Issue 1

Preparing to Embrace
the 5G Era
ZTE 5G Innovation

From the Gartner Files:

CSPs Must Optimize Frequencies for

LTE-A and 5G as the Radio Spectrum
Fragments
2
CSPs Must Optimize Frequencies for
LTE-A and 5G as the Radio Spectrum
Fragments
11
5G
12
ZTE 5G Innovation
14
About ZTE

Leading communications service providers worldwide are already

rolling out LTE-Advanced with commercial standardized 5G scheduled
for 2020 despite concerns that there wont be enough frequencies.
For CSPs CTOs, choosing the right frequencies is a make-or-break
decision that must be made soon.

Impacts
A frequency shortage for Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A)
and 5G will push communication service providers (CSPs) to call
on standardization bodies and local regulators to allocate more
frequencies and use more efficient allocation methods.
Frequency fragmentation and the evolution of technology will
increase the frequency combination patterns for cellular systems;
CSPs will reuse existing frequencies for 5G as an interim solution.
Ongoing competition between CSPs for higher throughput and
better coverage will require them to adopt new technology and
invest continuously in network deployments.

Recommendations
For CTOs at CSPs looking to introduce LTE-A and 5G:
Engage proactively and more closely with standards and regulatory
bodies that decide frequency allocation policy. Encourage them to
allocate more desirable, extensive and globally harmonized radio
frequencies.
Identify which frequencies and frequency combinations will prove
popular around the world and use these prioritized frequencies as
much as possible in your radio network deployments.
Consider using new technologies such as LTE-A over unlicensed
spectrum (LTE-U), Advanced Centralized Radio Access Network
(C-RAN), and control plane (C-plane) and user plane (U-plane)
splitting, to decrease capital expenditure (capex) and operating
expenditure (opex) further.

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Analysis
Introduction
LTE-A and 5G offer CSPs higher system capacity
and faster data rates than the currently
deployed LTE networks. The introduction of new
technologies underpins CSPs ambitions to
reduce the cost per bit compared with existing
broadband wireless systems. Inevitably, CSPs
will have to find new frequencies to acquire the
greatest value from them.
However, most in the industry suspect that
there wont be enough available frequencies
to spare. CTOs of CSPs must determine how
to optimize their frequency utilization before
they start deploying LTE-A and 5G, similar to
the approach they used for LTE. This means
finding and creating their frequency strategies
for LTE-A and 5G in terms of networks and
devices. They need to do this against a
background of several influential trends and
factors. These include:
New worldwide frequency standards
Limited frequency allocation on cellular
systems in future
The increasing cost to buy frequencies
from local regulators
A variety of new technology trends

From experience, we know that each

generation of cellular technology usually has
a lead time of approximately 10 years. Ideally,
CSPs must determine their frequency usage
in advance of the next generation. For CTOs,
the approach and strategy they take toward
frequency use will have a strong influence
on plans for radio network deployments and
device procurement.
After LTE and LTE-A, CSPs will begin migrating
to 5G. However, the concept of 5G and even
the name itself (ITU-Rs tentative name for
it is IMT-2020 and Beyond) has not been
standardized yet. After much consultation
and evaluation, the ITU will finally approve 5G
technology recommendations during 2020.
Nevertheless, several regional 5G projects
have started.
In Europe, the Mobile and wireless
communications Enablers for the Twentytwenty Information Society (METIS).

In China, the IMT-2020 (5G) Promotion

Group.
In South Korea, the 5G Forum.
Aside from these regional 5G projects, in the
U.S., it is the equipment vendor community
that is responsible for driving 5G (as
regulatory bodies have little involvement).
Among CSPs, NTT Docomo in Japan, China
Mobile in China and KT in South Korea
have agreed to a three-way 5G technical
collaboration in March 2015.
Figure 1 illustrates the 5G vision of NTT
Docomo, one of the leading companies
working toward 5G standardization. Other
stakeholders have similar targets for 5G.
Industry-leading CSPs are trialing 5G (see
Table 1). However, the frequencies they can
use are still tentative in terms of their
allocation and it is too early to predict
which frequencies will become major ones
for 5G.

In Japan, the Fifth Generation Mobile

Communications Promotion Forum
(5GMF).

