It is said that the World Cup in Russia costs US$14 billion and is called 'the most expensive World Cup in history'. Information and communication plays an important role in sports events. What technologies and applications have appeared in this World Cup?
one
Europe's largest Massive MIMO deployment
As we all know, football stadiums hold tens of thousands of people on site, and the most concentrated users are connected, and the highest communication density. Once scored, there may be tens of thousands of people concurrently communicating and sharing joy with family and friends. This is a great challenge to network capacity.
In order to ensure communications, Russian operators deployed a large number of Massive MIMO antennas at 11 venues. According to reports, this is currently the largest Massive MIMO deployment in Europe.
Massive MIMO is one of the key 5G technologies and is currently deployed in 4G networks. Massive MIMO deploys large-scale antenna arrays at the base station side. It uses beamforming and beam steering techniques to simultaneously serve multiple on-site views using the same time-frequency resources. Users of the game, thereby significantly increasing capacity.
two
High-rate, low-latency VAR system
For the first time in the Russian World Cup, VAR was used as the video assistant referee system.
In the match between France and Australia, French striker Grizmman fell in the Australian penalty zone after contact with Borgba in the second half and fell to the ground after being contacted by Australia's right-back Lisden. The referee had not awarded a penalty for the first time. At this time, all the players went to the sidelines and watched the replay of the controversial scene and the results of VAR's verdict with more than 40,000 spectators in the Kazan Stadium through the live big screen. The referee Cunhas awarded the French team accordingly. Penalty.
VAR is a set of auxiliary penalty system introduced in addition to the referee, two assistant referees and fourth referee on the court. Once the referee has any doubts, he can request VAR assistance. VAR provides reference to the referee through video playback. Assist the referee in correcting misjudgments, missed judgments, etc.
What kind of system is VAR?
It has set up 35 8K HD cameras around the stadium and is connected to the main control room through fiber optics and wireless network. When people watch the game, they will see the referee sometimes holding his hand in his ear. This may be communicating with VAR. The information communication process is spread through the wireless network.
▲ VAR control room
It is worth mentioning that the VAR's master control room is not located in the stadium, but is concentrated in an Moscow office. Obviously, it needs a reliable, high-speed, low-latency communication network to achieve long-distance real-time transmission.
three
5G VR experience
Russia’s largest operator, MegaFon, deployed 5G pilot areas in 11 cities hosting the World Cup event to allow experienced players to watch events through 5G VR.
They installed multiple 360-degree high-definition cameras on each football field. 4K video was transmitted to 5G CPE terminals in the pilot area through 5G base stations, and distributed to multiple VR helmets through the WiFi network. The experience of immersed VR helmets was immersive. Watch the game, such as visit the site.
▲ CPE Terminal in the Experience Zone
5G VR is considered as one of the 5G killer applications. It embodies the high rate of 5G network and low latency service.
three
Rich Internet of Things Applications
In the era of 5G IoT, Russia has launched a 5G infrastructure plan and hopes to provide innovative services to the public through future networks.
In this World Cup, we also saw a number of innovative IoT applications.
Remote moving vehicle
This is a cooperation plan between the Moscow City Government and Yandex, the largest taxi company in Moscow. When the Yandex taxi parking is not standardized and it is not parked in the parking space, the company can remotely control the vehicle through the network and make it park properly in the parking space. Inside.
EPTS Player Tracking System
EPTS, the electronic tracking system, collects data from the MEMS recording heart rate on the player's jersey with the tracking camera in the stadium, and transmits the data to the team's analysts and medical teams in real time. And statistics of player's position, pass, speed, physical condition and other data.
Telstar 18 Smart Soccer
The World Cup in Russia uses Adstars' new game ball Telstar 18, Telstar 18 embedded NFC chip. When the NFC-enabled smartphone is connected to Telstar 18, various information and data about the game can be read. Players can also use the data. Upload, share it with the world football.
