Samsung demonstrates industry's fastest 8.5 Gbps 5G speed

SEOUL -- For the first time in the industry, Samsung Electronics has demonstrated an 8.5 gigabit per second 5G data communication to multiple devices that is fast enough to download ultra-high-definition video content in just a few seconds.

Samsung said that its lightning-fast 5G technology lab demonstration was made possible by combining two technologies, carrier aggregation and multi-user, multiple input, multiple output (MU-MIMO), to achieve 4.3Gbps speeds on each of two test mobile devices, reaching an industry peak speed of 8.5 Gbps.

Carrier aggregation is a technology that combines two or more carriers into a single data channel to increase the maximum data capacity. Different frequency bands can be combined to enhance speed. MU-MIMO is a wireless communication technology that allows wireless terminals or devices to communicate with each other. MU-MIMO technology is commonly used in the expansion of home Wi-Fi using multiple routers.

"This successful demonstration proves mmWave’s potential to deliver new kinds of business use cases and open up opportunities for mobile operators," said Samsung's network business vice president Park Hyun-ho. mmWave is a term that represents extremely high frequency in 5G communication. Higher the frequency, the faster the data speed.

Although the speed of 5G data communication can reach 20Gbps according to the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), a collaboration between groups of telecom standards associations, the average 5G download speeds in South Korea is 111.8 Mbps, about 48 percent faster than the speed of the current 4G data speed.

Samsung said that by using the new 5G technology, mobile carriers operating 5G base stations and routers can deliver 8K ultra-high-definition streaming video as well as broadcast augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) content in real time. Currently, users are required to download such mega-sized content files onto their devices to enjoy content.