ESPOO, Finland -- 5G research won fresh support today as the European Commission and the 5G PPP Association signed a contract to create a 5G public-private partnership (PPP). The 5G PPP will further develop 5G technology to prepare for the future standardization of the system and components that are expected to be deployed in the next decade.

“This is an important milestone towards an industry-wide agreement on use cases, requirements and technologies for 5G,” said Dr. Werner Mohr, head of research alliances, NSN, who will chair the 5G PPP Association. “LTE and its continuous evolution will be sufficient until the end of the decade. However, after 2020 a new generation of technologies will be needed to address market demands. The industry and academia are working together to create a high-performance 5G environment.”

NSN is conducting research on the flexible use of spectrum and its propagation in new, higher bands, both for centimeter and millimeter wave. In addition, the company is working on system design for ultra-dense small cell deployments to deliver the high data rates and ultra-low latency that will be needed to support future use cases such as augmented reality and tactile Internet.

Other major research areas for NSN are wide area enhancements, including efficient support of machine type communication; and 5G architecture to integrate existing and new technologies. NSN is also analyzing how 5G may be adapted to such new uses as smart grids, homes or cities.

Nokia Networks