OpenVault: Broadband Internet Usage Accelerated in 2018

Executive Summary:

U.S. households consumed an average of 268.7 gigabytes (GB) of data in 2018, up from 201.6 GB for 2017, according to a new report about U.S. household broadband data consumption from OpenVault, a provider of data consumption and analytics software. Median usage was 145.2 GB per household in 2018, up from 103.6 GB in 2017. The increase in average consumption was 33.3% and the increase in median consumption was 40%.

Open Vault attributed the different growth rates to growing consumption across service providers’ entire subscriber bases, rather than growth only among heavy users.  Their year end 2018 data showed that:

U.S. Household Broadband Data Consumption:

  • Average usage for households with flat-rate pricing was 282.1 GB per household, which was more than 9% higher than the 258.2GB average usage for households on usage-based billing (UBB) plans.  Average usage for all households was 268.7GB/HH in 2018, up from 226.4GB/HH at the end of June 2018 and a 33.3% increase over the YE 2017 average of 201.6GB/HH.
  • Median usage was 145.2GB/HH in 2018, up from 116.4GB/HH in June 2018 and a 40% increase over the YE 2017 median of 103.6GB/HH.
  • The percentage of flat-rate (non-UBB) households exceeding 1 terabyte (TB) of usage was 4.82%, a full percentage point higher than the 3.81% of UBB households that exceeded the 1 TB threshold.
  • The percentage of households using 1TB or more almost doubled in 2018, rising to 4.12% of all households from 2.11% in 2017, while the percentage of households exceeding 250 GB rose to 36.4% from 28.4% during the same time frame.

In addition to analyzing trends in broadband consumption, OpenVault also tracked expansion within the US consumer device landscape, observing a 5.3% increase in connected devices when comparing the week after Christmas with the week before Christmas. While Amazon, Samsung and Apple collectively accounted for the majority of the growth, the 15.6% rate of increase for Amazon devices was significantly higher than the rates of growth for Samsung (4.1%) and Apple (2.9%).

“As connected devices, streaming services and broadband speeds increase, service providers need an alternative to infrastructure upgrades that would enable them to keep up with demand,” said Josh Barstow, Open Vault executive vice president of corporate strategy and business development, in a prepared statement about the U.S. household broadband data consumption research. “Our analysis makes it clear that usage-based billing is among the most effective tools the industry has in managing consumption and reducing the need for massive capital expenditures.”

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Internet users by world region

3GPP RAN WG meeting in Taiwan: January 21 – 25, 2019: NTT DOCOMO’s URLLC Use Cases

3GPP RAN WG meeting in Taiwan: January 21 – 25, 2019:

A five-day working group meeting of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) RAN WG opened in Taiwan on Monday January 21, 2019, with 459 registered delegates attending.   The goal of the meeting is to progress 3GPP Release 16 which will include an important IMT 2020 Use Case:  Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communications (URLLC).  I counted over a dozen contributions on the URLLC topic at this 3GPP meeting’s document list which can be accessed here.

Services for latency sensitive devices for applications like factory automation, autonomous driving, and remote surgery. These applications require sub-millisecond latency with error rates that are lower than 1 packet loss in 10⁵ packets [ITU-R M.2410.0]. New techniques need to be devised to meet the stringent latency and reliability requirements for URLLC.

 

An interesting 3GPP RAN meeting contribution on Views and evaluations for URLLC scenarios by Kazuaki Takeda of NTT DOCOMO will be presented this week.  In that contribution, NTT DOCOMO selected the following cases for evaluation:

Case Use-case Reliability Latency Data packet size and traffic model Description
1 Factory automation

