Sponsored By
Huawei and Qualcomm announced they had successfully completed a joint 1Gbit/s test that proved 4.5G was ready for "massive commercialization."
The mobile Internet speed test featured Huawei's first 4.5G Version eRAN11.1 and a Qualcomm Inc. (Nasdaq: QCOM) modem that was powered by a Snapdragon X16 chipset. The test used three 4.5G key technologies: Downlink 3 Carrier Aggregation (DL 3CC CA), Downlink 4x4 MIMO and 256QAM high order modulation.
DL 3CC CA aggregates three carriers to form larger bandwidth while downlink 4x4MIMO doubles the spectrum efficiency. The companies said 256QAM high order modulation improved spectrum efficiency by 33%.
While US carriers such as AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) and Verizon Wireless are moving forward with their 5G plans, Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. is gearing up for 4.5G deployments. (See AT&T Unveils 5G Ambitions.) Huawei has said that 4.5G will be one of its key focus areas at Mobile World Congress next week. (See Huawei Outlines Big Initiatives for Digital Transformations.)
The first 4.5G network was deployed in Norway, by TeliaSonera, late last year. Additional countries, including Germany, Canada, Kuwait and Hong Kong, have announced plans to launch 4.5G.
“The successful test makes an important step for 4.5G massive commercialization, said Bob Cai, head of Huawei LTE FDD Product Line . "4.5G Gbps will be the new benchmark of MBB network. We will keep investing on innovational technologies and work closely with industry partners to provide the best MBB network and the best user experience.”
Mobile World Congress is being held between February 22 and 25 in Barcelona, Spain. For early arrivals in Barcelona, stop by the Digital Operation Transformation Summit that Light Reading is hosting with Huawei and TM Forum .
— Mike Robuck, editor, Telco Transformation
