South Korean telco SK Telecom, together with Ericsson and Qualcomm, will conduct over-the-air field trials for 5G New Radio (NR) standards.
Ericsson,
Qualcomm, and SK Telecom will conduct interoperability testing and over-the-air
field trials in the second half of 2017 based on 3GPP's 5G New Radio (NR)
standards, which utilize wide bandwidths available at higher frequency bands to
increase network capacity and achieve multi-gigabit per second data rates.
The
first 3GPP 5G NR specification that will be part of Release 15 - the global 5G
standard that will make use of both sub-6 GHz and mmWave spectrum bands.
The
companies said the upcoming trials will employ 3GPP 5G NR Multiple-Input
Multiple-Output (MIMO) antenna technology with adaptive beamforming and beam
tracking techniques, including non-line-of-sight (NLOS) environments and device
mobility. It will also make use of scalable OFDM-based waveforms and a new
flexible framework design that are also part of the 5G NR specifications. The
trials are expected to yield valuable insight into the unique challenges of
integrating 5G NR technologies into mobile networks and devices.
"As
we did in both 3G and 4G, we are excited about collaborating with leading
operators and industry stakeholders such as Ericsson and SK Telecom to
accelerate the path to 5G," said Matt Grob, executive vice president and
chief technology officer, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. "The roadmap of 5G
technologies is incredibly complex, and trials based on the global 3GPP 5G
standard, such as this, are critical to continuing our long history of
leadership integrating advanced wireless technologies in form-factor accurate
devices to ensure timely deployment of 5G networks."
"As
5G rapidly gains momentum, a globally agreed and unified standard becomes
imperative to achieve early commercialization of 5G and build an efficient
ecosystem around it," said Alex Jinsung Choi, EVP, Chief Technology
Officer, SK Telecom, "As 3GPP NR is a global 5G standard, we are delighted
to announce early 3GPP NR trials with leading 5G players, Ericsson and
Qualcomm, with which we have made remarkable world's first footprints in the
past with previous generations of groundbreaking mobile technologies.."
