T-Mobile US will test FDD with Ericsson 5G equipment
The network infrastructure community remains laser-focused on facilitating the customer transition from LTE to 5G with pre-standard equipment that can be upgraded to the next-generation standards once it’s agreed to by 3GPP. Ahead of Mobile World Congress Americas next week, Ericsson announced an addition to its 5G radio portfolio with a new radio, the AIR 2346, that supports frequency-division duplex (FDD) massive multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO).
Ericsson is working with carrier T-Mobile US to test FDD massive MIMO at three sites in Baltimore, Md., marking what Ericsson called “the first time that standardized massive MIMO will be used to carry commercial LTE traffic using mid-band FDD spectrum.”
T-Mobile US CTO Neville Ray said its partnering with the vendor on “tech that advances LTE today and paves the way for 5G tomorrow.”
MIMO is a key part of current gigabit LTE networks, particularly the 4×4 arrangement, which is supported by numerous handsets. Massive MIMO isn’t a standardized term, but 5G is expected to use antenna transmit and receive port configurations up to 64×64 and 128×128.
“The new radio will enable operators to enhance 4G capacity for their subscribers today and be ready for 5G tomorrow, using the same hardware,” Fredrik Jejdling, Head of Business Area Networks at Ericsson, said in a statement. “We also complement the products with a set of network services, simplifying the journey to 5G for our customers.”
This latest launch comes a week after Ericsson unveiled three new small cell offerings related to its Radio Dot system; the company’s new products are the Multi-Operator Dot, Multi-Dot Enclosure and Strand-Mount Unit. The company bills the multi-operator small cells as combining the “benefits of an active DAS solution with the coverage and capacity of the Radio Dot System.” The enclosure serves to minimize the visual impact of a deployment, and the strand-mount is meant for outdoor radio concealment on “existing aerial cables.”
