ZTE and China Telecom: 5G network test on a high speed train; Uplink enhancement FAST verification
5G network test on a high speed train:
ZTE and China Telecom have jointly launched the world’s first commercial 5G maglev (magnetic levitation) high-speed network test in Shanghai, China. The test measured communications within a train travelling at a maximum speed of 500KM/h. During the test, the 5G commercial terminal was stable and easy to support various high performance mobile broadband services, demonstrating that the 5G network can provide high-speed maglev trains with ideal broadband communications.
Shanghai Maglev is the world’s first maglev line for commercial operation and at present it is also the fastest commercial high-speed train. It has been a business card for Shanghai and even for China since its operation. Built by China Telecom and ZTE together, the 5G network uses a full set of ZTE 5G system equipment, perfectly enabling passengers to get high-speed data access on a quick journey and enjoy services like mobile working, video conferencing, HD/UHD video or interactive games, ensuring a brand-new communication experience.
Due to special scenario restrictions, providing high-quality network coverage for high-speed trains has always been a challenge for both operators and equipment vendors. When a 5G network is deployed in a higher frequency than 2G, 3G and 4G networks, the situation will be even less ideal. To solve these problems, ZTE and China Telecom have made breakthroughs in multiple aspects by constantly challenging the technical limits through technological discussions and tests. With proprietary doppler frequency shift channel compensation technology, wireless channel deterioration caused by high-speed movement is eliminated. The solution can support a moving speed of over 500 KM/h, meeting the speed requirements of various high-speed trains. Besides, Multi-RRU (Remote Radio Unit) combination can realize single cell 6-12km belt shape coverage, reduce 90 percent of inter-cell handover and ensure continuous and stable access. Compared with the traditional 2T2R solution, ZTE is the first to introduce 8T8R RRU for high-speed railway coverage in the 5G industry. Multi-channel equipment, combined with 5G featured channels and beam scanning technology, can enhance the coverage significantly. It is also worth mentioning that the solution is implemented through technical innovation at the base station network side and has no special requirements for terminals.
The 5G network solution used for the Shanghai Maglev line can provide a complete set of network equipment for HSR (High Speed Rail) broadband communication. The radio units can support global mainstream 5G bands like N41 and N78. The top speed of Shanghai Maglev train is the highest among commercial trains in the world, which implies that this 5G network solution can be applied to various high-speed railways and maglev lines worldwide and has great market potential.
Over the years, ZTE and China Telecom have jointly provided broadband information channels for high-speed rail transit. LTE coverage has been deployed for multiple high-speed railway lines, which was highly appraised by users. Going forward, the two parties will continue to optimize the commercial performance of the 5G networks and steadily promote tests and verification according to specific service characteristics to facilitate ubiquitous high-speed broadband access.
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Uplink enhancement FAST verification:
On November 27th, ZTE announced a partnership with China Telecom to complete the verification of the industry’s first FAST (FDD Assists Super TDD) solution at 2.1GHz and 3.5GHz in Shenzhen, China. Based on China Telecom’s uplink enhancement technology, this solution enables spectrum to reach its full potential by integrating time and frequency domains and constructing high-quality 5G networks with excellent performance and coverage.
Editor’s Note: FDD=Frequency Division Duplexing; TDD= Time Division Duplexing
China Telecom’s innovation of the “uplink enhancement” concept enhances the 5G uplink by using low frequency bands, such as 1.8GHz and 2.1GHz, to improve 5G network coverage and performance. For China Telecom’s existing 2.1GHz FDD and 3.5GHz TDD bands, ZTE and China Telecom has launched the uplink enhancement FAST (FDD Assists Super TDD) solution.
Based on the complementary qualities of TDD and FDD, in 3.5GHz weak uplink area, the terminal can transmit data at a high speed based on the 2.1 GHz frequency band. In addition, it can continue to make use of the advantages of 3.5GHz in bandwidth and large-scale array antennas to benefit from the downlink ultra-high rate.
In other areas with quality 3.5GHz coverage, the potential of 2.1GHz and 3.5GHz frequency bands can be fully utilized. This enables the terminal to transmit uplink data, in conventional UL CA mode, via three channels on two frequency bands at the same time. In the time domain, all the uplink frequency bands of FDD are fully utilized.
In addition, by deeply analyzing the features of frequency division duplex at 2.1GHz and time division duplex at 3.5GHz, the innovative CA with transmission mode switching in time domain, is based on multiple uplink carriers for time division transmission. This makes the full use of downlink timeslot resources.
To make the most effective use of the uplink resources of TDD and FDD, the terminals that only support two Tx-channel transmissions can flexibly switch between two channels of NR 3.5GHz and one channel of FDD 2.1GHz. At the same time, the downlink throughput can be improved in the FDD and TDD band aggregation mode, so that the best performance can be obtained in the uplink and downlink directions in the complicated wireless environment.
The test shows that, the uplink rate of a single user can be up to 40% higher than that of a single carrier (3.5GHz) when time division multiplexing (CA) is used. When conventional UL CA is used, the maximum increase of the single-user uplink rate is 60%. In addition, through high and low-frequency aggregation, the downlink user experience rate in both conditions can be increased by 20%, compared with a 3.5GHz single carrier.
