symposium ahead of 2021 world 5g convention: 5g opens up a "new world" of sports communication

 seminar     |       2021/7/23

on july 23, the 5g and sports communication symposium was held ahead of 2021 world 5g convention in beijing. invited by the symposium were zhang chunyan, director and second-level inspector of beijing municipal radio and television bureau; fu jun, deputy secretary-general of future mobile communication forum; deng xiangdong, director of radio and television research center, academy of broadcasting planning, national radio and television administration; bi jiang, director of technology management department, beijing radio and television station; li lingtao, dean, professor, and doctoral supervisor of the school of journalism and communication, beijing sport university; liu li, director of e-sports research center, cross-strait tsinghua research institute; sun songlin, director, professor, and doctoral supervisor of electronic information engineering department, school of information and communication engineering, beijing university of posts and telecommunications; ren shipeng, director of broadcast coordination division, media operation department, beijing winter olympic organizing committee; yin hang, researcher of engineering research center, radio and television intelligent education department, communication university of china; and other leaders and industry experts. they gathered for a hot discussion on the development prospects and trends of 5g and sports communication.



at the symposium, fu jun, deputy secretary-general of future mobile communication forum, introduced the purpose and significance of holding the symposium. she said, "the industry has transferred its focus from technical topics to high-level strategies such as industrial topics and international situations. an industrial symposium needs to gather elite teams and forces of all parties for holistic discussions. from the perspective of communications, 5g is already serving a wide range of industries and exists as an infrastructure. given that communications practitioners have an insufficient understanding of the industry, they should listen to different voices and draw on collective wisdom. in this sense, the symposium will bring a successful start to 2021 world 5g convention."

then, the leaders and experts attending the symposium discussed 5g and sports communication. according to deng xiangdong, director of radio and television research center, academy of broadcasting planning, national radio and television administration, although the concept of "5g 4k/8k" has been around in the industry for a long time, most of the applications remain in the trial stage. to commercialize them on a large scale, we still need to solve some problems.

"in particular, difficulties are found in adapting 5g 4k/8k to different terminals. for example, the codec chip requires a basic rate of 12g for 4k and 50g and above for 8k. both 4k and 8k require advanced compression algorithms in the process of coding compression. however, chips available for handling such high rates cannot be commercialized on a large scale. this part is a major factor affecting the promotion of 5g 4k/8k and needs to be addressed by the industry." said deng xiangdong.

bi jiang, director of technology management department, beijing radio and television station, presented his views from the perspectives of application and demand. he pointed out the need to enrich the content of 5g, which is the main concern of users. 5g differs from 4g in that the former necessitates higher-quality audiovisual content, so the industry can pay more attention to ultra-hd video. on this basis, new ways of using the content can be explored, such as interactivity and immersion. such fresh experiences can play a critical role in the promotion of 5g.

liu li, director of e-sports research center, cross-strait tsinghua research institute, believed that the popularization of 5g will bring unprecedented progress and revolution to the sports industry. with 5g technology, we can enjoy a different sports experience, such as playing with a tennis world champion despite geological limitations. whether it is golf or tennis, competitive sports can be uploaded through 5g networks with zero latency across time and space, which was impossible with any technology in the past. besides, 5g enables an all-around, full-sensory virtual experience. this is a 5g-driven revolution that creates a new way of interacting with the virtual world while improving the traditional way of experiencing.

sun songlin, director, professor, and doctoral supervisor of electronic information engineering department, school of information and communication engineering, beijing university of posts and telecommunications, said, "scenario is an important term. usually, we hope to combine technical and demand/market drivers. if they match, the industry will thrive. if not, the industry will become obsolete." he believed that "5g ultra-hd video can represent a technical driver, and 5g sports broadcast will become a major application scenario of 5g in the future."

ren shipeng, director of broadcast coordination division, media operation department, beijing winter olympic organizing committee, emphasized that the 5g we usually talk about is a broad rather than standalone term, posing certain limitations to the full play of 5g performance. in terms of sports application, it is hoped that standalone 5g can be realized as soon as possible to provide greater support for sports application scenarios.

yin hang, researcher of engineering research center, radio and television intelligent education department, communication university of china, said, "we have explored a lot in 5g scenarios and found that 5g has a significant role for radio and television applications, such as 5g broadcast. 5g enables the retainment of the original mobile communication mode. more importantly, uplink and downlink data in many previous application scenarios were not equivalent. for example, in the process of interview, editing, and broadcast, a large amount of data was uploaded, and users had to download it. in this case, 5g broadcast can serve as a good tool to solve this problem."

as the host of the symposium, li lingtao made a detailed analysis of the challenges and pain points in the current ultra-hd industry. "first, users have a low sense of experience and gain. although some ultra-hd programs are available, they cannot be enjoyed due to the lack of supporting devices. second, the cost is high. for example, it is expensive to use such access terminals as ultra-hd televisions. third, ultra-hd programs are in short supply."

to deal with these challenges and pain points, li lingtao proposed four solutions. first, combine ultra-hd development with 5g and other technologies to form a technology cluster with optimal application effect. second, increase the channels for ordinary users to enjoy an ultra-hd experience, so as to stimulate market demand. third, find new application scenarios, such as combining virtuality and reality to enhance the viewing experience. fourth, accelerate infrastructure construction to form an end-to-end ultra-hd chain from signal acquisition, signal production, signal transmission, to user reception.

zhang chunyan, director and second-level inspector of beijing municipal radio and television bureau, made the concluding remarks after listening to the opinions and suggestions of experts from all fields. he stressed that china has moved to a new level in mobile communications. we used to "take" things from other countries, but now, we have realized independent innovation. back in history, the four great inventions led the world to a leap forward, but we did not make good use of these technologies. with 5g, china has come to the forefront, and should never repeat the same mistake we have made.

in his speech, zhang chunyan elaborated on how 5g can be better applied in the radio and television industry, and also offered four solutions. first, technology should be combined with humanity. second, government guidance and market forces are needed. third, the coordinated breakthroughs in the 5g and ultra-hd industries should play a driving role. fourth, intellectuals should be brought together with workers, peasants, and soldiers.

the 2021 world 5g convention will be hosted in beijing from august 6-8, with the theme of "5g , by all for all". as an important part of the convention, the 5g and sports communication forum will be held at that time.