BARCELONA, Spain - February 27, 2017 - Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Deutsche Telekom have successfully showcased 5G Guaranteed Latency (GLA) as an end-to-end network slice at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2017. GLA is one of the key differentiators that clearly distinguishes 5G technology from the previous 4G. It is viewed as highly critical for the 5G era, as it enables latency control, low and stable, for example, according to the requirements of specific use cases.
During the live demonstration at Deutsche Telekom's booth, two robotic arms were connected to Samsung's 5G radio system which incorporates GLA technology. When GLA was applied to both of the robotic arms for the guarantee of low and controlled latency, a box was successfully delivered from point A to B, as they moved in a synchronous harmony within the set amount of time. On the contrary, when GLA was applied to only one of the arms, the different latencies caused the arms to differ in speed, causing the box to drop. GLA will gain importance especially in industrial use cases where accurate synchronization between machines is critical.
"5G signifies more than ultra-fast speed. With low latency, close to what is expected of ‘real-time', unprecedented business models and services can be generated," said Youngky Kim, President and Head of the Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. "The 5G GLA showcase, jointly conducted with Deutsche Telekom, has proven that an accurate and stable operation of latency control is a feasible concept. We believe that this is a key element in enabling operators to create new business models, including industrial use cases."