Huawei introduced the RedCap 5G technology at the Global Mobile Broadband Forum (MBBF) 2023, marking its large-scale commercial use in the global market with more than 10 network carriers from seven countries entering the RedCap commercial pilot test.
RedCap 5G is designed to be lightweight, consuming approximately 20% less power in operations compared to 4G. This technology aims to strike an optimal balance between costs and performance across various industries including manufacturing, electric power, home broadband, Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) communication, and smart wearables.
RedCap technology is tailored to reduce the complexity, cost, and size of 5G devices. It achieves a balance in costs and performance for a variety of sectors, indicating that the cost of RedCap modules is significantly lower (80% lower) than that of standard 5G modules.
What is RedCap?
The term “Reduced Capability” (RedCap) signifies a 5G technology that provides performance on par with the previous generation LTE but at a significantly lower latency.
It targets a performance grade that falls between the full performance 5G devices and narrow bandwidth massive machine-type communication (mMTC), supporting around 85 Mb/sec. This makes RedCap suitable for a wide range of industrial and IoT use cases.
Moreover, RedCap facilitates cost-effective deployments by eliminating the need to support multiple networks (5G, LTE, and eMTC/NB-IoT), thus aligning with the rapid rise in private networks.
The technology supports operation in the millimeter wave spectrum, offers increased coverage through beamforming in sub-6 GHz, and promises centimeter-level positioning accuracy, all of which are anticipated to further benefit industrial applications.
Furthermore, RedCap supports a myriad of IoT applications by addressing their critical information sharing needs while being sensitive to cost and power constraints. For instance, automotive telemetry can benefit from RedCap for over-the-air updates, vehicle statistics collection, and service scheduling, among other functions.
RedCap technology is expected to be more integrated with not only digital baseband and RF portions but also with other complementing communication technologies and application-specific System on Chips (SoCs), paving the way for new vendors and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) who do not specialize in communications to differentiate their products by integrating RedCap IP into SoCs.
What are the advantages of RedCap 5G technology?
The introduction of RedCap 5G technology by Huawei comes with several advantages over existing technologies.
Energy Efficiency: RedCap 5G technology is designed to be lightweight and consumes approximately 20% less power in operations compared to 4G, making it a more energy-efficient option.
Cost-Effectiveness: The technology helps to reduce the complexity, cost, and size of 5G devices, with the cost of RedCap modules being 80% lower than that of standard 5G modules. This makes it a cost-effective solution for various industries.
Performance Balance: RedCap provides a balance between costs and performance, making it suitable for a wide range of applications across various industries including manufacturing, electric power, home broadband, Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) communication, and smart wearables.
Lower Latency: The technology brings the benefits of 5G with significantly lower latency compared to the previous LTE generation, which is beneficial for real-time applications and services.
Wide Range of Applications: With a performance grade of around 85 Mb/sec, RedCap serves a wide range of industrial and IoT use cases. It supports a myriad of IoT applications like industrial sensors, surveillance monitors, wearables, automotive telematics, e-health, and medical monitoring devices, among others.
Enhanced Network Management: RedCap facilitates superior network management over LTE, supporting guaranteed quality of service (QoS) through software-based network slicing, security, and mobile edge computing (MEC) options, which are essential for managing highly fragmented industrial use cases efficiently.
Spectral Efficiency and Coverage: RedCap supports operation in millimeter wave and sub-6 GHz through beamforming, which enhances coverage and spectral efficiency. This is particularly advantageous in spectral re-use and in situations where limited coverage is desirable.
Improved Device Positioning: With the promise of centimeter-level positioning accuracy, RedCap technology can further benefit industrial use cases requiring precise positioning and tracking.
Integration and Vendor Differentiation: RedCap allows for a higher level of integration with digital baseband, RF portions, and other complementing communication technologies. It also provides new vendors and OEMs an opportunity to differentiate their products by integrating RedCap IP into SoCs, even if they do not specialize in communications.
Smooth Transition: The design for RedCap is such that transitioning from LTE to RedCap could be done with a software update or simple re-spin, aiding in a smoother migration to 5G RedCap when the standard matures, hence reducing the associated costs and development time.
When should we expect RedCap to be available?
The RedCap 5G technology, as of the information provided, isn’t fully ratified yet, but ratification was expected around the middle of 2022. Initial deployments of RedCap are anticipated in 2024 to 2025, with a volume ramp-up not expected before 2026.
This suggests that the technology may start becoming available to industries and consumers within the next couple of years, but a broader adoption and availability may take a few more years.
