
The trials will support operation in millimeter Wave (mmWave) spectrum, aiming to accelerate commercial deployments in the 28GHz and 39GHz bands. The higher frequency bands can increase network capacity and are expected to achieve multi-gigabit per second data rates.
The trials will use device and base station prototypes from Qualcomm Technologies and Ericsson respectively, along with spectrum from AT&T, to simulate real-world scenarios across a broad set of use cases and deployment scenarios. The trials will employ 3GPP 5G NR Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) antenna technology with adaptive beamforming and beam tracking techniques to deliver robust and sustained mobile broadband communications at the higher frequency bands, including non-line-of-sight (NLOS) environments and device mobility. It will also make use of scalable OFDM-based waveforms and a new flexible framework design that are also expected to be part of the 5G NR specifications.
The trials are expected to start in the second half 2017 in the US.