There was curiosity within the motorsports business to offer 5G connectivity for the vehicles on observe. Usually, the vehicles use legacy applied sciences like Wi-Fi or DVB (Digital Video Broadcast) to offer the connectivity to backhaul telemetry, video, and audio {data} from the vehicles again to the pit and media centre for broadcasting. Nonetheless, the present options present a restricted bandwidth, and throughput is within the vary of 10 to 12 Mbps. This throughput just isn’t enough for superior use instances and capabilities like 4K streaming, 360-degree video and telemetry for the racing vehicles.

The automotive business can also be transferring in the direction of a Software program Outlined Car (SDV) technique, the place the vehicles will want a extremely dependable and low latency connectivity for frequent updates to the software program, and to push gigabytes of knowledge from the a whole lot of various sensors on the vehicles to the pits, the place the information evaluation is used to derive precious insights into the efficiency of the vehicles. The transfer to electrification and softwarization additionally wants a connectivity resolution which is future proof prepared for these necessities and stays related for the following decade.

Utilizing personal 5G networks to offer connectivity for the motorsports business vehicles is a horny proposition. They may also help overcome and mitigate among the points concerned in utilizing wi-fi communications applied sciences for the use instances in motorsports.

On this article, we’ll discover the feasibility and design concerns to offer 5G connectivity for Motorsports.

The next determine reveals the proposed ORAN Disaggregated Structure for the motorsports use case. The answer makes use of the 7.2 break up structure which is modular and extensible.

On this structure, the Distributed Models (DUs) run among the bodily layer algorithms in addition to the Radio Hyperlink Management (RLC) and Media Entry Management (MAC) layers. The DUs are housed within the Monitor Facet Models (TSU) which additionally present the facility for the DUs.

The Centralized Unit (CU) runs the Radio Useful resource Management (RRC) and Packet {Data} Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layers.

There’s a redundant 25G fibre ring to backhaul the site visitors from the DU to the Centralized Unit (CU). The CU and 5G core are centralized on the occasion technical centre.

This break up structure makes the answer scalable because the variety of radios will rely on the observe format and dimensions. The CU can management a number of DUs and run the required algorithms particular to the motorsports use instances.

A number of the design concerns and proposed options when utilizing 5G to offer the throughput necessities for racing vehicles are described under.

Excessive Pace

The vehicles transfer at a really excessive velocity on observe of as much as 350 kilo metres an hour. This excessive velocity introduces distinctive design challenges within the design of a 5G resolution. The Doppler shift or Doppler unfold is a priority due to the there’s a shift within the frequency of the alerts despatched and acquired to the mounted radios from the transferring vehicles. The Doppler shift is straight proportional to the velocity of the automotive. This additionally leads to inter service interference.

Answer: Algorithms have to be designed to compensate for the Doppler shift launched because of the velocity at which the vehicles are travelling. The Doppler shift relies on the velocity and path of motion of the automotive relative to the trackside radio. Thus, the Doppler leads to a rise or a lower within the frequency, relying on the path and velocity of motion of the automotive relative to the radio. The transmit frequency is adjusted within the RF entrance finish to compensate for the Doppler shift.

Road Circuits

A number of racing tracks for instance in Formula One are in cities, the place there may be infrastructure like buildings, fences, timber, grandstands, and avenue furnishings. This infrastructure causes interference and scattering of the 5G radio alerts to and from the vehicles, degrading the sign high quality.

Answer: Antenna variety & Multipath reception must be applied to take care of the standard of the sign acquired on the radio and the UE. The Channel State Info (CSI) may also be computed & predicted extra continuously to find out the channel situation. ML algorithms can be utilized to make a extra correct estimation of the channel circumstances. It will require a better compute energy on the base station to precisely calculate the CSI and compensate accordingly.

Handover

A singular problem confronted because of the excessive velocity at which the automotive travels is that the time for handover between the neighbouring cells is small, of the order of some tens of milliseconds to forestall drops or glitches within the telemetry audio and video {data} that’s despatched from the automotive. Therefore the seamless handover must be applied for these racing vehicles.

Answer: Multi-TRxP options like Co-ordinated Multi Level (CoMP) and multi-panel beamforming can be utilized to cancel out the interference from neighbouring vehicles. CoMP utilises totally different methods to dynamically coordinate the transmission and reception for a specific UE to and from a number of base stations. The UE is related to multiple base station and transmits/receives from each on the identical time. The CoMP algorithm resolves duplicate packets acquired. On the cell edge, when transferring from one cell to a different, the handover time may be very low, and the packet loss is minimised. This improves the robustness of the transmission, therefore the connection is extra dependable. This result’s that there aren’t any dropped video frames within the transmission from the vehicles.

Interference

The vehicles usually have a number of sensors that take measurements like acceleration, velocity, temperature, vibration, and tire stress. These sensors can create electromagnetic interference which might hinder the reception and transmission of the 5G radio alerts.

Answer: The antennas have to be mounted strategically on the racing vehicles in order that they don’t seem to be liable to the interference from the opposite elements within the automotive. The Radio Frequency circuit must be designed with a excessive stage of tolerance from spurious alerts.

Bandwidth

The racing vehicles are travelling at a really excessive velocity therefore a decrease Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) is required for use to offer a sturdy transmission and reception of alerts. Equally, a sturdy code charge with extra redundant bits is required for the Ahead Error Correction (FEC) to recuperate from any transmission errors.

