NEC, BT and EE are teaming up with the University of Salford to undertake what they say as the most thorough testing yet into the performance of vital millimetre wave mobile backhaul technology for 4G and 5G networks.
With smaller cell sites set to play an integral role in meeting the capacity, latency and throughput requirements of future 4G and 5G networks, mobile backhaul is a growing challenge. To meet this challenge, NEC, BT and EE have teamed up to test the performance of V-band point-to-point mobile backhaul, using millimetre wave spectrum in the 60GHz band.
The test will focus largely on how these links may stand up to the rigours of the British weather. Using the University of Salford as a base, the companies have created a test bed to measure the performance of the V-band radio system over a 12-month period when exposed to rain, wind, fog and ice.
The University has installed a radio system complete with transceivers and antennas on the Newton Science and Engineering building and the Maxwell Building at its Peel Park Campus and will monitor transmissions at the test site from now until early 2018.
Stephen Walthew, Manager - Transport Networks at NEC Europe
The 60GHz connection has the opportunity to become the solution of choice for high capacity backhauling, so the more scientific evidence we can collect about its performance, the better we can make decisions about design and deployment.
Professor Andy Sutton, Principal Network Architect, BT
We are delighted to be cooperating with NEC and the University of Salford to validate the achievable network performance of this exciting technology in a real-world environment. "This is the most extensive testing we've ever undertaken.
