Samsung is supporting Verizon and AT&T millimeter wave 5G deployments
Millimeter wave frequencies are key to the multi-gigabit-per-second data speeds and ultra low latency expected of commercial 5G networks. And, after years of development and skepticism, initial 5G launches from U.S. operators Verizon and AT&T will tap the 28 GHz and 39 GHz bands.
But that’s just the beginning. In November, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission auctioned off licenses for the 28 GHz and 24 GHz bands with plans to offer up more millimeter wave spectrum to mobile operators in 2019. While the FCC has taken a leadership position in making millimeter wave frequencies available for use, regulators in key markets around the world, particularly in Western Europe, Japan and Korea, have also identified millimeter wave as central to the next-generation of cellular connectivity.
Samsung is confirmed as a primary RAN vendor for both AT&T and Verizon’s 5G builds. Derek Johnston, Samsung Electronics America’s head of networks marketing, pointed to almost a decade of interest in millimeter wave as creating a new opportunity in the U.S. market. “With the advent of 5G, it gave us a window of opportunity,” he said. “We had taken an early bet on millimeter wave and put a lot of R&D resources into the belief that that spectrum was extremely valuable and, with the right use of technology, could be really leveraged.”
Let’s take a look back at some of Samsung’s key milestones related to development and commercialization of millimeter wave networks for 5G.
- In 2009, Samsung staff at the company’s North American headquarters in Dallas, Texas, began to study the role of millimeter wave in future telecom networks, which led to a 300-page report on millimeter wave and beamforming, which was passed on to Samsung Research.
- In 2011, Samsung Electronics launched an internal project to further investigate millimeter wave and 5G, prompting the establishment of a Next Generation Communications Lab.
- In 2013, Samsung announced the world’s first 5G mmWave mobile technology and used the 28 GHz band to demonstrate a 1 Gbps pre-standard 5G link.
- In 2015, during the World Radio Conference, Samsung and Korean government officials pushed for standardization and harmonization efforts for 28 GHz.
- In April 2016, Samsung hosted the 3GPP’s kick-off 5G standardization in Busan, Korea.
- In 2017, Samsung and Verizon completed customer trials and in 2018 launched fixed wireless 5G using 28 GHz mmWave system and devices.
- A May 2018 meeting of 3GPP, also in Busan, finalized the standalone 5G NR standard, which was announced later in the year.
- In October 2018, Samsung and Qualcomm announced their collaboration to build 5G small cells that can broadcast high frequencies in sub-6 and mmWave bands to support both outdoor and indoor deployment.
Nivi Thadasina, Samsung Electronics America’s senior director of engineering for wireless networks, noted the challenges of using millimeter wave to deliver mobility but added that, since Samsung began millimeter wave-focused R&D, the goal has always been to provide a mobile experience.
“We started this work as early as 2012 and when we took on this challenge, the first thing that we wanted to prove out is can I use millimeter wave technology and deploy in a manner similar to cellular” in terms of link budgets, absorption rate and propagation, he said. “In order for us to make it cellular-like, it also needs to adapt to the changing end user conditions if the user is moving, or the user is stationary. We have to adapt to the conditions in a very rapid manner.”
What once was a technology that many were skeptical about can now produce gigabit-level performance over 2,000 feet by using technology like beamforming to address line of sight issues like heavy foliage.
And what’s next? As Verizon and AT&T scale up mmWave 5G networks, Samsung will deliver both carriers with a compatible smartphone in the first-half of 2019, followed in the second-half of the year with a smartphone that supports 5G at both mmWave and sub-6 GHz frequencies.
For more information on Samsung’s 5G efforts, click here.
