The publisher just completed its 20th 5G NR benchmark study. For this endeavor they ventured across the pond for the first time in nearly two years to conduct a performance analysis of the Elisa 5G NR network, which the operator has deployed in Band n78 (3.6 GHz). The LTE network is comprised of three bands (B1, B3 and B7), equating to 60 MHz of FDD spectrum although in some areas B20 (2x10 MHz) was observed instead of B1. Interestingly, the operator also has an experimental 5G NR mmWave network with several sites deployed in the downtown area. Depending on the area tested, Huawei or Nokia provided the infrastructure, although the publisher believes Nokia was the only provider of mmWave radios.
For this study the publisher leveraged two Asus Snapdragon Insiders smartphones with the Qualcomm 888 processor (X60 modem). Depending on the test scenario the publisher used one or both smartphones while walking or driving around Helsinki and the surrounding area. With the two phone test scenarios, the publisher used the phone’s menu to lock one phone to LTE to obtain comparative results with the 5G NR-enabled smartphone. Our tests included downlink and uplink performance to provide the most complete picture of how 5G NR performed in the mid-band spectrum.
In the downlink tests, the 5G NR Bn78 performance was stellar, driven in large part by the unexpectedly high utilization of MIMO Rank 4 as well as 256QAM modulation. Even outside of urban Helsinki in drive tests that went into relatively rural areas where the operator was still building out its 5G NR network, the performance was quite strong. For comparison purposes, the average LTE spectral efficiency was in the mid-range between 5 and 6 bps/Hz, with 5G NR spectral efficiency much higher. In the uplink tests, it was a similar scenario with 5G NR coming out on top, largely influenced by the 5G NR smartphone leveraging UL-256QAM while the LTE smartphone remained on UL-64QAM.
Bn78 coverage is a relatively hot topic, so time was taken to analyze coverage-related metrics, both relative to LTE and to 5G NR Bn41 (results from earlier testing in the US were used for this analysis). The conclusion, which is backed up with ample data, is that an operator deploying Bn78 on its existing LTE cell grid will not have any meaningful coverage gaps in their coverage, especially when 5G NR is deployed in areas where operators are targeting the use of mid-band spectrum. The uplink is always the limiting factor, and while the higher spectrum had a greater impact on performance than the lower band LTE frequencies the delta was lower than expected. Bn78 and Bn41 coverage was also comparable, especially based on downlink metrics, while differences between the two bands can be somewhat managed with vendor settings in their gNB.
Highlights of the Report include the following:
- In the drive test the 5G NR smartphone's throughput, including some contribution from LTE, was more than 4x higher than the LTE phone. The publisher documented that the 5G NR spectral efficiency (bps/Hz) was 1.7x higher than LTE during the drive test. The 5G NR spectral efficiency was even higher in downtown walk tests.
- MIMO Rank 4 and 256QAM had a big influence on throughput. The maximum downlink throughput was nearly 1.4 Gbps, based on one-second time binning of the data.
- 5G NR network coverage in Helsinki was very comparable with LTE, based on a detailed analysis of RSRP and distances to the serving cell site.
- The publisher also leveraged earlier results from testing Bn41 to compare downlink and uplink coverage with Bn78. Results were surprising and although Bn41 had an advantage with uplink coverage, performance differences can be influenced by vendor settings in the gNB.
Table of Contents
1.0 Executive Summary
2.0 Key Observations
3.0 Downlink Performance Results and Analysis
3.1 An Early Morning Walk Around Downtown Helsinki
3.2 Drive Test with 5G NR and LTE Operating in Parallel
3.3 Drive Test with 5G NR Only
4.0 Uplink Performance Results and Analysis
4.1 Drive Test with 5G NR and LTE Operating in Parallel
4.2 Walk Test Around Downtown Helsinki
5.0 Test Methodology
6.0 Final Thoughts
List of Figures & Tables
Figure 1. Testing Routes in and around Helsinki
Figure 2. 5G NR Throughput Geo Plot
Figure 3. EN-DC Throughput Geo Plot
Figure 4. LTE Throughput Geo Plot
Figure 5. Cumulative Distribution of 5G NR and LTE Throughput