@ 30GHz

99.9999 (%) 2ms for end-to-end

1ms for air-interface

DL & UL: 32 bytes

Periodic and deterministic traffic model with data arrival interval 2ms

Motion control
2 Factory automation

@ 4GHz

99.9999 (%) 2ms for end-to-end

1ms for air-interface

DL & UL: 32 bytes

Periodic and deterministic traffic model with data arrival interval 2ms

Motion control
3 Rel.15 enabled use-case in indoor hotspot

@ 4GHz

99.9 (%) 7ms for air-interface DL & UL: 4096 bytes

FTP model 3

AR/VR
4 Rel.15 enabled use-case in urban macro

@ 4GHz

99.999 (%) 1ms for air-interface DL & UL: 32 bytes

FTP model 3

Sporadic traffic
5 Power distribution

@ 700MHz

UL/DL SINR CDF only

 

There are high interests on supporting industrial IoT type of services at local area using carrier frequencies of around 4GHz and 30GHz [2]. It would be possible to evaluate NR performance in this type of scenario by simulating case 1, case 2, and case 3. For AR/VR type of services in a specific local area, it is not sure whether all the packets should be delivered as URLLC packets, or some specific type of packets (e.g., control packet) for AR/VR service should only be delivered as URLLC packets (i.e., other types of packets for AR/VR service can be delivered as eMBB). The simple way is to treat all the packets as URLLC packets as the evaluation assumption. Case 3 can be viewed as representing such situation. For emergency type of services in wide area, it can be represented by case 4. As the case 5, we partly evaluate the wide area performance at 700MHz.

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Taiwan 5G Commercialization Summit

In conjunction with the referenced 3GPP working group meeting, the Taiwan 5G Commercialization Summit organized by Taiwanese entities was also held in Taipei on Monday, January 21st.  The organizers of the Taiwan 5G summit were: MediaTek, Chunghwa Telecom, the Taiwan Association of Information and Communications Standards, and the 5G Office of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA). Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), the head of iPhone assembler Pegatron Corp and a private sector group advising the government’s national innovation/new economy task force, said 5G technology is expected to drive sophisticated applications of the future such as smart medical care and the Internet of Vehicles.  Many of those new applications will require URLLC.

Mr. Tung urged the Taiwan government to update regulations to meet the needs of a fast-changing telecom environment and prevent Taiwan from lagging behind other countries in 5G development.  As long as Taiwan is successful in 5G development, it will create major commercial opportunities for the local Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector, he added.

Since January 2018, Chunghwa Telecom has teamed up with the MOEA’s 5G Office, and the government-sponsored Institute for Information Industry (III) and Industrial Technology Research Institute in a 5G development alliance.

ZTE makes prototype smartphone call on China Unicom’s trial 5G network vs Huawei’s 5G NR @ 2.6GHz?

ZTE, which recently completed the 3rd phase of CMIIT IMT-2020 5G core network tests, just  announced it made the a 5G mobile call using its 5G prototype smartphone on the Guangdong branch of China Unicom’s trial 5G network in Shenzhen, China.  The trial was conducted in collaboration with China Unicom and involved placing a 3GPP Release 15 compliant New Radio (NR) non-standalone (NSA) mobile call using the prototype smartphone.  It used ZTE’s 5G end-to-end solution, including radio access network, core network, transport network and prototype device.   In addition to demonstrating a 5G call, the test verified key 5G technologies including Massive MIMO, 5G NR, non-standalone (NSA) dual connectivity, FlexE transport technology and 5G common core architecture (defined by who?).

 ZTE says “the future 5G system should be a unified network adaptable to different scenarios.”

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“ZTE’s 5G solution has passed the end-to-end test in the three months after the release of the 3GPP Rel-15,” ZTE said in a statement.  “It showcases ZTE’s strong competency in 5G R&D and commercialization, demonstrating ZTE’s role as a reliable partner to global 5G operators and a key player in the 5G industry.”

Last year, ZTE announced a series of new-generation 5G base stations. The Chinese telecom and mobile phone vendor said that the new generation of 5G high/low frequency Active Antenna Unit (AAU) base stations support 3GPP release 15 “5G NR” NSA specification for the data plane.  The latest ZTE base stations combine the radio and antenna parts.  It is capable of integrating multiple frequency bands, which create what is known as the “AAU solution.” AAU supports 5G functions such as Massive MIMO and Beamforming.

