As one of the largest communication equipment manufacturers in China, ZTE has accumulated rich experiences in the TD-SCDMA field. In recent years, the TD-SCDMA R&D in ZTE speeded up. So far ZTE can provide TD-SCDMA solutions including service platform, system equipment, terminal equipment, network planning and etc. ZTE has recently participated in the in-door and field trials in the TD-SCDMA Industrialization Testing. TD-SCDMA forum paid a visit to Mr. Hu Jian, General Manager of the ZTE Mobile Communication Department.

Firstly, Mr Hu explained ZTE’s understanding of the TD-SCDMA market. He said as one of the three international 3G standards, TD-SCDMA has its differentiating advantages, such as much higher frequency utilization rate and asymmetric data services, etc. The joint detection and smart antenna technology, which is unique in TD-SCDMA, greatly reduced the cell breathing effect, which means that the coverage radius of different services is approximately unchanged. These features will greatly simplify the network planning and optimization, hence minimize the operators’ effort on the network deployment. These features also give the operators competitive advantages.

The advantages of TD-SCDMA technology have now been widely recognized in the industry. Its core technologies and capacity of large-scale network deployment have been verified in the field trails. The Chinese market is huge and there is enough space for TD-SCDMA to develop. ZTE believes that TD-SCDMA will surely be commercialized in China. At the same time, Mr. Hu pointed out that the successful commercialization of TD-SCDMA in China will lay a solid foundation for its future internationalization. Currently, there are altogether more than 100 TDD licenses in the world, and TD-SCDMA is the only 3G TDD technology which can be commercial deployed. 1900-1920MHz and 2010-2025MHz were allocated as the global 3G TDD core frequency band and universal frequency band. We have enough reasons to believe that TD-SCDMA can be commercialized globally.

When talked about the advancement of TD-SCDMA R&D in ZTE, Mr. Hu introduced that as one of the largest communications equipment manufacturers, ZTE has a full portofolio of wireless products. This brings ZTE to a favorable position in developing TD-SCDMA. ZTE is able to provide a variety of end-to-end solutions of service platforms, system equipments, terminal products, network planning and etc. ZTE regards itself as an important force in TD-SCDMA industrialization.

So far, the unified service platform has been fully testified in the 3G operation environment in China. The TD-SCDMA core network is identical with that of the WCDMA R4 which has already been commercialized in the overseas market. ZTE plans to release its serial node B equipments such as the field macro-cell, micro-cell equipments and RRU in year 2006. In addition, its sample terminal equipment will be released in the forth quarter, 2005. ZTE is also robust in its network planning. It has accumulated rich experiences in CDMA/PCS/GSM/WCDMA network planning and is ready to provide network planning services to its customers.

In addition, Mr. Hu said that the serial TD-SCDMA products are being tested in the indoor and field trails in the Industrialization Testing. The testing being conducted in Beijing was mainly about the interface, functions, services, performances and Uu IOT. ZTE also constructed the field trail network for China Telecom and China Satcom in Shanghai. The network includes 1SP+2CN+4RNC+16NodeB and covers areas in Xuhui and Minxing District. The demography of these areas is diversified, including business centers, old urban districts, new economic development zones and other areas. Indoor base station equipments were used in all base stations. These equipments include 3 carriers and 3 all-dimensional carrier base stations.

Regarding the ZTE TD-SCDMA solution, Mr. Hu said that by the simulation and testing ZTE conducted in the TD-SCDMA network coverage, capacity and network deployment, ZTE drew the conclusion that the TD-SCDMA standalone network can be fully deployed. In addition, its coverage can also be of macro cell system, micro cell system and pico cell system. Which means it is suitable for all wireless environments. The TD-SCDMA/UMTS FDD supplementary network deployment solution can provide high speed asymmetric data services, which help the operators to differentiate themselves.
At last, Mr.Hu said that currently the focus of ZTE is on its product R&D. ZTE will try its best to improve its capability and release qualified commercial products in mid 2005.