Press Release | ASTRI - Hong Kong Applied Science And Technology Research Institute Company Limited

Embracing 5G for Innovation and Intelligent Connectivity ASTRI demonstrates latest technologies at PT EXPO China in Beijing

[Hong Kong, 31 October 2019] The Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) is showcasing its latest technologies at the PT EXPO China 2019 in Beijing. The event, hosted by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, is one of Asia’s leading Information and Communications Technology (ICT) event which explores exciting impacts of next-generation ICTs in various industries, as well as trends in the dynamic and fast-growing ICT market.

At the PT EXPO China 2019, ASTRI adopts the theme “Embracing 5G for Innovation and Intelligent Connectivity”. ASTRI is showcasing technologies behind innovative solutions that enhance the competitive strengths of enterprises across Hong Kong, the Great Bay Area and international markets:

	Technology demo	Description
1	ASTRI end-to-end 5G systems supporting stand-alone (SA) and Non-standalone (NSA) networks	ASTRI partnered with Anktion (Fujian) Technology Co., Ltd to demonstrate data streaming with commercial 5G smartphone on its end-to-end 5G base station and 5G Core system. – ASTRI’s latest 5G base station solution is on NXP LX2160a platform, which provides a low power and cost-efficient solution for sub-6GHz, 100MHz bandwidth, 4×4 MIMO base station products. The solution has been integrated with Remote Radio Units (RRU) from multiple vendors including Anktion. The solution supports both Standalone (SA) and Non-Standalone (NSA) 3GPP standards with third parties Protocol Stack (PS) software. The highly programable solution can be customized to drive different classes of base station platform such as standalone small cells and O-RAN white box hardware. – ASTRI’s 5G Core is based on Intel x86 platform, and 3GPP Rel. 15 complied with the compelling performance – processing over 200Gbps throughput on standard servers featuring two scalable Intel Xeon processors.
2	Smart mobility technologies	ASTRI’s smart mobility technologies covers a wide range of usage scenarios, on Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything (C-V2X), Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) and other Intelligent Transport System (ITS) services. ASTRI and HKT are working closely on realising the Smart Mobility Technologies in Hong Kong.
3	Intelligent Blockchain-based IoT Platform	The Hong Kong SAR government has stepped up its Smart City development efforts in recent years. Aligned with the increasing trends to leverage shared data, China Mobile Hong Kong and ASTRI have partnered to introduce industry pioneer application of Blockchain-based Internet of Things (IoT) technology. The platform uses secured data exchange for data provider to share IoT data with integrity. Through connecting the data providers and consumers, the platform can monetise and strategically exploit the potentially enormous value of the vast amount of IoT data. The platform can help companies and individuals to unleash huge business potential by acting as a trusted intermediary to offer data exchange with integrity among third parties.
4	Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) Chip	This demonstration showcases the latest low-cost, low-power NB-IoT chip solutions for a wide range of 3GPP-compliant low-cost and low-power IoT services. ASTRI’s NB-IoT chip adopts a unique polar transmitter architecture and integrates on-chip high efficiency CMOS power amplifier, power management unit and digitally controlled crystal oscillator.。
5	LoRaWAN Application	ASTRI’s LoRaWAN system can use internal batteries to power the sensors, solving the problem of data collection in remote areas (no power, no solar energy). It has the characteristics of low power consumption, long transmission distance and easy installation. It can work continuously for 3 to 5 years depending on the internal battery. This project is supported by Hong Kong Water Supplies Department (WSD) and Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD).
6	Smartphone Spectrometer	ASTRI’s smartphone spectrometer becomes a powerful molecular analytical tool to ordinary consumers. It can obtain the spectrum with a snapshot and analyze the food composition or material quality conveniently.
7	4Kx2K UHD Augmented Reality Head Mounted Display	ASTRI’s 4Kx2K UHD Augmented Reality Head Mounted Display (AR HMD) offers unprecedented experience to users by the way that the display content superimposes over the real world. The complete AR HMD solution combines MAY Display Co. Ltd’s world first true 4Kx2K LCoS panel with ASTRI’s reference optical design to provide an industry-leading 70-degree-wide field of view. With this solution, ASTRI’s AR HMD provides the consumers an extraordinary product experience across different user scenarios in a variety of application areas such as education, industrial and manufacturing, museum, engineering, retail and advertising.

