Algorithm competition helps accelerate 5G development

First announced in May by Altera, now the Intel Programmable Solutions Group, Xidian University, and Terasic, the 5G Algorithm Innovation Competition was sponsored by technology leaders and gold sponsors Huawei and Intel and silver sponsor Spreadtrum. It attracted an impressive 184 teams from leading universities from a wide geographical area, consisting of 462 students from 76 universities in 31 Chinese cities.

Participating student teams were required to submit link-level simulations and logical implementations of three 5G new air-interface key algorithms, SCMA (Sparse Code Multiple Access), F-OFDM (Filtered-OFDM) and polar code, based on Altera FPGAs.

30 teams were selected to move forward to the final competition, of which there were 20 teams awarded the inaugural 5G Algorithm Innovation Competition Gold, Silver and Bronze awards. For details of the competition results, click here.

In addition to the 20 winning teams, 13 teams were recognised with Excellent awards, which included the 5G Algorithm Excellent FPGA Implementation and the 5G Algorithm Excellent Simulation Awards. A special award from the organisers was presented to Xidian University in recognition of its support in organising the competition. Leaders from Intel, Huawei, Spreadtrum, Xidian University and Terasic, were on hand to congratulate the winners.

Erhaan Shaikh, Vice President, Business Divisions, Programmable Solutions Group, Intel, commented: "The engineering designs delivered by the students were very innovative. We are delighted to see that the 5G algorithm competition turned out to be a huge success. The competition explored the potential of delivering FPGA-based designs that can accelerate processing, enabling a faster time to market for OEMs and carriers who are rolling out 5G wireless networks."

"Promoting industry and academic community efforts fosters and strengthens future technological advancements in the communications industry. The projects in the 5G Algorithm Competition are great examples of how collaborative thinking can accelerate innovation in 5G development," added Sandra Rivera, Vice President, Data Center Group and General Manager, Network Platforms Group, Intel.

The 5G Algorithm Innovation Competition is part of the InnovateAsia 2015 FPGA Design Contest, an established engineering design contest for university students in APAC, fostering talent and driving innovation. The Huawei Innovation Research Program (HIRP) provided significant support during the competition, along with the algorithmic topic recommendation, demonstrating its commitment to innovation and developing future technologies as a leading communications company. Through the HIRP, Huawei will continue to enhance industry collaboration and strengthen knowledge sharing to drive technological advancements.

The Altera University Program supports schools who offer students an education in engineering and digital technology. The support to universities comes in the form of hardware, software and teaching materials. The programme sponsors conferences, workshops and design contests for academics and students around the world. In addition, the program sponsors student design competitions, which have resulted in many innovative designs.