Project UTAMO

With the fifth generation of mobile communication (5G), a significantly expanded requirement profile has to be realized technically. This requirement profile includes application-related features such as data rates, spectral efficiency, latency, mobility, area coverage and energy efficiency. In the current standardization, the following three primary application scenarios are considered in this respect:

• Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB): This is the primary end-user scenario and concerns the support of video streams with extreme mobile available bandwidth. Furthermore, this scenario increasingly includes Fixed Wireless Access (FWA).
• Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (uRLLC): This scenario addresses the topic of real-time communication in commercial application areas such as medicine, transport and traffic.
• Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC): This is the so-called IoT scenario, which includes an extremely scalable area coverage with up to 10 million narrowband sensors per km².

The technical implementation of these performance requirements will support an even more intensive use of mobile communications. The holistic environmental effects of this development - both positive and negative - have not yet been researched in depth. Especially mobile video services (eMBB) and the mobile fixed network connection of households (FWA) will possibly cause considerable rebound effects due to the still low spectral efficiency and millions of users. However, the energy and resource requirements are not limited to end devices and access networks. For network operators, aggregation and core networks also require more computing power for network control (switches, routers, gateways, etc.) and administration (subscriber administration, roaming, billing, etc.). The data and transaction security is generated by computation-intensive encryption and Blockchain as well as network-intensive distribution to many data streams. The magnitude of this potential environmental burden is determined by the technology on the one hand and the individual topology and operation of the networks on the other. Furthermore, the interaction of networks with end users and network-based services has to be considered.

The aim of the research project is primarily to improve the facts and to enable the client to assess the environmental effects of future mobile radio networks up to 2030, including the terminal devices, in a manner that is reliable for orientation. The core requirement for this is a solid technical understanding of the architecture and essential elements as well as key technologies of the future mobile radio generation. Furthermore, the temporal implementation of many new technologies while maintaining existing mobile radio infrastructures must be taken into account in the modelling of scenarios in order to make realistic statements.