News | November 17, 2017

Qualcomm, ZTE And China Mobile Showcase 5G Leadership With Completion Of The World's First End-To-End 5G NR Interoperable System Based On 3GPP Standard

  • End-to-end 5G NR system compliant with the 5G New Radio (NR) layer 1 standard framework currently being finalized by 3GPP
  • End-to-end 5G NR system utilizing ZTE’s 5G NR pre-commercial base station and Qualcomm Technologies’ 5G NR UE prototype, operating in the 3.5 GHz band
  • End-to-end 5G NR system to be demonstrated at China Mobile Global Partner Conference on November 23, 2017 as a periodical achievement from ongoing collaboration of the three parties

Recently, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM), ZTE, and China Mobile announced that they have successfully achieved the world’s first end-to-end 5G NR Interoperability Data Testing (IoDT) system demonstrating a data connection based on 3GPP R15 standard. Following the guidelines of China Mobile, the IoDT connection demonstration took place at China Mobile’s 5G Joint Innovation Center, and utilized ZTE’s 5G NR pre-commercial base station and Qualcomm Technologies’ 5G NR sub-6 GHz UE prototype. The end-to-end 5G NR system operates in 3.5GHz and supports 100MHz bandwidth, compliant with the 3GPP Release-15 5G New Radio layer 1 framework — including the scalable OFDM numerology, new advanced channel coding and modulation schemes, and the low-latency self-contained slot structure. The end-to-end 5G NR IoDT system is designed to efficiently achieve multi-gigabit per second peak data rates at significantly lower air interface latency than 4G networks. Implementation of 5G NR technologies will be critical to meeting the increasing connectivity requirements of emerging mobile broadband experiences such as streaming high-definition video and immersive virtual/augmented reality in the future, as well as enabling new high-reliability, low-latency services for autonomous vehicles, drones and industrial control, etc.

The successful interoperable connection of the end-to-end 5G NR IoDT system serves as a significant industry milestone towards pre-commercialization of 5G NR technologies at scale, driving rapid development of 3GPP standards-compliant networks and devices.

“Achieving the world’s first end-to-end 5G NR interoperable data connection is true testament to our 5G leadership, driving toward the timely launch of standard-compliant commercial networks,” said Cristiano Amon, executive vice president, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., and president, QCT. “Qualcomm Technologies is committed to the continued success of China’s wireless industry and we are excited to collaborate with ZTE and China Mobile to accelerate the path to 5G in China.”

Xu Huijun, chief technology officer and executive vice president, ZTE, said, “ZTE is aiming to become one of the first suppliers of commercial 5G equipment and solutions. During the course of 5G technology verification and product-based development, ZTE is actively verifying a multitude of key technologies, solutions and network models together with industry partners. The world’s first 5G NR interoperable data connection, completed by China Mobile, Qualcomm Technologies and ZTE showcases our committed effort and periodical results.”

Li Zhengmao, vice president, China Mobile Communications Corporation, said, “China Mobile is committed to promoting the unified global 5G standard with industry partners. The achievement of end-to-end 5G NR interoperable connection testing, compliant with the 3GPP 5G NR standard, is an important milestone of 5G standard to productization and pre-commercialization from standard. China Mobile is committed to working with other industry leaders, including Qualcomm Technologies and ZTE to promote that the 5G products continue to mature and the 5G industry marches to success.”

About Qualcomm
Qualcomm's technologies powered the smartphone revolution and connected billions of people. We pioneered 3G and 4G – and now we are leading the way to 5G and a new era of intelligent, connected devices. Our products are revolutionizing industries, including automotive, computing, IoT, healthcare and data center, and are allowing millions of devices to connect with each other in ways never before imagined. Qualcomm Incorporated includes our licensing business, QTL, and the vast majority of our patent portfolio. Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, operates, along with its subsidiaries, all of our engineering, research and development functions, and all of our products and services businesses, including, our QCT semiconductor business. For more information, visit Qualcomm’s website, OnQ blog, Twitter and Facebook pages.

About ZTE
ZTE is a provider of advanced telecommunications systems, mobile devices, and enterprise technology solutions to consumers, carriers, companies and public sector customers. As part of ZTE’s M-ICT strategy, the company is committed to provide customers with integrated end-to-end innovations to deliver excellence and value as the telecommunications and information technology sectors converge. Listed in the stock exchanges of Hong Kong and Shenzhen (H share stock code: 0763.HK / A share stock code: 000063.SZ), ZTE’s products and services are sold to over 500 operators in more than 160 countries. ZTE commits 10 per cent of its annual revenue to research and development and has leadership roles in international standard-setting organizations. ZTE is committed to corporate social responsibility and is a member of the UN Global Compact. For more information, please visit www.zte.com.cn.

About China Mobile
China Mobile Limited (the "Company", and together with its subsidiaries, the "Group") was incorporated in Hong Kong on 3 September 1997. The Company was listed on the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") and The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited ("HKEX" or the "Stock Exchange") on 22 October 1997 and 23 October 1997, respectively. The Company was admitted as a constituent stock of the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong on 27 January 1998. As the leading telecommunications services provider in Mainland China, the Group provides full communications services in all 31 provinces, autonomous regions and directly-administered municipalities throughout Mainland China and in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and boasts the world's largest mobile network and the world's largest mobile customer base. Its businesses primarily consist of mobile voice and data business, wireline broadband and other information and communications services. As of 31 December 2016, the Group had a total of 460,647 employees, 849 million mobile customers and 77.62 million wireline broadband customers with its annual revenue exceeding RMB700 billion.

Source: Qualcomm