British mobile phone company Vodafone says,first european test” of “Advanced 5G uplink technology” Mobile broadband upload speeds have been improved by leveraging the latest Qualcomm processors and Xiaomi smartphones over 5G standalone (5GSA) networks.to” 273Mbps.
Currently, most existing 5G networks in the UK and elsewhere are still in use. non-standalone (NSA) technology relies on slow 4G infrastructure. By comparison, a standalone (SA) network is a pure end-to-end 5G network with improvements such as ultra-low latency (high speeds), faster upload speeds, network slicing capabilities, and better support for Internet of Things (IoT) devices. can be achieved. , improving reliability and security.
The latest test builds on this by leveraging a technique called “upload” to enhance uplink (upload) performance. Uplink carrier aggregation (UCA) and transmit switching, combines multiple transmission channels supported by smartphones and mobile antennas. This was combined with Qualcomm’s latest silicon technology (Snapdragon® 8 Gen 3 mobile platform) and the upcoming Xiaomi flagship smartphone.
Tests were conducted on both commercial 5G SA networks in Ciudad Real, Spain and Hannover (Germany) and were able to improve upload speeds by 35% to 54% depending on the distance between the smartphone and the mobile site.Achieve upload speeds of Up to 273Mbps (Most NSA 5G networks in the UK today often struggle to get above around 15-20Mbps on average).
Alberto Ripepi, chief network officer at Vodafone, said:
“We want our customers to be able to benefit from this new 5G capability sooner than anywhere else in the world when it becomes available. To that end, we are working with key partners to We’re leading the industry and driving a stronger vendor and developer ecosystem while bringing together and testing the networks, silicon chips, and devices needed to make that happen.”
The announcement claims:Most modern smartphones and home broadband services support average upload speeds of 100Mbps.This is a bit of a broad generalization, as there are many variations depending on the country/location, carrier, and network technology you’re talking about (for example, the best FTTP networks already offer symmetric multi-gigabit speeds). can be achieved).
Nevertheless, increased uplink speeds on mobile connections are naturally useful for sharing files, photos, videos, using cloud or remote gaming services, etc. Suffice it to say that despite the complexities of 5G SA and related deployments, improvements in this area are welcome. The enhancements suggest it may take some time before we all benefit.
Vodafone has already launched its 5G SA network in the UK.5G Ultra” consumer package (here), but its scope will initially be limited (e.g. parts of London, Manchester, Glasgow and Cardiff). As part of the plan, it is also committed to providing 5G SA networks to over 99% of the UK population by 2034, and boosting fixed wireless access (mobile home broadband) to 82% of households by 2030.
Operators’ current 5G SA networks in the UK have not yet enabled support for the new uplink enhancements mentioned above, but the situation is likely to change, especially as new devices become available that can actually take advantage of it. There will be no change.
