At the same time, Ericsson, Huawei, Qualcomm and other equipment vendors have all released Gigabit LTE equipment; Huawei, Samsung, ZTE and other terminal manufacturers have released Gigabit LTE mobile phones, while China’s three major operators are also actively testing Gigabit LTE networks.
Industry experts all believe that Gigabit LTE is the basis for achieving 5G networks, and will coexist with 5G networks for a long time. With the gradual advancement of networks, equipment, and terminals, Gigabit LTE will usher in an outbreak.
Long-term coexistence with 5G With the development of high-definition video services such as VR/AR and 4K, users' rate requirements for mobile networks are increasing day by day.
Ma Hongbing, deputy general manager of China Unicom's network construction department, once wrote that the 5G network is required to have 10Gbps cell rate and 1Gbps single-user throughput, and can support AR/VR, ultra-high-definition video and other high-bandwidth service requirements. But in the early stages of 5G network construction. In the case of imperfect network coverage, 4G networks need to be upgraded, and Gigabit LTE networks can increase the user peak rate from 150 Mbps to 1 Gbps, achieving a perfect transition from 4G networks to 5G networks.
Therefore, Gigabit LTE emerged. The theoretical transmission rate of Gigabit LTE can achieve 1 Gbps, which is about 10 times higher than the average LTE peak rate.
This means that Gigabit LTE networks can meet user VR/AR, high-definition video experience, and achieve perfect assists on the eve of 5G arrival. In addition, just as 4G networks coexist with 3G and 2G networks, 5G networks will also coexist with 4G networks for a long time. Therefore, Gigabit LTE networks will have a very long lifetime.
When the development of Gigabit LTE networks has become a trend, how to implement Gigabit LTE has become a topic of discussion in the industry.
How to achieve How to achieve Gigabit speed? Industry experts generally believe that the speed increase depends on three carrier aggregation, 4 × 4MIMO and 256QAM high-order modulation three major technologies.
Carrier aggregation means increasing the system transmission bandwidth to meet the single-user peak rate and system capacity enhancement requirements. Two or more component carriers (CCs) can be aggregated and data can be transmitted at the same time. With the purpose of wide bandwidth and higher transmission rate, it can effectively integrate scattered frequency bands and increase system peaks.
High-order modulation is to enable each signal to carry more data through the enhanced modulation method. The modulation method is usually QAM, 16QAM, 64QAM. And 256QAM is a higher-order data modulation method, which can improve nearly 30 points compared to the traditional 64QAM. %Transmission rate.
4x4 MIMO means multiple antennas and multiple antennas, that is, four channels are transmitted on the base station side, and a higher order MIMO technology is received on the four channels on the terminal side. Compared with the traditional 2x2 MIMO, the rate can be doubled.
In fact, the implementation of Gigabit speed can use all three technologies, and can also use some technologies. It is reported that China Unicom Gigabit LTE network achieves 1Gbit/s wireless transmission through the combination of three-carrier aggregation, 4×4 MIMO and 256QAM technologies. First, through the integration of the existing frequency to achieve three-carrier aggregation, to 375Mbps rate, and then through the joint deployment of 4 × 4 MIMO, compared to the traditional 2 × 2MIMO to achieve the cell rate multiplied, that is to reach 750Mbps, and finally achieved 1.33 times through 256QAM The rate of increase, that is to reach 975Mbps rate.
When will usher in an outbreak? In the Gigabit LTE process, Huawei, Ericsson, Qualcomm and other equipment vendors are very active.
Huawei conducted a large number of experiments on Gigabit LTE. Based on 4T4R technology, it improved the network peak rate and downlink throughput, significantly improving network performance, especially cell edge performance. Ericsson also launched Gigabit LTE solution and successfully connected with Verizon, China. Collaborate to achieve Gigabit LTE demonstration.
Qualcomm believes that Gigabit LTE is an important technology pillar for the communications industry to move toward 5G. In February 2016, Qualcomm released the first Gigabit LTE modem in the mobile industry, the Xiaolong X16 LTE Modem. February 2017, Qualcomm Introduced the second-generation Gigabit LTE solution, the Snapdragon X20 LTE chipset, capable of achieving a Gigabit LTE chipset with download speeds of up to 1.2 Gbps for LTE Category 18.
With chip support, currently, Huawei, Samsung, and ZTE all publish terminals that support Gigabit LTE networks.
In contrast, China's three major operators have not yet built a commercial Gigabit LTE network. An industry expert who did not wish to be named told reporters of the “Communications Industry News” (Net) that if carriers want to roll out Gigabit LTE networks, Need to upgrade the existing network equipment. In the night before the arrival of 5G, 5G R & D will occupy most of the operator's funds, so operators to build Gigabit LTE need to consider the economic factors.
At the same time, in June 2017, after China Unicom first implemented the Gigabit speed based on commercial networks and commercial terminals in China, the Gigabit LTE test of China's three major operators also pressed the fast forward key.
China Unicom, as the earliest operator to realize its layout and progress, has announced that China Unicom has completed the construction of a gigabit wireless network in the 'Central Avenue' and its surrounding areas in Aowei Road, Xiong'an New District, Hebei. Meanwhile, China Unicom plans to have 300 in 2018. A number of local networks have deployed Gigabit LTE networks with focus, including campuses, transportation hubs, subways, high-speed rail, hospitals, logistics, convention centers, government agencies, large shopping malls, and 2I2C business-focused regions.
At the same time, China Mobile also cooperated with Huawei, Samsung, and Qualcomm in June 2017 to successfully complete the Gigabit-rate outfield test of commercial terminals based on China Mobile's TD-LTE '4G+' network. China Telecom also joined Huawei Technologies and Qualcomm. Leading vendors such as Carrier Aggregation, 256QAM and 4x4 MIMO live network experiments.
The implementation of any technology can not be accomplished overnight. The roll-out of Gigabit LTE networks also needs to be gradually advanced. However, as equipment and terminals mature gradually, the trial speed of the three major operators will accelerate, and the outbreak period of Gigabit LTE will not be too far.