Huawei Releases Position Paper on 5G Spectrum, Appealing for Global Harmonisation

Singapore, 16 November 2017 – At the 8th Global Mobile Broadband
(MBB) Forum held on 15 November in London, Huawei releases a Position
Paper on 5G Spectrum, which presents Huawei’s insights and recommendations on
5G spectrum policy. This paper aims to call upon the industry’s
organizations and regulators to facilitate spectrum harmonisation and ensure
timely availability for early deployment and large-scale commercial use of 5G.

5G is the next generation of MBB technology,
capable of ultra-fast speeds, low latency, and excellent reliability. The 5G
New Radio (5G-NR) interface can provide superior MBB services for end users
anytime and anywhere, while releasing the Internet of Things (IoT). This will
enable a diverse range of innovative use cases, such as smart manufacturing,
connected cars, smart logistics, and wireless home broadband. 5G is poised to
create a super connected world.

5G assumes the responsibility of promoting
digital transformation throughout society and requires a wide range of spectrum
resources. Huawei proposed a multi-layer spectrum approach in consideration of
divergent requirements of 5G services and different characteristics of related
frequency bands. The “Coverage and Capacity Layer” relies on the 2 to
6 GHz range (e.g. the C-band, 3.3-4.2 and 4.4-5.0 GHz) to deliver the
best compromise between capacity and coverage. This layer will emerge as the
world’s first band for the much-anticipated commercial deployment of 5G. The
“Coverage Layer” exploits the
spectrum below 2 GHz (e.g. 700 MHz) providing wide-area and deep
indoor coverage. The “Super Data Layer” relies on the spectrum above
6 GHz (e.g. 24.25-29.5 and 37-43.5 GHz) to address specific use cases
requiring extremely large capacity and high data rates.

The availability of spectrum resources in the
5G era needs administrations’ planning and allocation of contiguous spectrum.
The C-band is the key primary frequency band for the introduction of 5G by
2020. Each operator will need at least 100 MHz contiguous channel bandwidth to
support Massive MIMO to boost peak, average, and cell-edge throughput with
affordable complexity. The 5G-NR system on the 3.3-3.8 GHz band is expected to
be commercially ready by 2018. As the first step of 5G deployment, it is highly
recommended that 3.3-3.8 GHz or a portion of it be allocated as soon as
practicable.

High frequencies (above 6 GHz) will also
play an important role for 5G. Huawei suggests that at least 800 MHz of
contiguous spectrum can be allocated to each operator at the initial stages to
meet 5G requirements for ultra-high capacity of wireless home broadband (WTTx)
and for high mobility especially in hotspot areas.

5G-NR will embrace many new features and
technical innovations including LTE/NR
uplink spectrum sharing, Massive MIMO, network synchronization
(inter-operator), duplex flexibility, and others. These innovative features and
technologies provide an opportunity for regulators to adjust regulations for
more efficient and flexible spectrum utilisation.

LTE/NR uplink spectrum sharing lifts the
restriction on a single band for both uplink and downlink. For example, the
5G-NR uplink at 3.5 GHz can exploit spectrum resources at 1.8 GHz that have
been used for LTE. This scheme allows improved network coverage and spectral
efficiency. Regulatory frameworks need to embrace the principle of technology
and service neutrality for the most efficient spectrum allocation and sharing.
Regulatory masks should be revised to support the proliferation of Massive MIMO
antenna systems. The incentives for network synchronisation in 5G networks are
necessary for efficient deployment of 5G-NR networks in unpaired assignments.
Meanwhile, provisions to support duplex
flexibilityshould also be considered as the next step to allow for a more
flexible use of the spectrum resources.

More than improving performance from previous
generations of mobile technologies, one of the core targets of 5G is to provide
wireless connectivity to vertical industries. The success of 5G will therefore
depend on positive collaboration between the telecom industry and a broad range
of potential industrial users of 5G networks, reaching beyond the telecom
sector. A globally harmonised spectrum enables economies of scale, facilitating
cross-border coordination and roaming for end users. Consistent spectrum
timelines and harmonisation measures are key enablers for the success of 5G.

For more details, please view
Huawei’s Position Paper on 5G Spectrum via the following link:.

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