NGMN calls for the industry to support uplink performance

Verticals’ use cases need sufficient uplink throughput or cell capacity and low enough latency, when 5G Time-Division Duplex (TDD) bands are used to successfully realize their industrial use cases. The uplink performance is key to fully unlock the value of 5G. Therefore, the Next Generation Mobile Networks (NGMN) Alliance calls to increase efforts to enhance the uplink performance in its new White Paper “5G TDD UPLINK”. The Alliance formulates specific recommendations to regulators and other mobile industry stakeholders to support the ecosystem with adequate solutions. Also, various technical possibilities are presented – some of them are related to the management of interference, when differing frame structures are used to support the industries’ requirements.

Wolfgang Fleischer, Head of Network Innovation Technology & Business Evolution, A1 Group, NGMN Board Member and project lead, says: “Some of the applications for 5G technology, particularly in industrial settings, have greater requirements on the uplink – both in terms of capacity and shorter latency. This NGMN Initiative puts these into the spotlight and presents features to enable the networks to accommodate the requirements for such uplink dependent use cases.”

NGMN’s recommendations to better support the uplink throughput and latency requirements of Verticals include:

• To use different TDD configurations
• To select frame structure to vary uplink/downlink throughput
• To carefully select more balanced or uplink oriented TDD frame structures in a local network
• To consider the adoption of other uplink enhancing features such as SU-MIMO
• To enhance 3GPP specification to fulfil requirements with respect to UL throughput, latency, and support for the co-existence of different frame structures by enhancements
• To reserve spectrum for certain specific usages

The NGMN project will also reach out to chipset makers, regulators, Standard Developing Organisations and other involved parties to ensure that these NGMN recommendations are considered.

CT Bureau