AT&T Labs makes industry-first 5G SA Uplink 2-CA

This new age of connectivity is not only about consuming more content but also generating more content than ever before. Demand for uplink capacity and speed continues to increase, about 30% a year in AT&T’s mobility network.

Whether you are uploading large files, on a video call with family, live streaming, cloud gaming or using extended reality applications, the network is facing surging upstream traffic demands it never has before. Our latest network innovations are complex but are all about helping meet this new demand.

Thats why AT&T completed the first 5G SA Uplink 2-carrier aggregation data call in the U.S. Carrier aggregation (CA) means we are combining or “aggregating” different frequency bands to give you more bandwidth and capacity.

AT&T conducted a laboratory trial using Nokia’s 5G AirScale portfolio with MediaTek’s 5G M80 test platform to combine its 850MHz and C-Band 3.45GHz spectrum.

The operator achieved a 100 per cent increase in uplink throughput by aggregating 850MHz of low-band spectrum with 40MHz of C-Band compared with using the low-band alone, and a 250 per cent boost using 100MHz of the latter spectrum.

During the trial, AT&T achieved data rates of more than 70Mb/s using the 40MHz of C-Band and in excess of 120Mb/s with 100MHz.

The test marked a technical achievement for the operator, but it remains to be seen if users will notice the slightly faster data rates.

But still, no one in the U.S market has successfully aggregated two carriers in 5G SA uplink, and AT&T is the first to achieve this milestone in Lab.