Recently, a simple day turned out to be a huge milestone for the wireless world when the world saw finalization of 3GPP Non-Standalone (NSA) 5G New Radio (NR) Standard. This formalization of NSA standard establishes the upcoming Standalone (SA) version and would symbolize a noteworthy step towards future of industry. With the help of NSA 5G NR, all players across ecosystem have been able to rally near the single internationally recognized specification for 5G radio configurations. It offer a strong technological base for industry to start examining and commercializing the upcoming generation of wireless devices and services. 

 

It is a very big moment and all parties engaged in the task of pulling the standard of this development. It also sets up foundation of an interoperable global marketplace that is full of technological possibility and economic opportunity. Intel too participated in this process as it has been working very closely with leading companies of mobile world to establish new benchmarks and speed the NR trials. 

 

There are several initial use cases that fall in the realms of upscaled Mobile Broadband, Vehicle-to-Everything Communications (V2X), and Internet of Things (IoT) concepts. Intel has already been leading the trends across several segments, carrying out field trials with the INtel GO 5G Automotive Platform and the Intel 5G Mobile Trial Platform (MTP). for preparing the specification finalizations, we need to work 2-3 years ahead of the present day standards when it comes to bringing together key learnings about use cases and all other performance requirements related to it.  

 

Intel has been a leading contributor in the NSA 5G NR development with reference designs, proprietary research, and keen insights from a wide range of trials. Intel’s multiple contributions move around specifications including radio link adaptation, reference symbol designs, beamforming, spatial sub-channelization, modulation, error correction, coding, and so forth. Intel also came up with several prototypes for usage in examination of pre-5G standards along with 5GTF.