SK Telecom and Samsung Electronics have tested the handover between 5G base stations at 28GHz in the outdoor environment.

The field trial will pave for the evolution of 5G technology. Global telecom network operators are expected to launch 5G mobile technologies by 2020, amid speculations that 5G deployment will be slow due to delay in standardization and timely availability of devices.

“By securing the millimeter wave handover technology – which enables users to experience seamless provision of 5G services while on the move in a wide area – the two companies are now one step closer to a basis for realizing pre-5G and 5G services,” said Park Jin-hyo, head of Network R&D Center of SK Telecom.

Why it’s important for 5G

Handover between millimeter wave 5G base stations is a key technology that supports Gbps-level wireless communications. The purpose of inter-cell handover is to maintain seamless connectivity as the subscriber moves out of the coverage area of one base station to another.

With the field trial of the handover technology, SK Telecom and Samsung have become the world’s first to verify the performance of the 5G handover technology by connecting multiple millimeter wave base station systems to telecom operator’s fiber optics infrastructure.

SK Telecom and Samsung Electronics have built a millimeter wave 5G system in August 2015, and tested the performance — coverage, transmission speeds, etc. — of the 5G system at 28 GHz in the outdoor environment in March 2016.

In addition, Samsung and SK Telecom have also demonstrated full HD video calling as well as UHD video streaming over millimeter wave 5G system and showed the possibility of large-volume, low-latency 5G services.

“Through our demonstration of handover between mmWave 5G base stations, we have realized a network environment that is the closest by far to the real 5G network to be created in the future,” said Cheun Kyung-whoon, head of Next-Generation Business Team of Samsung Electronics.

Baburajan K
[email protected]