Press Release

[27 June 2019, Hong Kong] At the Mobile World Congress (MWC) Shanghai 2019, Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute(ASTRI) revealed their collaborations with Intel on 5G Standalone (SA) Core Network and Roadside Edge AI (Artificial Intelligence) for C-V2X (Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything) that power the new era of network transformation with the compelling capabilities of 5G, C-V2X and AI working together.

ASTRI’s 5G Standalone (SA) Core Network at 200Gbps on Intel Architecture

5G networks aim to provide diversified services. In 3GPP Release 15 standards, the 5G new Standalone (SA) core network enables a high degree of flexibility to meet application and service requirements. In fact, the Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) services have very high requirements on traffic capacity and data rate (as much as 1000x comparing to 4G).  The new 5G SA core network requires significantly higher capacity, throughput performance and scalability to meet the challenging requirements for 5G.

ASTRI and Intel have collaborated on the research, development and optimisation of 5G SA Core Network, especially on the User Plane Function (UPF) throughput, to meet 5G requirements. The collaboration makes it possible for, on a single sever, over 200Gbps throughput to be processed by ASTRI’s 5G UPF without packet loss. The key capabilities and elements to deliver breakthrough performance in the 5G Core Network include:

• The UPF of ASTRI’s 5G SA Core Network can achieve high per-core performance
• Dynamic Device Personalisation (DDP) technology on Intel® Ethernet Network Adapters is utilised to achieve fine-grade load balancing to allow throughput scale up linearly with additional CPU cores
• ASTRI 5G SA Core Network can scale down to a single hardware platform for small scale deployments, or scale out and distributed in cloud architecture

ASTRI and Intel continue the R&D collaboration working closely on ASTRI’S 5G SA core network, such as supporting the N9 interface for mobile edge and additional Service- Based Network Functions, to enable a variety of network topologies to transform mobile core network to cater different 5G applications and scenarios.

Edge Intelligence and C-V2X Transforming Smart Mobility and Network Infrastructure

ASTRI and Intel collaborated to enable edge AI and visual-sensing capabilities for evolving next-generation smart roadside Infrastructure. The initial focus will be on enabling the real-time object recognition by ASTRI’s C-V2X Edge Software solution to detect imminent danger on roads and issue real-time alerts (like pedestrian crossing) to the respective drivers via C-V2X communications between vehicles and roadside infrastructure.

In addition to the low-latency C-V2X communications, the C-V2X Edge Software demands high performance computing, AI and visual data processing to achieve end-to-end low latency. The Smart Roadside Computing Unit is powered by Intel® Xeon® D-2100 processors, delivering Intel’s ground-breaking data centre processor architecture in a form factor optimised for cloud edge computing solutions. It brings the architectural innovations of the Intel Xeon Scalable platform to a system-on-a-chip (SoC) processor for low-power, high-density, small footprint solutions, integrating essential network, security, and acceleration capabilities. The AI and visual data processing in the Smart Roadside Computing Unit is accelerated by Intel® ™ Myriad™ X Visual Processing Unit (VPU) and OpenVINO™ toolkit.

 Accelerating Innovation and Transformation

5G SA Core Network is an important element for mobile core network transformation to support next wave of 5G services. ASTRI 5G SA core network, as pure software-based implementation, verified the suitability on high-volume platforms with Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors, to deliver outstanding performance and flexibility to allow quick time-to-market roll outs. Intelligent sensing and low latency communications using a C-V2X solution at the roadside (network edge) play an important role in shaping next generation roadside Infrastructure and smart mobility services.

Dr Justin Chuang, Vice President of Next Generation Network at ASTRI: “ASTRI and Intel have mutual interests in network transformation since our collaboration on 4G EPC/C-RAN and virtualisation. Thanks to Intel, the combinations of wireless, network, computing and intelligence to enable 5G and C-V2X applications shall be increasingly important, as we move into the 5G era. It is exciting to see ASTRI’s collaboration with Intel getting deeper, wider and more impactful in 5G + C-V2X + AI to drive forward success in innovation and transformation.”

