In May of 2021, MIIT issued Guidelines for the Use of Radio Frequencies in Industrial Internet and Internet of Things (2021 version) (hereinafter referred to as “the Guidelines”), aiming to:
· help users selecting proper radio communication technology based on the characteristics of application scenarios, improve the adaptability between industrial applications and frequency resources, and improve the utilization efficiency and benefits of frequency resources.
· regulate the use of frequencies and the settings of stations; reduce the risk of harmful radio interference; ensure the safe and stable operation of wireless communication system and the safe production of industrial enterprises.
It is worth noting that the document is a summary of the previous regulations related to radio frequency and does not involve any modifications to the current regulations.
The core content of the Guidelines is to specify the radio frequencies available for the industrial internet and the Internet of things (IoT). It points out that one or more of the following four technologies can be adopted in the deployment of industrial Internet and IoT: i) public mobile communication system; ii) private mobile communication system; iii) 2400MHz, 5100MHz and 5800MHz frequency band wireless access system (WLAN); and iv) micro-power short-range radio transmitting equipment. For these four technologies:
· It is encouraged to give priority to the use of public mobile communication system (2G/3G/4G/5G) to carry large-scale and socialized industrial Internet and IoT services. To promote the wide application of 5G in the field of industrial Internet and IoT, build a pattern of coordinated development of 5G and NB-IoT, eMTC and LTE-Cat.1 (LTE network supporting Cat.1 transmission rate level), and promote the diversified application and large-scale deployment of NB-IoT in low-rate scenarios and eMTC or LTE-Cat.1 in medium-rate scenarios.
Table 1. Frequency Range for Public Mobile Communication System
· In view of the special requirements for network reliability, security, real-time performance and communication transmission rate, especially in the scenarios where the uplink rate is significantly greater than the downlink rate, such as machine vision, data acquisition, AR/VR (augmented reality and virtual reality) and high-definition video return, the private mobile communication system can be applied, in which
o 230MHz frequency band is used for power, gas, civil air defense, water utilities and other industries to build broadband wireless data transmission system based on carrier aggregation and dynamic spectrum sharing technology.
o 1400MHz frequency band is used for government, public security, social management, emergency and other sectors to build broadband digital trunking system.
o 1800MHz frequency band is used for transportation (urban rail transit, etc.), petroleum and other industries (excluding power industry) to build wireless access system.
o 5900MHz frequency band is used for direct communication of IoV (ICVs) based on LTE-V2X technology.
Table 2. Frequency Range for Private Mobile Communication System
· Wireless access system (WLAN) of 2400MHz, 5100MHz and 5800MHz frequency bands can be used for industrial Internet and IoT services with low security and reliability requirements.
Table 3. WLAN Frequency Range
· Micro-power equipment can be used for industrial Internet and IoT services with low requirements for reliability, security, real-time performance and mobility and strict cost control to meet the needs of short-range communication.
Table 4. Typical Applicable Frequencies for Micro-power Equipment
Besides, the document also highlights that, with the exception of the micro-power equipment, type approval of radio transmitting equipment shall be applied from the national radio regulatory authority for all kinds of radio transmitting equipment in industrial internet and IoT produced or imported for domestic sales and use.
Currently, the frequency resources planned and allocated in China include frequency of public mobile communication system (2G/3G/4G/5G), frequency of private mobile communication system, frequency of license-free WLAN (wireless access system) and frequency of license-free micro-power short-range radio equipment (micro-power frequency). In terms of public network, the four mobile network operators in China have so far obtained the license for using the frequency of 5G medium and low frequency band/test frequency nationwide. In terms of private network, China has planned some special spectrum resources for special scenarios such as urban rail transit, airports, ports, public security, and emergency communication.
The release of the Guidelines will help regulate and promote the development of industrial Internet and IoT, but it can also be seen that whether these frequencies can meet the needs of various services in the industrial internet and IoT scenarios is still worthy of study, especially in the condition that: i) the current public network resources of the operators are congested; ii) the planned private licensed frequency imposes strict industry and scenario restrictions on the use conditions, and may not be applicable to a variety of complex network scenarios of industrial intelligent manufacturing; and iii) the open micro-power equipment frequency band is still limited.
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