Canadian full-service operator Telus Communications and China’s Huawei Technologies have claimed a ‘significant milestone’ on the road towards 5G with the successful deployment of a Heterogeneous Network (HetNet) in their ‘5G Living Lab’ network in downtown Vancouver. HetNet is recognised as one of the key building blocks for 5G and combines multiple types of cells (such as outdoor macrocells and microcells and indoor picocells) to enhance both coverage and capacity in crowded areas and inside buildings where outdoor signals do not penetrate. The network enables seamless transitions between cell types to ensure uninterrupted streaming of ultra-high-bandwidth applications (such as high-definition video, videoconferencing or cloud-based services) as devices move throughout the network. As data demands on wireless networks increase, HetNet will play a key role in providing an ultra-fast and reliable network experience, especially in dense urban environments, the partners’ press release states.
‘The advancements we are making at the 5G Living Lab are laying the foundation for our next generation of wireless networks,’ said Ibrahim Gedeon, CTO at Telus, adding: ‘These ground-breaking trials will one day enable the likes of driverless cars; smart homes, businesses and cities; new innovations in healthcare; as well as yet-to-be-imagined applications, devices and services powered by dramatically faster and more reliable wireless connections.’
In addition, Telus and Huawei announced they have successfully enabled a C-RAN (Centralised Radio Access Network) across multiple 5G Living Lab sites in Vancouver and are now operating the largest C-RAN deployment in North America. C-RAN is a next-generation network architecture that centralises the management of multiple cell sites, enabling intelligent allocation of radio capacity and improved network throughput in crowded urban areas or at special event locations.