The consumer rollouts of 5G wireless networks have been slowed by the coronavirus, while at the same time consumer enthusiasm has been dampened somewhat by the potential expensive costs to upgrade to devices capable of taking advantage of what the next-generation mobile platforms have to offer. However, the Pentagon is continuing to forge ahead with 5G –the fifth generation wireless network – which has the potential to be up to 20 times faster than 4G networks.
While increased speed has been touted as a key point of 5G, it can also support far more devices. Whereas 4G can support around 100,000 devices per square kilometer, 5G in the same space could increase to upwards of 1,000,000 devices.
Experimentation and Testing
Last week, the DoD announced that it was providing $600 million in awards for 5G experimentation and testing at five U.S. military test sites. This would represent the largest full-scale 5G tests for dual-use applications in the world. Each of the five installations will partner military services with industry leaders and academic experts to advance the DoD’s 5G capabilities.
This will include multiple projects including development of 5G-enabled augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) for mission planning and training; the testing of 5G-enabled “smart warehouses” for asset tracking and autonomous robot control; and for evaluating 5G technologies to enhance distributed command and control (C2).
The United States Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany in Georgia, along with the U.S. Naval Base San Diego have already been selected to test smart warehouse capabilities, while Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington was previously named to develop AR/VR prototypes that could be used to support training operations.
In June, the DoD had also named seven military installation sites for a second round of 5G testing. The locations named last week include some of the same facilities and locations, and highlights the DoD’s continued commitment to the experimentation and testing efforts of 5G.
The Test Sites
The DoD announced that test sites will include: Hill Air Force Base, Utah; Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington; Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany, Georgia; Naval Base San Diego, California; and Nellis Air Force Base, Las Vegas, Nevada.
The five bases were selected for their ability to provide streamlined access to spectrum bands and mature fiber and wireless infrastructure, support new or improved infrastructure requirements, and conduct controlled experimentation with dynamic spectrum sharing.
“The Department of Defense is at the forefront of cutting edge 5G testing and experimentation, which will strengthen our Nation’s warfighting capabilities as well as U.S. economic competitiveness in this critical field,” said Michael Kratsios, acting under secretary of defense for research and engineering, via a statement.
Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM), Wa – Augmented/Virtual Reality Training
The DoD announced that the objective of this project will be to rapidly field a scalable, resilient, and secure 5G network that will act as a test bed for experimentation with 5G-enabled AR/VR capability for mission planning, distributed training, and operational use.
Industry partners at JBLM will include:
- GBL System Corp. (GBL): GBL’s Samsung-based 5G testbed will be used to utilize mid-band spectrum to provide high capacity, low latency coverage at JBLM (Approximately three square miles) and Yakima Training Center (Approximately 15 square milkes).
- AT&T: AT&T will charged with developing a system to allow use of 5G connectivity with present training devices.
- Oceus Networks: Oceus will develop and field a Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) based 5G handheld called Tough Mobile Device-5G (TMD-5G) for the field training environment.
- Booz-Allen Hamilton (BAH): BAH will deliver an Army-owned, multivendor prototype for combat-like training using AR/VR technology in 5G-enhanced training locations based on an Open Systems Architecture (OSA).
Naval Base San Diego (NBSD), Ca – 5G Smart Warehousing (Transshipment)
NBSD will be the test site to develop a 5G-enabled Smart Warehouse focused on transshipment between shore facilities and naval units, to increase the efficiency and fidelity of naval logistic operations, including identification, recording, organization, storage, retrieval, and transportation of materiel and supplies.
In addition, the project will create a proving ground for testing, refining, and validating emerging 5G-enabled technologies.
Industry partners at NBSD will include:
- AT&T: Within nine months, AT&T will deploy a network based on commercially available equipment to support 4G and 5G utilizing cellular spectrum in both the sub-6 GHz and millimeter wave bands.
