Swedish telecommunication technology provider Ericsson said it managed to send out data at 5 gigabits per second over a wireless 5G network .
Widespread implementation of 5G networks, which are seen as an enabler of machine-to-machine applications, is still some seven years away. However, Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) said it was successful in transmitting data approximately 50 times faster than today’s fastest LTE networks which are capable of about 100 megabits per second.
The company achieved the feat under controlled conditions during a demo that took place in Ericsson’s research and development lab in Krista, Sweden. The speed is approximately 50 times faster than the fastest LTE networks, which
The live demonstration employed an innovative new radio interface concept and advanced Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) technology to achieve the record-breaking results.
The Ericsson 5G network includes new antenna technologies with wider bandwidths, higher frequencies and shorter transmission time intervals.
“This proven performance will be critical to addressing both the relentless growth in mobile data demand and enabling the next-generation machine-to-machine applications,” a statement from the company said.
The high penetration of LTE in Canada and the United States could mean that the region could be the first the adopt 5G. Ericsson foresees that by 2019, 85 per cent of North American mobile subscription will be LTE.
Japan and South Korea will likely benefit from 5G as LTE subscription in has reached 30 per cent in Japan and 50 in South Korea.
Radio base stations built with baseband units and radio units are being developed specifically for 5G trials. Small cells in a heterogeneous network environment, new frequency bands (including 15 GHz) and high-speed, high-capacity backhaul transmission are also key 5G focus areas for Ericsson. Such a network configuration is ideal for delivering fast data speeds at highly populated cities like Seoul and Tokyo.
“5G promises significant performance enhancements to support future new applications that will impact both users and industry,” said Seizo Onoe, executive president of Japanese telecom NTT Docomo (NYSE: DCM) .“To proceed with our joint project on 5G field trial further we are very glad about Ericsson’s success in demonstrating the real potential of 5G radio access technologies at this early stage.”
“SK Telecom plans to take the lead in 5G wireless services so we are pleased to see the progress that Ericsson has already made with their live demonstration of 5G performance,” said Alex Jinsung Coi, heat of ICT R&D for SK Telecom of South Korea (NYSE: SKM). “5G will build upon the investment that we have made in Long Term Evolution and expand our service offering to all of our customers.”
Both executives were present during the demonstration.
“Though the standard is not yet defined, 5G has already evolved from a technology vision to a network and business planning consideration for operators,” said Sathya Atreyan research manager for wirless network infrastructure at IDC. “It is important for network equipment vendors — like Ericsson — to demonstrate the potential of 5G as a means to begin creating a demand in the communications ecosystem.”