FIGURE 1
NTT Docomos 5G Targets

The Time to Act Is Now

CSPs already use a number of different radio
frequencies in their LTE deployments, creating
global frequency fragmentation for LTE (for
detailed information on global frequency
allocations, see Table 3 in the Appendix
section). This fragmentation causes many
problems for CSPs if their LTE frequencies are
not used globally. Problems include:
Increased base station costs
Increased device prices
A reduced selection of device
procurements
The unavailability of LTE roaming
Delays in supporting technology promises
made to beat competitors

Note: Taken from NTT Docomo 5G White Paper (July 2014)

Source: NTT Docomo

Table 1. CSPs 5G Trials

Country/Region

CSP

Vendor Partners

Frequency

Launch Target

Japan

NTT Docomo

Alcatel-Lucent

9GHz

2020 Summer Olympics

Huawei

Less than 6GHz

Fujitsu

5GHz

NEC

5.2GHz

Ericsson

15GHz

Samsung

28GHz

Mitsubishi
Electric

44GHz

Nokia

70GHz

Ericsson

15GHz

Samsung

28GHz

South Korea

SK Telecom

Trial during 2018 Winter Olympics and

commercial launch expected in 2020

Russia

MegaFon

Huawei
Technologies

Less than 6GHz

Trial during 2018 FIFA World Cup and

commercial launch expected in 2020

United Arab
Emirates

Etisalat

Huawei
Technologies

Less than 6GHz

World Expo 2020 Dubai

CSP = communications service provider; GHz = gigahertz

Source: Gartner (March 2015)

As a finite asset, radio frequency should

ideally be managed and allocated. The WRC15 in November 2015 will handle frequencies
of less than 6GHz for cellular systems, and
WRC-19 (or later) will study allocation above
6GHz. This implies that several leading
CSPs across the world plan to launch 5G
commercially in around 2020, but their 5G
frequencies could be limited to less than
6GHz initially.
All this leaves CTOs of CSPs with much
to consider. Getting the right frequency
allocation is crucial and despite the long
timeline, they should already be working
to secure whats right for them. Figure
2 highlights the key impacts of the new
developments and what CTOs should
prepare to do about them.

Impacts and Recommendations

A frequency shortage for LTE-A and 5G
will push CSPs to call on standardization
bodies and local regulators to allocate
more frequencies and use more efficient
allocation methods
For CSPs to launch LTE-A and 5G appropriately
(to demonstrate the technical potential of
each), regulators will need to allocate new
frequencies. However, this is a long-term
solution, and CSPs wont always receive the
ideal frequencies they want. This is because
there are not enough remaining vacant and
unused frequencies just for cellular systems.
In this limiting situation, there is only one
way to find other radio frequencies for LTE-A
and 5G to have them coexist with other
wireless technologies on the same frequency.
To achieve this, the way that the ITU and
local regulatory bodies allocate frequencies
should become more diverse, influenced by
proactive contributions from CSPs. In addition,
frequencies should be utilized more efficiently.

There are three categories of radio frequency

usage:
1 Licensed frequencies
2 Unlicensed frequencies
3 Licensed shared access

Licensed Frequencies
Local regulators allocate some radio
frequency bandwidths to certain
organizations according to standards
such as those set by the ITU. Only those
organizations are permitted to use their
assigned frequencies exclusively in a
particular area. Other organizations are
prohibited from using those frequencies.
Previously, all cellular systems such as GSM,
UMTS and LTE were assigned some licensed
frequencies. Although for LTE-A and 5G,
other categories (described in the following
sections) should be considered too.

FIGURE 1
Impacts and Top Recommendations for CTOs at CSPs
Impacts

Top Recommendations

Engage proactively and more closely with

A frequency shortage for LTE-A and 5G
will push CSPs to call on standardization
bodies and local regulators to allocate
more frequencies and use more efficient
allocation methods.

Frequency fragmentation and the

evolution of technology will increase the
frequency combination patterns for
cellular systems; CSPs will reuse
existing frequencies for 5G as an interim
solution.

Ongoing competition between CSPs for

higher throughput and better coverage
will require them to adopt new
technology and invest continuously in
network deployments.

standards and regulatory bodies that decide

frequency allocation policy. Encourage them
to allocate more desirable, extensive and
globally harmonized radio frequencies.
Consider using higher frequencies such as
millimeter waves and unlicensed frequencies
on 5G.

Identify which frequencies and frequency

combinations will prove popular around the

world and use these prioritized frequencies as
much as possible in your radio network
deployments.
Acquire more global, broad and contiguous
frequency bandwidths to take the lead among
your competitors.

Consider using new technologies such as

LTE-U, Advanced C-RAN, and C-plane and Uplane splitting, to decrease capex and opex
further.
Promote the generational change in
technologies to improve the user experience
and reduce costs.

C-plane = control plane; C-RAN = Centralized Radio Access Network; CSP = communication service provider; LTE-A = Long Term Evolution Advanced; LTE-U = LTE-A over unlicensed spectrum; U-plane = user plane
Source: Gartner (March 2015)

Unlicensed Frequencies
Unlicensed frequencies are radio bands
that anyone can use without a license, so
long as products and users comply with the
rules associated with that unlicensed band
(maximum transmission power, for example).
Examples include the ISM frequencies
detailed by ITU. One notable application
in these bands is Wi-Fi, which uses global
frequency bands at 2.4GHz and 5GHz. Wi-Fi
devices can share the same frequency.

a huge amount of potential resource.

However, IEEE 802.11ac Wi-Fi products have
been promoted since 2013 onwards, and
this technology will be included in a large
percentage of devices during 2015. As this
frequency band will become commonly
used, therefore CSPs will have to share the
resource. In some countries, there are moves
to increase the bandwidth of the 5GHz band.
The FCC in the U.S., for example, is preparing
to release a further 195MHz.

The 2.4GHz ISM band is rapidly becoming

overused so an increasing number of CSPs
are using the 5GHz band. This has wider
bandwidth and is used relatively lightly.
To some extent, the amount of bandwidth
available does vary between countries; from
325MHz in China, to 555MHz in the U.S.
For CSPs that have to juggle with licensed
frequency bandwidths of 20MHz, this is

Millimeter waves (with frequencies between

30GHz and 300GHz) will be used for 5G,
because existing technologies already
occupy the lower frequency. This means
that the continuous broader bandwidths
could be allocated to CSPs across the world.
In particular, 60GHz has been defined as
an unlicensed frequency globally, so is
considered one of the major candidates for

5G and other wireless technologies like IEEE

802.11ad. However, keep in mind that the
propagation loss for higher frequencies is
bigger than that for lower frequencies such as
sub-GHz wireless. It also takes more power
for higher frequencies to acquire the same
coverage as lower frequencies.

Licensed Shared Access

Between licensed and unlicensed frequencies
are Licensed Shared Access (LSA) and
Authorized Shared Access (ASA) technologies.
In essence, the aim of these is to allow
incumbent license holders and other cellular
systems to share the same frequency band by
changing dimensions such as time, place and
frequency. Standards bodies and regulators
are still studying and discussing LSA and ASA.
In the EU 2.3GHz and in the U.S. 3.5GHz are
being studied to explore those particular types
of frequency sharing.

Recommendations:
Engage proactively and more closely
with standards and regulatory bodies
that decide frequency allocation policy.
Encourage them to allocate more
desirable, extensive and globally
harmonized radio frequencies.
Consider using higher frequencies such
as millimeter waves and unlicensed
frequencies on 5G, and collect information
about existing vendors future roadmaps
for these frequencies.
Explore options in the LSA and ASA
domains and check with local regulatory
bodies whether there could be any suitable
candidates for you.
Compel RAN vendors, device vendors,
chipset vendors and RF module vendors to
support desirable radio frequencies at an
early stage.

Frequency fragmentation and

the evolution of technology will
increase the frequency combination
patterns for cellular systems; CSPs
will reuse existing frequencies for
5G as an interim solution
Frequency Fragmentation on LTE
As successive generations of technology
progress, the number of frequencies used
increases. This is because the newer
technologies need broader frequency
bandwidths in general, and regulatory bodies
allocate vacant and unused frequencies to
CSPs. Since the launch of LTE, this frequency
fragmentation has worsened. GSM uses only
four frequencies globally and UMTS uses
seven at most, but LTE already uses 25 (see
Table 2).
The number of frequencies for LTE globally will
increase as it becomes more widespread.
Gartner believes that the root cause of this
is because the definitions and clarification of
LTE were not fixed. The number of possible
frequencies for LTE increased drastically
across the world, because it could be
regarded as both enhanced 3G and the
recently launched 4G. Therefore, some CSPs
used remaining 3G frequencies for LTE while
others used the newly allocated ones.

The principle of technology neutrality has

also spread from LTE. This dictates that
allocated radio frequency assets for CSPs are
supposed to be technology-neutral. This
trend is particularly well accepted in Europe,
where CSPs can use their assets as they wish
(using 2.1GHz for 5G, for example). However,
by employing a strategy of effectively going
their own way, they could create issues for
themselves, such as high costs and lack of
vendor support. One pertinent example here
is the AWS auction, held in 2006 in the U.S.
While support for 3G AWS from some device
vendors did not proceed, this could have an
adverse effect on CSPs that used AWS mainly
to compete for mobile number portability
(MNP).

(CA). The worlds first LTE-A was introduced by

South Korean CSPs in 2013. Since LTEs global
frequency fragmentation, CSPs continue to
select their own CA combinations on their
networks.

As shown in Table 4 in the Appendix section,

3GPP specification, 3GPP TS 36.101 includes
standardized frequencies. This information
will help CSPs CTOs confirm existing radio
bands for their future research.

If some CSPs preferred CA combinations

are not popular globally and fail to be
standardized, they will fail to be recognized.
This will make their potential data speeds
less competitive than those of their rivals that
use the standardized CA combinations.

Carrier Aggregation on LTE-A Will Further

Complicate Frequency Fragmentation
During the LTE-A period, different radio
frequencies are aggregated simultaneously,
increasing data throughput per subscriber.
This technology is called carrier aggregation

These CA combinations must be

standardized in 3GPP, and for the time
being two or three component carriers
(CCs) have been defined. As of January
2015, 62 combinations of two CCs and
26 combinations of three CCs have been
standardized. The complexity will worsen
because the goal of LTE-A is to aggregate up
to five CCs (up to 100MHz). This is to increase
user data rates for all users, and to increase
capacity for bursty applications.

5GsTwo-Phase Process
There will be two phases for 5G (as with
4Gs LTE and LTE-A as well as UMTSs 3G
and 3.5G). The first phase will mainly use
frequencies of less than 6GHz, and the
second will use frequencies above 6GHz,
especially millimeter waves.

Phase 1 (Circa 2020)

Table 2. Radio Frequency Utilization by GSM, UMTS and LTE
2G
GSM

3G
UMTS

4G
LTE

EMEA

Band 3/8

Band 1/8

Band
3/7/8/20/31/38/40/41/42/43

Americas

Band 2/5

Band 2/4/5

Band 1/3/5/7/8/11/18/19/21/2
6/28/38/39/40/41/42

APAC

Band 3/8

Band
1/5/6/8/9

Band
3/7/8/20/31/38/40/41/42/43

Total Band Numbers

Used Globally

25

APAC = Asia/Pacific; GSM = Global System for Mobile Communications; LTE = Long Term Evolution; UMTS
= Universal Mobile Telecommunications System
Data accurate as of January 2015.
Source: Gartner (March 2015)

ITU standardization of less than 6GHz on

WRC-15 could be small compared with
future frequency allocation above 6GHz in
WRC-19. We could therefore assume that
around 2020, 5G will mainly reuse existing
frequencies for cellular systems (such as
GSM/UMTS/LTE/LTE-A) and Wi-Fi technologies.
Ultimately, 5G will suffer the same
painful experience in terms of frequency
fragmentation as that suffered by LTE. This is
particularly true since devices sold worldwide
could require many more radio circuits,
backward compatibilities and much greater
interoperability testing.

Phase 2 (Circa 202x)

As for the new allocation of millimeter
waves for 5G, the telecom industry itself
should have an ambitious goal to realize a
globally harmonized single radio frequency
allocation. Its likely that 60GHz will be a
candidate in terms of global harmonization
and continuous broad bandwidth.
Meanwhile the continued study and
standardization of frequency bandwidths
based on global trends, technology maturity
and avoiding interference with existing
systems will prove expedient.
For frequencies that might be possible above
6GHz, the Japanese regulatory body, the MIC
published a white paper in December 2014
listing the existing possible candidates.
Unused frequencies: 40GHz, 48GHz and
70GHz. These frequencies correspond to
about 10GHz of bandwidth in total.
Used by fixed/satellite frequencies:
8.4GHz, 14GHz, 28GHz and 80GHz.
Roughly 13GHz of bandwidth in total.
Lastly, in terms of the duplexing of frequencies
on cellular systems, TDD will be more
common than FDD for higher frequencies,
such as millimeter waves. This is because
of technical issues (such as the large duplex
spacing on FDD). There could also be new
challenges by installing TDD systems, such
as time synchronization between base
stations and uplink-downlink interference.
Alternatively, the possibility of full duplex
for 5G has also been explored by private
enterprises like Kumu Networks.

Recommendations:
Identify which frequencies and frequency
combinations will prove popular around
the world, and use these prioritized
frequencies as much as possible in your
radio network deployments.
Acquire more global, broad and
contiguous frequency bandwidths to take
the lead among your competitors.
Focus on selecting globally popular
combinations of technology and frequency
(such as LTE 1.8GHz).

Be careful not to rush to use newly

allocated frequencies for the latest or
mismatched technology. Even when your
network preparation and deployment is
complete, device procurement could occur
later and may be beyond your control.
Learn how desired CCs on LTE-A are
standardized in 3GPP. Without this
standardization, your network and device
vendors may not be able to meet your
demands.

Ongoing competition between

CSPs for higher throughput and
better coverage will require them
to adopt new technology and
invest continuously in network
deployments
In the U.S., CSPs have announced their LTE
population coverage and future plans. South
Korean CSPs scrambled to be first to exploit
the commercial launch of LTE-A and its
downlink speed. Meanwhile Japanese CSPs
have competed for Wi-Fi access points.
In terms of throughput, one option to
improve the user experience is to promote
the migration of existing systems such as
GSM, UMTS and WiMAX to LTE-A and 5G. For
example, WiMAX is likely to disappear by
about 2017, with any resulting unoccupied
radio frequencies being reused by LTE-A.
CSPs CTOs will have to gather information
about their existing network deployments,
such as base stations, backhaul, core
network equipment and Wi-Fi, and then
consider how to reuse and combine their
existing network with LTE-A and 5G.
During the period of migration to LTE-A and
5G, adopting new technology for not only an
improved user experience, but also reduced
cost per bit, could be possible. CTOs at CSPs
will also adopt these new technologies to
decrease capex and opex.
LTE-U Its new name, according to
3GPP, is license assisted access (LAA).
This is now being studied in 3GPP
Release 13, which is due out in March
2016. With LAA, carriers can aggregate

a primary cell using licensed frequency

bands to deliver critical information
and guaranteed QoS. They can also
aggregate a colocated secondary cell,
using unlicensed frequency bands, to
opportunistically boost throughput. The
first focus of LAA is unlicensed operation
in 5GHz for Wi-Fi, and this supplementary
usage could be for best-effort-based
downlink capacity only. This means
that CSPs that do not possess licensed
LTE frequencies cannot provide LAA on
unlicensed 5GHz because unlicensed
5GHz is just a supplementary band. In
some countries (those that do not specify
the use of standardized listen-beforetalk functionality) there are plans to trial
prestandard products during 2015 and
to roll out services soon, as early 2016.
(These countries will include the U.S.,
China and South Korea). If CSPs can
implement this, there is no frequency cost
to pay and they can reuse deliverables for
existing Wi-Fi access points.
Advanced C-RAN This adopts the
centralized network architecture with a
great deal of RRH and utilizes LTE-A CA
between macro and small cells. This
architecture handles all processing for CA
and handovers within a centralized BBU,
which can drastically reduce the amount
of signaling to the core network.
C-plane and U-plane splitting control
The C-plane must be supported by
a continuous, more reliable coverage
layer at lower frequency bands (such as
macrocells), while the U-plane can be
provided by high-capacity small cells. This
technology allows for more flexible and
efficient operations.
Network sharing This has already
been introduced on UMTS and LTE
to reduce capex and opex. NEC has
suggested an innovative radio resource
management approach that allows radio
resources to be virtualized and shared in
an efficient way.

Recommendations:
Consider using new technologies such as
LTE-U, Advanced C-RAN, and C-plane and
U-plane splitting to decrease capex and
opex further.
Reuse existing base stations and
backhaul, and design mid- and long-term
frequency strategies for LTE-A and 5G.

CC

LTE

Long Term Evolution

C-plane control plane

LTE-A

Long Term Evolution Advanced

C-RAN Centralized Radio Access Network

LTE-U

LTE-A over unlicensed spectrum

CSP

METIS Mobile and wireless

communications Enablers for

Twenty-twenty (2020) Information
Society

component carriers

communication service provider

E-UTRA Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio

Access

Promote the generational change

in technologies to improve the user
experience and reduce costs.

FCC
Federal Communications
Commission

Appendix

FDD

Table 3 depicts the radio frequency allocation

for cellular technologies worldwide.

GHz gigahertz

Table 4 shows the Evolved Universal

Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) operating
bands standardized by 3GPP.

Acronym Key and Glossary Terms

3GPP

Third Generation Partnership Project

5GMF

Fifth Generation Mobile

Communications Promotion Forum

APAC Asia/Pacific
ASA

Authorized Shared Access

AWS

Advanced Wireless Services

BBU

baseband unit

CA

carrier aggregation

capex

capital expenditure

MHz megahertz
MNP

mobile number portability

opex

operating expenditure

RAN

radio access network

RF

radio frequency

RRH

Remote Radio Head

frequency division duplex

GSM
Global System for Mobile
Communications
IEEE
Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers

TDD

time division duplex

IMT2020
International Mobile T
elecommunications-2020

UMTS

Universal Mobile
Telecommunications System

ISM

U-plane user plane

industrial, scientific and medical

ITU
International Telecommunication
Union

WiMAX Worldwide Interoperability for

Microwave Access

ITU-R

International Telecommunication
Union Radiocommunication Sector

WRC

LAA

license assisted access

LSA

Licensed Shared Access

World Radiocommunication

Table 3. Radio Frequency Allocation for Worldwide Cellular Technologies

3GPP = Third Generation Partnership Project; APAC = Asia/Pacific; AWS = Advanced Wireless Services; GHz = gigahertz; MHz = megahertz
Data accurate as of January 2015.
Source: Gartner (March 2015)

Table 4. E-UTRA Operating Bands Standardized in 3GPP

continued

3GPP = Third Generation Partnership Project; E-UTRA = Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access; FDD = frequency
division duplex; MHz = megahertz; TDD = time division duplex
Source: 3GPP TS 36.101 V12.6.0 (2014-12)
Source: Gartner Research, G00273502, Kosei Takiishi, Sylvain Fabre, 24 March 2015

10

5G
Analysis By: Sylvain Fabre, Research Director, Gartner Inc.
Definition: 5G is a term being used to describe the next stage of
mobile network infrastructure technology, beyond 4G (Long Term
Evolution [LTE] and LTE Advanced [LTE-A]). However, 5G standards have
not yet been defined. Additionally, some of the functionalities that have
been defined beyond 4G are currently being appended to the existing
4G set of standards. 5G throughput may be faster than 4Gs theoretical
maximum of 1 Gbps, but the difference may not be very large due to
4G having approached the limitations of the laws of physics.
Position and Adoption Speed Justification: Currently, because no
standards actually exist for 5G, various lab demonstrations are able to
lay claim to some 5G-related functionality. LTE-A is being worked into
the 4G standards, as all standards in the Third Generation Partnership
Project (3GPP) R11 and R12 are still related to LTE-A. Additional working
groups include:
Korea 5G Forum
China IMT 2020 (5G) Promotion Group (under MIIT, NDRC and
MOST)
Japan 2020 and Beyond AdHoc Group (under ARIB)
Europe METIS, 5GIC, ETSI

While it is still unclear what specific features would be included or

should even be prioritized for 5G, the technological basis for it will
likely get laid down in the next three years or so, given the number
of people who claim to be working on it and the amount of interest
in 5G. Based on 3GPP history between generations of successive
technologies, deployment of 5G into networks will take seven to 10
years after the start of LTE-A around 2020 to 2023. With cellular
technologies, the definition in standards emerges a long time before
mainstream adoption.
It may be that 5G is not defined as a single global standard. There
seems a risk that well see competing approaches just like the
cellular situation in China, where the specific TD-SCDMA flavour
of 3G was created as well as the TDD variant of LTE; however, that
may not necessarily matter by then, as software-defined radio (SDR)
maturity could mean that supporting multiple standards will just be a
programming issue.
Despite 3GPP standardization (R14) having not yet started and frequency
recommendations by ITU having not occurred for 5G, the race for the
glory of being the first to launch 5G in Asia and/or worldwide would
be a key motivation for some communications service providers (CSPs).
Furthermore, the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020 should be a driver, as its
timing would be perfect for a launch in Japan.
Source: Gartner Inc., Hype Cycle for Wireless Networking Infrastructure,
2014, G00260634, 24 July 2014
Source: ZTE
Source: Gartner Research, G00273502, Kosei Takiishi, Sylvain Fabre, 24 March 2015

11

ZTE 5G Innovation
Overview
As a global leading supplier of wireless communication solutions, ZTE
has put lots of effort into 5G research and development, and has been
making lots of breakthroughs in the researches of 5G technologies.
ZTE has been recognized as playing an innovative and pioneering role
in the 5G field and will continue reinforce its strategic investment in 5G.
In 2014, at the LTE & 5G World Summit, ZTE first proposed innovative
Pre5G ideas. Together with China Mobile and other world leading
operators, ZTE completed the world first precommercial field test of
Pre5G (MIMO) base station. At Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2015,
ZTE released the worlds first integrated and commercial Pre5G base
station which called Paper.
ZTE will continue its pre-research on 5G and accumulate patent
portfolio of key 5G technologies to further enhance its core
competitiveness of intellectual property before 2020.
ZTE would like to make more contributions to global 5G technologies
and standards through cooperation with partners and 5G innovation
lab programs.

