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The UK’s European university
5G and technological solutions for the agri-sectorSophie Packer, Simon Barnes and Prof Nathan Gomes and colleagues, University of Kent
Agenda
• Why are we talking today – there is a current opportunity for innovation funding
• 5G and agritech, some examples of applications• Drones• Precision farming• Product tracing• Asset control
• The University of Kent and agritech
• Supporting 5G in Kent – technical
• Discussion
• Next steps
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Competition Overview- 5G Create Scope
5G Create is seeking to:● Encourage 5G deployment and use cases from a wide range of sectors,
industries and UK regions;● Demonstrate sustainability after government funding; ● Further explore 5G technical capabilities;● Project scope must include:
○ One use case dependent on 5G technologies or explores 5G technical capabilities; and
○ has the potential to create a viable, sustainable market opportunity.
Competition Overview- Reducing Barriers
It’s not just about use cases; other areas of DCMS interest include: ● Secure networks; ● Diversifying the telecoms network supply chain; ● Spectrum sharing, neutral host networks, private networks;● Big data and AI; ● New human interfaces – voice recognition, AR/VR, conformable
screens, neural interfaces;
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Competition Guidance- Available Funding (1)
● Up to £30 million DCMS grant funding available● £250k to £5 million DCMS grant funding per project ● DCMS expects to fund no more than 50% of the total project costs● Complete all DCMS funded activities by 31 March 2022● DCMS grant funding covers ‘eligible costs’ ● Funding is available across two financial years: FY20, FY21● Non-grant funded project activities can continue beyond 31 March 2022 ● There must be a lead partner
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Competition Guidance- Available Funding (2)
Criteria for distribution of funds within consortium:● Total subcontracting cost is limited to 30% of the total project costs ● No single partner can incur more than 70% of the total eligible project costs● At least 70% of total eligible project costs should be incurred by private sector
business organisations● For all research organisations and public sector organisations the total level of
project participation is set at a maximum of 30% of total eligible project costs
Competition Guidance- Dates (2)
16 week competition window○ Competition opens: 06 April 2020○ Competition closes: 27 July 2020○ Shortlist applicants notified: 7 August 2020○ Shortlisted applicants interviewed: 17 August - 21 August 2020○ Successful applicants notified: September 2020○ Grant funding period: October 2020 - 31 March 2022
● Project applications can be submitted to only one of the competition windows, not both (though organisations may submit multiple different proposals)
● DCMS aims to award an equal split of funding in each window
What might 5G enable you to do?
• Enhanced mobile broadband connections – gigabytes per second
• Massive machine-type communications - between intelligent machines that require no human input – ‘smart farming’
• Ultra-reliable and low latency communications (i.e. communication services which are available nearly 100% of the time) – robotics and autonomy
Source: 5G RuralFirst: New Thinking Applied to Rural Connectivity
Why 5G and agritech and food and drink?
Let’s talk about four example applications of 5G in farming:
• Drones
• Precision farming
• Product tracing
• Asset control
Why 5G and agritech and food and drink?
• Drones
• Soil and field analysis• Crop monitoring• Health assessment• Irrigation - identify parts of a field experiencing “hydric stress”• Crop spraying• Aerial planting• Fetch and carry
Source: Digital Transformation Monitor, Drones in agriculture, EU Jan 2018
Why 5G and agritech and food and drink?
• Precision farming - The ‘use of digital geographically referenced data in farming operation’ (Wood and Wolf, 1997)
• Examples include:• Site-specific crop management• Automatic control of agricultural vehicles • Controlled traffic farming• Automated gate systems for tagged livestock
Source: POSTnote 505 September 2015 Precision Farming
Why 5G and agritech and food and drink?
• Product tracing and tracking
5G will enable dynamic interaction between manufacturing, harvesting, food production equipment and even the products themselves. Thomas Burke, Food Traceability Scientist at the Institute of Food Technology’s Global Food Traceability Center (GFTC)
• Send real-time information about where products are, without workers having to scan barcodes, use RFID readers (radio frequency identification) or handle the food
• 5G-enabled IoT devices can go with the food products and report their condition, temperature, safety, humidity level and other related factors in real-time
Source:VAI CIO Kevin Beasley https://www.foodlogistics.com/technology/article/21107049/how-will-5g-affect-the-food-industry
Why 5G and agritech and food and drink?
• Asset control
• Predictive maintenance of manufacturing assets in operations (using large network of sensors)
• Monitoring assets used during operation to improve energy consumption, safety, quality (zero defect)
• Remote monitoring and remote maintenance of manufacturing assets (for instance in a hazardous environment)
Source: Made in 5G 5G for the UK manufacturing sector July 2019
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University of Kent 5G capabilities
• Cyber security
• Immersive technology- Virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed media reality
• Light mapping and projection
• Frequency-selective surfaces (FSS)
• Smart antennas
• RF/microwave/millimetre-wave circuits
• Wireless communications
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Communications Research Group
How is 5G different from previous generations of mobile networks?
