Ericsson and MediaTek have successfully merged four channels – one FDD (frequency division duplex) and three TDD (time division duplex)– to deliver a downlink speed of 4.36 Gbps, the highest known speed based on this band combination. This four-component carrier (4CC) aggregation combination will increase the 5G deployment options for communications service providers by blending different frequency bands.
The downlink peak rate of nearly 4.4 Gbps was reached by combining 20MHz of AWS (Advanced Wireless Service) band, 80MHz of CBRS (Citizens Broadband Radio Service) band and 200MHz of C-band spectrum. The test was carried out using MediaTek M80 5G modem, Ericsson’s Baseband 6648, TDD Massive MIMO radios 6AIR3268, AIR3239, and TDD Radio 4426.
Sibel Tombaz, Head of Product Line 5G RAN at Ericsson Networks, says: “Carrier Aggregation is crucial to getting the best possible 5G performance out of scattered spectrum assets. At Ericsson, we are persistently exploring all possible frequency band combinations to boost capacity and coverage. We have also shown that Carrier Aggregation is a game changer when it comes to optimizing the combined bandwidth of allocated spectrum assets to deliver higher date rates for a greater number of users.”
