Nokia, China Mobile and MediaTek claim 5G standalone speed record

Nokia, China Mobile (CMCC) and MediaTek have announced that they have successfully verified the world’s first three components (3CC) carrier aggregation (CA) technology. Nokia said this will enable communication service providers to deliver higher throughputs and better coverage to more customers in use cases such as superior mobile broadband services and HD video.

The trial, in Shanghai, China, used Nokia’s AirScale 5G baseband and MediaTek’s Dimensity 9000 5G mobile platform on CMCC’s network, and is said to be the first time the n28 (700MHz band; 30MHz) and n41 (2.6GHz band; 100+60MHz) frequency bands have been successfully combined to reach 190MHz bandwidth (n28 + n41) with carrier aggregation technology. It saw the user experience increase under a 700MHz/2.6GHz converged network to reach a peak downlink speed rate of 2.94Gbps.

CA uses primary cell switch functionality, which works by combining frequency bands to offer enhanced network capacity by maximising the spectral efficiency of 5G networks, resulting in higher data rates, increased coverage area and superior indoor performance, said Nokia. It also combines frequency bands for higher data rates and increased coverage, noting that it delivers the superior network capacity by maximising the spectral efficiency of 5G networks.

In August 2021, Nokia revealed that it had been working on tests with Taiwan Mobile (TWM) to achieve the world’s first new radio carrier aggregation (NR CA) by combining spectrum in the 700MHz (n28) and 3,500MHz (n78) spectrum bands.

Nokia said the combination of 5G FDD and TDD bands, supplemented by carrier aggregation, can give full play to the advantages of spectrum synergy, greatly reducing the cost of network construction while improving network coverage and user experience.

Nokia has been a strategic partner of CMCC for over 20 years and the company is building out its network with the convergence of the 700MHz and 2.6GHz band. Nokia believes that with CA technology, the spectrum advantages of these bands can be used to greatly improve network performance and deliver a superior customer experience and that, in general, 5G carrier aggregation will be a critical technology for mobile operators around the world to maximise the impact of their spectrum holdings and deliver enhanced coverage and capacity to subscribers.

“China Mobile has been fully promoting the evolution and development of 5G technology,” said Ding Haiyu, vice-president of the research institute of China Mobile Communications. “New technology verification provides a technical basis for the improvement of network performance and services, and forms a technical cornerstone for future network planning.

“China Mobile is also committed to building a 5G multi-frequency collaborative network. This 3CC CA verification can provide users with better throughput and user experience, and provide good technical foundations for new services. China Mobile is willing to work with all vendors to contribute to the 5G evolution.”

The test activities will continue using CMCC’s network in Shanghai.