Caroline Chan, Vice President and General Manager of the Network Business Incubator Division at Intel: “Network transformation, AI and edge computing are converging to create some of the most amazing innovations we’ve seen in decades. Together with research leaders like ASTRI, Intel technology will fuel the next-generation of AI-powered applications and 5G-ready communications networks.”

Looking forward, more sensors on the roadside infrastructure are expected to be seen, collecting massive data and transferring them via 5G. Smart mobility applications will process the data at roadside edge and provide fast response to C-V2X enabled road users.

At the Mobile World Congress Shanghai 2019, ASTRI will demonstrate its collaborations with Intel on 5G SA Core and Edge AI for roadside infrastructure in ASTRI’s booth [N1.D130].

Mobile World Congress Shanghai is Asia’s Leading Event for Next-generation Technology – 5G, IoT, AI, Big Data and Beyond. MWC Shanghai has over 60,000 attendees and over 550 participating companies. Mobile World Congress (MWC) Shanghai 2019 will take place from Jun 26-28 in Shanghai New International Expo Centre, Shanghai, China.

[Hong Kong, 26 June 2019] The Hong Kong SAR Government has stepped up its Smart City development efforts in recent years. Aligned with the increasing trends to leverage shared data, China Mobile Hong Kong and Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) have partnered to introduce Hong Kong’s first application of Blockchain-based Internet of Things (IoT) technology. China Mobile Group’s OneNET IoT Platform and ASTRI’s Blockchain solution come together for a combined application that is being demonstrated for the first time during Mobile World Congress (MWC) Shanghai 2019 from 26-28 June 2019.

For the first time ever, the power of Blockchain technology is being applied to an IoT application whereby data is collected and stored in real-time – making it safer, traceable and verifiable. The conventional, centralised system of IoT data collection and storage doesn’t use any encryption, making it vulnerable to attack or tampering. However, with the distributed data storage method of Blockchain, encryption protects the data from tampering. Its traceable features ensure stability and security of data. Combined together, Blockchain and IoT address supervision problems, reduce cost of operations, facilitating a wide of applications in everyday life. Overall, the solution can significantly help the development of Smart City.

China Mobile Hong Kong and ASTRI have been invited to showcase the IoT and Blockchain technology at MWC Shanghai, organised by GSM Association (GSMA) from 26-28 June 2019. Simulated data is collected from vehicles, smart lampposts and parking lots, and transferred to China Mobile Group OneNET’s equipment management and applied development open source platform. The data is then stored and processed by ASTRI’s intelligent IoT and Blockchain technology platform with full-proof tamper protection. When visitors request access to IoT data from touch-screen computers or smartphones, the system makes a record, making sure the user can only access the data he/she is permitted to view, and the data source is reliable. At MWC Shanghai 2019, ASTRI and CMHK will also showcase applications of various sensors in an urban environment and data collection from different sources in future smart city environment. Visitors will understand the use of the IoT and Blockchain technology and personally experience its applications.

“This development successfully shows that upon signing the strategic cooperation agreement, China Mobile Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute, have been able to make good use of each other’s expertise and work together to bring about mutual benefits. The approach of the 5G era will help promote IoT applications on a large scale. The production of large quantities of data will help analysis become more accurate and better reflect the needs of the market IoT and Blockchain technology cooperative operations, help us to create a safe and reliable public data platform and help construct an outstanding and reliable foundation for the smart city development in Hong Kong,” said Mr Sean Lee, Director and Chief Executive Officer of China Mobile Hong Kong.

