#NSN-004 Titel [Alt+T]

LTE thats 50% faster

LTE is highly standardized, yet not all deployments are the same. Nokia Siemens Networks LTE has been independently proven to deliver faster speeds for a superior customer experience.

Data rates in LTE networks Users of commercial LTE networks experience significant differences in data speeds. This might come as a surprise as the technology is highly standardized. Taking a closer look provides for the explanation why different suppliers LTE networks actually deliver different average data throughput. Independent tests reveal why US analyst Signals Research Group conducted detailed testing of the actual speeds that users experience in two commercially deployed LTE networks in Sweden one from Nokia Siemens Networks in Gothenburg and one from another vendor in Stockholm. Whats interesting is that the networks have identical backhaul and core networks, only the radio access systems are different, enabling a precise comparison. Signals Research found that the Nokia Siemens Networks LTE network delivered about 50% higher average throughput. This is an important comparison as the average throughput represents the actual speeds that many users will experience, a far more useful figure than peak rates which are rarely seen in any network. In practice, this means that a subscriber would be able to download a complete DVD (4.7 GB) in just 16 minutes on the Nokia Siemens Networks LTE network, something that would take nearly 24 minutes on the other network.

Smart Scheduler is the key Analysis by Signals Research Group identified the reason behind the huge difference in performance with the way the so-called scheduler works, which is an essential, but not standardized part of LTE base stations. The scheduler allocates radio resources to active subscribers in each cell. The Nokia Siemens Networks Flexi Multiradio Base Station uses the unique Smart Scheduler that assigns blocks of frequency spectrum to users according to their required Quality of Service and the demands of the used application every millisecond. According to measurement results Nokia Siemens Networks Smart Scheduler was always allocating the full 20MHz of spectrum, so users could send data utilizing the full data rate, while users of the competitors scheduler were never able to use more than 10MHz in any given timeslot. Furthermore, while the Nokia Siemens Networks Smart Scheduler serves up to sixteen subscribers every millisecond, the other vendors scheduler could support only up to four users per millisecond. In short, the Nokia Siemens Networks Smart Scheduler makes much more efficient use of spectrum, while the other scheduler left a large amount of spectrum unallocated, wasting this valuable resource.

Prepared for an even faster future Not only does this mean that CSP gain a major performance advantage from Nokia Siemens Networks LTE as soon as it is deployed, but the same technology will be used to support LTEAdvanced, the future evolution of LTE that uses carrier aggregation to achieve even higher speeds. At the Mobile World Congress 2011, Nokia Siemens Networks showed the worlds first dynamic demonstration of carrier aggregation on a commercial base station. By aggregating a total of 40MHz on the 800MHz and 2.6GHz bands, the demonstration delivered throughputs roughly 3 times faster than the fastest commercial LTE networks. The demonstration used Flexi Multiradio Base Station and was based on an extended version of the Smart Scheduler. Once LTEAdvanced will be supported by user devices, CSP that have deployed Nokia Siemens Networks LTE will be able to move seamlessly and easily to this next evolutionary step of LTE.

Copyright 2011 Nokia Siemens Networks.