Meanwhile, Huawei says it completed a 5G New Radio (NR) trial in the 2.6 GHz spectrum band.  Huawei said 2.6 GHz is one of the “excellent choices for operators to deploy 5G NSA/SA commercial network.”  The company noted that 2.6 GHz is an “abundant spectrum resource around the world, but not fully used in many areas.”  Huawei’s tests in the 2.6 GHz band follows earlier trials in the 3.5 GHz and 4.9 GHz bands.

The two Chinese telecom vendors are vying to take the lead in 5G testing under the jurisdiction of China’s IMT-2020 (5G) Promotion Group, which was established in 2013 as China’s platform to promote 5G research in that country. The 5G R&D trial established three separate phases for verifying a 5G solution: key technologies, technical solutions, and system networking.

References:

https://www.zte.com.cn/global/about/press-center/news/201901/20190118

https://www.zte.com.cn/china/topics/zte-5g-en/index.html

https://www.sdxcentral.com/articles/news/huawei-takes-5g-supremacy-shot-at-zte/2019/01/

https://techblog.comsoc.org/tag/chinas-imt-2020-promotion-group/

ATIS endorses 3GPP IMT 2020 RIT submission to ITU-R WP 5D; sees no need for separate LMLC India national option

IMT-2020/VVV: “Process, use of the Global Core Specification (GCS), references, and related certifications in conjunction with Recommendation ITU-R M.[IMT 2020.SPECS]”

From Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS):     ATIS Insights

The 3GPP candidate radio-interface technology (RIT) for IMT-2020 (or 5G as it is known commercially) has demonstrated via the current in-progress submissions (including initial self‑evaluations to ITU-R WP 5D) that it is capable of meeting and, in fact, exceeding the requirements and evaluation criteria of IMT-2020 as expressed in Reports ITU-R M.2410 (requirements), ITU-R M.2411 (submission), and ITU-R M.2412 (evaluation), which were published in November 2017. It is widely anticipated that the 3GPP specifications in Release 15 and Release 16 will meet the futuristic vision of IMT-2020, as expressed in Recommendation ITU-R M.2083 for both developed and developing countries.

One national need (expressed by India) was for capabilities to permit low mobility large cell (LMLC) deployments. This need was, in fact, part of the submissions to WP 5D in 2016 and 2017, which drove the ITU-R Performance requirements, the ITU-R evaluation criteria/scenarios and hence the 3GPP specifications in Release 15 to be suitably modified to accommodate LMLC needs, thus illustrating the success of working within the framework of the current 3GPP process. Additionally, through the use of the established process, currently familiar to the entire ITU membership, a “national need” was recognized to actually be a global need in both ITU and in 3GPP. As such, the added technical capability can take advantage of the economies of scale afforded to a global marketplace. It is further noted that in technical submissions so far received by ITU-R WP 5D from 3GPP that this requirement for LMLC is indeed satisfied by the 3GPP technology capabilities already included in Release 15 published in September 2018.

Conclusions:
ATIS urges that ITU-R Members, relevant external organizations, and others work within the established ITU-R IMT process and within the process established in the respective external organizations engaged in the development of IMT (and 5G) in order to ensure that IMT remains a unified and global technology with strong industry and governmental support. Only in this way, avoiding the division of the technical underpinnings, permits taking full advantage of the economies of scale to permit IMT-2020 to be available to the widest extent to ensure a globally-connected society at all strata, addressing both business and societal needs, while ensuring that IMT is technically capable of continuing global interoperability and roaming. The entire wireless industry and wireless user community will benefit from a single global standard; fragmentation of the standard reduces the benefits of a global ecosystem and diminishes the ITU IMT-2020 vision.
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It will be very interesting to see how India’s TSDSI delegation to ITU-R WP 5D responds to this ATIS contribution.

