China Mobile and ZTE complete Pre6G GigaMIMO field trial, achieving breakthroughs in network capacity and user experience

Pre6G GigaMIMO delivers multi-layer capacity boost on live 5G-A network

Partner Content

• Building on 5G's opening of the spatial domain, Pre6G GigaMIMO pushes spatial multiplexing further with multiple layers, boosting network capacity and paving the way for 6G.
• Pre6G GigaMIMO brings enhanced large-scale spatial multiplexing to commercial reality, with trial results showing a 2–6x user experience improvement and a 26.5% throughput increase on a 5G-A network.

ZTE Corporation (0763.HK / 000063.SZ), a global leading provider of integrated information and communication technology solutions, in collaboration with China Mobile Hubei, has successfully completed the trial of Pre6G GigaMIMO technology on the live 5G-A network in Wuhan. The trial marks a key milestone in improving network performance while accelerating the path from 5G-A to 6G.

Mobile network evolution has consistently been driven by the pursuit of higher capacity—each generation unlocking new dimensions in Shannon's theorem. While 2G to 4G technologies optimized spectrum efficiency and interference control, 5G opened the spatial domain, much like adding lanes to a highway. Now, Pre6G GigaMIMO takes a further leap by deepening the spatial layering of the network, effectively creating a multi-tiered data highway capable of supporting massive traffic loads and laying a stronger foundation for 6G.

A common challenge in today's commercial networks is that overlapping coverage from multiple base stations often generates interference instead of delivering better performance. To overcome this, the Pre6G GigaMIMO solution introduces picosecond-level synchronization and a lossless channel matrix projection algorithm. Together, these technologies enable distributed radio sites to behave as a single virtual ultra-large-scale antenna array, turning interference into coordinated signal gains through joint beamforming.

The trial is conducted on the commercial 5G-A network at Wuhan Institute of Technology. The trial results shows that inter-site synchronization accuracy improved from nanosecond to picosecond level, with phase alignment controlled within ±10 degrees. This allowed a once-interfering signal environment to be transformed into a source of performance gain—delivering a 2–6x increase in user experience rates and a 26.5% boost in average throughput within overlapping coverage zones.

Looking ahead, China Mobile Hubei and ZTE will deepen collaboration in spatial domain innovation and intelligent network evolution, reinforcing 5G-A's role as a strategic bridge to the 6G era.

Contributed by ZTE.