In its endeavour to promote innovative, home-grown 5G applications, Vodafone-Idea Limited (VIL) will test 5G-based solutions on aerial traffic management and motion capture system, as part of its ongoing 5G trials on government allocated 5G spectrum. To this end, Vodafone Idea (Vi) has partnered with Vizzbee Robotics Solution and Tweek Labs along with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).
Through its partnership with Vizzbee Robotics Solution, Vi will trial unmanned aerial traffic management (UTM) and the management server (Aerobridge) using 5G network to validate solutions such as stream live video frames from the UAV over the network, demonstrate the public safety and law enforcement application for ground personnel, perform real-time analytics from the data captured via drones, amongst others. Vi’s association with Tweek Labs will test a full bodied motion capture suit using 5G technology, that can be an effective solution for sports training as it helps monitor performance of athletes.
Commenting on the partnership, Abhijit Kishore, chief operating officer, Vodafone Idea Limited, said, “In line with our endeavour to support government’s initiative of Digital India, we at VIL are committed to empower start-ups to grow through innovation and design. We believe in partnering with the best and most innovative technology providers which can help us deliver solutions to enhance business outcomes for our customers. We are conducting 5G trials to identify a range of India specific use cases that can accelerate the achievement of Smart Cities, Smart Enterprises and Smart Citizens. As a leader in enterprise solutions segment, Vi will extend support and mentorship to Vizzbee Robotics Solution and Tweek Labs in testing their solutions on our 5G network.”
Meanwhile, Vibhu Tripathi, the co-founder at Vizzbee, said, “5G will not only ensure faster and reliable communication links for drones but will also enable long-range autonomous operations even in dense urban environments. Low latency V2X communication along with real-time C2, Vodafone Idea Internal image processing on the cloud will help these aerial vehicles reach a new level of autonomy. We also leverage Aerobrige, which is an open and secure DGCA compliant management Server for drone manufacturers and operators over the 5G network. With the support and mentorship from Vodafone Idea Limited, our team will be able to validate these solutions and have strong proof on how 5G for drones is a must to carry out BVLOS operations in dense urban airspace.”
Further, Anant Sharma, co- founder and CEO, Tweek Labs, said, “We at Tweek Labs are working towards the mission to make world class sports coaching available to every aspiring athlete in the country. This requires great leaps in technology and innovation. We are glad to partner with VIL for the 5G trials and really look forward to showcasing the possibilities that 5G could bring about in people’s lives.”
Vi has deployed its 5G trial in a setup of end-to-end captive network of cloud core, new generation transport and radio access network (RAN), along with its technology partner Ericsson in Pune city. In its initial test results, Vi achieved peak speed in excess of 3.7 Gbps with very low latency on the mmWave spectrum band. These speeds were achieved with state-of-the-art equipment in 5G Non-Standalone network architecture and using NR Radios. Vi has been allocated mmWave high bands like 26 GHz and 3.5 GHz spectrum band by the DoT, for 5G network trials and use cases. Vi has also achieved peak download speeds of up to 1.5 Gbps in 3.5 GHz band 5G trial network with its original equipment manufacturer (OEM) partners. The high speed and low latency characteristics of 5G network has many capabilities such as improved surveillance and video streaming or broadcast which enable the evolution of 5G smart cities and smart factories. Smart City and Industry 4.0 will accelerate with 5G deployment and usher in a promising new era of Digital India.