India’s TSDSI Backgrounder: 

Global Activities of Telecommunications Standards Development Society India (TSDSI):
a) ITU-R:
TSDSI members’ proposal on Low Mobility Large Cell (LMLC) configuration has been included as a mandatory test configuration under the Rural eMBB test environment in IMT 2020 Technical Performance Requirements (TPR) in ITU-R with an enhanced Inter Sire Distance (ISD) of 6 km. Incorporation of LMLC in IMT2020 will help address the requirements of typical Indian Rural settings and will be a key enabler for bridging the rural-urban divide with 5G rollouts.

TSDSI’s initial proposal on candidate Radio Interface technology (RIT/SRIT) for IMT 2020 technologies, related to improving coverage and spectral efficiency performance, has been accepted in the WP 5D meeting #30 held in Cancun Mexico.

https://tsdsi.in/tsdsis-initial-proposal-on-candidate-rit-srit-for-imt-2020-accepted/

b) 3GPP:
TSDSI is Organizational Partner of 3GPP along with six other Regional Standardisation bodies. This entitles TSDSI members to become individual members of 3GPP through TSDSI and to take their IP into the global arena. Membership of 3GPP enables members to contribute in the development of upcoming standards such as 5G.

References:

Telecommunications Standards Development Society, India

Making India 5G Ready

Singtel, Ericsson and Singapore Polytechnic launch “5G Garage”

Singapore network operator Singtel has opened Singapore’s first live 5G facility in conjunction with Ericsson and Singapore Polytechnic.  The 5G facility at Singapore Polytechnic’s Dover Road campus is named “5G Garage.” It is connected to Singapore’s pilot 5G network using the 3.5-GHz spectrum allocated by regulator IMDA for 5G trials.  5G Garage will serve as a training center, test bed and idea creation lab to develop Singapore’s 5G ecosystem.

The strategic objectives are:

• Build and operate a 5G facility where enterprises can develop and test 5G solutions
• Co-develop 5G solutions relevant to industries such as transportation, logistics, healthcare and manufacturing
• Develop and deliver 5G wireless technology curriculum for the SP’s School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
• Develop 5G capabilities of our workforce

Mark Chong, Group Chief Technology Officer, Singtel, said, “Singtel is pleased to partner Ericsson and SP on our 5G Garage initiative. As Singapore advances its digital economy and becomes a Smart Nation, the benefits of 5G will first be seen in enterprises, especially in their digital transformation when they integrate technology into their processes, services and products. With 5G standards largely established (????), now is an opportune time for SMEs and enterprises to join us in shaping our 5G future.”

“As Singapore advances its digital economy and becomes a Smart Nation, the benefits of 5G will first be seen in enterprises, especially in their digital transformation when they integrate technology into their processes, services and products,” Chong added.

Martin Wiktorin, Country Manager Singapore, Brunei and the Philippines, Ericsson, states: “5G has the potential to transform industries and bring enhanced mobile broadband experience for consumers. At Ericsson, we are already collaborating globally with 42 operators, 45 institutes and 31 industry partners, to create a thriving 5G ecosystem. We are delighted to partner Singtel and Singapore Polytechnic towards the setting up of the 5G Garage, which we hope will stimulate SP students to come up with new 5G use cases.”

Enterprises will be able to use the facility to develop and test 5G solutions, and the three parties plan to co-develop 5G solutions for industries ranging from transport and logistics to healthcare to manufacturing.  As part of the collaboration, around 250 final year students from the polytechnic’s Diploma in Electrical & Electronic Engineering and Diploma in Computer Engineering will integrate 5G education and training into their coursework.  Students in Singtel’s Engineering Cadet Scholarship Program will be given the opportunity to take up internships in the 5G garage.