PT EXPO China 2019 will be held from October 31 to November 3 in Beijing, China, showcasing a world of 5G and other next-gen ICTs. More than 60,000 attendees from all of the ICT ecosystem’s sectors are predicted to gather, as well as over 400 leading companies and organizations that will exhibit or speak at the conference sessions.

The Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) is showcasing its latest technologies at the PT EXPO China 2019 in Beijing

ASTRI Announces Appointment of New Chairman

[Hong Kong, 17 October 2019] Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) today (17 October) announced the appointment of Ir Sunny Lee Wai-kwong, JP as the new Chairman of the Board for a two-year term effective 21 October 2019.

Mr Lee is succeeding Mr Wong Ming-yam, SBS, JP, who has been serving as the Board Chairman of ASTRI since 2013.

“I am deeply honoured to have been appointed as ASTRI’s new Chairman,” said Mr Lee. “It is indeed a uniquely empowering role with an organisation that has immense importance for the future of our city and our next generations. I look forward to working closely with my fellow Board members and the ASTRI management led by CEO Mr Hugh Chow.”

“With the Government’s policy support and financial commitment towards innovation and technology, I envisage an exciting time ahead as ASTRI continues to build world-class technologies that put Hong Kong on the global map of innovation,” Mr Lee added.

Mr Lee is a veteran in innovation and technology leadership, with over 30 years of experience in business and technology management in Hong Kong and abroad. He is currently Vice‑President (Administration) of the City University of Hong Kong, responsible for a portfolio of central administration functions.

Over his distinguished tech-focused career across multiple sectors, Mr Lee was Executive Director, Information Technology (IT) for the Hong Kong Jockey Club and Chief Information Officer of The Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited, with overall responsibility for IT strategy and innovation. Previously, he was Vice President and Systems Director of Bank of America in Hong Kong, where he was instrumental in building up the bank’s IT capabilities to support its business expansion in Asia. Mr Lee has also held key IT positions in the financial, management consulting and manufacturing industries in the US.

Mr Lee is a graduate of Cornell University where he studied for both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Operations Research and Industrial Engineering.

In congratulating Mr Lee on his appointment, the out-going Chairman Mr Wong said, “It has indeed been my honour and privilege to have served as ASTRI’s Chairman. In the past six years, I have witnessed tremendous growth and development of ASTRI, all of which has contributed to the innovation and technology leadership ASTRI enjoys today. It is the result of the concerted efforts of many people, especially my fellow Board Members and all ASTRIANs who have been working together in great spirit of common vision to take forward our mission.”

Ir Sunny Lee Wai-kwong, JP (right) is succeeding Mr Wong Ming-yam, SBS, JP (left), who has been serving as the Board Chairman of ASTRI since 2013.

ASTRI unveils optical solution at largest South Korea expo

ASTRI has unveiled at VR EXPO 2019, the largest industry expo in South Korea, a reference design for production-ready 4Kx2K augmented reality (AR) Head Mounted Display (HMD), which brings enhanced user experience.

The latest solution is a collaboration with MAY Display Co. Ltd., a key industry player with proprietary manufacturing technology and mass volume production capability on LCoS micro display. The complete AR HMD solution combines MAY’s world first true 4Kx2K LCoS panel with ASTRI’s reference optical design to provide an industry-leading 70-degree-wide field of view.

VR EXPO 2019 brings together major industries including VR/AR-related manufacturing, defense, medical, education, architecture, platforms, games, theme parks, and videos using 5G.

ASTRI joined MAY Display to showcase the latest AR HMD solution. Kenny Chan, Director (Emerging Sensing & Display Systems ) of ASTRI (Left), Paik Woo Sung, Chairman of MAY Display (Middle) and Eric Jiang, General Manager of MAY Display (Right).

