Verizon, Ericsson, Qualcomm hit industry-first download speed of 1.07Gbps

Verizon, Ericsson and Qualcomm Technologies, a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated surpassed the Gigabit speed barrier, by achieving an industry-first with commercial silicon and network infrastructure with 1.07 gigabits per second (Gbps) download speeds using the Qualcomm SnapdragonTM X20 LTE Modem, as part of the companies' ongoing evolution of LTE technology.

This achievement builds on the recent announcement about Gigabit LTE with support for License Assisted Access (LAA). The speed was achieved using three 20MHz carriers of FDD (Frequency Division Duplex using separate transmit and receive frequencies) spectrum, achieving new levels of spectral efficiency for commercial networks and devices. These efficiencies will enable the delivery of the Gigabit class experience to more customers and lead to new wireless innovations.

The companies achieved the industry milestone by using 12 simultaneous LTE streams, which allow for up to 20 percent increase in peak data rates and capacity with a corresponding improvement in average speeds. Ericsson's Radio System and LTE software, in concert with a mobile test device based on the Snapdragon X20 LTE modem, enabled these high speeds.

In the lab, the 1.07 Gbps speeds were achieved using all licensed band combinations with:

·12 LTE streams with 3 cell carrier aggregation of FDD spectrum

·4x4 MIMO per carrier (multiple in, multiple out), which uses multiple antennae at the cell tower and on consumers devices to optimise data speeds

·256 QAM per carrier, which enables customer devices and the network to exchange information in large amounts, delivering more bits of data in each transmission, significantly enhancing data speeds

"As technology leaders, Verizon continues to drive innovation for our customers. Today's achievement shows once again that while Verizon deploys the most advanced technologies to our customers in the real-world environment, we are always looking ahead to what customers will need tomorrow," said Nicola Palmer, Verizon Wireless Chief Network Officer.

"Ericsson is working across the industry to improve the end-user experience and to develop new functionalities and advancements with greater spectral efficiency on LTE. Achieving 1.07 Gbps with Verizon and Qualcomm Technologies on a commercial chipset is a big milestone on the road to 5G," added Fredrik Jejdling, Head of Business Area Networks, Ericsson.