What is 5G REDCAP and Why is it Critical for a Metaverse Future?

Metaverse has been at the forefront of new technological innovations since the beginning of 2022. Its surge of popularity has much to do with technological advances, including AR/ VR, cloud computing, IoT, 5G, AI, digital twins, etc. Among all, 5G can support the ongoing development of the Metaverse by providing the speed and capacity that will fully optimize futuristic applications.

With the gradual evolution of 5G, the 3GPP introduced the Reduced Capability (RedCap) NR in Release 17, which has laid another foundation for the development of metaverse.

• What is RedCap?

According to the 3GPP standards, Release 15 mainly focuses on high speed and high bandwidth applications, and Release 16 emphasizes high reliability and low latency. However, a wide range of low and mid-speed IoT applications do not require Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) and high speed enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), but still need connectivity services higher than LPWAN. Future 5G development has to fill these gaps in order to meet the demand for differentiated connectivity in the marketplace if 4G retired from history.

3GPP has introduced a light version of the 5G standard in Release 17 to address this need, namely 5G Reduced Capability (RedCap). RedCap targets three main categories, i.e. smart wearable, industrial wireless sensor and video surveillance. These applications do not require ultra-low latency, but need high bandwidth to guarantee data transmission. RedCap falls between eMBB and LPWA to ensure a balance of capabilities in terms of speed, energy consumption and cost performance.

• Fibocom to Boost 5G Deployment at Scale

Developing RedCap is crucial to scaling up the 5G deployment. Fibocom has started the research on 5G RedCap, aligning its product development with the R17 standard to meet various market needs. The R17-based RedCap allows 5G modules to be more power efficient, which not only fills the 5G mid-speed coverage gap, but also helps to drive the upgrade to 5G for applications that are not as demanding at this stage, creating more possibilities for the mid-speed IoT market.

Fibocom has been developing streamlined and customized 5G modules, as well as driving the evolution of module hardware and software in line with 3GPP standards. Supporting 5G standalone network (SA) and non-standalone (NSA) network architectures, Fibocom 5G wireless module series supports the Sub-6GHz and mmwave bands, and is compatible with 5G NR, LTE and WCDMA standards. It eliminates customers' investment concerns at the initial stage of 5G construction, responding to the commercial demand for rapid landing. Meanwhile, Fibocom 5G modules come with a rich set of interfaces including USB3.1 (3.0), USB2.0, PCIe3.0 (2.0), SPI, SDIO, GPIO, UART, etc. It has been certified by various regional operators, industry associations and local regulation, satisfying different deployment requirements for customers worldwide.

For more information, please visit:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/2807500/admin/

https://twitter.com/Fibocom_IoT

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5FOUI0RkleGfP_Os6jnO-Q

Resources

White Paper: 5G Network Slicing Empowering Vertical Industries

Fibocom 5G AIoT Commercialized Products Handbook

White Paper: 5G to Turbocharge IoT Growth