• Demonstrated a mmWave link with 40Gbit/s data transmission rate
• Represents four times greater throughput compared to current solutions
• Measured latency was less than 100 microseconds
• Live trial conducted at Deutsche Telekom’s facility in Athens over a 1.4km hop

Relying upon a network of interconnected fibre isn’t a viable option for the densification and performance increases expected during full commercial 5G deployment. Instead, operators are going to need a complementary wireless option to meet their backhaul requirements, which is going to mean high-through millimetre wave (mmWave) solutions.

Working with its vendor partner Ericsson, Deutsche Telekom has announced that it has become the first CSP to successfully demonstrate a mmWave link with a data transmission rate of 40Gbit/s in a joint innovation project at the Deutsche Telekom Service Center in Athens. This represents a four-times data throughput improvement over regular 10Gbit/s solutions that are in use today. We can expect to see this figure continue to rise in the coming years.

“A high-performance transport connection will be key to support high data throughput and enhanced customer experience in next-generation networks,” explained Alex Choi, SVP Strategy & Technology Innovation, Deutsche Telekom. “While fiber is an important part of our portfolio, it is not the only option for backhaul. We have demonstrated fiber-like performance is also possible with wireless backhauling/X-Haul solutions.”

The test also focused on the far more stringent latency requirements of 5G network architectures, and resulted in a performance of less than 100 microseconds, which the two companies say confirms the application of wireless backhaul technologies to meet network-specific latency targets. The live lab trial in Athens was conducted over a hop distance of 1.4 kilometers using millimeter wave E-band spectrum.

Original Press Release:

Deutsche Telekom and Ericsson achieve fiber-like results with wireless backhaul

Ericsson and Deutsche Telekom are the first to successfully demonstrate a millimeter wave link with a data transmission rate of 40Gbps in a joint innovation project at the Deutsche Telekom Service Center in Athens.

An important milestone in the evolution from today’s 10Gbps reality toward the 100Gbps future, the partners achieved four times greater data throughput compared to current commercial millimeter wave solutions to prove the commercial viability of future wireless backhaul technology.

The test also focused on the stringent latency requirements in 5G network architecture to support low latency or ultra-low latency use cases. The round-trip latency performance of the link tested was less than 100 microseconds, confirming the positive contribution of wireless backhaul technologies to satisfy network-specific latency targets.

Alex Jinsung Choi, SVP Strategy & Technology Innovation, Deutsche Telekom, says: “A high-performance transport connection will be key to support high data throughput and enhanced customer experience in next-generation networks. While fiber is an important part of our portfolio, it is not the only option for backhaul. Together with our partners, we have demonstrated fiber-like performance is also possible with wireless backhauling/X-Haul solutions. This offers an important extension of our portfolio of high-capacity, high-performance transport options for the 5G era.”

Per Narvinger, Head of Product Area Networks, Ericsson, says: “Microwave continues to be a key technology for mobile transport by supporting the capacity and latency requirements of 4G and future 5G networks. Our joint innovation project shows that higher capacity microwave backhaul will be an important enabler of high-quality mobile broadband services when 5G becomes a commercial reality.”

The live trial was completed at the Deutsche Telekom Service Center in Athens over a hop distance of 1.4 kilometers in the millimeter wave (E-band) spectrum. Technical setup included the use of Ericsson’s latest mobile transport technology.