Through the end-to-end field test of 3CC CA (Carrier Component Carrier Aggregation) combined with 1024QAM (1024-state Quadrature Amplitude Modulation) in Jiaxing, the test showcased a single user downlink peak rate surpassing 5.4Gbps.

ZTE said the validation harnessed new 5G-A features to unlock the potential of 5G commercial networks.

“This demonstration provides an important reference point for accelerating the commercialization of 5G-A,” ZTE said.

Touted to be a "5G-Advanced Dual-Chain Integration Innovation Demonstration Bases," China Mobile Zhejiang branch leverages its commercial 5G network to gradually implement 5G-A air interface enhancement technologies.

The aim is to expand the information highway and fully cater to the demanding requirements of emerging services such as VR smart experiences, ultra-high-definition live broadcasting, and glasses-free 3D.

Since earlier this year, China Mobile, in collaboration with ZTE and Qualcomm, has conducted what it calls the “world’s first end-to-end commercial verification of downlink 3CC CA with 1024QAM in Jiaxing, garnering a total bandwidth of 260MHz on 2.6GHz and 4.9GHz.”

1024QAM, a higher-order modulation technology defined in Release 17, can transmit 10 bits of data in a single symbol and can be used in conjunction with 3CC CA, improving peak data rate and spectral efficiency by 25% over 256QAM in the same bandwidth.

The verification used ZTE's commercial 5G network equipment and test device powered by the 5G modem and RF system, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X75.

The field test results showed that the combination of these two 5G-A features achieve a single-user downlink data rate of over 5.4Gbps.

Yesterday, CommsWire reported Samsung and Qualcomm also completed 1024 QAM tests for both Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) and Time Division Duplex (TDD) spectrum bands.