, the current network does not have end-to-end networking and perception capabilities for access and cloud, and cannot meet the needs of flexible scheduling of heterogeneous computing power in different places.

Net5.5G will further promote the extension of the IPv6+/SRv6 protocol to the data center and campus network, build the E2E SRv6/IPv6+ networking capability of the entire network, and realize the fusion of computing and network resources. Its intelligent lossless hyper-converged Ethernet solution can reduce the cost of protocol conversion for the interconnection of different networks in the data center, reduce latency, achieve zero packet loss, and efficiently release computing power.

Secondly, immersive applications such as Metaverse require the network to have end-to-end multi-service slice-level SLA guarantee capabilities to expand bandwidth and optimize experience.

According to the "Global Augmented and Virtual Reality Expenditure Guide" released by IDC, the total global AR/VR investment in 2021 is close to 14.67 billion US dollars, and is expected to increase to 74.73 billion US dollars in 2026, with a five-year compound growth rate (CAGR) of up to 38.5%.

In addition, the metaverse market is entering an explosive period. According to Citigroup's prediction, the market size of the "Metaverse" will reach US$8 trillion to US$13 trillion in 2030. Research by Gartner predicts that by 2026, 1/4 of the world's people will spend at least one hour a day shopping, working, socializing or studying in the "Metaverse". 30% of organizations will have products or services ready for the Metaverse.

By promoting the upgrade from WiFi 6 to WiFi 7, Net5.5G can provide consumers with 30Gbps peak access capability, and promote the upgrade of the wide-area backbone network and data center backbone network to 800GE, providing network guarantee for the implementation of immersive applications such as Metaverse.

Finally, the digital transformation of the industry accelerates the development of enterprise multi-cloud deployment services, driving the network to provide one-hop access to multi-cloud, heterogeneous IoT access, and end-to-end deterministic networking capabilities. According to the "Intelligent Manufacturing Development Index Report 2020" data, in 2020, the digitization rate of China's industrial equipment is 50%, but the equipment networking rate is only 23%, which is far lower than the 70% networking rate of consumer Internet in the same period.

Hu Kewen also introduced that 92% of enterprise IT systems migrate to multi-cloud, 68% of enterprises need secure dedicated network, and 67% of enterprises need professional management services.

The current data communication network cannot meet the deterministic networking requirements of extreme delay and jitter required by enterprises to access the cloud.

Net5.5G promotes the Internet network infrastructure from "best effort" to "deterministic networking", and realizes end-to-end ms-level delay and us-level jitter through technologies such as slicing and deterministic IP. At the same time, Net5.5G promotes the IPv6 upgrade of end-side devices and various IoT terminals, thereby opening up industrial network protocols and improving the direct connection between smart terminals and the cloud.

Foresight: Net5.5G is the trend and the cornerstone of industry development

If the timeline is extended, the data communication network will continue to grow from information transmission to data search; from picture and video transmission to short video services; The role of the network is also constantly evolving, and network performance is constantly improving.

Hu Kewen said that with the development of metaverse, smart transportation, smart city, smart life and other applications, data communication networks need to have new capabilities, and Net5.5G has become a trend.

In addition, 5.5G has been developed for many years and has been unanimously recognized by the industry. Taking 5.5G as an example, in April 2021, 3GPP officially determined 5G-Advanced as the official name of 5G evolution; the R18 standard plan will be completed in December 2023 to accelerate the development of 5.5G. With the implementation of 5.5G scale, Net5.5G as a data carrier is not only an inevitable trend of industrial development, but also an inevitable requirement of industry development.

From the following two aspects, we may see that Net5.5G is the cornerstone of industry development and an inevitable trend of industry development.

On the one hand , looking forward to the future, industry applications such as metaverse, smart transportation, smart city, and smart life will have more specific demands on network capabilities. Taking the popular Metaverse in recent years as an example, Metaverse will extend from the field of games to conference collaboration, online entertainment, media content creation and other fields. At the same time, in order to create the real feeling in "Super Gamer", the metaverse interactive form will be combined with the "sensory Internet", evolving from the metaverse of the screen to the "multi-sensory" metaverse.

With the continuous development of the metaverse business, the requirements for network capabilities will also continue to increase, and the one-way flow of the network is required to be greater than 10Gbps, and the delay is less than 5ms.

Looking at various smart scenarios, smart transportation requires a network delay of 2-5ms, a network bandwidth of 5-20Mbps, and a positioning accuracy of less than 10CM; a smart city requires a network delay of 20-50ms, and a network bandwidth of 10-20Mbps; VR games The network delay is required to be within 10ms and the network bandwidth is 800Mbps; the network delay for smart medical care is 1-10ms and the network bandwidth is 30-100Mbps; the network delay for smart life is 10-50ms and the network bandwidth is 30-500Mbps.

On the other hand , from the perspective of the development of the data communication network industry, industry experts and operators believe that Net5.5G is the future of data communication networks. In order to support 5.5G, F5.5G and B2B business development of operators, facing the Net5.5G era, operators should accelerate business scenario innovation and innovative technology reserves, constantly explore new business boundaries, and stimulate new growth.

Hu Kewen introduced that facing the Net5.5G era, the digital transformation of enterprises will further promote the business growth of operators. Net5.5G will help operators realize the comprehensive upgrade from traditional MPLS VPN dedicated lines to "private lines + X", and will accelerate operators' B2B revenue .

Ian Redpath pointed out that the digital economy is driving an unprecedented change in network technology. Net5.5G, as the next-generation data communication network, will open the door to the intelligent world and realize the deep integration of the physical world and the virtual network.

Majed Abdullah Alkhaldi, director of operation and maintenance of Saudi Arabian operator Zain, said that with the development of services, the bearer network is facing comprehensive challenges in three aspects: stricter SLA, more complex OAM, and larger bandwidth. Correspondingly, the bearer network should have Simplified, intelligent, and ultra-broadband, with the ability to evolve to 5.5G.

Phongsira Prungsin, fixed network CMO of Thai operator True Online, said that network speed, content customization, and massive connections are the main features of business digital transformation. Facing the future, operators need to build a DC network with ultra-large bandwidth and automatic deployment to become True’s priority Task.

The author's observation: Net5.5G will become the winner of future competition for operators

In the process of 5G network construction, we have seen that operators who acted in advance have already reaped the dividends brought by 5G and gained an advantage in the fiercely competitive operator competition. So in the future Net5.5G era, will operators also take the lead in the construction of data communication networks?

The answer is yes. In the face of new demands from mobile services, home services, government and enterprise services, and data center services, as well as new trends in industrial development, operators need new street lights to illuminate the development of data communication networks. When operators were at a loss, Huawei proposed Net5.5G, and Hu Kewen's analysis of Net5.5G at this conference pointed out the way forward for operators' IP network construction.

Those operators who are accelerating towards Net5.5G will stimulate new growth. In my opinion, the construction of Net5.5G by operators in advance not only meets the needs of future applications and industry development, but also the basis for operators to carry 5.5G, F5.5G and B2B services well, and is the key to winning future market competition.