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May 14, 2014

Ascom Network Testing Joins Surrey University to Develop 5G Test Bed

Carriers may still be deploying 4G networks around the world, but they’re already working on the 5G standard. Ascom Network Testing has announced that it has joined the 5G Innovation Centre at the University of Surrey in England.

“We are excited to be part of this program,” said Ascom Network Testing CTO Erik Tarnvik. “Ascom has been a member of 3GPP and ITU for many years, and as such we’ve had the opportunity to be part of development efforts as the industry progresses. We are eager to participate and learn first-hand the challenges of this increasingly complex technology through 5GIC, so that we can develop solutions to help the industry to address them.”

Ascom will be joining a veritable “who’s who” of the telecommunications world, including Aeroflex, AIRCOM International, BBC, BT, EE, Fujitsu Laboratories of Europe, Huawei, Ofcom, Rohde & Schwarz, Samsung, Telefonica and Vodafone, in developing a “test bed” for future 5G technologies at the university.

“By bringing together leading academics with heavy-weight industry partners we can develop the technologies that are required to provide much-needed capacity, drive economic growth and actively contribute to and shape the future 5G technology,” Rahim Tafazolli, a professor and head of the Surrey University Centre for Communication Systems Research (CCSR), said. “We are very pleased to have Ascom join our group so that we can use its leading technology as an integrated part of our plans.”

While the actual deployment of 5G networks is quite far in the future, at least until 2020, the proposed features include a focus on smaller cells, advanced interference management, “Internet of Things” technologies, among other things. The stakeholders are still debating about what 5G will ultimately include.

The announcement also shows how both business and academia have come together to develop new technologies that will benefit everyone in the long run.




Edited by Maurice Nagle


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