The 5G test used a 5G base station with massive MIMO technology
Japanese company NEC Corporation announced that it contributed to a video transmission test utilizing 5G conducted in November 2018 by compatriot carrier NTT DoCoMo, and railway operator Toby Railway, through the provision of 5G base stations that support the 4.5 GHz and 28 GHz bands.
NEC highlighted that this 5G demo was conducted with a view toward application of 5G in the field of entertainment, including sports and tourism content.
During the trial, 8K ultra-high-definition live video featuring a Steam Locomotive (SL) train was transmitted from a 5G base station installed along a railroad to a 5G mobile station located inside a running SL train and put on an 8K display, NEC said.
Additionally, high-definition 4K video content was transmitted from the 5G base station to the 5G mobile station on the SL train and distributed to the mobile terminals of passengers on the train via wireless LAN. This demonstrated that the utilization of 5G technology enables the transmission of high-definition video content, even on a train or a bus in motion, providing a service that allows the distribution of large-capacity content in a variety of media, regardless of the location or situation.
The 5G base station, provided by NEC, was equipped with a massive MIMO antenna, which forms beams that concentrate power on the location and direction of the 5G mobile station, the Japanese company explained.
Moving forward, NEC will continue to work on 5G verification throughout a wide range of use cases, including applications in tourism, healthcare and security, under various conditions and environments, such as urban and rural areas.
This experiment is part of a trial conducted by NTT DoCoMo under a project commissioned by Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) to examine the technical specifications for 5G mobile communication systems that can realize average data communication speeds of 4-8 Gbps in outdoor environments.
NEC had reached an agreement in May last year with NTT DoCoMo to provide control units for 5G base station equipment aiming for the commercialization of 5G services. Under the agreement, NEC will achieve 5G compatibility through software upgrades and a minimal replacement of hardware to maximize the use of existing high-density base station equipment.
Also in May 2018, NEC and NTT DoCoMo had jointly achieved 5.5 Gbps throughput in eight mobile stations using beamforming with inter-base station coordination between two base stations in the same area, using 4.5 GHz spectrum for 5G communications.The trial across eight base stations used beamforming with inter-base station coordination between two base stations. This coordination was achieved with signal processors and massive-element antennas through digital signal processing.
The trial was carried out in Kawasaki City, Japan.
