McMaster, TeraGo partner to build private mmWave 5G network for research – MobileSyrup

McMaster University has partnered with Canadian company TeraGo to jointly build and deploy the first university-based 5G millimetre wave (mmWave) private network for research. With a private 5G mmWave network, the two entities can develop new technologies for manufacturing and ‘Industry 4.0’ in Canada.

As a quick refresher, mmWave (or high-band 5G) is one of a few types of 5G. The main difference between high-, mid- and low-band 5G is the spectrum they use. In Canada, carriers recently purchased chunks of 3,500MHz spectrum, which is part of mid-band (or Sub-6) 5G. High-band 5G can offer much higher speeds than mid-band 5G, but the radio waves can’t travel as far. Ultimately, high-band 5G will likely help spark innovative new technologies that benefit from the high speeds and lower latency, such as what TeraGo and McMaster will experiment with on their private mmWave network.

Those interested in the differences between mmWave and Sub-6 can learn more here.

McMaster and TeraGo say that the high speeds and low latency of mmWave 5G are a “prerequisite to advanced manufacturing and logistics.” Leveraging mmWave’s benefits along with machine learning, remote automation, edge computing and other technologies will help improve current manufacturing processes.

Further, McMaster is the first university in Canada to adopt the technology, and students will be able to leverage it in classrooms. McMaster researchers Dr. Stephen Veldhuis, Dr. Ali Emadi, Dr. Saiedeh Razavi, Dr. Natalia Nikolova and Dr. Tim Davidson will spearhead the project.

Source: TeraGo