At the annual Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Ericsson has unveiled its concept for indoor mobile connectivity. The company announced three new 5G solutions that will enable users to experience faster and more reliable wireless connectivity across indoor spaces. The first of these solutions is the Ericsson Indoor Fusion Unit (IFU) – a compact, all-in-one solution designed for small and medium buildings such as coffee shops, chain stores, branch offices and restaurants. It delivers high capacity coverage with comprehensive deployment flexibility and low power consumption, while eliminating the need for technical setup or maintenance. Additionally, it is equipped with several advanced features that make it easier to deploy, configure and monitor performance remotely. For larger venues like airports, offices and stadiums Ericsson has released the IRU 8850 indoor radio unit. This solution allows operators to serve up to eight venues from one centralized location with a 10 kilometer fiber reach. It is capable of providing end-to-end data connections over an entire building or complex by supporting full-duplex communication up to 2 Gbps per node.
To enhance user positioning within the confines of a building or office space, Ericsson has also developed 5G Positioning software which enables enterprise use cases through mobile 3D precision of <1m without requiring sensors or additional hardware installation. This allows organizations to easily track and locate people in their premises more accurately than ever before. In addition to these three groundbreaking solutions, Ericsson also released 10 new radios & software solutions that reduce power consumption by up to 94%. This will allow operators to extend battery life on their devices significantly while maintaining high data rates for users even in congested areas. These new 5G products are sure to have an immense impact on how we access wireless networks indoors as they offer operators greater scalability and optimised performance along with reduced costs of operations when compared with existing 4G technology. The practical applications of this technology span industries ranging from hospitality and retail to transportation & logistics – all of which can benefit from improved coverage during peak hours as well as better security measures against intruders due to improved tracking abilities thanks to enhanced positioning systems powered by 5G technology.