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Monday, December 03, 2018

Qualcomm shows 5G mmWave data while SK Telecom starts 5G commercial data network

By Nick Flaherty www.flaherty.co.uk

Qualcomm Technologies has successfully made over-the-air (OTA) 5G NR data calls in both the mmWave and sub-6 GHz spectrum bands with Nokia. 


Compliant with the global 3GPP 5G NR Release 15 specification in NSA (Non-Standalone) mode, the interoperability testing milestones were completed at Nokia’s 5G centre of excellence in Oulu, Finland using commercially available Nokia AirScale base stations and a mobile smartphone form-factor test device powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon X50 5G modem and antenna modules with integrated RF transceiver, RF front-end and antenna elements (above).

This follows the first 5G call on a commercial network by SK Telecom in S Korea and a 5G-AI Machine Vision system that started on 1st December. Myunghwa is an auto parts company based in Banwol Industrial Complex, Ansan, Gyeonggi-do and started using the 5G network to transmit high-resolution, multi-angle photos of auto parts on the conveyor belts taken by 12 million-pixel cameras to a cloud server where machine learning algorithms scan the photos to check for defects.

“5G opens doors to infinite possibilities beyond our imaginations. As the ICT leader that has spearheaded the advancement of mobile communications from CDMA to LTE, SK Telecom will once again create a new future with the best 5G network,” said Park Jung-ho, SKT CEO.

SKT's 5G network currently covers main areas of 13 cities and counties nationwide, including Seoul, four cities in Gyeonggi-do (Seongnam, An-san, Hwaseong, Siheung), six metropolitan cities, Seogwipo in Jeju Island, and Ullengdo and Dokdo Islands in Ulleng county.

The first call over SK Telecom’s commercial 5G network was made between CEO Park located in Bundang, Gyeonggi-do and SK Telecom Manager Park Sook-hee located in Myeongdong, Seoul, using Samsung’s 5G smartphone prototype.

Self-driving cars began test-driving on public roads in Siheung as well as test tracks of ‘K-City,’ a large-scale test site for autonomous vehicles located in Hwaseong, Gyeongg-do using the 5G network. The cars were able to exchange surrounding information with the control centre and traffic lights.

Back in February 2018, Nokia and Qualcomm Technologies first completed key 3GPP-compliant 5G NR interoperability testing in the 3.5 GHz and 28 GHz spectrum bands using a commercially available Nokia AirScale base station and device prototypes from Qualcomm Technologies. The OTA calls are key steps in enabling customers in the 5G ecosystem to launch commercial networks and mobile devices from early 2019 onwards, in the United States, Korea, Europe, Australia, Japan and China.

“These successful data calls are a significant step in making 5G a commercial reality in early 2019, and this milestone with Nokia will help enable 5G network deployments across various operators and regions around the world,” said Durga Malladi, senior vice president and general manager, 4G/5G, at Qualcomm Technologies.

“These key milestone tests with Qualcomm Technologies show the flexibility and capabilities of our AirScale radio access technology to deliver on the promise of commercial 5G,” said Tommi Uitto, president of mobile networks, Nokia. “We continue to collaborate with Qualcomm Technologies to ensure our customers can unleash the power of their commercial 5G networks, to support the many new and diverse applications that will meet the demands of people and connected things, as they begin to launch commercial services in early 2019.”

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