In the future, ZTE will continue to partner with China Telecom to explore the application of new 5G technologies and functions in commercial networks, improve network quality, build 4G and 5G top-quality networks and provide better network services.
ZTE is a provider of advanced telecommunications systems, mobile devices, and enterprise technology solutions to consumers, operators, companies and public sector customers. As a part of ZTE’s strategy, the company is committed to providing customers with integrated end-to-end innovations to deliver excellence and values as the telecommunications and information technology sectors converge. Listed in the stock exchanges of Hong Kong and Shenzhen (H share stock code: 0763.HK / A share stock code: 000063.SZ), ZTE sells its products and services in more than 160 countries.
To date, ZTE has obtained 35 commercial 5G contracts in major markets, such as Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa (MEA). ZTE commits 10 percent of its annual revenues to research and development and takes leadership roles in international standard-setting organizations.
References:
https://www.zte.com.cn/global/about/news/20191129e1.html
https://www.zte.com.cn/global/about/news/20191127e1.html
ZTE, China Telecom and China Unicom complete 5G co-build, co-share verification
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Qualcomm, ZTE achieve 5G landmark with voice over NR call
Monday 6 January 2020 | 17:41 CET | News
Qualcomm Technologies and ZTE together achieved 5G-enabled Voice over New Radio call in December 2019. The call was performed in compliance with 3GPP Release 15 specifications over the 2.5 GHz spectrum band (n41) by using a ZTE’s 5G NR base station and a 5G smartphone form factor test device powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 5G Modem-RF System.
Voice services are a fundamental offering for mobile operators, and when performed using a 5G network, it is called Voice over New Radio (VoNR). The ability to complete VoNR calls will be an important step in the global mobile industry’s evolution from non-standalone to standalone, as it will allow operators to deliver high-quality voice service without having to rely on VoLTE (voice over LTE) or an LTE anchor.
The 5G VoNR call is the latest in a line of milestones completed by Qualcomm Technologies and ZTE in their ongoing collaboration to support the evolution of 5G. Previously, collaboration between the two companies produced the world’s first 5G NR Interoperability Data Testing (IoDT) system demonstrating a data connection based on 3GPP R15 standard in November 2017 in China. In addition, the companies completed a live demonstration of 5G network services based on an sub-6GHz commercial system in February 2019 in China. More recently, Qualcomm Technologies and ZTE completed the first 5G mobile phone millimeter-wave interoperability test in the country.
Which customer environment needs to exist to make effective use of 5G on a high speed train? Why isn’t WiFi in the train good enough?
March 15, 2020:
Beijing has put 26,000 5G base stations into operation, with 5G users reaching about 800,000, according to the Beijing Municipal Communications Administration.
Beijing municipal government rolled out policies in the past year to support the telecom industry by slashing the expenses in carrying out 5G infrastructure construction, said the administration in a statement.
According to a report compiled by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, the 5G commercialization in China is expected to generate a direct gross output of 10.6 trillion yuan (about 1.51 trillion U.S. dollars) from 2020 to 2025, plus an indirect gross output of about 24.8 trillion yuan.
Given the complexity of the current epidemic control and the economic development, it is an important and pressing task to expedite the development of 5G technology, said Chen Zhaoxiong, vice minister of Industry and Information Technology, recently.
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-03/15/c_138880135.htm
China Telecom, which has 10.73 million 5G subscribers, expects to spend 45.3 billion yuan ($6.4 billion) on 5G in 2020 – up from a thrifty RMB9.3 billion ($1.3 billion) last year.
In its 2019 full-year results presentation, China Telecom said last year 5G comprised just 12% of its total capex of RMB77.6 billion ($11 billion). This year it is boosting total capital spending to RMB85 billion ($12 billion), of which 5G will account for 53%.
“The company will push forward 5G network construction on all fronts,” said Chairman and CEO Ke Ruiwen.
The company says it has already seen an uptick in ARPU from its 5G customers of around 10%, to RMB91.9 ($13). Each subscriber is consuming 13.2GB of data each month.
It says it is aiming for a “5G-scale breakthrough” this year, targeting an additional 60–80 million subscribers.
It built 40,000 5G basestations and co-shared another 20,000 with China Unicom in 2019, covering 50 cities under a network-sharing arrangement.
As with rivals China Mobile and China Unicom, China Telecom’s 2019 numbers show some modest gains against a backdrop of zero growth. (See China Mobile reports 15.4M 5G customers and China Unicom boosts earnings but sales remain flat.)
Ke said the company had “capitalized firmly on the invaluable opportunities arising from the digital transformation of the economy and society, as well as 5G commercialization.”
It posted a 3.3% fall in net profit to RMB20.5 billion ($2.9 billion) on flat operating revenues of RM375.73 billion ($53.2 billion).
Service revenue improved 2%, including a 4.7% bump in mobile services, but the wireline business shrank by 0.4%. The information and application services segment, which includes cloud, data center and IoT, grew 5% and now accounts for 23% of operating revenues.
https://www.lightreading.com/asia/china-telecom-plans-5x-boost-in-5g-capex/d/d-id/758426?