Ericsson, Intel and China Mobile achieve 3GPP-compliant interoperability
News

Ericsson, Intel and China Mobile achieve 3GPP-compliant interoperability

Ericsson and Intel, in partnership with China Mobile, have successfully demonstrated the first 3GPP-compliant, multi-vendor standalone (SA) 5G new radio (NR) call.

The project between Ericsson, Intel China Mobile Research Institute and China Mobile Jiangsu Company, is the first step to accelerating the commercial deployment of standard-based 5G networks.

“Successfully completing the first 3GPP-compliant Standalone 5G NR call marks another milestone with our ecosystem partners on the path to 5G commercialisation, building on our years of research and standardisation,” said Fredrik Jejdling, executive vice president and head of business area networks at Ericsson. “Together, we’re delivering on our commitment to realise a standard-compliant and easily deployable technology that will bring benefits to our customers and end users.”

The specifications for the 3GPP release 15 5G NR SA were completed 13 June, enabling Standalone 5G NR with user and control plane on a 5G next-gen core network. The non-standalone and SA releases all share the same physical layer specs.

Asha Keddy, vice president and general manager next generation standards at Intel, added: “Intel’s ongoing collaboration with Ericsson and China Mobile and our achievement of 3GPP-compliant standalone 5G new radio multi-vendor interoperability will help to prepare the industry for the deployment of 5G NR SA networks. As 5G networks begin to be deployed, a new wave of 5G experiences will be possible, powered by Intel technologies across the cloud, core network, access network and devices.”

The three parties conducted live interoperability development testing (IoDT) of 3GPP-compliant SA 5G NR technology at the Ericsson Lab in Beijing, China. The live IoDT operated at 100MHz on 3.5GHz mid-band, using Ericsson’s 5G NR base station and Intel’s 5G NR – the Intel 5G mobile trial platform – prototypes.

“China Mobile has worked hard with global partners in setting up a common 5G SA standard. Now we have teamed up with Ericsson and Intel to achieve successful interoperability of 5G NR among multi vendors. This is an important milestone for the commercialisation of 5G standards and will lay a solid foundation for China Mobile in our large-scale 5G trial, enabling the success of the global 5G industry,” said Huang Yuhong, deputy general manager of China Mobile Research Institute.

Following on from the successful demonstrations Ericsson and China Mobile will conduct a 5G trial in the Suzhou city of Jiangsu Province, the same place that the demo system will be deployed and tested.

Gift this article