Ericsson said it is working with Telia and Qualcomm Technologies to test inactive state of Radio Resource Control (RRC Inactive), a new network technique designed to reduce latency and battery consumption for 5G standalone networks. The system cuts the amount of signalling needed during state transitions. The parties have demonstrated a successful transition between a connected state and inactive state without the device falling back to idle.
RRC Inactive was implemented using Ericsson's software and 5G standalone network nodes and a test device run by the Snapdragon X60 Modem-RF System. The development of the inactive state has largely been driven by the growing field of Machine-type Communication (MTC), part of 3GPP standardisation. In most MTC scenarios, the amount of data that wireless devices typically exchange with the network is small and usually not urgent enough to justify the high battery consumption needed to handle all the signaling involved in the legacy idle-to-connected transition.
Cutting latency and battery consumption are crucial requirements, said Ericsson, for many Internet of Things (IoT) and 5G use cases, including critical control of remote devices, enhanced mobile broadband and "smart transport".
Ericsson said the transition to this new inactive state reduces the amount of signaling required during state transitions, significantly lowering latency for the end-user. In the test by the three parties, the access latency was shortened by up to three times. The shortened time lag will benefit applications such as cloud gaming, said Ericsson, where fast multi-player interactions require 20-30 ms end-to-end latency. For immersive VR gaming, the latency and reliability requirements are even more demanding, it added.
Because the shorter latency with RRC Inactive makes it possible to reduce the inactivity time, Ericsson, Telia and Qualcomm produced battery savings of up to 30 percent for the modem, compared with not using RRC Inactive. The screen and its associated electronics are the most power-consuming components in a mobile device, but RRC Inactive will improve battery life for 5G smartphones, too.
Jenny Lindqvist, head of Ericsson Northern and Central Europe, said RRC Inactive will provide a "significant boost" in 5G benefits for better mobile service, adding that RRC will continue to play a critical role for 5G networks for years to come.
