mmMAGIC Technologies to Unlock Spectrum Above 6Ghz, Including Millimetre Wave Bands, for 5G’s Extreme Mobile Broadband

mmMAGIC, an international consortium led by Samsung and bringing together key vendors and major European operators has kicked off its race to develop concepts and key components for a new 5G mobile radio access technology which is expected to operate in a range of frequency bands between 6 and 100 GHz, including mm-Wave frequencies. The use of such extremely high frequencies for mobile communications is challenging but necessary for supporting 5G’s extreme mobile broadband service which will require very high (up to 10 Gbps) data rates, and in some scenarios, also very low end-to-end latencies (less than 5 ms). The project aims to accelerate standardisation of millimeter wave technologies for 5G so that the industry and citizens will benefit from commercialisation by 2020.

The mmMAGIC project is co-funded by the European Commission’s 5G PPP program, bringing together major infrastructure vendors (Samsung, Ericsson, Alcatel-Lucent, Huawei, Intel, Nokia), major European operators (Orange, Telefonica), leading research institutes and universities (Fraunhofer HHI, CEA LETI, IMDEA Networks, Universities Aalto, Bristol, Chalmers and Dresden), measurement equipment vendors (Keysight Technologies, Rohde & Schwarz) and one SME (Qamcom).

mmMAGIC is led and coordinated by Samsung. Ericsson acts as technical manager while Intel, Fraunhofer HHI, Nokia, Huawei and Samsung will each lead one of the five technical work packages of the project. The project was officially launched 1st of July and will last for two years. However, the consortium decided to jump-start its research three months ahead of the official EC launch in order to deliver its first results by the end of July.

The mmMAGIC project will develop and design new concepts for mobile radio access technology (RAT) for deployment in the 6-100 GHz range, including novel waveform, frame structure and numerology, novel adaptive and cooperative beam-forming and tracking techniques to address the specific challenges of millimetre wave mobile propagation. This new RAT is envisaged as a key component in the overall 5G multi-RAT ecosystem.

Seamless and flexible integration with other 5G and LTE radio interfaces are foreseen in the design of mmMAGIC’s radio network architecture and this will be realized through improved and entirely novel inter-networking functionalities that will be developed in the project. Self-backhauling and front hauling capabilities are also foreseen, thereby creating a holistic, scalable and economically viable integrated 5G solution to meet future needs of operators, enabling, for example, ultra-high definition TV and video streaming, virtual reality, immersive experience, and ultra-responsive cloud services in 5G for mobile users.

The project will undertake extensive radio channel measurements in the 6-100 GHz range at multiple locations in Europe, and will develop advanced channel models that will be used for rigorous validation and feasibility analysis of the proposed concepts and system, as well as for usage in regulatory and standards fora. The ambition of the project is to pave the way for a European head start in 5G standards and to be a focal point for European and global consensus building on the architecture, key components and spectrum for 5G systems operating above 6 GHz.

Following its official launch, over 60 delegates gathered at Samsung R&D Institute UK (SRUK) 7-8 July to discuss mmMAGIC’s first findings and launch project’s highly ambitious measurement campaigns, which will take place over the next 9 months in Germany, France, Finland, Sweden and the UK. During the next 9 months. Other technologies areas covered in mmMAGIC Kick-off meeting included 5G millimetre wave architecture and integration, radio interface design, and multi-antenna and advanced cooperation schemes to realise an “edgeless” Gbps experience for mobile users.

Chang Yeong Kim, Executive Vice President and Head of Digital Multimedia and Communications R&D of Samsung Electronics, said: “Completely novel and innovative approaches to mobile communications using higher frequency bands above 6 GHz are crucial to realise the envisaged 5G services with diverse and challenging requirements. Samsung believes that mmMAGIC will be the flagship consortium that encompasses all its key technical aspects and delivers globally harmonized solutions which truly open up an era of 5G.”

Dr. Sara Mazur, Vice President and Head of Ericsson Research, said: “With 5G the industry target a game change in mobile communication. 5G will enable digitalization of industries, the Internet of Things, and broadband everywhere. We are strongly convinced that 5G radio access will be realized as an integrated radio access based on millimeter wave technology, evolved LTE, and possibly additional radio interfaces. To pave way for smooth standardization, Ericsson see a great value in teaming up with key industries, operators, and academic partners in pre-standardization research. With its great composition, the mmMAGIC project provides an unparalleled opportunity to share and align ideas to accelerate the development of a new radio interface concept for higher frequencies that in the end will benefit not only European and the global telecom industry, but more important society and the end-users.”

Dr. Wen Tong, Vice President of Wireless Research and CTO of Wireless of Huawei Technologies, said: “5G wireless will exploit the usage of millimetre wave technology to boost the access speed, this is an exciting new frontier and a lot technology challenges ahead us to make it a commercial success, we are pleased to see mmMAGIC as one of the pioneering effort to make breakthrough in this field.”

Tod Sizer, Bell Labs Wireless Research Program Leader, from Alcatel-Lucent, said:“ To continue to increase capacity in 5G, more spectrum will be required. In addition to spectrum at traditional cellular bands, use of spectrum at centimeter and millimeter wave frequencies offers great opportunities with large blocks of available spectrum, albeit with significant technical challenges. Within mmMAGIC we hope to explore new types of applications which will be enabled by the very high burst speeds that this new spectrum can provide, as well as formulate new methods of controlling this new spectrum by pairing it with new 5G solutions at lower frequencies in order to provide the high quality and reliable service the end users expect.”

Keysight Technologies, Inc.: Jay Alexander, CTO said: “As leading organizations work to develop and deploy the world’s next-generation communications systems, Keysight is delighted to be part of the mmMAGIC consortium. We have been involved in mm-Wave design, simulation, and measurements for three decades. mmMAGIC represents a world-class group of wireless leaders and adds to a list of ongoing engagements we have in our commitment to wireless leadership.

Read more: https://5g-ppp.eu/mmmagic/

Contact: Dr Maziar Nekovee (Coordinator) Samsung

E-mail: m.nekovee@samsung.com

Background on the EU’s Horizon 2020 5G PPP initiative Horizon 2020 is the largest EU research and innovation programme ever, with nearly €80 billion in public funding available over seven years (2014-2020) in addition to the private investment it will attract. The 5G Public-Private Partnership (5G PPP) is an instrument launched as part of Horizon 2020, with a budget of €700 million in public funding expected to leverage five times this amount (€3.5 billion) in private investment.