Huawei validates 5G NR over 2.6GHz

Yes, five, we get it.... © Huawei

Yes, five, we get it.... © Huawei

  • Huawei completes 5G NR tests at 2.6GHz spectrum
  • Used 5G Massive MIMO with 64T64R
  • 2T4R 5G terminals recorded downlink peak speeds of 1.8Gbit/s
  • Calls for wider industry support for 2.6GHz 5G operation

Undaunted by the ongoing alleged spying allegations, Huawei continues to advance 5G technology and is not shy about telling the world about it. The latest in a seemingly never-ending stream of accomplishments from the China-based vendor covers the use of the 2.6GHz spectrum, which is a popular LTE band that could have interesting potential with 5G. Certainly not one of the main bands under consideration, but its importance may increase as CSPs re-evaluate their spectrum holdings and regulators adopt a more flexible licensing approach.

Huawei says it has completed 5G NR tests at 2.6GHz spectrum in the 5G trial organised by China’s national IMT-2020 (5G) Promotion Group. It has previously tested more mainstream NR frequency bands, including 3.5GHz and 4.9GHz, as part of China’s 5G Technology R&D Trial, including lab and field testing in NSA and SA modes. Incidentally, Ericsson and Qualcomm announced 5G NR progress on the 2.6GHz band just a few days ago, keen to support this relatively abundant spectrum resource.

This latest 2.6GHz test was conducted at the Huairou 5G test site and CAICT’s Mobile Communication Trial Simulation Network Lab using Huawei's 5G Massive MIMO 64T64R gNB. The vendor reports that for 2T4R 5G terminals, the single-user downlink peak throughput exceeded 1.8Gbit/s, validating any CSP’s decision to deploy 5G NR on this spectrum.

This also circles back to the usage of Massive MIMO. Thanks to some incredible advances in this radio technology recently, coupled with promising trial results, it is getting a lot more interest from CSPs and their vendor partners. Is there any reason why Massive MIMO could not become an integral part of practically all 5G base stations in the near future? Don’t take our word for it, the same question was posed recently by Emil Björnson, Associate Professor at Linköping University and one of the leading experts on the technology. 

“The C-Band [3.7 to 4.2GHz] industry chain is gradually becoming mature under the joint efforts of all of us,” said Yang Chaobin, president of Huawei's 5G product line. “Similarly, the industry chain of 2.6GHz needs to be promoted together.”

 

Original Press Release:

Huawei Takes the Lead in Completing China 5G Technology R&D Trial using 2.6GHz Spectrum

[Beijing, China, January 17, 2019] Recently, Huawei completed the 5G NR (New Radio) test at 2.6GHz spectrum in the 5G trial organized by the IMT-2020 (5G) Promotion Group. To date Huawei officially completed the third phase of China 5G Technology R&D (Research and Development) Trial including laboratory and field testing in NSA (Non-Stand Alone) and SA (Stand Alone) scenarios. The most mainstream NR frequency bands, including the 3.5GHz and 4.9GHz that have been tested earlier, and 2.6GHz that has just been tested, demonstrate the powerful support capability of Huawei 5G gNB.

This 2.6GHz test was conducted in Huairou 5G test field and CAICT (China Academy of Information and Communications Technology) MTNet (Mobile Communication Trial Simulation Network) Lab using Huawei's latest 5G Massive MIMO 64T64R gNB. For 2T4R 5G terminals, the single-user downlink peak throughput exceeded 1.8Gbps. The successful verification of Huawei's 2.6GHz NR gNB fully proves that 2.6GHz can be one of the excellent choices for operators to deploy 5G NSA/SA commercial network. It also shows Huawei's strong determination to accelerate the development of 2.6GHz industry together with industry.

Currently, 2.6GHz with large bandwidth is abundant spectrum resource around the world, but not fully used in many areas. Huawei has accumulated years of research and development on Massive MIMO and self-developed antennas in the 2.6GHz frequency band. In the 5G era, Huawei wakens the accumulated advantages with great power. Based on large bandwidth, flexible Numerology, Massive MIMO, and narrow-beam scanning technologies are used in 5G products. Therefore, both the vertical coverage and horizontal coverage are much better than that of 4G, and capacity is greatly improved. Huawei 2.6GHz NR gNB products and solutions activate large bandwidth advantages, farther, lay a solid foundation for the current and even future experience competitiveness of 2.6GHz spectrum.

Yang Chaobin, president of Huawei's 5G product line, said: "In the early stage of 5G network deployment, C-Band and 2.6GHz are undoubtedly the most mainstream frequency bands. The C-Band industry chain is gradually becoming mature under the joint efforts of all of us. Similarly, the industry chain of 2.6GHz needs to be promoted together. Huawei has completed the full testing of C-Band and 2.6GHz in China's 5G Technology R&D Trial, which demonstrates the strength of Huawei's end-to-end 5G products and solutions, and is also a Huawei’s substantial action for accelerating the maturity of the 5G industry chain."

In the past three years, Huawei has conducted a large number of 5G NR verification tasks under the organization of the IMT-2020(5G) Promotion Group in China. The lab and field tests of all 5G Sub6GHz mainstream frequency bands have been completed. The network performance in the NSA and SA architectures is greatly improved compared with 4G network. The test results are valuable for the global 5G tests and commercial deployment. In 2019, Huawei will continue to conduct extensive 5G trials with the IMT-2020 (5G) Promotion Group, including VoNR (Voice over New Radio), and terminal chip IOT (Interoperability test), prepare for 5G commercial trials and commercial scale in 2020.

This content extract was originally sourced from an external website (Huawei Corporate News) and is the copyright of the external website owner. TelecomTV is not responsible for the content of external websites. Legal Notices

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