On May 18, 2023, at the Intelligent Computing Network and Digital Economy Development Forum of the World Telecommunication and Information Day 2023 held in Hefei, Anhui, China, Dr. Tang Xiongyan, Vice President and Chief Scientist of China Unicom Research Institute, delivered a keynote speech titled "Build Top-Quality Computing Networks for Computing-Network Convergence" and shared China Unicom's approach to improving enterprise joint computing capabilities in the 10Gbps era. At the forum, China Unicom officially released the 50G PON Campus Application Scenario White Paper 1.0. China Unicom believes that 50G PON provides ubiquitous 10Gbps access capabilities and can build a 10Gbps all-optical access base for intelligent computing network applications. 50G PON will be first applied in campus scenarios to accelerate digital transformation of various industries.
Dr. Tang Xiongyan, Vice President and Chief Scientist of China Unicom Research Institute, delivered a keynote speech
After 10G PON, the PON industry will be converged in 50G PON defined by ITU-T. China Unicom actively participates in and promotes the initiation and release of 50G PON standards. In 2021, China Unicom released the CUBE-Net 3.0 network architecture and listed 50G PON as a key technology for ultra-broadband premium fiber access. In October 2022, China Unicom and industry partners jointly released the F5G Advanced Industry White Paper, which states that 50G PON is a key technology that supports 10Gbps access. With ultra-high bandwidth, low latency, low jitter and high reliability, 50G PON enables end-to-end computing network capabilities to reach end users, and will be widely used in campus network scenarios to meet requirements of innovative 10Gbps applications such as enterprise connection and application on cloud.
The white paper analyzes and summarizes digital application requirements in seven scenarios: smart classroom, smart office, smart industry, all-optical hospital, live streaming studio, smart culture and tourism, and smart transportation. According to the white paper, the 50G PON all-optical infrastructure and Wi-Fi 7 connections based on it can bring customers premium 10Gbps experience and support brand-new applications such as all-digital virtual teaching, virtual office, digital diagnosis in hospitals, real-time online collaboration, efficient and precise industrial production control. In addition, the white paper provides suggestions on how to deploy 50G PON in campus scenarios.
To accelerate the research and planning of 10Gbps networks, under the guidance of the network department of China Unicom, China Unicom Research Institute, China Unicom Beijing, China Unicom Tianjin, and Huawei have recently completed technical verification tests on 50G PON and Wi-Fi 7, proving that 50G PON is applicable to campus scenarios. Next, China Unicom will carry out pilot verification on the live network in two branches of China Unicom. Looking into the future, 50G PON-based all-optical 10Gbps will definitely add new momentum to the development of digital economy and accelerate the development of F5G Advanced. China Unicom will work with industry partners to promote the development of 50G PON, accelerate digital transformation and usher in an intelligent world.
China Unicom 50G PON Campus Application Scenario White Paper 1.0
