One of the three use case sets defined for 5G is Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB). As an extension to current 4G broadband network services, eMBB is likely to be the first commercial 5G service but they will be far more practical and useful than just allowing faster download speeds. Walk through this post to understand what eMBB is and how it will allow us to do more with our smartphones.
What is eMBB?
Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) is one of three principal use cases of 5G New Radio (NR) as defined by the 3GPP in its project SMARTER (Study on New Services and Markets Technology Enablers).
The intent behind SMARTER was to build high-level use cases and figure out what functionality and features 5G would need to facilitate them. It started in 2015 and resulted in more than 70 use cases, initially classified into 5 prime categories which has been trimmed to 3 ever since then. They are characterized in terms of the performance attributes required by the particular use cases, though there is considerable overlap. The 3 sets of use cases are discussed below:
- Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB): defined as data-driven use cases that need high data rates across an extensive coverage region.
- Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communications (URLLC): those having strict requirements on reliability and latency for mission critical communications, including autonomous vehicles, remote surgery, or the Tactile Internet.
- Massive Machine Type Communications (mMTC): communications that need to support extremely large number of devices within a limited area, which can only send data intermittently, such as use cases pertaining to the Internet of Things (IoT).
Moving on, let’s understand in detail as to what eMBB will enable, however numerous things will depend on it, from VR and AR to real-time translation and, in general, just to make the mobile internet experience more seamless and fast.
It’s one of those aspects of 5G that’s debatably the most understandable evolution of what 4G delivers – enabling better and newer versions of experiences than we have at present, along with several completely new capabilities.
When to expect it?
Initially, eMBB will be an extension to current 4G services and will be amongst the first few 5G services, which could be made commercially available during the next few months. Ericsson forecasts that there will be around 1bn 5G subscribers for eMBB by 2023 around the world, with North America and Asia likely to be the initial adopters.
To facilitate the initial rollout of eMBB services, the RAN Group of 3GPP committed in March 2017 to finalize the Non-standalone (NSA) 5G NR model by March 2018. In reality, the standard was approved in Dec 2017, therefore if anything we’re already ahead of the actual schedule. The NSA mode deploys the current 4G network, complemented by 5G NR carriers to reduce latency and boost data rates. The Standalone (SA) model has already been completed for the 3GPP 5G core network architecture.
Therefore, eMBB can be regarded as the first phase of the 5G era, which has been included in the Release 15 standards update of 3GPP that completed in the Q3 of 2018. The second phase of 5G is likely to go way beyond eMBB services to more transformational mMTC and URLLC applications and will be encompassed in Release 16, which is scheduled to be accomplished by the fall of 2019.
Considering connected cars as an example, the Phase 1 of eMBB services will include superior in-vehicle infotainment, such as high-speed internet access, real-time traffic alerts, playing games that involve 3D 4K video, and streaming real-time video. The Phase 2 would be focused on large scale autonomous vehicles capable of connecting to and interacting with other vehicles as well as the surrounding road infrastructure.
What all will eMBB enable?
eMBB can be considered as a natural evolution to current 4G networks that will offer faster data rates and, consequently, an enhanced user experience than existing mobile broadband services. But, it will go way beyond just faster downloads to offer an ever more seamless user experience that will outrival the quality of service we enjoy at present from existing fixed broadband technologies. Eventually, it will enable 360-degree video streaming, deeply engaging AR and VR applications, and a lot more.
Among eMBB use cases there are 3 different attributes 5G will need to provide:
- Higher capacity – mobile broadband access should be available in densely populated regions, both outdoors and indoors, like office buildings, city centers, or public venues such as conference centers or stadiums.
- Enhanced connectivity – mobile broadband access needs to be available everywhere to deliver a seamless user experience.
- Higher user mobility – will empower mobile broadband services to move vehicles such as planes, trains, cars, and buses.
These use case categories will have different needs. In a ‘hotspot’ scenario, where lots of users are available, for instance spectators at a sporting contest, there will be need for very high-traffic capacity to cater to the requirements of all the users, however, those users will either be static or moving gently so the need for mobility will be significantly less.
On the other hand, delivering eMBB services to passengers in a high-speed train will need a great degree of mobility; however, the traffic capacity will be comparatively lesser as compared to that of a hotspot. As such, somewhere midline, coverage of an extensive area would need mid-level mobility and, whilst the data throughput will be higher than is possible at present, it may not require to be as high as needed in a hotspot. In short, seamless coverage is the key criteria here.
For delivering these requirements, it is probable that 5G will support:
- Data transfer rates received by users of up to 1Gbps, featuring max data transfer rates in the tens of Gbps and complete traffic volume of a minimum 1Tbps per square kilometer.
- Traffic capacity of 10Mbps per square-meter within hotspot regions.
- Connection density of up to 1mn connections per square-kilometer.
- User experienced data exchange having a latency of 1ms
- High mobility up to 500 km/hour in high-speed trains and up to 1,000 km/hour in planes, together with superior user experience.
Initial eMBB use cases focus on the consumer market and the requirement for faster and better connectivity for handling high-quality video content, the rise in user-generated content and user expectations of being able to quickly stream whatever they prefer, wherever they prefer, and whenever they prefer, with no need of logging on to a WiFi network. According to a recent survey by Statistica, 48 percent of respondents claimed that the top 5G use case would be never needing to log on to a public Wi-Fi facility ever again, and the same number of respondents pointed to superfast browsing.
As evident, the primary need is for 5G to provide the services we are already using, but in a superior manner, with no latency glitches, dropped connections or intermittent connectivity, even in complex and demanding network conditions such as in moving vehicles or crowded locations.
However, eMBB is not only about the multimedia content consumption for entertainment needs. It will also help a commuter in accessing cloud-based applications while on the move to work, remote field workers needing to communicate with people back office, or actually a complete smart office where all devices are seamlessly and wirelessly connected. It will ultimately enable apps from fully engaging AR and VR to virtual messaging and real-time video monitoring with 360-degree real-time video interaction as well as real-time translation for users speaking different languages.
As such, eMBB will evolve to work among different connected devices and not just mobile phones, from the superior range of video-capable devices to the AR and VR glasses that will gradually become universal in society and will be rooted deep in our day-to-day working lives.