Tests expected to accelerate 5G NR specs in 3GPP Release 15.
Qualcomm and Ericsson plan to conduct interoperability testing and over-the-air field trials based on 5G “New Radio” standards with SK Telecom. The 5G NR designation is being looked at by the Third Generation Partnership Project as part of its standards process to designate the evolving air interface to succeed “4G” LTE. Qualcomm says it started working on this new air interface even before the 3GPP standards process began.
“The roadmap of 5G technologies is incredibly complex and trials based on the global 3GPP 5G standard such as this are critical to continuing our long history of leadership integrating advanced wireless technologies in form-factor accurate devices to ensure timely deployment of 5G networks,” said Matt Grob, EVP and CTO at Qualcomm Technologies. “As we did in both 3G and 4G, we are excited about collaborating with leading operators and industry stakeholders such as Ericsson and SK Telecom to accelerate the path to 5G.”
The companies said the trials will showcase multigigabit-per-second data rates using high frequency bands, multiple-input/multiple-output antenna technology with adaptive beamforming and beam tracking techniques. The companies plan to conduct tests with mobile devices in non-line-of-sight environments, and use orthogonal frequency division multiplexing waveforms, which are expected to be part of the 5G NR specification.
These tests will deliver valuable information about the challenges of integrating 5G NR into mobile networks and devices, the companies said. The first wave of 5G technologies is expected to be deployed in fixed wireless networks, but the technology will ultimately connect mobile devices as well.
“You will be seeing 5G NR connectivity in your smartphones, cars, utility meters, wearables and much more,” Qualcomm said earlier this year. “5G NR will bring new levels of capability in data rates, capacity, latency, reliability, efficiency and coverage.”
5G NR is also expected to be a substitute for wired internet service in some locations. Verizon Wireless is already trialling point-to-multipoint fixed wireless technology near its New Jersey headquarters and the carrier says it has achieved data rates of up to 1.8 Gbps in the 28 GHz spectrum band.
SK Telecom’s 5G NR interoperability tests are set to start in South Korea during the second half of 2017. The carrier and its partners said their work will inform the first 3GPP 5G NR specification, which they expect will be part of Release 15. The standard is expected to rely on millimeter-wave spectrum bands as well as those below 6 GHz. SK Telecom, Ericsson and Qualcomm said their tests should help accelerate the development of devices and infrastructure that will be compliant with the emerging 5G NR standard.
“This important 5G standard-based trial collaboration will demonstrate compliance to 3GPP and support the accelerated commercialization of the global 3GPP 5G standard,” said Ericsson SVP and CTO Ulf Ewaldsson.
A recent report from Signals Research Group called into question the actual depth of the NR term for planned 5G standards. According to SRG, a recent 3GPP meeting in Vienna, Austria, resulted in an agreement to use the generic “5G” term to describe all aspects of the planned next-generation technology evolution.
SRG did note the NR term would remain connected to new radio access; E-UTRAN, or evolved UMTS terrestrial radio access network, would refer to a radio access network that connects to an evolved packet core; and 5G-RAN would refer to a radio access network that connects to a 5G core network.
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