MAY's world first true 4Kx2K LCoS panel with ASTRI's optical design to provide an industry-leading 70-degree-wide field of view. — MAY’s world first true 4Kx2K LCoS panel with ASTRI’s optical design to provide an industry-leading 70-degree-wide field of view.

ASTRI delegation visits important scientific research institutions in Beijing

Mr Hugh Chow – Chief Executive Officer of ASTRI, Dr Daniel Shi – Senior Director, and Dr Xie Bin – Principal Engineer, recently visited several important scientific research institutions in Beijing, including the Institute of Microelectronics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Beijing Collaborative Innovation Institute and the Strategic Industry Alliance for Third Generation Semiconductor Technology Innovation. The visit involved exploration of various applied technology fields such as integrated circuits and systems, 5G and others. ASTRI’s senior executives exchanged views on future collaboration opportunities in the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area.

Third Generation Semiconductor technologies represent an important future development strategy for the country. ASTRI’s delegation met with Ms Wu Ling – Chairperson of the Strategic Industry Alliance for Third Generation Semiconductor Technology Innovation. They discussed the development of Third Generation Semiconductor applications in 5G communications, electric as well as unmanned vehicles, railways, DC buildings, energy routers, photovoltaic inverters, among other topics. The delegation and its counterparts agreed to strengthen collaboration and exchange in the field of Third Generation Semiconductor applications. Promoting a healthy development of this sector in Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area is an important priority in the context of overall national development strategy.

ASTRI supported the China International Opto-electronic Expo (CIOE)- one of the largest industry shows for Opto-electronics

The China International Opto-electronic Expo (CIOE), one of the largest industry events in the sector, took place at the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Centre from 4-7 September 2019. This year’s event marked marks the 21th anniversary of the Expo. This annual event gathers experts and professionals from the Opto-electronic and Sensor sectors, facilitation exchange and exploration of future development trends and opportunities. ASTRI was one of the leading participants in the Expo.

Over 3,200 organisations took part in the Expo, showcasing the latest technologies involving Artificial Intelligence (AI), Intelligent Manufacturing, as well as next-generation display and sensor technologies for Smart City applications. ASTRI showcased a number of newly developed technologies in this mega event:

Lighting-on inspection for Mura inspection
Eye-in-Hand Flexible Visual Inspection Technology for Industrial Robots
3D Automatic Optical Inspection system
AR Head Mounted Display with Eye Tracking & Iris Recognition Head-mount display
Head-Up Display Projector
Multi-sensing demo
Wireless Jewellery UV Fluorescence Imaging Analyser
Smartphone spectrometer

Dr Tsai Chen-jung, ASTRI’s Director of IoT and Sensors, presented a keynote on the development of Optoelectronics technologies at the Expo’s on-line sharing platform. ASTRI hosted three insightful forums at the Expo: (1) 2019 AI, Machine Vision and Industry 4.0 Forum; (2) 2019 AR Display and Human-Machine Interaction Sensing Technology Forum; and (3) 2019 Spectroscopy & Hyperspectral Imaging Technology Forum.

At another forum on 5G + Industries + Next Generation Information Technology, Dr Justin Chuang, ASTRI’s Vice President of Communications Technologies, was a keynote speaker.

ASTRI supported the China International Opto-electronic Expo (CIOE)- one of the largest industry shows for Opto-electronics

10th Management Committee meeting of the Hong Kong Branch for Application Specific Integrated Circuits of the Chinese National Engineering Research Centre held

The 10th Management Committee meeting of the Hong Kong Branch of the Chinese National Engineering Research Centre (CNERC) focusing on Application Specific Integrated Circuit Systems (ASICS) took place in Nanjing on 22 July 2019. The Management Committee unanimously approved its membership changes and confirmed the record of the ninth meeting. The meeting summed up the past year’s progress in the Branch’s work as well as its developments along with the main centre. The future technology roadmap of the Branch was also discussed, particularly the research plans for the coming year. The Committee will host its eleventh meeting in the Greater Bay Area in June 2020.

