Wi-Fi and 5G speed records set

Samsung Electronics has reported two developments in 5G data transmission speeds - 7.5 Gbps (940 MB per second) for a stationary environment and a 1.2 Gbps (150 MB per second) 5G connection from a vehicle travelling at over 100 km/h.

Samsung has claimed the stationary test as being the fastest data rate achieved so far by the industry, and the mobile test as being the first to achieve an uninterrupted and stable connection at that data rate.

The company also says that the stationary test was the industry’s first successful 5G test conducted in an outdoor setting - previous tests have been conducted in stabilised, indoor environments, such as laboratories.

The mobile test was conducted from a vehicle travelling at high speeds on a 4.35 km professional outdoor race track. Watch the demo video:

Both tests were conducted using a 28 GHz 5G network. Samsung says it overcame obstacles such as short communication range by using the company’s Hybrid Adaptive Array Technology, which uses millimetre-wave frequency bands to enable the use of higher frequencies over greater distances.

The recent results were also a seven-fold increase on testing results from May 2013, when the company became the industry’s first to achieve 1 Gbps over a 28 GHz 5G network.

“We will continue to build upon these milestones and develop advanced technologies that contribute to the 5G standard,” said Chang Yeong Kim, head of DMC R&D Centre at Samsung Electronics. “In addition to leveraging our own global R&D capabilities, we will also continue to cooperate with other industry leaders and research centres across the world.

“Whether you are talking about mobile devices, the cloud or the Internet of Things, the demand for 5G telecommunications standard and its supporting technologies will continue to grow.”

Speedy Wi-Fi

The Korean company has also announced the development of commercially viable 60 GHz Wi-Fi technology with data rates of 4.6 Gbps (575 MB per second), which is a five-fold increase on the maximum speed possible with existing consumer electronics devices (from 866 Mbps, or 108 MB per second).

The company said that with this technology, a 1 GB movie will take less than three seconds to transfer between devices, while uncompressed high-definition videos can easily be streamed from mobile devices to TVs in real time without any delay.

In a press statement, the company said that “Unlike the existing 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Wi-Fi technologies, Samsung’s 802.11ad standard 60 GHz Wi-Fi technology maintains maximum speed by eliminating co-channel interference, regardless of the number of devices using the same network. By doing so, the technology removes the gap between theoretical and actual speeds, and exhibits actual speed that is more than 10 times faster than that of 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Wi-Fi technologies.”

Samsung said that it is able to achieve the result by leveraging millimetre-wave circuit design and high-performance modem technologies and by developing wide-coverage beam-forming antenna technology.

In addition, the company said it “enhanced the overall signal quality by developing … the world’s first micro beam-forming control technology that optimises the communications module in less than 1/3000 seconds, in case of any changes in the communications environment” and also “developed the world’s first method that allows multiple devices to connect simultaneously to a network”