Technical innovation
Besides the R&D achievements in 5G, ZTE was the first vendor who
proposes Pre5G solution.Pre5G could effectively eliminate the capacity
limitation of 4G network, and assure a prosperous growth of mobile
application and M2M. We do believe Pre5G is an Effective Way to 5G.
Pre5G takes advantage of practical 5G technologies and enable
legacy 4G UE to enjoy 5G-like experience right from 2015, so both
network performance and average user speed could be improved via
Pre5G solution.
Inside Pre5G, there are many key technologies. Massive MIMO,Pre5G
UDN and MUSA etc. They can help us to solve the challenge of
spectrum efficiency, capacity density and massive connection.
Massive MIMO has been recognized as one of the key 5G
technologies in the industry. With over hundred antennas, Massive
MIMO could dramatically improve the spectrum efficiency, so it can
improve both network capacity and average user speed based
on the existing infrastructure and spectrum resource.Currently, ZTE
has successfully introduced Massive MIMO technology into precommercial Pre5G base station product while keep the backward
compatibility with 4G UE, thus Massive MIMO has become an
important part of pre5G.
Ultra dense network (UDN) is another important way to improve
network capacity, while inter-cell interference will be a vital
challenge. Through the harmony merge of Cloud Radio solution
and Qcell hardware platform, ZTE successfully solves this problem

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and introduce Pre5G UDN to the world. Cloud radio could

effectively solve the inter-site interference problem, especially under
ultra dense network scenario, which could help mobile carriers to
achieve much higher site density and tremendous improvement
regarding network capacity.
The Multi-User Shared Access (MUSA) technology proposed by ZTE
improves network capacity significantly, with reasonable implement
complexity. The coding-based design greatly enlarges the number
of users accessed simultaneously, and Successive Interference
Cancelation receivers are used, so no synchronization is required
for users, which is particularly useful for prolonging the battery
life of terminal. Therefore, uplink MUSA is a suitable candidate for
Machine Type Communications (MTC).
In addition, ZTE has been investing heavily in 4G vector processing
chips for several years, which have an extensible software architecture
and strong processing capacity. It can meet pre5G requirements by
just modifying instruction sets rather than changing the hardware.

Field Verifications
In November 2014, ZTE successfully completed pre-commercial
field test of the worlds first Pre5G massive MIMO base station in
partnership with China Mobile. The testing was based on ZTEs latest
64 channel/128 antenna massive MIMO base station.
In January 2015, ZTE strengthened its leadership in 5G innovations
by becoming the worlds first company to complete pre-commercial
field testing of multi-user and multi-stream transmission on a Massive
MIMO base station, setting new records in single-carrier capacity and
spectrum efficiency.
In March 2015, MWC Barcelona, ZTE showed its commercial Pre5G
base station Paper. With ZTEs proprietary Pre5G multi-user multistream spatial multiplexing technology, the base station demonstrated
more than four times peak data throughput compared with traditional
base stations on top of 20MHz spectrum and 12 commercial 4G
terminals. And the average throughput exceeds conventional systems
by at least five times.
As a Pre5G technology, ZTEs Massive MIMO solution is delivering
exponential advances to 4G networks without modifying the existing
air interfaces, making it possible for carriers to provide a 5G-like user
experience on existing 4G handset in an accelerated timeframe,
said Dr. Xiang Jiying, Chief Scientist of ZTE. ZTE successfully overcame
the challenges of implement multi-user and multi-stream spatial
multiplexing in a scattered-signal environment, clearing the main
hurdle in the development of Massive MIMO technology.

Contribution
ZTE is a major contributor and player in the researches of global 5G
standards.
As a major member of the IMT-2020 (5G) Promotion Group, ZTE is
the team leader of some important research projects, such as IEEEoriented 5G technologies, 5G network architecture, and breakthrough
technologies for the physical layer of 5G networks.
ZTE has established partnerships and alliances on research and
innovation with many high-end customers worldwide like China
Mobile, Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefonica etc. Our target is to
develop the most suitable solutions for end users.
As a contributor to the 5G innovation lab, ZTE will continue to be
deeply involved in the NGMNs 5G work and will cooperate with other
operators to promote the standardization of 5G.

ZTE Signs Strategic Cooperation MOU on 5G with Korea

Telecom
At Mobile World Congress (MWC) Shanghai 2015, ZTE and Korea
Telecom (KT), South Koreas leading telecommunications operator,
officially signed a strategic cooperation MOU on 5G, to jointly promote
5G technology research and commercial applications.
Under this MOU, ZTE and KT will officially launch 5G TestBed
construction in Seoul, South Korea, and jointly develop, present, and
design the future 5G network architecture based on the TestBed,
for the purpose of pushing the advancement of 5G standards and
industry chains. The joint exhibition focuses on ZTEs Pre5G base
station, which is currently the only Massive MIMO base station
meeting commercial condition.