5G Garage is the latest project in Singtel and Ericsson’s 5G Centre of Excellence programme which focuses on upgrading of employees’ skills, technology demonstrations, live field trials and collaborations with educational institutions. Last November, Singtel and Ericsson made Singapore’s first 5G data call over their 5G pilot network at one-north.

Reference:

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Addendum:

“The 5G Garage will be an exciting place where SP staff and students will work alongside Singtel, Ericsson and their partners to research and experiment with 5G technology, conduct 5G use case trials, and develop innovative 5G solutions and applications for businesses and industry,” said SP’s principal and chief executive, Mr Soh Wai Wah.

Out of more than 80 final-year projects developed by around 300 SP engineering students, three were chosen with potential for 5G Garage: an autonomous surveillance system that uses drones; a self-driving vehicle that can send real-time videos of the traffic situation to the cloud for data analysis and “intelligent” decision-making; and a pipe-climbing robot that uses magnetic wheels to attach itself onto metal structures and can provide a live feed of its surroundings via a mobile app.

Mr Mark Chong, Singtel group chief technology officer, said the engineering students demonstrated their capability to develop engineering solutions and help enterprises.

“The benefits of 5G will first be seen in enterprises, especially in their digital transformation when they integrate technology into their processes, services and products. With 5G standards largely established, now is an opportune time for SMEs and enterprises to join us in shaping our 5G future,” he said.

Infocomm Media Development Authority chief executive Tan Kiat How, the guest of honour at the event, said 5G will be an integral part of Singapore’s infrastructure. He said: “Apart from improved network speed and capacity, 5G’s significantly lower latency will allow us to maximize the potential of IoT (Internet of things) and smart city applications. These include autonomous vehicles, robotics or smart lamp posts.”

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/singtel-ericsson-spore-poly-set-up-5g-testing-centre

Gartner strategic roadmap for networking

Strategic Roadmap for Networking: Future State, Current State, Gap Analysis and Migration Plan

The future-state network is an aspirational view of how enterprise network architectures should evolve to meet emerging business requirements and align more closely to critical business objectives.

The primary external forces driving network change are the adoption of digital business and the concept of “digital to the core.” This will result in increased adoption and investments in hybrid-cloud-based infrastructure, platform and application services to meet dynamic business requirements, and a greater focus on always-on service delivery to clients. Digital to the core will also drive IoT deployments to richer, more complex business models and processes, which will compound the pressure of increasing user expectations for consistently strong network performance, quality, reliability and security. This is overlaid with the fact that we anticipate increased pressure from the business to maintain flat networking budgets.

As expectations of greater network dynamism become the norm, network service providers will also follow suit with rapid delivery of new enterprise network services. These will be delivered through network function virtualization (NFV) capabilities, deployed on customer-located vCPE platforms, or within the service planning network, in next-generation, Central Office Re-architected as a Datacenter (CORD)-based architectures. We will see a continued trend to leverage software-based, virtualized network solutions deployed with enterprise networks — as xSP services and available as over-the-top (OTT) services from a growing number of players.

After decades of focusing on speed, network performance and features, future network innovation will target operational simplicity and business models that closely align with elastic cloud-based services. These services are becoming more prevalent in — and demanded by — organizations with strong digital transformation agendas. The evaluation of networking technology within the most successful enterprises will balance between functional, financial and operational requirements. Understanding when “good enough” is actually good enough will be critical to architecting networks that are ready for digital business.