The meeting was chaired by Mr Sunny Lee Wai-kwong who is also the Vice-President (Administration) of City University of Hong Kong. Other members attending the meeting included: Professor Shi Longxing – Director of CNERC ASICS Centre and Director of Jiangsu Industrial Technology Research Institute for ASICS, Professor Lu Shengli – Deputy Director of CNERC ASICS Centre, Ms Jane Lee – Secretary General, Hong Kong Council for Testing and Certification, the Hong Kong SAR Innovation and Technology Commission, Dr Davy Lo – Member of ASTRI’s Board Directors, Mr Hugh Chow – Chief Executive Officer of ASTRI and Director of the CNERC Hong Kong Branch for ASICS, Dr Martin Szeto – Chief Operating Officer of ASTRI, Mr YK Li – Senior Director of ASTRI and Deputy Director of the CNERC Hong Kong Branch for ASICS, and Dr Daniel Shi –Senior Director of ASTRI and Deputy Director of the CNERC Hong Kong Branch for ASICS.

In June 2012, ASTRI received the approval from the Central Government’s Ministry of Science and Technology to establish the first-ever Hong Kong branch of the CNERC, focusing on ASICS research and development. Application Specific Integrated Circuits form one of the five pillars of ASTRI’s R&D strategy. Through the Hong Kong Branch, ASTRI develops innovative technologies, tools and solutions that are applicable across multiple industries.

ASTRI joins EMSD’s E&M Inno Zone

Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) plays an important role in our smart city journey. ASTRI, a leading innovation centre dedicated to Hong Kong’s smart city development, has partnered with EMSD in the E&M Inno Zone. ASTRI enables businesses and institutions to attain higher productivity and greater success. At the EMSD HQs of the E&M Inno Zone, we unveiled two ground-breaking innovations – a smart locker fitted with Palm Fusion Biometric Authentication system, and an AI-powered handwritten Chinese character recognition system.

ASTRI’s CEO Mr Hugh Chow joined the launch event also attended by Mr Nicholas Yang – Secretary for Innovation and Technology, Mr Alfred Sit – Director of Electrical and Mechanical Services, Mr Albert Wong – CEO of Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation, other senior officials, and member of the media.

ASTRI’s innovation showcase offers fun and excitement for families over the long weekend

ASTRI took part in the Greater Bay Area Festival in Victoria Park, Causeway Bay from 29 June to 1 July 2019. Everyday from 11am to 9pm, large groups of tech enthusiasts and ordinary residents visited ASTRI’s booth.

People visited us with whole families – often with young children – and experienced our technology showcase and demonstrations. They played ‘Drive the connected car’ and ‘Choose your IoT’ games, unlocked a locker without touching it, and watched a naked-eye 3D TV. ASTRI wholeheartedly thanks all the participants who visited our booth at the Greater Bay Festival, and celebrated the magic of technology.

ASTRI’s innovation showcase offers fun and excitement for families over the long weekend

ASTRI drives forward 5G + C-V2X + AI innovation and transformation with Intel technology

[27 June 2019, Hong Kong] At the Mobile World Congress (MWC) Shanghai 2019, Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute(ASTRI) revealed their collaborations with Intel on 5G Standalone (SA) Core Network and Roadside Edge AI (Artificial Intelligence) for C-V2X (Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything) that power the new era of network transformation with the compelling capabilities of 5G, C-V2X and AI working together.

ASTRI’s 5G Standalone (SA) Core Network at 200Gbps on Intel Architecture

5G networks aim to provide diversified services. In 3GPP Release 15 standards, the 5G new Standalone (SA) core network enables a high degree of flexibility to meet application and service requirements. In fact, the Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) services have very high requirements on traffic capacity and data rate (as much as 1000x comparing to 4G). The new 5G SA core network requires significantly higher capacity, throughput performance and scalability to meet the challenging requirements for 5G.

