Ericsson, Intel complete 5G interop test in China

Ericsson and Intel have jointly completed a multi-vendor end-to-end 5G interoperability test using 3.5-GHz bandwidth as part of China’s pre-5G trials.

The trial in Beijing involved Ericsson’s 5G 3.5-GHz radio prototype testbed and Intel’s 5G client test platform.

Ericsson’s 5G 3.5-GHz radio prototype uses 5G candidate technologies including massive and multi-user MIMO (multiple input multiple output), as well as beamforming technologies allowing beam tracking to accurately track the location and movement of client devices in real time.

Intel’s mobile trial platform is meanwhile powered by the latest Intel field-programmable gate arrays and Intel Core processors.

The trial marked the completion of the first over-the-air interface interoperability verification as part of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology’s 5G trials.

Major vendors are meanwhile involved in China’s IMT-2020 (5G) Promotion Group’s pre-5G trials, with Huawei recently reporting it achieved a peak cell throughput of 20Gbps over 4.9-GHz C-Band spectrum. Operators including China Mobile are meanwhile planning to launch large-scale pre-commercial 5G trials in 2019.