5G projects for the agri-sector, 15 May 202016
Three service types targeted:
• eMBB – more than 10x the data rate of 4G (and more users accommodated)
• URLLC – ultra-reliability for mission critical communications, and very low-latency
• mMTC – mobile network connectivity for extremely high numbers of low-power, low-throughput devices – like LoRA, but now through the mobile operator
First deployments (now) mainly focussed on eMBB. But, new standard release has heavily focussed on URLLC – for industry automation.
Real applications will have a mix of requirements – 5G can allow for the tradeoffs
Beamforming Radio waves may not spread over whole sectors – rather there may be multiple
individual beams pointing to users (or groups of users)
Network slicing There are different virtual networks on the same physical network. This is done for
different types of service, isolating one from others
Millimetre-waves Lots of spectrum means there is plenty of bandwidth for connecting higher data-
rate and/or more users Radio components, such as antennas, are small
Interoperability with 4G/HetNets Easy interconnection and interoperability with 4G networks Heterogeneous network operation – also connectivity with WiFi type networks
Communications Research Group
Some key technologies in 5G
5G projects for the agri-sector, 15 May 202017
UHD video Reduce fly bys with higher resolution images of larger areas
AR/VR/MR Additional information, context awareness needs to react quickly for usability High quality images enhance user experience; low-delay to enable processing offload
Remote robotic control Very low latency required, negligible compared to human reaction times (or less for automated control at distance)
Intelligence/databases for unmanned autonomous vehicles Autonomous vehicles may need to access shared processing power/data to make decisions. Low latency required.
Haptic feedback For remote control, may need more than sight… low delay compared to human reaction times
Massive interconnection of sensors without bespoke, private network installation A typical LoRA network must be set up individually. Why not rely on operators and their experience, with service
levels agreed?
Communications Research Group
New applications and why 5G is needed
5G projects for the agri-sector, 15 May 202018
Communications Research Group
Global spectrum allocations
5G projects for the agri-sector, 15 May 202019
Communications Research Group @UKent
20
51 members，including 10 academic staff, 10 postdoc fellows,
and 31 Ph.D. students
Research well-funded by EPSRC, EU Horizon2020, Royal
Society, Royal Academy of Engineering, and industry.
Wireless Communications: Radio resource allocations,
massive MIMO/beamforming, IRS, NOMA, Fog-
RAN/MEC, caching, V2X, machine (deep) learning
Antennas + RF: small smart antennas, RFID,
satellite communications
Photonics: wireless over fibre and fronthaul,
microwave photonics, optical imaging and
signal processing
Some recently funded projects in 5G:• EPSRC: Intelligent, Heterogeneous Virtualized Networking Infrastructure
• EPSRC: Assistive, adaptive and rehabilitative technologies beyond the clinic
• Horizon2020: Intelligent Converged Network Consolidating Radio and Optical
Access around User Equipment
• Horizon2020: Radio Technologies for 5G Using Advanced Photonic Infrastructure for Dense User Environments
• Horizon2020: 5G harmonized research and trials for service evolution between EU and China
• EC FP7: Digital Beamforming Synthetic Aperture Radars onboard micro-satellites constellations
• EC Marie-Curie: Next generation ultrafast continuously running imaging system
for biomedical applications
• EC Marie-Curie: Cellular Network based Device-to-Device Wireless Communications
• EC Marie-Curie: distributed massive MIMO for next generation wireless communications
• Newton Fellowship: On use of machine learning in future mobile networks• Multiple funded projects by industry in 3D printing FSS, RFID, smart antennas, and
5G mobile communications.
Development of WSN Technologies for Intelligent Agriculture
23
Project Idea
This project work consists of three parts, embedded sensor node, facility base station
and monitoring center platform.
Firstly, the system collects various environmental parameters (such as temperature,
humidity, light intensity, CO2 concentration, soil particle concentration, etc.) in the
shed through the wireless sensor nodes in the agricultural 5G base station of the facility,
and sends them to the terminal control center through the base station.
Under the guidance of the embedded expert system, the data is compared and analyzed,
and the intelligent control algorithm is adopted, and then the corresponding control
commands are issued.
After receiving the control command, the base station controls the external electrical
equipment to achieve the best growing environment.
Project Innovations
Sensor node design integration technology, database design technology, intelligent
control algorithm
THE UK’S EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY
www.kent.ac.uk
Simon Barnes
Industry Engagement Manager
07787 120660