ASTRI and Intel have collaborated on the research, development and optimisation of 5G SA Core Network, especially on the User Plane Function (UPF) throughput, to meet 5G requirements. The collaboration makes it possible for, on a single sever, over 200Gbps throughput to be processed by ASTRI’s 5G UPF without packet loss. The key capabilities and elements to deliver breakthrough performance in the 5G Core Network include:

The UPF of ASTRI’s 5G SA Core Network can achieve high per-core performance
Dynamic Device Personalisation (DDP) technology on Intel® Ethernet Network Adapters is utilised to achieve fine-grade load balancing to allow throughput scale up linearly with additional CPU cores
ASTRI 5G SA Core Network can scale down to a single hardware platform for small scale deployments, or scale out and distributed in cloud architecture

ASTRI and Intel continue the R&D collaboration working closely on ASTRI’S 5G SA core network, such as supporting the N9 interface for mobile edge and additional Service- Based Network Functions, to enable a variety of network topologies to transform mobile core network to cater different 5G applications and scenarios.

Edge Intelligence and C-V2X Transforming Smart Mobility and Network Infrastructure

ASTRI and Intel collaborated to enable edge AI and visual-sensing capabilities for evolving next-generation smart roadside Infrastructure. The initial focus will be on enabling the real-time object recognition by ASTRI’s C-V2X Edge Software solution to detect imminent danger on roads and issue real-time alerts (like pedestrian crossing) to the respective drivers via C-V2X communications between vehicles and roadside infrastructure.

In addition to the low-latency C-V2X communications, the C-V2X Edge Software demands high performance computing, AI and visual data processing to achieve end-to-end low latency. The Smart Roadside Computing Unit is powered by Intel® Xeon® D-2100 processors, delivering Intel’s ground-breaking data centre processor architecture in a form factor optimised for cloud edge computing solutions. It brings the architectural innovations of the Intel Xeon Scalable platform to a system-on-a-chip (SoC) processor for low-power, high-density, small footprint solutions, integrating essential network, security, and acceleration capabilities. The AI and visual data processing in the Smart Roadside Computing Unit is accelerated by Intel® ™ Myriad™ X Visual Processing Unit (VPU) and OpenVINO™ toolkit.

Accelerating Innovation and Transformation

5G SA Core Network is an important element for mobile core network transformation to support next wave of 5G services. ASTRI 5G SA core network, as pure software-based implementation, verified the suitability on high-volume platforms with Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors, to deliver outstanding performance and flexibility to allow quick time-to-market roll outs. Intelligent sensing and low latency communications using a C-V2X solution at the roadside (network edge) play an important role in shaping next generation roadside Infrastructure and smart mobility services.

ASTRI Drives Forward 5G + C-V2X + AI Innovation and Transformation with Intel Technology

Edge Intelligence and C-V2X Transforming Smart Mobility and Network Infrastructure

ASTRI’s 5G Standalone (SA) Core Network at 200Gbps on Intel Architecture

Dr Justin Chuang, Vice President of Next Generation Network at ASTRI: “ASTRI and Intel have mutual interests in network transformation since our collaboration on 4G EPC/C-RAN and virtualisation. Thanks to Intel, the combinations of wireless, network, computing and intelligence to enable 5G and C-V2X applications shall be increasingly important, as we move into the 5G era. It is exciting to see ASTRI’s collaboration with Intel getting deeper, wider and more impactful in 5G + C-V2X + AI to drive forward success in innovation and transformation.”

Caroline Chan, Vice President and General Manager of the Network Business Incubator Division at Intel: “Network transformation, AI and edge computing are converging to create some of the most amazing innovations we’ve seen in decades. Together with research leaders like ASTRI, Intel technology will fuel the next-generation of AI-powered applications and 5G-ready communications networks.”

Looking forward, more sensors on the roadside infrastructure are expected to be seen, collecting massive data and transferring them via 5G. Smart mobility applications will process the data at roadside edge and provide fast response to C-V2X enabled road users.