Gartner Group: Enterprise WAN Recommendations & Predictions

Five Predicts to Create a Better Enterprise Network

Key Findings:

  • As enterprises increasingly rely on the internet for WAN connectivity, they are challenged by the unpredictable nature of internet services.
  • Enterprises seeking more agile WAN services continue to be blocked by network service providers’ terms and conditions.
  • Enterprises seeking more agile network solutions continue to be hampered by manual processes and cultural resistance.
  • Enterprise’s moving applications to public cloud services frequently struggle with application performance issue

Recommendations:

IT leaders responsible for infrastructure agility should:

  • Reduce the business impact of internet downtime by deploying redundant WAN connectivity such as hybrid WAN for business-critical activities.
  • Improve WAN service agility by negotiating total contractual spend instead of monthly or annual spend.
  • Improve agility of internal network solutions by introducing automation of all operations using a step-wise approach.
  • Ensure the performance of cloud-based applications by using carriers’ cloud connect services instead of unpredictable internet services.
  • Improve alignment between business objectives and network solutions by selectively deploying intent-based network solutions.

https://www.gartner.com/document/3837967?ref=solrAll&refval=214376480&qid=34247aea1a93a7c1348f772a6c3e155a

NEC Demo’s Face Recognition Using MEC to NTT DOCOMO 5G Open Lab

NEC has completed a proof-of-concept demonstration of a 5G-based facial recognition system that can be temporarily deployed at event venues without the need for new cable installation.  The prototype system was tested at NTT Docomo’s 5G Open Lab in Okinawa as part of the operator’s 5G Open Partner Program, which seeks to encourage the creation of new 5G use cases.  The system utilizes 5G and mobile edge computing (MEC) technologies to enable instant face recognition using mobile networks.

In order to optimize bandwidth, monitoring cameras can stream low definition images when people are not detected, and high definition images when certain behaviors are detected.  The demo system consists of NEC’s face recognition AI engine NeoFace, Image Analysis and Behavior Detection System and Context-aware Service Controller solutions. They are installed on MEC servers and connected through a virtualized evolved packet core.

“NEC will continue to develop and offer a variety of solutions as a top vendor of domestic mobile core networks in the 5G era and to contribute to the expansion of the DOCOMO 5G Open Partner Program, while taking advantage of our experience and knowhow,” NEC GM for network solutions Kazuhiro Tagawa said.

Face Recognition

This announcement includes part of the results of a research project “Research and development for the achievement of a fifth-generation mobile communication system – Research and development of high-speed and low-power consumption wireless access technology utilizing a super multi element antenna with high-frequency and large bandwidth” commissioned by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.

The NTT DOCOMO 5G Open Lab OKINAWA provides charge free technical verification environments, including 5G base stations, for companies and groups participating in the DOCOMO 5G Open Partner Program. The lab aims at creation of new use cases for 5G, promotion of local industries and resolution of social issues in Okinawa. NEC has provided 5G base stations utilizing 4.5 GHz frequency band to this lab.

References:

https://www.acnnewswire.com/press-release/english/49108/

https://www.nec.com/en/global/solutions/safety/face_recognition/index.html

NEC Contact:  Seiichiro Toda [email protected] +81-3-3798-6511

KDDI, Samsung: 28GHz surveillance video call on train platform using 5G base station

Samsung Electronics and KDDI have completed a test using 28 GHz to transmit 4K ultrahigh-definition (UHD) surveillance video on a train platform in Tokyo, Japan.  The demonstration was conducted between Nov. 21 and Dec. 21 2018 at the Haneda Airport International Terminal in Ota, Tokyo. Along with Waseda University, Keihin Corporation and Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International (ATR), Samsung said it was able to demonstrate effective communications through 4K UHD video using a 5G base station.   Samsung’s 5G solutions were used to conduct the demonstration. KDDI was responsible for assessing and designing the 5G test environment at the train station, which was provided by Keikyu Corporation, while Waseda University provided the monitoring system, VR goggles and video evaluation.

Last year, KDDI and Samsung showed how they were able to download an 8K video via the CPE installed onboard a moving train.  This latest accomplishment demonstrates how 5G can be used to increase train passenger safety. The companies say that collecting and analyzing 4K UHD videos in real time will remove some of the burdens from the staff in charge of constantly monitoring footage. It also helps them in detecting dangers in advance and improving overall safety.

