2.13 Case Study & NSE: Huawei's NearLink wireless technology signals a decoupled connected world
3 October 2023
Amid popular interest in Huawei's Mate 60 Pro, featuring a mysterious SoC using SMIC's technology, the NearLink wireless technology manifests China's desire for self-reliance and may lead to a decoupled communication supply chain.At the Huawei Developer Conference 2023, Huawei introduced the NearLink 1.0 wireless technology that combines low-power connectivity provided by Bluetooth and high-speed connection, like Wi-Fi. NearLink 1.0 can connect ten times more devices than Wi-Fi 6 and consumes less than half of the power of Bluetooth. Furthermore, NearLink's latency is only 20us, much lower than Bluetooth 5.3 and Wi-Fi 6.
China-based SparkLink League, founded in September 2020, when Huawei faced a slew of sanctions and restrictions imposed by the US, and composed of over 300 primarily China-based companies. In November 2021, the NearLink 1.0 was finalized and formally released in November 2022. In August 2023, Huawei announced the integration of this new technology into the consumer product ecosystem and its introduction in the Mate 60 smartphones.
SparkLink League estimates the number of connected devices globally will rise from 27 billion in 2020 to 75 billion in 2025, with use cases expected to multiply, such as 8K video viewing, VR gaming, connected vehicles, and various industrial applications, including wireless maintenance, robots, and process monitoring, demands that the NearLink technology aims to satisfy.
Besides the technological superiority, at least at the moment, to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth in many aspects, NearLink also highlights how Huawei, one of the wireless technology patent owners, even China, tries to achieve self-reliance even with the block of access to advanced technologies by the US government.
According to the website of SparkLink League, its members include Huawei, China Mobile, CAICT, TCL, Vivo, ZTE, and Unisoc. However, no US-based technology giants participated in the league, such as Qualcomm, the largest patent owner in wireless technology between June 2021 and May 2023, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. It is to be noted that although Huawei is a member of some major global technology associations, the US sanctions once stopped Huawei from getting access to advanced wireless technologies before the restrictions were later removed.
Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei Consumer Business Group, said that the company was too naive to believe in globalization, leaving itself vulnerable to restrictions imposed by the US. Huawei is also making efforts to reduce its reliance on software from the US.
It seems a wireless protocol exclusive to China and developed solely by Chinese companies, led by Huawei, is emerging, which may lead to a decoupled internet that is difficult to oversee, especially concerning its evolution over time and its implications for users and businesses.
By Google Translate
在華為Mate 60 Pro（採用中芯國際技術的神秘SoC）廣受關注的背景下，NearLink無線技術體現了中國自力更生的願望，並可能導致通訊供應鏈脫鉤。在2023年華為開發者大會上，華為推出了NearLink 1.0無線技術，該技術結合了藍牙提供的低功耗連接和Wi-Fi等高速連接。NearLink 1.0 可以連接比 Wi-Fi 6 多十倍的設備，而且消耗的電量還不到藍牙的一半。此外，NearLink的延遲僅為20us，遠低於藍牙5.3和Wi-Fi 6。
總部位於中國的 SparkLink League 成立於 2020 年 9 月，當時華為面臨美國實施的一系列制裁和限制，主要由 300 多家中國公司組成。2021年11月，NearLink 1.0定稿，並於2022年11月正式發布。2023年8月，華為宣布將這項新技術融入消費產品生態系統，並在Mate 60智慧型手機中引入。
SparkLink League 估計，全球連網裝置數量將從2020 年的270 億台增至2025 年的750 億台，用例預計將成倍增加，例如8K 影片觀看、VR 遊戲、連網車輛以及各種工業應用，包括無線維護、 NearLink 技術旨在滿足機器人和製程監控的要求。
除了至少目前在許多方面對Wi-Fi和藍牙的技術優勢外，NearLink還凸顯了華為作為無線技術專利擁有者之一，甚至是中國，如何在訪問受阻的情況下嘗試實現自力更生美國政府的先進技術。
根據SparkLink聯盟網站介紹，其成員包括華為、中國移動、中國資訊通訊研究院、TCL、Vivo、中興通訊、紫光展銳等。然而，根據《華爾街日報》報道，沒有美國科技巨頭參與該聯盟，例如 2021 年 6 月至 2023 年 5 月期間無線技術最大專利擁有者高通。值得注意的是，儘管華為是全球一些主要技術協會的成員，但美國的製裁一度阻止華為獲得先進的無線技術，後來限制又被取消。
華為消費者業務執行長餘承東表示，該公司太天真，不相信全球化，容易受到美國施加的限制。華為也在努力減少對美國軟體的依賴。
似乎一種中國獨有的、由華為領導的中國公司單獨開發的無線協議正在出現，這可能會導致難以監管的脫鉤互聯網，特別是考慮到它隨著時間的推移而演變及其對用戶和企業的影響。
- Exercise URL