Connectivity Technology Blog

While 5G rollout is gaining momentum, 6G is the new shiny object nowadays. Operators may still be struggling with finances and the ability to increase ARPU or revenues through 5G but that has not dampened the vendors and researchers appetite to start talking about 6G. Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS), North American Organizational Partner for 3GPP and a leading technology and solutions development organization recently announced Next G Alliance to Advance North American Leadership in 6G. It has several operators and vendors as founding partners. In addition, 6G Symposium was held just last week bringing together vendors, researchers and though leaders in the mobile telecom networks to discuss the next evolution of mobile technology. While there is a lot of activity going on everywhere, 6G Flagship has been taking leadership role with the publication of many different whitepapers and even a magazine now. One of the whitepapers that has been published is about...

Last year, I wrote about how HAPSMobile is bringing connectivity from the sky for underserved, unserved areas as well as emergencies.  Earlier this year we saw HAPSMobile and Loon Partner for Stratosphere-Based LTE Communications Solution. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that HAPSMobile and Loon have announced "First in the World to Deliver LTE Connectivity from a Fixed-Wing Autonomous Aircraft in the Stratosphere" Selected extract of the  press release as follows:  SoftBank Corp.’s HAPSMobile Inc. (“HAPSMobile”) and Alphabet’s Loon LLC (“Loon”) today announced they successfully tested their jointly developed communications payload in the stratosphere on HAPSMobile’s “Sunglider,” a solar-powered unmanned aircraft system (UAS). Taking place during Sunglider’s first stratospheric test flight at Spaceport America (SpA) in New Mexico on September 21 MT, the test marked the world’s first successful delivery of LTE connectivity from a fixed-wing High Altitude Pl...

I got to see innovations by the Latvian MNO, LMT at MWC 2019. I wrote about it on the Operator Watch Blog as well as 3G4G Blog . Now LMT has announced that they have performed a unique cross-border drone flight. The Google translated press release said: The operation of such flights is associated with a number of unknowns, including mobile network coverage in the air. To test this, on September 2, LMT conducted one of the world's first fully remotely controlled drone cross-border flights out of sight, where a connection to the mobile communication network was used to control the drone. The drone crossed the Latvian-Estonian border, changing mobile operators, but the pilot did not lose control of the drone's control. ... Previous tests performed by LMT in Latvia show that the signal strength of the mobile communication network is even better in some places in the air than on the ground, where it is disturbed by obstacles such as thick walls and trees. On the other hand, in this ...

 A new 6G Research Visions Webinar took place on Wednesday 30 September 2020, presenting key findings by the Expert Group that prepared the 6G White Paper on Connectivity for Remote Areas. In the 90-minute webinar, representatives of the group gave talks on regulatory challenges, spectrum matters and wireless backhaul solutions for remote area connectivity. Talks by Expert Group representatives:  Alok Pandey, Indian Institute of Technology, India Brejesh Lall, Indian Institute of Technology, India Mohamed-Slim Alouini, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia Abdelaali Chaoub, National Institute of Posts and Telecommunications (INPT), Morocco Adrian Kliks, Poznan University of Technology, Poland The webinar was moderated by Dr. Harri Saarnisaari from University of Oulu who led the Expert Group.  The webinars are organized by the 6G Flagship program led by the University of Oulu, Finland and the 6G White Paper Expert Group which prepared the...

We looked at CBRS not long ago but here is another post on the topic, which proved to be very popular. If you haven't seen the old post, it's here . Last week, the CBRS Alliance and American Tower collaborated for a webinar to walk attendees through the OnGo deployment process in the CBRS band.  It's trying to use OnGo as a brand for Private LTE deployed in CBRS spectrum Which seems totally pointless, given that there's a ton of *other* Private LTE deployed in the US & around the world. Nobody in the UK or Germany or Japan is calling a private 4G/5G an "OnGo" network — Dean Bubley (@disruptivedean) September 24, 2020 The CBRS Alliance has developed a set of detailed specifications and an accompanying OnGo certification program. The certification program + specifications will enable the commercialization of the OnGo architecture and ensure seamless interoperability for all network components. The certification program will ensure all OnGo-Certified Device...