ZTE Corporation has successfully launched China’s first commercial 5G SA Massive MIMO 1+X synchronization signal and PBCH block (SSB) site with three-dimensional coverage on 3.5 GHz, along with the Hunan branch of China Telecom in Zhuzhou, China. 

The 5G 1+X SSB solution can offer a better coverage, higher data rate and lower TCO, addressing the requirement of spreading network coverage in dense urban areas with high-rise buildings, thereby showcasing the technological superiority of 5G Massive MIMO in vertical coverage.

Compared with the traditional seven-beam sites, the 5G 1+X SSB site offers a better coverage since the solution has solved over 90 percent of the indoor weak coverage problems, increasing the in-depth coverage rate to over 20 percent, and the overall coverage rate to over 40 percent.   

Moreover, the solution can increase the data rate in the weak coverage areas by 49.5 percent. On the 29th floor with very weak signal, the downlink rate has stably reached over 100 Mbps after the new site has been set up. In addition, the power consumption has been reduced by 5 to 10 percent during the low traffic periods, hence a lower 

As an innovative solution introduced by ZTE, the 5G 1+X SSB solution has leveraged the 5G Massive MIMO technology into the flexible and controllable 5G network coverage in multidimensional space with better performance. “1” here refers to the wide beam with power boosting, providing better basic coverage than the traditional seven-beam configurations. “X” can be configured on demand to expand vertical coverage and achieve optimal performance in various three-dimensional coverage scenarios. 

The successful commercial application in Zhuzhou has verified the superior performance of the 5G 1+X SSB solution, providing a cost-effective and easy-to-deploy three-dimensional coverage solution to the high-end residential and commercial districts, realizing the comprehensive coverage and capacity expansion.

Moving forward, ZTE will keep working with China Telecom to further expand the application of 5G Massive MIMO 1+X SSB solution in the commercial 5G networks, thereby fully leveraging its values in vertical coverage, network capacity and power consumption.