“ASTRI is one of the first institutions in Hong Kong to apply Blockchain technology across different industries, including finance, real estate and manufacturing among others. We are delighted to work with China Mobile Hong Kong – showcasing the combined technological wonders of IoT and Blockchain. We are also bringing Blockchain to the telecommunications industry, for the first time, adding new elements to the IoT ecosystem and fostering Smart City development,” said Mr Hugh Chow, Chief Executive Officer of ASTRI.

China Mobile Hong Kong and ASTRI will continue this close partnership and bring about new dimensions to strongly facilitate Smart City applications, promote the development of Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area as a world-class centre of excellence for science and technology in the future.

[26 June 2019, Hong Kong] As Hong Kong and the rest of the world step into the 5G era, Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) is developing a series of 5G-enabling hardware and software solutions in partnership with its ecosystem partners. At its booth (N1.D130) in the Mobile World Congress (MWC) Shanghai 2019, ASTRI is showcasing a series of its latest 5G innovations from 26 to 28 June 2019. In addition, ASTRI is jointly performing various technology demonstrations at its partners’ booths. From 5G Centralised RAN (C-RAN) base stations to standalone 200 Gbps 5G core network solution, Internet of Things (IoT) solutions to smart mobility, ASTRI’s tools, platforms and applications help develop world-class smart cities. ASTRI’s innovations have been developed in partnership with leading industry players such as Intel, HKT, QCT, China Mobile Research Institute (CMRI), and China Mobile Hong Kong (CMHK)。

ASTRI is showcasing the following technologies and solution at MWC Shanghai 2019:

	Technology Demo	Partner	Booth
1	5G end-to-end system (5G C-RAN base station and 5G Core)
2	5G standalone Core Network at 200Gbps	Intel
3	Edge Computing and Artificial Intelligence (AI) for road safety
4	Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything (C-V2X) and smart mobility technologies	HKT	ASTRI booth: N1.D130
5	NB-IoT Chip	Keysight
6	Biometric Optical See Through (OST) Head Mount Display (HMD)
7	Virtual Mobile Core Network auto scaling with ONAP DataLake	QCT and CMRI	CMCC booth: N3.E20
8	Intelligent Blockchain-based IoT Platform	CMHK and GSMA	GSMA Innovation City area in N5

1. 5G end-to-end system (5G C-RAN base station and 5G Core)

ASTRI will demonstrate live 5G connection on a commercial 5G-enabled smartphone, using its end-to-end 5G C-RAN and Mobile Core system. Using Intel Xeon processors, ASTRI’s network design supports up to 2 Gbps throughput with four spatial layers in sub-6GHz spectrum. The solution has been adopted by a series of 5G network equipment manufacturers based in the Mainland and overseas. The solution also enables public and private network builders to introduce 5G-powered Smart City applications for smart living, smart manufacturing and smart mobility.

2. 5G standalone Core Network at 200Gbps (jointly with Intel)

This joint demonstration will showcase the compelling performance of 5G core network, processing over 200Gbps throughput on standard servers featuring two scalable Intel Xeon processors.

3. Edge Computing and AI for road safety (jointly with Intel)

This joint demonstration will showcase a smart roadside infrastructure with artificial intelligence and visual sensing capabilities. ASTRI’s C-V2X Edge Software, deployed on Intel’s Smart Roadside Computing Unit, can recognise vehicles, people and objects in real time. By issuing real time alerts, this solution will minimise accidents and greatly improve road safety.

4. Smart mobility technologies (jointly with HKT)

ASTRI’s smart mobility technologies covers a wide range of usage scenarios, on Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything (C-V2X), Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) and other Intelligent Transport System (ITS) services.  ASTRI and HKT are working closely on realising the Smart Mobility Technologies in Hong Kong.

5. Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) Chip (jointly with Keysight)

This demonstration showcases the latest low-cost, low-power NB-IoT chip solutions for a wide range of 3GPP-compliant low-cost and low-power IoT services. ASTRI’s NB-IoT chip adopts a unique polar transmitter architecture and integrates on-chip high efficiency CMOS power amplifier, power management unit and digitally controlled crystal oscillator.

