Successful next-generation New Radio tests mark progress

Visitors watch a live show of a 5G network trial test during the Mobile World Congress in Shanghai in June. [Photo provided to China Daily]

China Mobile Communications Corp, ZTE Corp and Qualcomm Inc have reached a milestone in the precommercialization of fifth-generation communication technologies, by successfully conducting the world's first end-to-end 5G New Radio technology test.

The trio announced in mid-November that they have completed an interoperability test based on the 5G New Radio specifications under development by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project, or 3GPP, an industry coalition dedicated to promoting global wireless communications standards.

The 3.5 gigahertz data connection, which was tested at China Mobile's 5G Joint Innovation Center, is set to accelerate the commercial application of 5G. It is made possible thanks to ZTE's precommercial base station and a 5G prototype developed by Qualcomm Technologies Inc, a unit of Qualcomm.

Cristiano Amon, executive vice-president at Qualcomm Technologies, said the test "is true testament to our 5G leadership, driving toward the timely launch of standards-compliant commercial networks".

According to the United States-based chip giant, the demonstration has achieved a connection that can support multi-gigabit peak data rates, while also maintaining a lower level of lag than current networks. Those features will make it an indispensable piece of the autonomous tech puzzle, particularly where that concerns self-driving vehicles.

Xiang Ligang, a telecoms expert and CEO of industry website Cctime, said although the test was conducted on the unfinalized version of 5G standards, it showed that Qualcomm and ZTE are well ahead of the competition in terms of being prepared to build 5G networks at scale.

"The first version of 5G standards is scheduled to come out around June 2018. But the big pieces are now about as ready as you can get, given drastic changes are unlikely this late in the standardization process," he said.

According to Xiang, the test shows that the trio can gain an advantage in addressing the ever-increasing number of devices featuring connectivity and the data-intense requirements of next-generation media streaming.

Xu Huijun, chief technology officer and executive vice-president of ZTE, said in a statement that the Chinese telecoms gear maker is aiming to become one of the first suppliers of commercial 5G equipment and solutions.

"During the course of 5G technology verification and product-based development, ZTE is actively verifying a multitude of key technologies, solutions and network models together with industry partners," Xu added.

Li Zhengmao, vice-president of China Mobile Communications, said: "China Mobile is committed to promoting unified global 5G standards with industry partners. The achievement of end-to-end 5G New Radio interoperable connection testing, compliant with the 3GPP 5G New Radio standards, is an important milestone of 5G standards for precommercialization."