NTT DOCOMO, AGC and Ericsson have teamed up to demonstrate 5G transmissions using unique glass-mounted antennas on vehicles traveling at high speeds. The partners recently achieved a record-setting 8 Gbps data transmission using 5G technology in a vehicle traveling at approx. 100 km/h. The glass-mounted antenna on the vehicle (also referred to as on-glass antennas) used for the demo experiment are 5G antennas supporting the 28 GHz band developed by Japanese glass manufacturer, AGC Inc. The on-glass antennas are not easily seen from the exterior and can be installed without having a negative impact on the vehicle design.
The 28 GHz band frequency has a large amount of radio wave attenuation and has difficulty traveling long distances. By installing an on-glass antenna on the vehicle, 5G radio waves can be transmitted and received using beamforming, which concentrates radio waves in a specific direction, and Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) functionality, which improves communication speed by simultaneously transmitting different data from multiple antennas. This allows stable, high-speed communication even for vehicles in operation.
As part of the demonstration, the partners tested 5G communication using both beamforming and the MIMO functionality with a vehicle equipped with on-glass antennas. The experiment was held at the National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. While traveling at speeds of approximately 100 km/h, the tests recorded throughput of 8 Gbps, while upwards of 11 Gbps while traveling at 30 km/h.
DOCOMO, AGC, and Ericsson will continue working toward utilizing of 5G in a wide range of environments including in-vehicle communication modules.
