Swisscom demonstrates carrier aggregation in SA 5G call trial with Ericsson

Ericsson and Swisscom (Swisscom) demonstrated carrier aggregation (CA) across TDD and FDD in an independent network (SA) 5G voice and data call trial, which is said to be a milestone in the application of this technology in Europe Progress.

The Voice over New Air Interface (VoNR) test used Ericsson’s network equipment and OPPO’s Find X2 Pro mobile phone equipped with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 865 chipset. The aggregate network element uses Ericsson equipment and a test terminal based on Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 888 platform.

In a statement, Ericsson Europe and Latin America President Arun Bansal (Arun Bansal) described the work as “an important step towards fully unlocking the potential of 5G.” Swisscom Chief Technology Officer Christoph Aeschlimann explained that SA 5G will bring “new opportunities” including “network slicing and internal dedicated”.

Ericsson pointed out that currently all 5G networks in Europe are not SA, but it is expected that operators in the region will start to switch to SA in 2021. In August of this year, Qualcomm and Ericsson demonstrated CA across TDD and FDD in SA 5G trials, explaining that this feature will improve coverage and data rates.

Enrico Salvatori, senior vice president of Qualcomm Europe, said that Swisscom’s presentation “shows how close we are to bringing these benefits to individuals and industries across Europe”.

(Source)