Nokia and chipset company Qualcomm have completed interoperability testing in the 3.5Ghz and 28Ghz spectrum compliant with the 3GPP 5G NR Release 15 standard.
The interoperability test used the commercially available Nokia AirScale base station and device prototypes from Qualcomm Technologies.
Nokia and Qualcomm Technologies testing at Nokia’s 5G center in Oulu, Finland, will provide the basis for 5G NR field trials with operators in 2018.
Nokia, Qualcomm and operators including BT/EE, Deutsche Telekom, Elisa, KT, LGU+, NTT DOCOMO, Optus, SK Telecom, Telia and Vodafone are working together in verifying and trialing 5G NR technology.
This will be based on the interoperability tests of the 5G NR interface from Nokia and Qualcomm Technologies.
“The completion of an interoperable connection based on 5G NR standard is a major step on the path to launching 5G NR commercial networks and devices starting in 2019,” Cristiano Amon, president of Qualcomm, said.
Intel, Deutsche Telecom and Huawei in January conducted the world’s first over-the-air test showcasing 5G interoperability and development testing based on the Release 15 NSA 5G NR specification.
The test used Huawei’s 5G commercial base station and Intel’s third-generation 5G NR Mobile Trial Platform.
Nokia and Qualcomm Technologies will be assisting in the 5G deployments in 2019 based on 3GPP standard-compliant 5G infrastructure and devices. This will enable timely commercial network launches in 2019, in particular in the United States, China, Japan, Korea and Europe.
Marc Rouanne, president of Mobile Networks, Nokia said: “These tests demonstrate how we have quickly applied the 3GPP Release 15 specifications that were set in December, using our AirScale base station – which has been shipped to more than 100 customers – together with a prototype Qualcomm Technologies UE.”
Baburajan K
