MediaTek and Nokia in joint effort to expedite the next wave of 5G connectivity
BARCELONA – Feb. 20, 2019 – MediaTek and Nokia today announced the completion of first wave 5G interoperability testing between the MediaTek Helio M70 5G modem and Nokia AirScale 5G Base Station. This marks a significant milestone for MediaTek and Nokia, who have been collaborating for the past two years to accelerate the rollout of 5G networks and enable the first wave of 5G devices.
“5G connectivity will power a new wave of innovation and make reliable connectivity truly accessible to people and enterprises around the globe,” said TL Lee, General Manager of MediaTek’s Wireless Communication business unit. “We very much appreciate our open and productive collaboration with Nokia, which helped to ensure the market readiness of the Helio M70 solution. Together we are committed to enabling a seamless 5G experience that brings consumers ultra-fast connectivity while maximizing battery life.”
The MediaTek Helio M70 5G modem and Nokia AirScale 5G Base Station are compliant with the 3GPP Rel-15 5G New Radio (NR) standard, ensuring compatibility across different network architectures and connected devices both on mid- and high frequency bands to meet operator and regional requirements.
“We continue to collaborate with MediaTek to support commercial 5G launches during 2019,” said Mark Atkinson, Head of Nokia’s 5G & Small Cells business. “The completion of these tests shows the capabilities of the Nokia AirScale 5G Base Station and confirms our strong commitment to a broad 5G ecosystem.”
Tests performed with the Helio M70 and Nokia AirScale 5G Base Station used a standalone connection of 3.5GHz band n78 with 100MHz channel bandwidth and 30kHz sub carrier spacing, the maximum connection capability per component carrier. The Helio M70 5G modem, MediaTek’s first generation 5G solution, is the only 5G modem with LTE and 5G dual connectivity (EN-DC), plus multi-mode support for every cellular connectivity generation from 2G to 5G. Helio M70 supports the sub-6GHz frequency band and initial non-standalone (NSA) and future standalone (SA) 5G network architectures.
MediaTek and Nokia conducted comprehensive joint physical layer integration and protocol layer testing to ensure optimal user experience. Consumers will be able to enjoy enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), spurring a new ecosystem of AR/VR media, UltraHD, 360-degree streaming video and other applications and connected devices that require faster data rates and more bandwidth.
MediaTek will be demonstrating its Helio M70 5G modem with Nokia AirScale 5G Base Station at MWC 2019, taking place Feb. 25-28, 2019 in Barcelona. MediaTek’s booth will be located in Hall 6 at Stand 6C30.