Japanese operator KDDI and Samsung achieved speeds of more than 1Gb/s in a recent demonstration of 5G technology on a moving train.

Pre-commercial 5G equipment was provided by Samsung for the test, including a router, radio access unit, and virtualised RAN and core. The companies were able to achieve a peak speed of 1.7Gb/s as the train travelled at 100km/hour over a 1.5km stretch of track. The connection also enabled successful downlink and uplink handovers, including an 8K video download and upload of 4K video filmed from a camera mounted on the train.

The companies said the test opens the door to potential use cases including backhaul for onboard Wi-Fi, better passenger infotainment and better security.

KDDI senior managing executive officer Yoshiaki Uchida called the demonstration “an important milestone indicating 5G commercialisation is near”.

History of collaboration
KDDI and Samsung have been working together on mmWave 5G demonstrations for the past few years. Their exhibitions have included a multi-cell handover using a device mounted to a car driving the streets of Tokyo, and a high-speed test with a device attached to a car traveling at nearly 200km/hour around a racetrack in Yongin, South Korea.

KDDI said it will continue working with Samsung to explore real-world use cases as part of its aim to launch 5G services by 2020. In October Fumio Watanabe, chairman of KDDI Research, indicated obtaining spectrum licences from the Japanese government will be the operator’s biggest obstacle to meeting its 2020 goal.