China Telecom, ZTE release Cluster DFS at MWC 2023

ZTE Corporation (0763.HK/000063.SZ), a global provider of ICT solutions, in partnership with China Telecom, has released a 5G-Advanced solution, Cluster DFS, at Mobile World Congress 2023 in Barcelona, Spain. This innovation will enable dynamic frame sharing on the basis of base station clusters to facilitate the co-ordinated development of B2B and B2C services.

China Telecom has deployed the world’s largest 5G SA network, with more than 1 million 5G base stations based on RAN-sharing strategy. With the large-scale commercialisation of 5G, China Telecom continues its 5G network innovation and enhancement for B2B, with the number of 5G customised networks hitting over 3 000 and commercial projects nearly 9 000 by the end of 2022. With the development of vertical applications, better performance of the 5G network is required to support operations and digital transformation, which poses a huge challenge for operators.

To adapt to vertical application traffic dynamics on uplink and downlink, China Telecom and ZTE have introduced the innovative Cluster DFS, by which base stations with the same heavy uplink characteristics are intelligently formed as a “cluster” to implement accurate adaptation between frame structure and services requirements. Consequently, a 5G network can synergise B2B and B2C services with optimal user experiences.

Huang Lilian, GM of Network Development and Sharing Department at China Telecom, said: “5G has become an important driving force of digital economy development. China Telecom is continuously exploring and promoting innovative technologies and solutions that combine the development of 5G high-quality networks and industrial applications.

“Based on previous successful experiences of Cluster DSS, China Telecom further extends 'cluster-level’ radio resource management mechanism from ‘frequency domain’ to ‘time domain’, which provides more flexible radio resource strategy and promotes the development of fully connected factories. The commercial trial of Lierda shows that Cluster DFS has increased the uplink throughput of B2B applications by 60%-80%, while ensuring stable B2C experiences, significantly improving network performance and efficiency, " added Lilian.

Bai Yanmin, Vice-President of ZTE, said: “B2B and B2C co-ordinated development on one network requires a more flexible and more intelligent resource management strategy, therefore, RAN intelligence is of great importance. ZTE uses RAN native-AI to enable adaptive radio resource adjustment, including spectrum, frame structure, power and beams. With four key features, specifically intelligent traffic prediction, cluster self-generating, intra-cluster traffic shaping and inter-cluster co-ordination, the potential of commercial 5G networks can be fully unlocked to offer optimal experiences for both industrial applications and consumer users."

Cluster DFS provides precise and on-demand user experiences for both consumers and enterprises based on AI capability, enabling a network policy shift from “one-size-fits-all” to “context-aware” and co-ordinating the development of B2B and B2C on 5G commercial networks.

Moving forward, ZTE and China Telecom will continue working together to carry out innovative practices and facilitate the development of 5G-Advanced applications for a digital, intelligent and green future.

For more information, please visit ZTE booth (3F30, Hall 3, Fira Gran Via) at Mobile World Congress 2023, or explore：https://www.zte.com.cn/global/about/exhibition/mwc23.html.