Operator du, from Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (EITC), in collaboration with Nokia and MediaTek, the world’s fifth largest global fabless semiconductor company, have announced what they describe as a major milestone in the integration and enhancement of 5G technologies in the Middle East and Africa (MEA).
This trial, said to be a first in the region, has successfully boosted uplink (UL) performance by 70% on du’s 5G Advanced network, simultaneously offering expanded indoor coverage to premium customers.
Industry organisation the GSMA says 5G Advanced is part of the 3GPP 5G standardisation process and will push technology boundaries in three broad directions; performance improvements, better management and greater efficiency, and enhancement for specific use cases.
Executed in Abu Dhabi utilising du’s operational 5G Advanced network, the trial achieved significant advancements in UL speeds and coverage. This technology, we are told, promises robust connectivity and superior network efficiency by integrating multiple frequency bands and enhancing transmission pathways, essential for high-demand applications such as video conferencing, live streaming, and substantial data uploads.
The trial featured what is described as a pioneering technique employing three transmitter antennas (3Tx) combined with two-component carrier aggregation (2CC) across FDD and TDD bands, incorporating TDD UL MIMO on du’s existing infrastructure.
As the project partners point out, carrier aggregation is pivotal in allowing mobile operators to optimise their spectrum and network resources to enhance user connectivity experiences, delivering increased data rates and improved coverage extensively.
Nokia’s role spanned the deployment of its AirScale portfolio inclusive of baseband, massive MIMO radios, and macro remote radio heads to boost capacity, coverage and performance. MediaTek contributed its advanced T830 5G mobile FWA platform.
