Surrey University officially opens 5G Innovation Centre

The University of Surrey opened its 5G Innovation Centre (5GIC) at its Guildford UK campus. The multimillion-pound government-funded research center dedicated to the next generation of mobile and wireless connectivity illustrates the UK’s pioneering role in developing 5G technology.

Backed by more than £70 million (roughly AU$150 million) of investments, the 5G Innovation Centre is the world’s largest academic research centre and has a staff of 170 dedicated researchers. The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) has invested £12 million (AU$25.88) on the research and development of 5G.

The centre partnered with prominent suppliers and leading mobile network operators, including Samsung, Vodafone, BBC,Fujitsu and Huawei. The team of researchers, led by Professor Rahim Tafazolli, Director of 5GIC, will develop a “Special Generation” of connectivity more than 1,000 times faster than the fastest 4G speed.

“It is a transformative set of technologies that will radically change our private and professional lives by enabling innovative applications and services, such as remote healthcare, wireless robots, driverless cars and connected homes and cities, removing boundaries between the real and cyber worlds,” said Tafazolli.

Credit - YouTube Video

The centre has already achieved a “record-breaking” speed of one terabit per second (Tbps), which is 1,000 times faster than the fastest 4G speed today. It has filed more than 15 patents covering the amazingly faster 5G wireless connectivity. It believes 5G technology will redefine the lives of people across the world and open up new capabilities.

5GIC, in partnership with Huawei, streamed an ultra-high definition 4K video to a mobile device over a test bed (an enhanced outdoor mobile network) at the university’s campus in Guildford. Along with that, Huawei also showcased a range of Internet of Things (IoT) applications at the the opening of 5GIC.

In time, the 5G technology will be upgraded to include large scale IoT. By 2018, the test bed aims to deliver “10 GB per cell, ten times faster than the highest speed available over 4G”.

“We are committed to researching and developing future technologies that help build better connected societies, businesses and economies, and ensuring 5G is a success is essential in achieving this,” said Dr. Tong Wen, CTO, Huawei wireless and 5G principal scientist in a press note.

As the world’s leading centre for 5G research, 5GIC believes in cooperation and not competition. It’s dedicated to working in collaboration with market leaders and global partners to achieve benefit for all. It will be commercialized by 2020 to contribute to the economic development and research that will prove to be useful to people across the globe.

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