6. Biometric Optical See Through (OST) Head Mount Display (HMD)

ASTRI’s Biometric OST HMD is the world’s first turnkey solution to integrate extremely high image quality, smooth human machine interaction and security identification features. Its see-through feature plus high display image quality provides vivid visual experience; iris recognition feature performs high security biometric authentication, and eye-gazing tracking capability provides accurate focus point detection and high user flexibility.

7. Virtual Mobile Core Network auto scaling with ONAP DataLake (jointly with QCT and CMRI)

ASTRI’s Virtual Mobile Core Network is integrated and deployed on top of QCT’s Next Generation Central Office (NGCO) virtualized infrastructure with telemetry running on a x86 server, with OpenStack services, VNF-ASTRI EPC, and ONAP information injected into the ONAP DataLake.  This architecture enables auto scaling by using the ONAP DataLake with analytics, which can provide intelligent scale-in and scale-out mechanisms for virtual mobile core network operations.

8. Intelligent Blockchain-based IoT Platform (jointly with CMHK at GSMA Innovation City)

As Hong Kong largest R&D institute, ASTRI collaborates with China Mobile Hong Kong (CMHK) to bring the Blockchain IoT to the live network with CMHK’s latest IoT management system – OneNET. The platform uses secured data exchange for data provider to share IoT data with integrity. Through connecting the data providers and consumers, the platform can monetise and strategically exploit the potentially enormous value of the vast amount of IoT data.  The key issue in transforming IoT data to business value is addressed. The platform can help companies and individuals to unleash huge business potential by acting as a trusted intermediary to offer data exchange with integrity among third parties.

About MWC Shanghai

MWC Shanghai is one of the largest telecommunication industry expos in the world, bringing together the latest innovations and leading-edge technology from more than 550 leading companies, witnessed by a whopping 60,000-strong business-to-business audience.

Recommender System, Predictive Maintenance, and Augmented Operation Initiative: Three new AI-based R&D initiatives to enhance CITIC Telecom CPC’s customer experience

[HONG KONG, 3 June 2019] CITIC Telecom International CPC Limited (CITIC Telecom CPC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of CITIC Telecom International Holdings Limited (SEHK: 1883) and the Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute Company Limited (ASTRI) today announced plans to join forces on research and development for next-generation operations and maintenance technologies using Augmented Reality (AR) glasses. At the same time, CITIC Telecom CPC unveiled three major R&D initiatives to accelerate business expansion and enhance the customer experience by using Artificial Intelligence (AI), in line with the company’s corporate mission – “Innovation Never Stops”.

For decades, CITIC Telecom CPC has built a comprehensive portfolio of innovative Information and Communication Technology (ICT) services. Today, the company operates globally to deliver a ‘Global-Local’ value proposition, giving customers access to its carrier-class global infrastructure and world-class expertise. An important part of this ‘Global-Local’ value proposition is CITIC Telecom CPC’s local presence – offering professional services and support conversant with local language and culture.

Established by the Hong Kong SAR Government in 2000, ASTRI’s mission is to carry out applied research to enhance the competitiveness of Hong Kong’s technology-based industries. ASTRI’s R&D endeavours focus on Smart City, Financial Technologies, Intelligent Manufacturing, Health Technologies, and Application Specific Integrated Circuits.

With a shared vision to spur innovation and enhance customer experience, the collaboration with ASTRI not only creates new opportunities for CITIC Telecom CPC, but also benefits a wide spectrum of vertical industries.

“We are excited to announce this strategic partnership with ASTRI to develop next-generation operations and maintenance technologies using AR glasses,” said Mr Stephen Ho, CEO of CITIC Telecom CPC. “Bringing together the strong technical capabilities and innovative strengths of the two groups, CITIC Telecom CPC hopes that the resulting innovation will disrupt the game rules of operations and maintenance, enhance productivity and create value for our customers for years to come.”

