AT&T, Ericsson and Qualcomm said they plan to test various 5G technologies using millimeter wave spectrum during second half of 2017.
AT&T, Ericsson and Qualcomm announced plans to conduct interoperability testing and over-the-air trials based on what they expect to be “5G” technical specifications and using millimeter wave spectrum bands.
The companies said the tests will tap spectrum in the 28 GHz and 39 GHz bands in an effort to bolster their expectations for the 5G “New Radio” specifications being worked on by the Third Generation Partnership Project as part of the expected Release 15 standard. AT&T is providing the spectrum resources for the trial, with Qualcomm providing prototype devices and Ericsson providing base station solutions.
The tests are set to include wide bands of spectrum to support multigigabit per second network speeds; multiple-input/multiple-output antenna technology with adaptive beamforming and beam tracking to enable non-line-of-support services; and orthogonal frequency division multiplexing-based waveforms with a “new flexible framework design” the companies expect to be included in the 5G NR specification.
The trials are expected to begin in the second half of the year and “track closely with the first 3GPP 5G NR specification that we expect to be part of Release 15,” the companies noted.
“Tracking the 3GPP specification is important because it promotes adherence and validation with the global 5G standard, accelerating the time to standard-compliant devices and infrastructure,” the companies explained in a statement. “Focusing on the 5G NR standards also should validate that the technology will work correctly with any future 3GPP 5G NR updates.”
That last comment could be viewed as a dig at rival Verizon Communications, which last year rolled out its radio specifications for 5G that evolved out of the operator’s 5G Technology Forum. Qualcomm and Ericsson are also part of that group.
AT&T late last year began 5G trials using millimeter wave spectrum in the 15 GHz and 28 GHz bands at an Intel office in Austin, Texas. The operator said the move built on recent work with Ericsson, which included a public demonstration in Austin of various technologies expected to form a basis for planned 5G services.
The latest trial announcement comes on the heels of recent 3GPP meetings where reports indicate a divide in terms of 5G standards timing.
According to a report from Signals Research Group, attempts were again made at the recent 3GPP Plenary meeting in Vienna, Austria, to have a version of 5G standards available by March 2018, which would include a non-stand-alone version of the technology requiring the presence of LTE for deployment. This version, which is referred to as “Option 3,” would slide in ahead of the general Release 15 standard that is still scheduled for June 2018.
SRG noted proponents of the accelerated schedule “suggested that 3GPP essentially develops two sets of technical specifications – one set of TS documents for the functionality in the proposed early release and one set of TS documents at the full completion of Release 15.” The analyst and research firm indicated 3GPP did not agree to the change, though it could be revisited at the next 3GPP meeting scheduled for March.
At a previous 3GPP meeting in New Orleans, a disagreement cropped up between an AT&T-led group looking to get some form of 5G standards on the books by the end of 2017, which is well ahead of 3GPP’s initial timeline of mid-2018, which was countered by a group that included Verizon in wanting to keep the schedule as is. The AT&T group explained it needed more time for testing some of the standards to be ready for mid-2018 deployments.
Michael Thelander, founder and president of SRG, reasoned Verizon was perhaps looking to stall AT&T’s advancement in terms of 5G work in favor of its own plans for fixed broadband service trials that have already garnered a number of industry partners, while AT&T on the other hand was making Verizon look overly aggressive.
“Verizon Wireless wants to show early leadership, so they can’t accelerate their deployments any faster, but what you can do is essentially delay or prolong the ability of others to deploy something,” Thelander explained. “Although Verizon’s public statement of why they want to not accelerate things is somewhat valid, I think the real reason is different.”
Another item on the docket at the Vienna meeting was a name for the next mobile technology iteration. An agreement looked to have been reached for 3GPP to use the “5G” term for all functionality beginning with Release 15, including LTE, though Thelander did note at least one major operator has since registered some pushback to the term. There had been earlier talk that 3GPP would use the New Radio designation for 5G-related work.
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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