Holographic telepresence services for public communication networks

Currently, two major events are taking place in the field of networks and communication systems: the argument for the transition from network development towards increasing the generation index to integrated networks and the primary development of telepresence services.

The first direction is based on the concept of SAGSIN networks (Space-Air-Ground-Sea Integrated Networks). The creation of an integrated network in itself is very important, since it implies the unity of the network in order to optimize resources. But in addition, already in the name itself you can see the sea, and these are new tasks in the research field, since a necessary condition for the successful operation of such a network is to find solutions for the effective compatibility of networks built on the basis of radio waves and networks built on the basis of acoustic (sound) waves.

At the same time, based on the experience of mankind in the fight against the pandemic, telepresence services are acquiring new significance. Such services have existed for a long time (for example, telemedicine in the form of telephone consultations existed at the beginning of the last century), but at present there are so many potential telepresence services that it was necessary to introduce the concept of the first set of telepresence services. The report discusses the first set of telepresence services, among which special attention is paid to the provision of holographic telepresence services.

Back in 2018, a report from the Focus Group on Networks 2030 of the International Telecommunication Union assumed that services on 2030 networks would be fundamentally holographic. The Department of Telecommunication Networks and Data Transmission of St. Petersburg State University of Telecommunications started researching the issues of providing holographic services and the quality of service and quality of experience for them at about the same time. It was possible to create a model network with a transfer rate in the network core of 4Tb/s and obtain very acceptable results, which generally corresponded to the results obtained in other scientific centers in the world. However, towards the end of 2022, it became clear that while maintaining the existing initial models, holographic telepresence services would become available only to a select few, such as large corporations.

The department studies the public telecommunication networks and, naturally, the task was to create other models for the provision of holographic telepresence services that are widely available to users of public communication networks (PSTN), including universities, clinics, schools, in rural areas, etc.

To this end, as part of the work on the performance of the megagrant, an original terminal for providing holographic telepresence services was developed, the operation of which was demonstrated during the conference.