Nokia said its end-to-end 5G new radio data call used the 3.5 GHz frequency band
Nokia has successfully completed an end-to-end 5G New Radio data call as part of a 5G research and development trial being carried out by the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).
The Finnish vendor said that the 3GPP-compliant, dual-connectivity call was conducted using a 5G NR system over-the-air on the 3.5 GHz frequency band and LTE in the 2.1 GHz frequency band.
Nokia highlighted that dual connectivity will allow existing 4G operators to rapidly create 5G coverage and services by connecting 5G NR to a 4G radio that is connected to an existing cloud packet core. The company also explained that this successful 5G NR data call is a key step to verify 5G technology in the sub-6 GHz frequency bands, which is required for wide-area coverage and massive IoT connectivity, in preparation for commercial deployment in China in 2020.
The end-to-end data call used the Nokia AirScale cloud RAN, Nokia AirScale baseband unit, Nokia 5G Massive MIMO active antenna, Nokia cloud packet core and Nokia home subscriber service together with a 5G end user equipment simulator provided by Prisma Telecom Testing. The Nokia AirFrame data center solution was used to control the Cloud RAN. Nokia will continue to work with MIIT through 2018 with new 5G trials in the 4.9 GHz frequency bands.
“Nokia is ready to support dual connectivity with the AirScale radio access portfolio as it is upgradeable via software to 5G and provides single RAN support for 4G, 4.5G Pro and 4.9G as well as legacy technologies,” Marc Rouanne, president of mobile networks at Nokia, said. “As a result we can help our customers meet their early 5G deployment schedules and initial coverage demands.”
The government of China has already kicked off the third phase of its own 5G trials. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said the third phase of 5G technical tests aims to get pre-commercial 5G products ready by mid-2018.
In September 2017, the second phase of the 5G trial was finished. Telecom companies have met the key performance requirements set up by the International Telecommunication Union, such as the peak rates of data speed. Vendors including Huawei, ZTE, Ericsson and Nokia as well as local mobile operators China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom participated in this phase of China’s 5G tests.
The 5G trial was organized by the IMT-2020 (5G) promotion group and conducted at the Beijing lab of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT).
Last month, the government of China gave the green light to Chinese telecom operators to test 5G technology in major cities across the country. Under this initiative, state-run telcos will begin setting up 5G networks in 16 cities to trial the technology.
China Mobile, the world’s largest mobile operator in terms of subscribers, plans to carry out external field test in the cities of Hangzhou, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Suzhou, and Wuhan. To achieve this, the operator expects to deploy over 100 base stations in these locations. China Mobile will also conduct 5G network application demonstration in 12 cities including Beijing, Chengdu, and Shenzhen.
