China Unicom and Huawei Launch 5G-A GigaUplink Network

China Unicom Beijing and Huawei have recently deployed a commercial network based on 5G-Advanced technology to deliver high-capacity uplink coverage across Beijing on a massive scale.

The upgraded network provides continuous coverage of a 100MHz chunk of spectrum in key areas of the city with more than 10,000 base stations now active.

Testing the GigaUplink network

A recent 34km live drive test allowed media representatives to experience the real-world performance of the new infrastructure.

During this evaluation, China Unicom Beijing used coordinated networking across the 3.5GHz and 2.1GHz frequency bands to assess large-uplink network performance and the user experience while using AI services on devices.

The live network test recorded a 100MHz uplink effective ratio of 83% while showing that only 0.1% of the coverage route fell into cell-edge weak points with speeds below 20Mbps.

Average upload speeds reached 397Mbps along the route with peak uplink speeds exceeding 1Gbps.

According to Huawei, this performance is sufficient for seamless interaction when using AI glasses or between AI phones and Agents. It can also support real-time cloud transmission for AI analysis and content generation.

Supporting the mobile AI era

Much of the rationale behind the focus on the uplink comes from the expected demands of emerging applications and use cases.

“Curently, AI is accelerating its integration into production and daily life,” says Miao Shouye, Senior Vice President of China Unicom.

“New services such as AI phones, AI glasses, smart robots, industrial vision and low-altitude applications are continuously emerging, profoundly changing network connection objects and business models.

“In the past, mobile networks focused more on ‘download speeds’ and information acquisition efficiency.

“However, as we enter the Mobile AI era, an increasing amount of data is generated on-site and needs to be transmitted to the cloud in real time for analysis and processing.

“Networks must not only ‘download fast’ but also transmit stably and accurately.

“Large uplink capabilities are becoming an essential foundation for supporting real-time interaction in the AI era, enabling the network to better connect, perceive, and serve the real world.”

Partnering for high-speed connectivity

David Li, President of Huawei’s Wireless TDD Product Line, highlights areas for further development.

“As the 5G Capital project enters its sixth year – progressing from global large-scale 5G-A demonstrations, to citywide commercial deployment and the release of the world’s first 5G-A 3D smart network, and now to the launch of the world’s largest 5G-A 100MHz GigaUplink commercial network – I am highly honoured to support China Unicom in maintaining its network leadership through Huawei’s innovative 3.5GHz + 2.1GHz SUL (Supplementary Uplink) solution," he says. 

“Huawei will continue to innovate in technological directions such as multi-band pooling, uplink enhancement and multi-dimensional coordination.

“We are committed to supporting China Unicom in building a high-quality, user-experience-centric 5G-A network, embracing the opportunities and challenges of the Mobile AI era and achieving win-win outcomes for the industry.”

Both organisations will continue to collaborate to advance network capabilities and develop the broader industrial ecosystem.

The partners aim to use smarter, deterministic network capabilities to support industrial innovation, urban development and improvements in citizens’ quality of life.