Figure 6. Cumulative Distribution of 5G NR and LTE Throughput
Figure 7. 5G NR Spectral Efficiency
Figure 8. Cumulative Distribution of 5G NR RSRP
Figure 9. Cumulative Distribution of 5G NR SINR
Figure 10. 5G NR PDSCH Throughput Versus RSRP
Figure 11. 5G NR PDSCH Throughput Versus SINR
Figure 12. Distribution of 5G NR MIMO Rank and Modulation Scheme
Figure 13. Average 5G NR Throughput Versus 256QAM Utilization with MIMO Rank Usage Included
Figure 14. Average 5G NR Throughput Versus MIMO Rank 3 or MIMO Rank 4 with 256QAM Utilization Included
Figure 15. Average 5G NR Throughput Versus MIMO Rank 4 with 256QAM Utilization Included
Figure 16. MIMO Rank Usage versus SINR
Figure 17. Modulation Scheme Usage versus SINR
Figure 18. 5G NR FR1/FR2 and LTE PCI Values with RSRP Time Series
Figure 19. 5G NR Serving Cell and Neighbor Cell PCI and RSRP Values Time Series
Figure 20. 5G NR FR1 Serving Beam Indices and RSRP Time Series
Figure 21. 5G NR FR2 Serving Beam Indices and RSRP Time Series
Figure 22. SSB Indices Geo Plot
Figure 23. Band n78 to Band n258 Handover
Figure 24. Band n258 to Band n78 Handover
Figure 25. Band n78 to Band n258 Handover, Part 1
Figure 26. Band nn78 to Band n258 Handover, Part 2
Figure 27. RSRP versus Distance to Serving Cell
Figure 28. SINR versus Distance to Serving Cell
Figure 29. 5G NR-enabled Phone 5G NR Throughput Geo Plot
Figure 30. 5G NR-enabled Phone 5G NR + LTE Throughput Geo Plot
Figure 31. LTE-enabled Phone Throughput Geo Plot
Figure 32. Cumulative Distribution of 5G-enabled Smartphone Throughput - all data points
Figure 33. Cumulative Distribution of 5G-enabled Smartphone Throughput - measurable 5G NR throughput only
Figure 34. Cumulative Distribution of LTE-enabled Smartphone Throughput - all data points
Figure 35. Cumulative Distribution of LTE-enabled Smartphone Throughput - measurable LTE throughput only
Figure 36. 5G NR and LTE Spectral Efficiency
Figure 37. Cumulative Distribution of 5G-enabled Smartphone Reported 5G NR and LTE RSRP Values
Figure 38. Cumulative Distribution of 5G-enabled Smartphone Reported 5G NR and LTE SINR Values
Figure 39. 5G NR and LTE Serving Cell PCI and RSRP Values, I
Figure 40. 5G NR and LTE Serving Cell PCI and RSRP Values, II
Figure 41. 5G NR Throughput Geo Plot
Figure 42. EN-DC Throughput Geo Plot
Figure 43. LTE Throughput Geo Plot
Figure 44. Cumulative Distribution of 5G NR Throughput - all data points
Figure 45. Average LTE and 5G NR Usage - by frequency band
Figure 46. Cumulative Distribution of LTE and 5G NR RSRP - by frequency band
Figure 47. Cumulative Distribution 5G NR SINR
Figure 48. 5G NR PDSCH Throughput versus RSRP
Figure 49. 5G NR PDSCH Throughput versus SINR
Figure 50. Modulation Scheme Utilization versus SINR
Figure 51. MIMO Rank Scheme Utilization versus SINR
Figure 52. Distribution of MIMO Rank and Modulation Schemes
Figure 53. Average 5G NR Throughput Versus 256QAM Utilization with MIMO Rank Usage Included
Figure 54. Average 5G NR Throughput Versus MIMO Rank 3 or MIMO Rank 4 with 256QAM Utilization Included
Figure 55. Average 5G NR Throughput Versus MIMO Rank 4 with 256QAM Utilization Included
Figure 56. 5G NR versus LTE Uplink Drive Route Geo Plot
Figure 57. Cumulative Distribution of 5G-enabled and LTE-enabled Smartphone Throughput - all data points
Figure 58. Cumulative Distribution of 5G-enabled and LTE-enabled Smartphone Throughput - measurable 5G NR throughput only
Figure 59. Cumulative Distribution of 5G-enabled Smartphone Band n78 and Band 3 RSRP
Figure 60. Transmit Power and Uplink RBs Utilization versus RSRP
Figure 61. Transmit Power and UL-256QAM Utilization versus RSRP
Figure 62. Uplink Throughput and Uplink RBs versus RSRP, I
Figure 63. Uplink Transmit Power and Uplink RBs versus RSRP, II
Figure 64. 5G NR and LTE Serving PCI and RSRP Time Series
Figure 65. 5G NR and LTE Serving PCI Geo Plot
Figure 66. Uplink MCS versus Distance
Figure 67. 5G NR Serving Cell PCI Values Geo Plot
Figure 68. LTE Serving Cell PCI Values Geo Plot
Figure 69. Cumulative Distribution of Uplink Throughput
Figure 70. Cumulative Distribution of Uplink Throughput, II
Figure 71. Cumulative Distribution of 5G NR and LTE RSRP
Figure 72. Distribution of Uplink Modulation Schemes
Figure 73. 5G NR and LTE Uplink Spectral Efficiency
Figure 74. XCAL-M in Action
Figure 75. XCAL-Solo Hardware
Figure 76. Umetrix Data Architecture
Companies Mentioned
- Asus
- Huawei
- Nokia
