MmWave Best Measured By Ability to Reduce ‘Data Strain’: Qualcomm

The best way to measure the “network advantage” of 5G millimeter-wave technology isn't by its “coverage or connected time,” but by its ability “to reduce the growing data strain placed on cellular networks,” blogged Qualcomm Technologies Director-Product Marketing Nitin Dhiman. The “intended purpose” of 5G mmWave is to deliver “massive increases in localized capacity to address the ever-growing demand for data in key areas,” said Dhiman Wednesday. A Qualcomm analysis of field management data found 5G mmWave “offloads significant portions of the data traffic,” he said. “That figure will only increase as the penetration of 5G mmWave-capable devices increases. Using traffic measurements rather than coverage or connected/active time is the key performance metric that evidences the importance of mmWave in the evolution of 5G.” When mmWave capacity is available, “offloading traffic to the wider capacity helps achieve dramatically higher burst rates and average data rates” than 5G sub-6 GHz and LTE, he said. An analysis of the video streaming data set in the field tests found 95% of the data bursts “were observed to be carried over mmWave spectrum, resulting in 10.5x the burst rate with mmWave, compared to sub-6,” he said.