Just Look Up: Let’s Light Up the Future!

In the recent movie Don’t Look Up, the world faces a major catastrophe that it prefers to ignore. I don’t believe this is the future ahead of us. And by us, I mean Huawei and the industry as a whole. But to see the future, we have to look up: above the politics, above the partisanship, above the rhetoric. Let’s look up. Let’s look ahead. Let’s find the way forward.

Those who care about Huawei may ask: How is Huawei doing? Will it still be competitive, years from now? Will Huawei still help its customers succeed? I would say, just look up.

Two major global topics

Digitalization and carbon neutrality are two of the world’s hottest topics, which will impact the ICT industry for years to come. So today, I would like to talk about Huawei’s views on them.

The global digital economy is developing rapidly, and over 50% of global GDP will be digitalized in 2022. The demand for digital products and services has exceeded expectations. However, supply is a different story. Shannon’s theorem and von Neumann architecture have met severe bottlenecks, so we must explore new theories and architectures to achieve digital sustainability.

The ICT industry also faces challenges regarding carbon neutrality. One project we evaluated showed that detailed monitoring of global environmental data could create carbon emissions equivalent to 12.5% of today’s total. Further digitalization will result in increasing carbon emissions, but ICT can help other industries reduce their carbon footprints to a level that’s 10 times larger than its own footprint.

The strength of the digital economy is roughly equal to connectivity density times computing power. But now we need more than strength, we need long-term vitality. So, we need to consider a new dimension, carbon reduction.

With these goals in mind, Huawei is significantly increasing its strategic investment into foundational technologies. We are working with our partners to reshape our technological paradigm.

Reshaping three areas

Currently, we are reshaping three areas: fundamental theories, architecture, and software. This will support the long-term, sustainable development of the ICT industry.

First, let’s look at fundamental theories, like channel capacity expansion.

We know that channel capacity is approaching its upper limit. So, Huawei is exploring theories and technologies, like next-generation MIMO and wireless AI, which will get us ever closer to the Shannon Limit. At the same time, we are studying new theories like semantic communications, to build on Shannon’s work. This will create new horizons for development within the communications industry.

Second, we are working to reshape architecture.

It is still challenging to achieve high-frequency, ultra-large-bandwidth, and ultra-high-speed wireless communications.

And so, we are proactively exploring new technologies to reshape architecture. For example, we are integrating photonic and electronic technologies to solve key problems and the technique bottlenecks facing chips.

Computing architecture also poses challenges. AI and big data applications are developing at breakneck speeds, but the traditional, CPU-centered computing architectures are struggling to keep up. We are designing peer-to-peer architectures that utilize the full potential of GPUs and NPUs to support global AI development.

Finally, we are also rethinking our approach to software.

AI is growing at an explosive rate, significantly driving up demand for computing capacity. However, hardware development is slowing down.

In response, we have launched a plan to massively improve software performance. We have doubled the performance of key indicators, like the number of wireless cells and scheduled users.

We will also leverage HarmonyOS and EulerOS to more effectively use the computing power available in different types of hardware, and leverage our Mindspore framework to help scientists and engineers improve development efficiency. This AI-centered, full-stack software refactoring will definitely create all sorts of new opportunities.

Committed to R&D

Huawei ranked second on the 2021 EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard. We are investing even more into optimizing system architecture and doubling software performance. By overcoming technique and technological challenges, we hope to build a highly reliable and trustworthy supply chain.

We know that great user experience comes from software-hardware synergies.

And so, we are applying this concept to ICT products. Optimized algorithms for AHR Turbos are helping MetaAAUs consume less energy and improve performance. Algorithm breakthroughs in holographic optics enable OXCs to achieve one-hop connections.

This kind of sustained investment in foundational technologies will improve product competitiveness.

Now, let’s switch our perspective to whole networks. Over the last 10-plus years, network evolution has been a process of introducing the latest IT practices to CT, ranging from IP, to cloud, and then to AI today. Our complete suite of ICT capabilities gives us a head start in the evolution of future networks as they become AI-native.

Low carbon

We also pay attention to carbon emissions as we improve digital infrastructure capabilities.

We have already committed to making our products 2.7 times more energy efficient. Our “more bits, less watts” philosophy is helping us make breakthroughs in areas like theories, materials, and algorithms.

Some ask: Will Huawei retreat from the international market? Our answer continues to be “No.” We are committed to helping customers who choose us to achieve the greatest business success. We will continue our globalization strategy, in standards, talent, supply chain, and more.

We will continue to be an active participant in global events. We have prepared a business blueprint called GUIDE. Please join us in our GUIDE to the Future. Let’s work to light up the future together.

Learn more about Huawei at MWC22 Barcelona.

Disclaimer: Any views and/or opinions expressed in this post by individual authors or contributors are their personal views and/or opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views and/or opinions of Huawei Technologies.