Amid US sanctions, Huawei highlights usesfor 5G technology2 November 2021

A patient moves past a display showing the real-timeelectrocardiograms of patients at the department ofcardiovascular medicine of the Guangdong SecondProvincial General Hospital in Guangzhou, in southernChina's Guangdong province, Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021.The hospital in southern China's Guangdong Province isusing 5G and IoT technologies to collect, transmit andmonitor more data in real time, allowing healthcareworkers to provide better medical service for patients.Credit: AP Photo/Ng Han Guan

China's Huawei Technologies Co. is providingsmart services and 5G technology to industriessuch as healthcare, creating new revenue streamsthat might offset the damage to its smartphonebusiness from U.S. sanctions.

In the southern city of Guangzhou, the companyteamed up with the Guangdong Second ProvincialGeneral Hospital to equip it with 5G technologyand more than 10,000 smart devices that cancollect and transmit real-time health data frompatients to doctors and nurses to improve patientcare.

5G is an ultra-fast wireless technology that haslittle lag time and can support a massive number of

smart devices connected to the internetsimultaneously. The current mainstreamtechnology, 4G, is slower at transmitting data andcan support fewer devices.

Huawei is the world's largest supplier of 5Gtechnology equipment, even though it is shut outfrom the U.S. and some other major markets. Lastyear, it briefly also was the world's largestsmartphone maker, surpassing South Koreanhandset maker Samsung.

But sanctions imposed by Washington haverestricted Huawei from obtaining the computerchips necessary for its smartphones. Last month,the company forecasted its smartphone revenuecould drop as much as $40 billion—or about80%—this year.

Liu Xingtao, director of the emergency department atGuangdong Second Provincial General Hospital, briefsvisitors near a screen displaying the live feed from a 5Gequipped ambulance at the hospital in Guangzhou, insouthern China's Guangdong province, Sunday, Sept.26, 2021. The hospital in southern China's GuangdongProvince is using 5G and IoT technologies to collect,transmit and monitor more data in real time, allowinghealthcare workers to provide better medical service forpatients. Credit: AP Photo/Ng Han Guan

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Providing 5G technology and services for thehealthcare, finance and even education industriesis one way to increase its revenue.

"We all know that 5G, compared to the previousgenerations of communication technologies, hasthe three characteristics of large bandwidth, lowlatency, and massive connections," said said GuoZizhong, director of Huawei's Smart HospitalBusiness Division in China.

"In fact, when it comes to the adaptation of thethree characteristics, the medical field is a verygood match with them among industries in all walksof life."

The hospital in Guangzhou, a city of 15 million,uses various smart technologies, including a 5Gambulance fitted with medical devices and camerasto transmit data and footage in real time, allowingdoctors to make better diagnoses while patients areon their way to the hospital so they can be treatedas soon as they arrive.

A nurse walks near a robot at the lobby of GuangdongSecond Provincial General Hospital in Guangzhou, insouthern China's Guangdong province, Sunday, Sept.26, 2021. The hospital in southern China's GuangdongProvince is using 5G and IoT technologies to collect,transmit and monitor more data in real time, allowinghealthcare workers to provide better medical service forpatients. Credit: AP Photo/Ng Han Guan

Previously, for example, heart monitors would haveto be removed to upload data from patients, andthen checked by doctors.

"With real-time (monitoring), we are able to learnabout what's going on with a patient's heart rateand can immediately give instructions on what todo," said He Yongcong, a doctor in the hospital'sdepartment of cardiovascular medicine.

The 5G technology can also be used in monitorsthat measure the progress and speed ofintravenous infusions in real time and in smartwristbands that can be used as emergency alertdevices. So nurses can monitor patients remotelyand prepare infusions and medications ahead oftime instead of constantly checking patients at theirbedsides.

"With the application of the 5G network, we're nowable to save a lot of time in routine work," saidChen Xiaofang, a nurse at the hospital.

Tian Junzhang, president of Guangdong SecondProvincial General Hospital, gestures in front of themonitoring screen of the hospital's cloud data center"smart brain" in Guangzhou, in southern China'sGuangdong province, Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021. Thehospital in southern China's Guangdong Province isusing 5G and IoT technologies to collect, transmit andmonitor more data in real time, allowing healthcareworkers to provide better medical service for patients.Credit: AP Photo/Ng Han Guan

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Staffers work at the department of cardiovascularmedicine nursing station of the Guangdong SecondProvincial General Hospital in Guangzhou, in southernChina's Guangdong province, Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021.The hospital in southern China's Guangdong Province isusing 5G and IoT technologies to collect, transmit andmonitor more data in real time, allowing healthcareworkers to provide better medical service for patients.Credit: AP Photo/Ng Han Guan

Staffers work at the department of cardiovascularmedicine nursing station of the Guangdong SecondProvincial General Hospital in Guangzhou, in southernChina's Guangdong province, Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021.The hospital in southern China's Guangdong Province isusing 5G and IoT technologies to collect, transmit andmonitor more data in real time, allowing healthcareworkers to provide better medical service for patients.Credit: AP Photo/Ng Han Guan

A worker walks by a chart showing the functions of thesmart hospital at the Guangdong Second ProvincialGeneral Hospital in Guangzhou, in southern China'sGuangdong province, Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021. Thehospital in southern China's Guangdong Province isusing 5G and IoT technologies to collect, transmit andmonitor more data in real time, allowing healthcareworkers to provide better medical service for patients.Credit: AP Photo/Ng Han Guan

Chen Xiaofang, a nurse at the department ofcardiovascular medicine the Guangdong SecondProvincial General Hospital, stands next to a robot thatdelivers medicine in Guangzhou, in southern China'sGuangdong province, Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021. Thehospital in southern China's Guangdong Province isusing 5G and IoT technologies to collect, transmit andmonitor more data in real time, allowing healthcareworkers to provide better medical service for patients.Credit: AP Photo/Ng Han Guan

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A technician stands at the entrance to a Huawei 5G datacenter at the Guangdong Second Provincial GeneralHospital in Guangzhou, in southern China's Guangdongprovince, Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021. The hospital insouthern China's Guangdong Province is using 5G andIoT technologies to collect, transmit and monitor moredata in real time, allowing healthcare workers to providebetter medical service for patients. Credit: AP Photo/NgHan Guan

Liu Xingtao, director of the emergency department atGuangdong Second Provincial General Hospital, briefsvisitors inside a 5G equipped ambulance outside thehospital in Guangzhou, in southern China's Guangdongprovince, Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021. The hospital insouthern China's Guangdong Province is using 5G andIoT technologies to collect, transmit and monitor moredata in real time, allowing healthcare workers to providebetter medical service for patients. Credit: AP Photo/Ng

Han Guan

Experts say that although 5G could be used tocollect data and make many industriestechnologically smarter, the technology needs to bemore cost-effective.

Construction costs and expensive devices andaccessories are preventing widespread adoption,said Cui Kai, associate research director atresearch firm International Data Corporation (IDC).

"Some policy guidance and support may be neededto help 5G develop rapidly. In the mid-term, webelieve that (the development of) 5G still dependson the cost," Cui said.

For 5G technology to become popular, there mustbe a range of technology services offered fordifferent industries, Cui said.

"Only (then) . . . can we drive the development ofdigital transformation of the entire society."

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APA citation: Amid US sanctions, Huawei highlights uses for 5G technology (2021, November 2)retrieved 8 December 2021 from https://techxplore.com/news/2021-11-sanctions-huawei-highlights-5g-technology.html

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