By Amitabh Chhabra, Rogers Communications Inc.
4G was a great leap forward, allowing people to stream music and video on the go. 5G takes it to a different level and is designed to connect many more types of devices than smartphones – anything really. This opens a plethora of 5G applications and use cases ranging from intelligent transportation, smart cities, automated factories, telemedicine and a new wave of enterprise communications. As a Canadian leader in 5G innovation, Rogers has been developing 5G use cases in several sectors in partnership with Canadian universities and industry consortiums. The objective is to pursue research discoveries and develop new applications of 5G to address societal and economic challenges. In this paper, we will present case studies from two different sectors to demonstrate how 5G networks have enabled Rogers to accomplish its strategy and objectives. These use cases focused in the sectors of smart transportation and health care. Taking signalized intersections technology to a new level, Rogers deployed NoTraffic autonomous traffic management system at seven live signalized intersections and two roundabouts at the University of British Columbia (UBC) campus in Vancouver. Reducing pedestrians’ delay in crossing intersections, was one of the priorities of this project. The deployment optimized the flow of both vehicles and pedestrians. After two weeks, the project’s KPIs indicated it had delivered CO2 reduction of 2.8 tons, with a pedestrian delay improvement of 92 hours and vehicle delay reduction of 182 hours. Total economic value over two weeks was about $6,500. In the second application, the research team developed an ultrasound system which can perform a remote ultrasound operation under the guidance of an expert sonographer. The sonographer remotely “tele-operates” an untrained person (the follower) wearing a mixed reality headset by controlling a virtual ultrasound probe projected into the person’s scene. The pose, force, video, ultrasound images, and 3-dimensional mesh of the scene are fed back to the expert in real time. 5G teleguidance is more precise and fast than verbal/video guidance, yet more flexible and inexpensive than robotic teleoperation. Remote ultrasound teleoperation has the potential to revolutionize healthcare access for first nations and remote communities, where receiving medical services can be a significant challenge. In these areas, where it can take months to schedule and conduct an ultrasound examination, this innovative technology can bridge the gap by enabling real-time, long-distance tele-ultrasound imaging. Together, these two use case scenarios show how several technologies, such as IOT, 5G, cloud, and sensing, are converging and capable of significantly enhancing both public safety and quality of life.