Airspan Completes Industry-First 5G Air-to-Ground Call

Landmark Test with Gogo and GCT Demonstrates Advanced Capabilities for Aerial Connectivity

BOCA RATON, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Airspan Networks Holdings LLC (“Airspan”), a leading global provider of wireless network solutions, successfully completed the industry’s first end-to-end 5G Air-to-Ground (ATG) call using commercial equipment. The call was conducted at Airspan’s lab in Slough, UK, and utilized Airspan’s programmable In Motion 5G platform in collaboration with Gogo and GCT Semiconductor Holding, Inc. (“GCT”) using a 50 MHz channel in the 2.4GHz spectrum band.

Airspan’s end-to-end programmable 5G platform is a modular, Open RAN-based architecture engineered for high-performance connectivity in high-speed and high-altitude environments. The platform includes Airspan's aircraft Radio Module using a 5G chipset from GCT, Airspan’s beamforming radios (RUs), Airspan’s centralized and distributed units (CU/DU), and patented Airspan end-to-end software designed for long-range, low-latency communications in a high noise environment.

“This successful call validates Airspan’s In Motion 5G platform and advances Gogo’s efforts to deliver 5G ATG broadband for business aviation,” said Glenn Laxdal, President and CEO of Airspan. “Our platform is designed to support a broad spectrum of use cases including broadband for private and commercial aviation, aerial connectivity for drones and uncrewed aircraft, tactical networks for defense and mission-critical operations, and the emerging connectivity for high-altitude platforms (HAPS) and Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite communications.”

Airspan’s 5G In Motion platform has been tested at ranges up to 300 km and speeds up to 1,200 km/hr, with engineering capabilities significantly higher than this. The platform includes the following functionality:

• Long Range – introduces a dynamic timing advance to allow for long distances between the aircraft radio module (UE) and the base station.
• High Speed Doppler Compensation – the system compensates for the doppler effects at very high speeds.
• Beamforming and Tracking - uses M-MIMO antennas at both the base station and the aircraft radio module with high-speed beam tracking and positioning.
• Interference Based Scheduling – uses time and frequency selective scheduling based on channel conditions to manage interference.

The combination of these technologies enables low-latency, high-reliability broadband for air to ground applications, real-time drone-based command links, and resilient communications in defense, public safety and emergency scenarios.

About Airspan

Airspan Networks Holdings LLC is a U.S.-based provider of wireless network solutions and a recognized leader in Open RAN. Airspan has extensive expertise in the design of carrier-grade wireless networks and has shipped more than 1 million radios globally to over 1,000 customers.

Airspan’s reliable and scalable solutions support Macro Open RUs, In-Building Wireless, Critical Infrastructure, Fixed Wireless Access, Defense and Air-To-Ground, empowering businesses, governments, and service providers to build the networks of tomorrow, today.

About GCT

GCT is a leading designer and supplier of advanced 5G and 4G semiconductor solutions.