cellular
Vodafone: 5G key function “slicing” also in 4G networks
View of the Vodafone headquarters in Düsseldorf. photo
© picture alliance / Ina Fassbender/dpa
Higher bandwidths and shorter data transit times – 5G offers a number of advantages. In addition, the mobile network can be divided into specialized segments. This should also be possible in other networks in the future.
In the future, Vodafone will also introduce a technology in its 4G networks in which each application gets exactly the piece of the network that it needs. The company announced this on Monday in Düsseldorf. So-called network slicing was previously only available in the networks of the fifth generation of mobile communications (5G).
Vodafone is reacting to the fact that different network applications can require very different speeds, data rates or capacities, even in conventional LTE networks (4G). For example, video streaming requires a consistently high bandwidth over a longer period of time. With a self-driving car, it is more important to keep updating many different data sets. And in logistics, numerous devices have to be reliably connected to the network at the same time, but then only transmit small amounts of data.
In order to meet the different requirements, in “network slicing” the network is figuratively sliced. Each of these discs is separately configurable and individually adaptable. Originally, this feature was reserved exclusively for 5G networks. However, network equipment suppliers such as Nokia have also made the disc technology usable for the widespread 4G networks.
Alexander Saul, Managing Director of Corporate Customers at Vodafone Germany, says that the process will reserve part of the network for slicing customers and will be available when the radio cell could get tight under normal conditions. The 4G-based network slicing only recently passed its first practical test during the mobile phone-based live transmission of the ADAC GT Masters at the Nürburgring. Despite the fact that the network was not fully utilized, the camera images of the TV team could have been reliably transmitted directly from the pit lane to the broadcasting center via 4G slicing.