Therefore the bandwidth required might be fairly giant, approx. 200MHz to offer the required throughput for the racing vehicles. This raises the difficulty of which spectrum to make use of the place a sufficiently giant bandwidth is obtainable

Answer: The unlicensed 5Ghz or 6GHz bands are an choice the place a big bandwidth can probably be out there to be used. Nonetheless, this band is at the moment additionally shared for Wi-Fi and therefore the reliability and assured availability of this spectrum could also be a difficulty. An alternative choice is to make use of the customized band just like the 10GHz band which is at the moment utilized by the army for radar stations. The requirement is to maintain the transmit energy low in order that there isn’t any interference to incumbent customers on this band. Customized radios and trackside infrastructure would have to be developed when utilizing these bands to offer the required QoS and reliability for the racing vehicles.

The next desk reveals the system bandwidth required for a typical racing circuit.

If utilizing a better order 64QAM modulation, the system bandwidth required is approx. 100MHz.

One of many key choices for the answer is the selection of spectrum for use for the 5G system, in order that the system can function in all of the international locations whereas offering constant KPIs like throughput, latency and so forth. This part describes the choices for the working frequency of the answer.

3.5GHz mid-band

The three.5 GHz mid-band spectrum is crowded, and the spectrum is allotted to the operators in a most international locations, with the operators having about 20 to 50 MHz bandwidth. There are a couple of international locations for instance in Spain, the place the person operators like Telefonica, Vodafone and Orange have 90 to 100 MHz of bandwidth. In Nice Britain the operators have about 20 to 60 MHz of bandwidth every.

In international locations like Bahrain, Canada, Russia, Netherlands and Turkey the place the three.5 GHz spectrum has not but bean auctioned and is deliberate.

Therefore to function within the 3.5 GHz band, partnerships with two or extra operators can be wanted to make use of 100 MHz spectrum.

Unlicensed/Shared Spectrum: Just a few international locations have reserved a part of spectrum within the mid-band for unlicensed and shared use (not out there universally) — that is proven within the desk under. The out there spectrum is primarily for personal indoor use and mustn’t intrude with incumbents working in the identical frequency band.

Professionals of three.5 GHz band:

• Higher transmission traits and wider protection in comparison with mmWave
• Availability of economic off the shelf {hardware} and software program
• Mature ecosystem of distributors and companions
• Spectrum in most international locations has been licensed, so the possession is evident

Cons of three.5 GHz band:

• Crowded and fragmented band
• Required bandwidth just isn’t out there with a single operator, therefore have to work with a number of operators to get the bandwidth
• Operators need to spend important quantity to get the license, therefore could also be unwilling to share the spectrum
• Personal spectrum just isn’t out there in all international locations

mmWave bands

The 5G NR FR2 frequency bands are given within the desk under:

Licensed Bands:

The licensed mmWave spectrum is obtainable in a couple of totally different bands: 26 GHz, 28 GHz, 37GHz and 39GHz & 47 GHz. Usually, the quantity of frequency allotted to every operator within the mmWave bands is increased — from 200 MHz to 400 MHz or extra. That is superb by way of a big chunk of bandwidth required for the motorsport resolution.

Unlicensed Bands:

• USA: 37 to 37.6 GHz (3x200MHz) has been allotted by FCC for shared/unlicensed use
• Germany, UK, Australia: 24.25 27.5 GHz for native licenses
• Japan: 28.3 to 29.1 GHz (150 MHz outside use) for native license

Professionals of mmWave:

• Availability of economic off the shelf {hardware} and software program
• Mature ecosystem of distributors and companions
• Bigger bandwidth (200 to 400MHz) allotted to operators
• Practically 40+ business community in varied phases of rollout worldwide. Extra networks will likely be rolled in 2022
• Spectrum is cheaper to license per Hz of bandwidth in comparison with 3.5 GHz band. Worth per MHz — POP in mmWave bands ranges from simply over $0.001 to $0.01. Within the 3.5 GHz band, costs are $0.20 per MHz — POP. Therefore operators can be extra prone to share the mmWave spectrum bands
• Radio Models with as much as 800MHz bandwidth are at the moment out there

Cons of mmWave:

• Spectrum just isn’t but auctioned in all of the international locations
• Have to work with operators for entry to the licensed spectrum
• Comparatively poor transmission traits — increased path loss & attenuation. Therefore wants a denser radio community for full observe protection
• Wants line of sight from UE to Radio Unit
• Efficiency could degrade in rain

Disaggregated RAN structure consisting of the Radios, Distributed Models and Centralized Unit can handle assist handle rising connectivity necessities in motor sports activities. This modular structure makes the community versatile and simply upgradeable. As an illustration, going ahead radios supporting a number of bands (tri and quad band radios) will likely be out there out there. On this case solely the radios have to be swapped out, whereas the remainder of the community parts stay unchanged. Moreover new options launched in subsequent releases of 3GPP might be added to the community through software program upgrades over the air.

The modular structure makes it simple to maneuver the 5G community between the race venues with a brief turnaround time.

We have now additionally analyzed the three.5GHz mid-band versus the mmWave band for motorsports. It is suggested to make use of the three.5GHz band (or the bigger n77 band from 3300 to 4200 MHz) because of the higher transmission & propagation traits. Throughout the n77 band, unlicensed sub-bands or sub-licensed bands from operators can be utilized to construct and function the 5G RAN