During the demonstration, the video files collected from both 4K security cameras and security robots patrolling the station were sent via tablets using 5G, according to a press release. The files were then received by the base station to be displayed on the monitor and virtual reality (VR) goggles in the monitoring room. Detecting any suspicious people or objects at the station was made possible through collecting and analyzing the received 4K files shown on the server.

The demo used Samsung’s 5G solution, and KDDI was responsible for assessing and designing the 5G test environment at the train station, which was provided by Keikyu. Waseda University provided the monitoring system, VR goggles and video evaluation.

Separately, another 5G demo involving KDDI and Samsung was conducted at an elementary school, where they compared the differences between 5G tablets and Wi-Fi tablets in their ability to download and play back videos.

A gym at Maehara Elementary School in Tokyo was set up with Samsung’s 5G network at 28 GHz to enable UHD videos. They also worked with the ATR.

The students were given a chance to create their own videos and experience high-speed and large capacity transmission of large video files. At the same time, they verified the capabilities of 5G for this type of use case. KDDI was responsible for assessing and designing the 5G areas used in the trial, and ATR provided the testing infrastructure.

References:

https://news.samsung.com/global/samsung-and-kddi-demonstrate-real-time-4k-video-communication-powered-by-5g-at-a-japanese-train-station

https://www.fiercewireless.com/wireless/samsung-kddi-use-28-ghz-for-4k-surveillance-video-trial-train-platform

 

Posted in Uncategorized Tagged

Wireless Backhaul Breakthrough: 40G bps & sub 1 usec Latency; 5G NR Call on 2.6 GHz

Ericsson announced on Friday that it has teamed with Deutsche Telekom to demonstrate a 40 Gbps mmWave wireless transmission link with sub 100-microsecond latency.

Ericsson said the test took place at the Deutsche Telekom Service Center in Athens. The test used millimeter wave (E-band) spectrum for transmission over a distance of 1.4 kilometers.  The round-trip latency performance of the link tested was less than 100 microseconds, which confirmed the positive contribution of wireless backhaul technologies to satisfy network-specific latency targets.

Alex Jinsung Choi, SVP Strategy & Technology Innovation, Deutsche Telekom, says: “A high-performance transport connection will be key to support high data throughput and enhanced customer experience in next-generation networks. While fiber is an important part of our portfolio, it is not the only option for backhaul. Together with our partners, we have demonstrated fiber-like performance is also possible with wireless backhauling/X-Haul solutions. This offers an important extension of our portfolio of high-capacity, high-performance transport options for the 5G era.”

Per Narvinger, head of product area networks for Ericsson said: “Microwave continues to be a key technology for mobile transport by supporting the capacity and latency requirements of 4G and future 5G networks. Our joint innovation project shows that higher capacity microwave backhaul will be an important enabler of high-quality mobile broadband services when 5G becomes a commercial reality.”

Ericsson has a five-year contract with Deutsche Telekom, which kicked off in December 2017. Ericsson’s senior VP Arun Bansal says that they can deliver a 5G network in that time frame. “We listened to Deutsche Telekom and understood their urgency to have 5G-ready infrastructure in order to stay at the forefront.” They’ll run 4G on their 5G hardware until it is installed across the entire network, then they’ll launch 5G with the flip of a switch sometime in the next few years.

Technical setup included the use of Ericsson’s latest mobile transport technology including Ericsson’s MINI-LINK 6352 microwave solution and Router 6000.

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Separately, Ericsson and Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, have achieved a non-standalone (NSA) 5G New Radio (NR) data call on 2.6 GHz, adding a new frequency band to those successfully tested for commercial deployment.

The bi-directional downlink and uplink data call was made at the Ericsson Lab in Kista, Sweden last December 20. It brings a new sub-6 frequency band one step closer to commercial rollout.

This latest Interoperability Development Testing (IoDT) data call is compliant with the 3GPP Rel-15 “early drop” specification that was frozen in March 2018 but further stabilized in September, and which is the basis for commercial launches expected in the first half of 2019.

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