- GE Research: GE Research 5G-enabled applications will support real-time asset tracking, warehouse modeling and predictive analytics.
- Vectrus Mission Solutions Corporation (Vectrus): Vectrus applications will provide industry-leading capabilities for inventory management, network security, robotic material moving, & environmental sensing.
- Deloitte Consulting LLP (Deloitte): Deloitte will support a wide array of applications including Autonomous Mobile Robots, Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) with autonomous drones, biometrics, cameras, AR/VR, and digitally tracked inventory.
Marine Corps Logistics Base (MCLB) Albany, Ga – 5G Smart Warehousing
MCLB Albany will be charged to develop a 5G-enabled Smart Warehouse focused on vehicular storage and maintenance, to increase the efficiency and fidelity of its logistic operations, including identification, recording, organization, storage, retrieval, and inventory control of materiel and supplies.
Additionally, the project will create a proving ground for testing, refining, and validating emerging 5G-enabled technologies.
Industry partners at MCLB include:
- Federated Wireless: Federated Wireless leverages open standards and an open solution to provide a testbed with both indoor and outdoor coverage, supporting a growing segment of the U.S. 5G equipment market.
- GE Research: The GE approach will support real-time asset tracking, facility modeling and predictive analytics.
- KPMG LLP: KPMG applications will create an integrated, automated, and digitized process for equipment and product movement throughout the warehouse.
- Scientific Research Corporation (SRC): SRC’s 5G-enabled offering will demonstrate automated management and control of warehouse logistics, asset and inventory tracking, environmental management, and facility access control.
Nellis Air Force Base, NV – Distributed Command and Control
The objective of efforts at NAFB is to develop a testbed for the use of 5G technologies to aid in air, space, and cyberspace lethality while enhancing C2 survivability. A 5G network will be specifically employed to disaggregate and mobilize the existing C2 architectures in an agile combat employment scenario.
AT&T will be the main industry partner at NAFB, and it will provide an initially fixed then mobile 5G environment with high capacity and low latency to support the connectivity requirements associated with the mobile combined air operations centers.
Hill Air Force Base, Ut – Dynamic Spectrum Utilization
The HAFB project will address the challenge of enabling Air Force radars to dynamically share spectrum with 5G cellular services. The project will develop sharing/coexistence system prototypes and evaluate their effectiveness with real-world, at-scale networks in controlled environments. Moreover, the objective is to develop effective methodologies to allow the sharing or coexistence between airborne radar systems and 5G cellular telephony systems in the 3.1 – 3.45 GHz band.
Industry partners at HAFB include:
- Nokia: The Nokia testbed includes traditional as well as open standards architectures including high-power massive multi-antenna systems.
- General Dynamics Mission Systems, Inc. (GDMS): GDMS will develop and field a novel coexistence application that includes independent tracking of radar signals to support the radio access network in mitigation actions.
- Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH): BAH’s approach utilizes Artificial Intelligence to provide a complete coexistence system with rapid response to interference.
- Key Bridge Wireless LLC: Key Bridge will demonstrate an adaptation of an existing commercial spectrum sharing approach for the 3.1-3.45 GHz band as a low risk solution to the coexistence issues.
- Shared Spectrum Company (SSC): SSC’s approach aims to maintain continuous 5G communications via early radar detections and 5G-enabled Dynamic Spectrum Access.
- Ericsson: Ericsson’s novel approach employs the 5G infrastructure to provide the required sensing coupled with Machine Learning and 5G-enabled spectrum aggregation.
Foundation Enabler
The DoD has called 5G communications technology a foundational enabler for all U.S. defense modernization programs, and vital to U.S. national and economic security.
“Through these test sites, the Department is leveraging its unique authorities to pursue bold innovation at a scale and scope unmatched anywhere else in the world,” added Kratsios. “Importantly, today’s announcement demonstrates the Department’s commitment to exploring the vast potential applications and dual-use opportunities that can be built upon next-generation networks.”
