Qualcomm, ZTE Achieve Landmark 5G mmWave Results

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Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and ZTE 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 carrier 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 employing 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.

“China has been pushing ahead with 5G development on a stable track, and mmWave will be a key focus of 5G in the future,” said Wen Ku, Vice Chairman of the Council and Secretary General, China Communications Standards Association (CCSA). “For the next step of 5G, we should fully leverage the advantages of 5G mmWave technology to unlock higher benefits and empower a digital, intelligent society. CCSA will support and advance the development of mmWave technology for enhanced 5G network experiences in China.”

“This latest milestone with ZTE underscores important progress towards 5G mmWave commercialization in China to unleash the full potential of 5G and drive mmWave adoption globally,” said 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.”

“As a component of ‘New Infrastructure’, mmWave is one of important means for the communications industry to meet the network capability requirement for use cases in key sectors. We’re pleased to work with Qualcomm Technologies to achieve this milestone, which lays a technology validation foundation for 5G mmWave commercialization,” said Tang Xue, Vice General Manager of RAN Product, ZTE Corporation. “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.”

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. The global 5G mmWave ecosystem is now mature, with more than 120 5G mmWave commercial and pre-commercial devices supporting the technology including smartphones, PCs, hotspots, modules and customer premise equipment (CPE), according to GSA.

5G mmWave commercial deployment keeps gaining momentum. There are commercial 5G mmWave deployments in the United States and Japan. Commercial 5G mmWave networks are also live in Australia, Southeast Asia and Europe. China is conducting 5G mmWave end-to-end tests to accelerate the maturity of technology and product, which enables the industry to pave the way for 5G mmWave commercialization.