Qualcomm Technologies and ZTE last week announced that, to support the testing needs of the IMT-2020 (5G) promotion group for 200MHz carrier bandwidth over 5G mmWave, the companies successfully showcased features required in anticipation of 5G mmWave rollouts in China.
The tests were completed using a smartphone form-factor test device powered by the flagship Snapdragon X65 Modem-RF System, and ZTE mmWave AAU network infrastructure equipment. This marks the first connection in China using 5G NR standalone Dual-Connectivity (NR-DC, or FR1+FR2 DC) with one 200 MHz carriers in the 26 GHz (n258) mmWave band, along with one 100 MHz carrier in the 3.5 GHz (n78) band, achieving a peak downlink speed of over 2.43 Gbps using a single device.
In the tests the companies also achieved a peak downlink speed of over 5 Gbps using a single device using carrier aggregation with four 200MHz carriers in the 26 GHz (n258) mmWave band and successfully tested two 200 MHz mmWave carriers on the uplink. The use of standalone (SA) that uses a 5G Core (5GC) network allows for capabilities such as network slicing and lower latency.
5G mmWave is a key aspect of the 5G global standard. It allows mobile operators to use vast spectrum resources in bands above 24 GHz to deliver massive network capacity and extreme multi-Gigabit performance – up to 10 Gbps with the Snapdragon X65 that is important to help operators meet everyday data demands – in industrial, enterprise and consumer scenarios. Whether it is enabling collaboration with colleagues using cloud-based applications, allowing for a smooth video meeting from a crowded train station, supporting professional live TV video transmissions, connecting machinery and sensors in a manufacturing plant, or providing scalable processing power and storage in the office – superior everyday experiences are built on 5G mmWave. In fact, analysis from GSMA Intelligence in 2021 shows that 5G mmWave and sub-6 deployments are more cost-effective than sub-6 only in a variety of scenarios including dense urban and enterprise settings.
Yan Chenwei, Senior Vice President, Product Management, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc
Qualcomm Technologies has been at the forefront of 5G mmWave commercialization and we are excited to see the benefits of this revolutionary technology in enabling new use cases and opportunities for the mobile ecosystem in China.
Tang Xue, Vice General Manager of RAN Product, ZTE Corporation
We’re pleased to work with Qualcomm Technologies to achieve this milestone, which lays a technology validation foundation for 5G mmWave commercialization. With broader 5G opportunities enabled by mmWave, we will join hands with partners to continuously drive mmWave development, create ultimate experiences and usher in a wonderful 5G era.
