Huawei and DOCOMO teamed up to create the largest real-world test of 5G wireless speeds

1comments
Huawei and DOCOMO teamed up to create the largest real-world test of 5G wireless speeds
The way that we use data is changing more and more with each day that passes. While in-home wireless solutions still remain incredibly relevant and powerful, big changes are currently being made to wireless data. 4G LTE has already grown to a pretty impressive state, but companies are already working on bringing 5G wireless speeds to the market as soon as possible. Huawei and Japanese telecommunications provider NTT DOCOMO recently partnered up to conduct a test of the 5G network, but this test is a bit different than ones that have previously taken place.

Up until this point, most all 5G data tests have taken place inside controlled research labs. While that's fine and dandy, it doesn't offer a solid impression as to how something will work in a real-world scenario. Huawei and DOCOMO decided it was time to do something about this, so they conducted their 5G test as the very first large-scale one that's yet to take place. The test took place in Yokohama, Japan, and Huawei and DOCOMO used the 4.5GHz frequency with an overall user throughput of 11.29 gigabits-per-second with a latency of less than 0.5-milliseconds.


According to Huawei, the test was possible thanks to the use of a "base station that works in the 4.5GHz band with 200 MHz bandwidth, 64 TRXs and 23 UEs of both static and mobile types." A test of this kind is a huge step forward in evolving the current state of 5G wireless, and according to DOCOMO's 5G Laboratory's Vice Presdient and Managing Director, Takehiro Nakamura, this test has, "brought the whole indsutry one step closer to 5G commercialization by 2020."

Huawei and DOCOMO's success with this test is huge news for 5G, as tests like this only bring us closer and closer to the day when 5G will be widely available like 4G LTE currently is. AT&T has recently come out and said that they should have tests of their own 5G network sometime in 2019, and this lines up nicely with Nakamura's claims. Four years might seem like a long way's off, but with the massive differences in speed that 5G will bring as compared to 4G LTE, that's not too bad of a wait at all.

Recommended Stories

Loading Comments...
FCC OKs Cingular\'s purchase of AT&T Wireless