“ASTRI supports Hong Kong’s industries and the community with advanced, innovative solutions. With technologies like AR, Machine Vision, Robotics and AI, we enable industries to deliver better customer experience and pursue innovation-led growth,” said Mr Hugh Chow, CEO of ASTRI. “This cooperation with CITIC Telecom CPC represents our firm commitment to a stronger, smarter Hong Kong powered by technology,” he added.

Based on the agreement, ASTRI will contribute with its world-class software development capabilities while CITIC Telecom CPC will leverage its deep knowledge and experience gained from serving various industries, to provide an array of complex scenarios based on real-life customer requirements, on-site conditions and technical considerations.

Previously, field engineers, like those from CITIC Telecom CPC, relied on several computing devices like smartphones and laptops for installation, maintenance and troubleshooting. This typically consumed significant time and efforts to simultaneously manage and use multiple devices. By introducing AR glasses in their fieldwork, real-time intelligence, troubleshooting log, graphics and encrypted data from back-end systems can be streamed and made accessible onsite to engineers anytime, anywhere.

In the case of complex installations or troubleshooting operations, back-end engineers in other offices or even other regions can view the streamed real-time images transmitted from the AR glasses used by onsite field engineers through the AR operation console. This instant consultation capability significantly improves operational speed and quality. Its powerful video conferencing feature will provide engineers with immediate maintenance support and foster off-site collaboration between global operations and maintenance teams.

In addition to enhancing customer experience, this collaboration is expected to improve the overall quality of operations and maintenance, and boost productivity by 40 to 50%. When mature, the solution is expected to be launched to different vertical industries such as architecture and construction, aiming to boost their field work efficiency and effectiveness, as well as making more innovative uses of the solution.

Three New AI R&D Initiatives to Bring In More Customer Benefits

In addition to the partnership with ASTRI, CITIC Telecom CPC also announced three major new AI-enabled R&D initiatives to accelerate customers’ digital transformation through Recommender System, AI-powered Predictive Maintenance, and an Augmented Operation Initiative designed to enhance operational efficiency.

Recommender System: To identify new growth paths for customers, CITIC Telecom CPC is developing a Recommender System, a new AI-enabled capability to offer customers consultative recommendations on ICT investment and digital transformation. Through machine learning, research findings of emerging trends and information from different industries are gathered and mapped against industry challenges, maturity cycle, technical requirements, and compliance considerations of the company’s vast global customer base for analysis. The AI recommender will provide customers with guidance, helping them formulate a future-proof blueprint for digital transformation and business expansion, ensuring they will enjoy the best service experience.

Predictive Maintenance: Fault detection in the early stages of an issue is critical to reduce costly unscheduled downtime, maintenance costs and sustain customer confidence. With CITIC Telecom CPC’s new predictive maintenance initiative, data collected from customers’ IoT devices and servers, from applications to infrastructure levels, can be carefully monitored and analysed 24×7 based on machine learning for the use status and abnormalities. This allows prompt alert and immediate corrective measures or repair to be applied to mitigate potential issues like depleted resources or abnormal operating conditions before they emerge to ensure business continuity.

Augmented Operation Initiative: CITIC Telecom CPC is also developing a machine learning strategy to optimise operating efficiency for their customer services. The initiative aims to connect front-line customer services staff into the digital fabric of the company and delivers augmented instructions which give the staff insights to take appropriate actions. It results in achieving a high level of productivity and quality, while from a customer experience perspective, they can enjoy promptly and favourable responses.

“Through the partnership project with ASTRI as well as other new R&D initiatives, we endeavour to bring CITIC Telecom CPC to new heights – delivering a new level of benefits for our customers and society. We believe that technologies can lead to enhancements in various aspects, and smart use of technologies can create a better future,” concluded Mr Daniel Kwong, Chief Information and Innovation Officer of CITIC Telecom CPC.