Home › News ›

AT&T Throwing 5G Tech at the Wall to See What Sticks

Article Comments

Jan 31, 2017, 9:34 AM by Eric M. Zeman

AT&T today said it plans to test a wide variety of potential 5G technologies throughout the year as it evolves from 4G LTE to next-generation mobile broadband. For example, the company intends to kick off field trials of AirGig later this year. AirGig relies on transporting mmWaves over powerlines. AT&T engineers have invented low-cost plastic antennas, a Radio Distributed Antenna System (RDAS), mmWave surface wave launchers, and inductive power devices. These technologies push broadband signals along or near power lines, not through them, and deliver multi-gigabit wired and wireless broadband. AT&T believes this approach will pay dividends, as it can be deployed on existing power deliver infrastructure with no need to build new towers or bury new cable. The field trials aim to determine how inclement weather might affect signal delivery as well as asses real-world costs. AT&T is also testing small cells throughout San Francisco. AT&T is testing a Centralized RAN (C-RAN) architecture, which pulls the individual basebands normally associated with each cell site and consolidates them in a single location. The small cells themselves can be installed on light posts and other existing infrastructure around the city. AT&T says this approach reduces the amount of gear needed at each small cell site and lets technicians easily update lots of sites at once due to the centralized basebands. The C-RAN tests also rely on mmWave technology. Other technologies on AT&T's testing roadmap this year include G.fast and Fixed Wireless Internet. G.fast boosts the capacity of existing copper lines to that of fiber, while FWI will target some 400,000 rural areas by the end of the year. The International Telecommunications Union has yet to technically define what 5G will be, but that hasn't stoped carriers such as AT&T and others from exploring a number of potential 5G technologies.

Related

New Asus Phone for Snapdragon Fans Showcases Qualcomm Tech

Jul 8, 2021
Qualcomm has partnered with Asus for a new flagship-class phone called the "Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders". Asus will make, sell, and support the phone, which is intended for members of Snapdragon Insiders, Qualcomm's new fan club.

OnePlus Evolves its Flagship with the 10T

Aug 3, 2022
OnePlus has announced the OnePlus 10T 5G, its newest flagship-class phone. Key improvements include 125-watt fast charging (in the US; 150-watt in other regions) and up to 16 GB of RAM.

Samsung Brings Galaxy XCover6 Pro to US Businesses

Sep 22, 2022
Samsung will bring its newest rugged phone for enterprise customers — the Galaxy XCover6 Pro — to the US next month. The XCover6 Pro replaces the original XCover Pro, which launched with AT&T in late 2020.

T-Mobile Intros New, Cheaper Small Biz Plans

May 20, 2021
T-Mobile today announced out new small business plans called Business Unlimited. The three new options offer a better value than the existing Magenta for Business plans in several ways.

AST SpaceMobile Cleared to Test Its Cellular-From-Space Tech in US

May 5, 2022
The FCC has issued the necessary licenses that will allow AST SpaceMobile to launch and test its unique direct-from-space cellular service within the US. Unlike existing satellite-phone technology, AST's BlueWalker 3 test satellite is designed to communicate directly with off-the-shelf mobile phones using standard cellular technologies like 4G, and standard cellular frequencies.

more news about:

Comments

This forum is closed.

This forum is closed.

No messages

Page 1 of 1