ZTE Signs Joint Pre5G R&D MOU with SoftBank

10 July 2015, Tokyo ZTE Corporation (0763.HK / 000063.SZ), a
major international provider of telecommunications, enterprise and
consumer technology solutions for the Mobile Internet, announced
the company signed a memorandum of understanding with SoftBank
Corp. to collaborate on research and development on Pre5G mobile
communications networks technology.

Under the MOU, the two companies will cooperate on R&D,

evaluation and verification of mobile communications solutions
based on ZTEs Pre5G technology, including Massive MIMO (multiple
input multiple output). The agreement builds on existing cooperation
between SoftBank and ZTE on technologies including Massive MIMO,
UDN (ultra-dense networks) and MUSA (multi-user shared access).
Keiichi Makizono, Senior Vice President of SoftBank, said, The
technology being developed under this agreement will help define
future Mobile Internet communications. In our plans to develop nextgeneration mobile networks, SoftBank will derive large benefits from
the Pre5G collaboration with ZTE.

ZTE and U Mobile Announce Partnership on 5G Mobile

Network Research in Malaysia
August 2015, Shenzhen, China ZTE Corporation (0763.HK / 000063.
SZ), a major international provider of telecommunications, enterprise
and consumer technology solutions for the Mobile Internet, today
signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with U Mobile Sdn
Bhd on the development of pre5G mobile broadband technologies,
deepening the two companies partnership on next-generation
network innovations.
The partnership will help U Mobile deliver substantial network
performance upgrades using ZTEs proprietary pre5G technologies
including Massive MIMO (multiple input multiple output). The MOU,
signed in Shenzhen by Too Tian Jen, Chief Technology Officer of U
Mobile, and Steven Ge, Managing Director of ZTE Malaysia, also
covers collaboration between the two companies on research and
development of 5G technologies, in addition to Pre5G.
U Mobile is constantly exploring new technology that will provide best
in class users experience to our customers, Mr. Too said. We see 5G
technology as the technology that would support the ever increasing
communication needs of the future. The collaboration with ZTE will also
support our governments vision of being a Smart Digital Nation by 2020.
Being known as the data-centric telco, 70% of U Mobile subscribers
are smartphone users. Looking at the recent consumer behavior study
in early 2015, the Malaysian public spends an average of 3 hours and
39 minutes browsing the Internet for work, information, searching and
entertainment, which is ranked the highest in the South East Asia region.
Source: ZTE

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About ZTE
ZTE Corporation is a globally-leading provider of telecommunications
equipment and network solutions. With operations in 160 countries,
the company is a leader in technology innovation, delivering superior
products and business solutions to clients all over the world. Founded
in 1985, ZTE is listed on both the Hong Kong and Shenzhen Stock
Exchanges and is Chinas largest listed telecoms equipment company.
Offering the industrys most comprehensive product range and
end-to-end solutions, ZTE delivers cutting-edge technology to
telecommunications clients in wireless, access & bearer, value-added
services, terminals, managed network services, and ICT solutions
for enterprises and government agencies The companys expertise
and flexibility in these areas enables telecommunications operators
and enterprises globally to achieve business objectives and attain
increased competitiveness. ZTEs technology is deployed by leading
international operators and Fortune-500 enterprises globally. The
company is the worlds fourth-largest handset maker, offering stylish
and intelligent devices for consumers around the world.
ZTE believes in technology innovation as a core value of the company,
investing more than 10% of annual revenue in R&D. The company
has established 18 state-of-the-art R&D centers in the China, France,
India and employs over 30,000 research professionals. With 107
subsidiaries devoted to innovation globally, ZTE was the worlds
biggest originator of technology patents in each of the past two years,
according to data from the World Intellectual Property Organization.

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As a member of the UN Global Compact, ZTE is committed to a vision

of balanced, sustainable development in the social, environmental
and economic arenas. Promoting freedom of communications around
the world, the company has incorporated innovation, technological
convergence and the concept of going green into the product life
cycle. This includes R&D, production, logistics and customer service.
The company also is committed to maximizing energy efficiency and
minimizing the CO2 emissions.
Active in community programs, ZTE participated in relief efforts related
to the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia, the 2008 earthquake in Sichuan,
China, and the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. ZTE also established the ZTE
Special Children Care Fund, the largest charity fund in China.
Looking forward, ZTE will continue to shape the global
telecommunications industry, working with our customers and
partners to stay on top of shifts in technology, business models and
market needs.