At the Mobile World Congress Shanghai 2019, ASTRI will demonstrate its collaborations with Intel on 5G SA Core and Edge AI for roadside infrastructure in ASTRI’s booth [N1.D130].

Mobile World Congress Shanghai is Asia’s Leading Event for Next-generation Technology – 5G, IoT, AI, Big Data and Beyond. MWC Shanghai has over 60,000 attendees and over 550 participating companies. Mobile World Congress (MWC) Shanghai 2019 will take place from Jun 26-28 in Shanghai New International Expo Centre, Shanghai, China.

China Mobile Hong Kong and ASTRI announce new partnership on IoT and Blockchain technology, debut demonstration at the MWC Shanghai 2019

Hong Kong’s first application of IoT and Blockchain technology demonstrated during the Mobile World Congress (MWC) Shanghai 2019

[Hong Kong, 26 June 2019] The Hong Kong SAR Government has stepped up its Smart City development efforts in recent years. Aligned with the increasing trends to leverage shared data, China Mobile Hong Kong and Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) have partnered to introduce Hong Kong’s first application of Blockchain-based Internet of Things (IoT) technology. China Mobile Group’s OneNET IoT Platform and ASTRI’s Blockchain solution come together for a combined application that is being demonstrated for the first time during Mobile World Congress (MWC) Shanghai 2019 from 26-28 June 2019.

For the first time ever, the power of Blockchain technology is being applied to an IoT application whereby data is collected and stored in real-time – making it safer, traceable and verifiable. The conventional, centralised system of IoT data collection and storage doesn’t use any encryption, making it vulnerable to attack or tampering. However, with the distributed data storage method of Blockchain, encryption protects the data from tampering. Its traceable features ensure stability and security of data. Combined together, Blockchain and IoT address supervision problems, reduce cost of operations, facilitating a wide of applications in everyday life. Overall, the solution can significantly help the development of Smart City.

China Mobile Hong Kong and ASTRI have been invited to showcase the IoT and Blockchain technology at MWC Shanghai, organised by GSM Association (GSMA) from 26-28 June 2019. Simulated data is collected from vehicles, smart lampposts and parking lots, and transferred to China Mobile Group OneNET’s equipment management and applied development open source platform. The data is then stored and processed by ASTRI’s intelligent IoT and Blockchain technology platform with full-proof tamper protection. When visitors request access to IoT data from touch-screen computers or smartphones, the system makes a record, making sure the user can only access the data he/she is permitted to view, and the data source is reliable. At MWC Shanghai 2019, ASTRI and CMHK will also showcase applications of various sensors in an urban environment and data collection from different sources in future smart city environment. Visitors will understand the use of the IoT and Blockchain technology and personally experience its applications.

“This development successfully shows that upon signing the strategic cooperation agreement, China Mobile Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute, have been able to make good use of each other’s expertise and work together to bring about mutual benefits. The approach of the 5G era will help promote IoT applications on a large scale. The production of large quantities of data will help analysis become more accurate and better reflect the needs of the market IoT and Blockchain technology cooperative operations, help us to create a safe and reliable public data platform and help construct an outstanding and reliable foundation for the smart city development in Hong Kong,” said Mr Sean Lee, Director and Chief Executive Officer of China Mobile Hong Kong.

“ASTRI is one of the first institutions in Hong Kong to apply Blockchain technology across different industries, including finance, real estate and manufacturing among others. We are delighted to work with China Mobile Hong Kong – showcasing the combined technological wonders of IoT and Blockchain. We are also bringing Blockchain to the telecommunications industry, for the first time, adding new elements to the IoT ecosystem and fostering Smart City development,” said Mr Hugh Chow, Chief Executive Officer of ASTRI.

Data on system is stored by Blockchain technology

China Mobile Hong Kong and ASTRI will continue this close partnership and bring about new dimensions to strongly facilitate Smart City applications, promote the development of Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area as a world-class centre of excellence for science and technology in the future.