Musings from Mobile World Congress 2018

移动的World Congress是这个星球上最大的移动行业贸易展，已经来了。

2月底，超过10万人融合在巴塞罗那，包括移动设备制造商，网络提供商和RF行业人士。从全球的每个角落，移动书呆子聚集在一起看最新的技术并将事实与炒作分开。

喷射后滞后后，节目很少失望 - 而今年也不例外。三星宣布其旗舰二重奏，Galaxy S9和S9 Plus。挡板，手机屏幕和框架之间的边界消失了。我们听到更多关于5G，人工智能（AI）和物联网（物联网）。

… and ate a lot of tapas and paella.

Now with some time to digest and reflect, here are three key takeaways from this year’s show:

5G is coming (for real this time)

5G has been in the news for years, with more than a healthy dose of hype. MWC 2018 moved us one step closer to actual deployments.

We’re seeing the most progress on the infrastructure side. Last year,I wrotethat we’d likely see the first 5G services in 2018. After MWC,Microwave Journal reported, “In the US, Verizon is rolling out 5G millimeter wave fixed wireless access in many cities and AT&T is rolling out 5G mobile service. T-Mobile will not be far behind with their dual-band 600 MHz and 28 GHz 5G rollout starting Q2 of next year.”

Told you so.

5G devices are lagging further behind, but we still are making marked progress. Most notably,National Instruments (NI) debuted几种灵活的解决方案，帮助移动行业设计和测试新的5G技术。ni和qorvo.successfully testedthe first commercially available 5G RF front-end module (FEM), a critical step toward giving smartphones the RF parts to “talk” to towers on the new network.

物联网进入工业

Like 5G, the IoT is nothing new, but hype is giving way to valuable use cases.

At MWC, we heard a lot aboutnarrowband IoT(NB-IoT), a wireless standard that enables network providers to connect a wide range of new IoT devices using existing mobile networks like LTE. NB-IoT is especially useful for industrial IoT (IIoT) applications, like machines on the factory floor, smart lighting and smart parking.

I know a lot of people who could use that last one.

Dissing aside, Qorvo has seen thelow-band infrastructure market grow about 20 percent在去年，它刚刚开始。我们已经听到了关于IoT的那么多，是时候Iiot获得鼎盛时期。

多样性采取中心阶段

Beyond new networks and devices, MWC 2018 had a specific focus on diversity and inclusion. MWC’s Women4Tech program offered specific and strategic meetings for supporting diversity in the mobile and tech industries, including sessions like “How to Thrive as a Woman in Tech” and “Diversity as a Driver of Innovation.”

在技​​术中有明确需要各种多样性。如果我们试图为整个世界制作技术来使用，我们需要一个不同的人民能够帮助发展它们。

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如果你像我一样，到一周结束时，你感谢飞机模式和长时间的午睡。MWC再次高兴我们。现在，它正在重新开始工作，帮助行业建立移动的未来。

大家明年再见！

This article first appeared inBrent's Musings在Microwave Journal.