T-Mobile’s rivals may be catching up in the 5G race, but Uncarrier is determined to stay ahead of the game. Not only does he boast the fastest and most extensive 5G network in the United States, he is also actively working on technology that will help achieve even higher peak speeds.
Two years ago, T-Mobile used a relatively new technology known as 5G carrier aggregation (5G CA) to expand the midband spectrum, previously the exclusive domain of very high (and very short range) mmWave. Achieved download speeds of 3 Gbps on the frequency. technology. Now, for the first time, we have leveraged the latest developments to break the traditional limits on upload speeds at frequencies below 6GHz, making our new 5G a reality.
T-Mobile’s latest 5G record
This new technology is known as Uplink Transmission (UL Tx) Switching, and the basic principle is to achieve download speeds of 3Gbps, except that it uses more channels to provide more capacity. Similar to the 5G CA technology used.
But UL Tx takes a big step beyond that. Using 5G CA, T-Mobile has combined multiple 5G channels across three separate frequency bands from 1.9 GHz to 2.5 GHz to provide more bandwidth. UL Tx switching takes advantage of these carrier aggregation technologies to combine different frequencies into one uplink band, but adds single-user multiple-input multiple-output (SU-MIMO) to the mix to support multiple Send streams and seamlessly switch between frequencies. Make the most of all available capacity across the spectrum.
As T-Mobile’s press release puts it, “It’s like taking the 5G superhighway and adding new high-speed lanes with more traffic to expand faster than ever before.”
As a result, T-Mobile was able to achieve speeds of 345Mbps on its 5G standalone network, breaking its own record of 275Mbps announced less than a month ago.
Uncarrier did not name the specific smartphone used to conduct the test, saying only that it was “equipped with Qualcomm Technologies’ flagship Snapdragon Modem-RF system.” However, some may think that last month’s record is telling as it was announced at the same time as the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S24 lineup powered by Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.
“This achievement is a testament to our relentless pursuit of innovation and our commitment to providing our customers with a better network experience,” said Ulf Ewaldson, President of Technology at T-Mobile. “Uplink transmission switching has the potential to significantly improve upload speeds and capacity, and we implore our partners around the world to incorporate that capability into their upcoming 5G ecosystems.”
Maximum speed at optimal range
What makes T-Mobile’s accomplishment groundbreaking isn’t just the speeds it was able to achieve, but the fact that it did so using mid-band 5G frequencies.
We’ve long seen reports that 5G technology will deliver download speeds of up to 4 Gbps and upload speeds of over 1 Gbps. By comparison, just 345Mbps may not seem that impressive.
The problem is that these lightning-fast speeds have traditionally only been available in mmWave networks, which operate at very high frequencies, typically 24 GHz or higher. This spectrum provides incredible capacity, but it also covers an area of about one city block.
There is an inverse relationship between range and capacity. As frequency increases, speed also increases, but range decreases. At the other end of the mmWave spectrum, low-band 5G can communicate for miles, but doesn’t offer speeds much better than 4G/LTE.
As such, mid-band frequencies from 2GHz to 6GHz have long been considered the future sweet spot for 5G. These are sometimes referred to as C-band spectra, but this is not entirely accurate. This is because C-band frequencies only make up a small portion of the spectrum, specifically the central 3.7 GHz to 3.98 GHz slice. The C band is primarily used by his Verizon and AT&T, and T-Mobile has set up basecamp in his 2.5GHz zone.
While mid-band spectrum offers the best balance of range and capacity, it is also clear that speeds are starting to plateau due to the limitations of existing 5G technology. That’s why T-Mobile has been actively experimenting with new technologies like 5G CA and UL Tx to help change the rules and deliver unprecedented speeds without sacrificing range.
As a practical matter, this means that the same towers that T-Mobile currently deploys could one day be deployed without deploying the tens of thousands of additional transceivers needed to provide mmWave coverage to densely populated cities. This means you can achieve speeds comparable to the best mmWave networks.
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