NTT DOCOMO together with NEC Corporation and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT), have achieved what is believed to be the world's first successful 28 GHz wireless data transmission between a 5G base station and a 5G mobile station in a car moving at 305 km/hr.
This 5G field trial also achieved successful 1.1 Gbps ultra-high-speed data transmission via downlink to a 5G mobile station moving at 293 km/h and a fast handover during communication between 5G base stations and a 5G mobile station moving at 290 km/h. In addition to this, the trial also succeeded in providing live 4K high-frame-rate video via uplink from a 5G mobile station moving at 200 km/h.
The trials, conducted at the Japan Automobile Research Institute (JARI) on April 8, created an ultra-high-mobility test environment using a car traveling at speeds similar to those of high-speed railways.
Radio waves in the 28 GHz high-frequency band propagate very straight and make long-range transmission difficult due to large propagation losses. To overcome these challenges, the 5G base station and 5G mobile station were both equipped for beamforming, which concentrated radio power in a specific direction, and beam tracking, which switched the direction of the beams to follow the 5G mobile station as it moved at high speed. By optimizing these functions, DOCOMO succeeded in establishing wireless communications in an ultra-high-mobility test environment.
Going forward, DOCOMO will continue conducting 5G research with leading vendors and partners to expand 5G capabilities in a wide range of operating environments.
