3 Collaborative 5G Research within the EU Framework of funded research

Michael Faerber

Intel Corporation, Santa Clara, CA, USA

3.1 Rationale for 5G Research and the EU’s Motivation

Today’s rollout of 4G networks makes us witnesses to the convergence of cloud computing, computing power, and connectivity at high speed. The growth of the digital society and economy is driving our imagination beyond the existing models and leads to the design imperatives for 5G: the next generation of ubiquitous ultra-high-speed broadband infrastructure that will support the future Internet.

The need to create a 5G mobile concept may not be obvious for the ordinary technology observer and from an end-user perspective, but we have to consider the new challenges of a digital society ahead of us. End users have enjoyed the fact that each mobile system generation has provided enhanced terminal capabilities for mass-market products. The scientific community considers each of these past generations of mobile technology as disruptive in nature, but whether they are disruptive or backward compatible is not of interest to most end users.

Technical experts have evolved the mobile technology from 2G – a simple voice service and cross-country roaming – into a mobile Internet service for wireless devices. Each generation evolved within the constraints of its fundamental design concepts.

The 5G network will be more than a new air interface; it is a holistic concept encompassing a multiplicity of existing ...

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