The Tactile Internet
ITU-T Technology Watch ReportAugust 2014
Extremely low latency in combination with high availability, reliability and security will define the character of the
Tactile Internet
. It will have a marked impact on business and society, introducing numerous new opportunities for emerging technology markets and the delivery of essential public services. This Technology Watch report outlines the potential of the
Tactile Internet
, exploring its promise in application fields ranging from industry automation and transport systems to healthcare, education and gaming. It goes on to describe the
Tactical Internet
’s demands on future digital infrastructure and its expected impact on society, concluding with a brief discussion of the role to be played by the ITU framework.
The rapid evolution of the telecommunication/information and communication technology (ICT) environment requires related technology foresight and immediate action in order to propose ITU-T standardization activities as early as possible.
ITU-T Technology Watch
surveys the ICT landscape to capture new topics for standardization activities. Technology Watch Reports assess new technologies with regard to existing standards inside and outside ITU-T and their likely impact on future standardization.
Acknowledgements
This report was written by: Prof. Gerhard Fettweis – Technische Universität Dresden Prof. Holger Boche – Technische Universität München Prof. Thomas Wiegand – Technische Universität Berlin and Fraunhofer Heinrich-Hertz-Institute Prof. Erich Zielinski – Alcatel-Lucent Stiftung für Kommunikationsforschung Prof. Hans Schotten – DFKI and University of Kaiserslautern Peter Merz – Nokia Solutions and Networks Management International GmbH Prof. Sandra Hirche – Technische Universität München Dr. Andreas Festag – Technische Universität Dresden Dr. Walter Häffner – Vodafone GmbH Dr. Michael Meyer – Ericsson GmbH Prof. Eckehard Steinbach – Technische Universität München Prof. Rolf Kraemer – IHP, Innovations for High Performance Microelectronics Prof. Ralf Steinmetz – Technical University Darmstadt Dr. Frank Hofmann – Robert Bosch GmbH Prof. Peter Eisert – Fraunhofer Heinrich-Hertz-Institute Dr. Reinhard Scholl – International Telecommunication Union Prof. Frank Ellinger – Technische Universität Dresden Dr. Erik Weiß – Telekom Deutschland GmbH Ines Riedel – Technische Universität Dresden The authors highly appreciate the support from the
Alcatel-Lucent Stiftung für Kommunika-tionsforschung
and from the project "
fast strategy"
as part of the cluster "
fast – Fast Actuators Sensors and Transceivers"
in the framework of the initiative "
Zwanzig20 – Partnerschaft für Innovation" of the Federal Ministry of Research and Education (
BMBF). Please send your feedback and comments to tsbtechwatch@itu.int. The opinions expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the International Telecommunication Union or its membership. © ITU 2014 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, by any means whatsoever, without the prior written permission of ITU.
ITU-T Technology Watch
The Tactile Internet (August 2014) i
Table of contents
Page
2. Impact on Society ................................................................................................................ 4
3. Application Fields ................................................................................................................ 5
Industry ............................................................................................................................. 5
Robotics and Telepresence ............................................................................................... 5
Virtual Reality ................................................................................................................... 6
Road Traffic ....................................................................................................................... 8
Serious Gaming ................................................................................................................. 9
Education and Culture ...................................................................................................... 10
Smart Grid ......................................................................................................................... 1
Additional Application Fields ............................................................................................ 11
4. Infrastructure Requirements ............................................................................................... 1
Latency and Reliability ...................................................................................................... 1
Security ............................................................................................................................. 1
System Architecture ......................................................................................................... 1
Sensors and Actuators ...................................................................................................... 1
Access Networks ............................................................................................................... 1
Mobile Edge-Cloud ........................................................................................................... 1
5. ITU Framework .................................................................................................................... 1