Introduction on IMT-2020 5G Trials in China

Abstract

Ultrahigh data rate, massive connectivity, ultralow latency, and high reliability, as well as ultraflexible air interface design to support diversified usage scenarios, are the major targets of 5G radio access network design. To meet these targets, advanced new radio transmission technologies, including new waveform, new channel coding, non-orthogonal multiple access, as well as massive antenna techniques, have been proposed and studied worldwide in both academic and industries. Most of the gains claimed in the literature are from simulations or by small scale lab testing. Instead, this paper elaborates on the first hand results and analysis of the large-scale field trials carried out in China for a selection of key 5G technology components as well as some of their combinations, including filtered-orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) (f-OFDM), polar code, sparse code multiple access, and massive multi-input multi-output (MIMO) for both uplink and downlink cellular networks. Testing results verify the feasibility and benefit of each technology contributing toward the diversified 5G targets, as well as the feasibility for these technologies to work jointly for higher spectrum efficiency, larger connectivity, and lower latency.