Meet network capacity demands with LTE unlicensed

Extending LTE Advanced to unlicensed spectrum helps operators meet increased capacity needs and enhance their mobile broadband services. LTE-U is designed to augment operators’ services to use channels in the less crowded 5GHz unlicensed bands and uses several coexistence features to support fair share use among the multiple users and technologies that access those bands.

LTE-U will be added to the FSM99xx small cell SoCs, which integrate Qualcomm Technologies’ 3G and 4G and support its VIVE 802.11ac/n WiFi to enable full-featured small cells that provide improved performance and power efficiency.

The company has also released the FTR8950, claimed to be the first dedicated RF solution for small cells designed to meet the requirements of LTE-U operation and network listen in unlicensed 5GHz bands. The device, which succeeds the FTR8900 RFIC, supports features such as digital pre-distortion and dedicated network listen.

Qualcomm Technologies has also introduced the WTR3950, claimed to be the industry’s first dedicated RF solution for mobile devices designed to meet the requirements of LTE-U operation in unlicensed 5GHz bands. According to the company, the 28nm RF transceiver features the industry’s smallest footprint.

The WTR3950 pairs with the WTR3925, claimed to be the first 28nm RF for single chip Cat 6 carrier aggregation, to support up to 3x20MHz carrier aggregation across licensed and unlicensed spectrum. The device can also support up to 40MHz intra-band contiguous carrier aggregation in the 5GHz bands.

In order for LTE-U to provide maximum benefit, it must operate harmoniously alongside billions of existing WiFi devices. Qualcomm Technologies is working to integrate LTE and WiFi at the system level, and employs a robust set of protection features to promote co-existence between LTE-U and WiFi networks. These innovations are designed to ensure users can connect to the internet however they prefer, while operators can make unified use of all available spectrums to increase capacity. This is designed to result in easier and cost-effective network deployment and operations for carriers and a seamless experience for their consumers.

At Qualcomm Technologies’ San Diego, Calif. headquarters, the company’s engineers deployed a state-of-the-art network comprising multiple WiFi access points and LTE-U small cells, all operating in a single channel in the unlicensed 5GHz band, to evaluate real-life performance and interference in multiple scenarios. After extensive testing that replicated dense radio conditions, the data concluded that LTE-U can not only provide superior performance than LTE and WiFi, but coexists with Wi-Fi. In many cases, shifting traffic from WiFi to LTE-U can actually improve performance for WiFi users, due to the efficient way that LTE uses the unlicensed spectrum.

At Mobile World Congress 2015, which takes place from 2^nd to 5^th March in Barcelona, Qualcomm Technologies will conduct live demonstrations of the co-existence between LTE-U and WiFi at booth 3E10. The company will also participate in a number of live LTE-U demonstrations using its test user equipment. At the show, Qualcomm Technologies is collaborating KT, Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, Huawei, Nokia Networks, Samsung and Rohde & Schwarz.

“As the internet enters a new phase of growth, in which more devices are connected and share richer data, there is a need to cost effectively address the challenges of a 1000x increase in mobile data traffic. To do this, we need a combination of more spectrums, more efficient use of existing spectrums, and more small cells,” said Matt Grob, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Qualcomm Technologies. “Our job is to help the industry make the best use of all available spectrums, using both LTE and WiFi technologies, to increase capacity.”

“The FSM99xx family is designed to bring outdoor, enterprise and small and medium business access points to the next level of value and performance,” said Neville Meijers, Vice President, Business Development, Qualcomm Technologies. “Adding LTE-U technology to our small cell solutions will provide additional capacity for operators to augment existing mobile broadband and deliver seamless connectivity experiences.”