LONDON -- Today at the 8th Global Mobile Broadband Forum in London, Huawei showcased a 5G deployment with unique 5G New Radio and LTE co-site deployment to separate uplink and downlink on different bands. The 5G uplink and downlink (UL/DL) decoupling was demonstrated live for the first time at London ExCel over an end-to-end network.

UL/DL decoupling improves C-band coverage and user experience by using LTE/4G bands to carry 5G uplink data.

This is the latest step in the strategic partnership between BT-owned EE and Huawei.

In 5G C-Band deployments uplink coverage can be significantly limited compared to downlink coverage due to higher bands and larger power gaps between sites and terminals. This can cause C-Band uplink coverage to affect user experience.

UL/DL decoupling enables C-Band and 1.8GHz co-site deployment with the same coverage. This concept has the potential to maximize the reach of 5G in C-band to enhance the customer experience and could reduce investment in additional sites.

UL/DL decoupling of 5G has been accepted by 3GPP R15 and 5G uplink and will be standardized in 3GPP R15.

Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd