April 2013

LTE-Advanced
A compendium of our best recent coverage

This issue sponsored by:

 LTE-Advanced 10 T-Mobile’s LTE-Advanced:
What’s Happening

Inside 12 Apple Goes Deep On The

Future Of 4G
3 Meet The Next 4G: LTE-Advanced

6 Why You Should Care About

Most Discussed
14 NTT Docomo Chooses
LTE-Advanced Partners
Most Read
LTE-Advanced (Eventually)
15 AT&T Plans LTE-Advanced
9 Carriers Are A Mixed Bag For Later This Year
On LTE-Advanced

2 This issue sponsored by:

 [LTE-Advanced]

Inside

3 Meet The Next 4G: Most Discussed

Meet The Next 4G: LTE-Advanced

LTE-Advanced

6 Why You Should Care

About LTE-Advanced
(Eventually) LTE-Advanced is a tech buzzword you’ll need to know
in 2013 and beyond, so get a head start with this primer.
9 Carriers Are A Mixed Bag
On LTE-Advanced [ By Dan Jones ]

10
Y
T-Mobile’s LTE-Advanced:
What’s Happening ou may have only just got your head around what 4G actually is,
but the latest thing in boosting data speeds is coming in 2013
12 Apple Goes Deep On The
Future Of 4G in the form of LTE-Advanced.
LTE-Advanced will be one of the 4G buzzwords of 2013 as carriers
14 NTT Docomo Chooses
LTE-Advanced Partners around the world start to upgrade and deploy the next evolution in
networks. Here’s what you need to know:
15 AT&T Plans LTE-Advanced
For Later This Year
Understanding LTE-Advanced
LTE-Advanced is laid out in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project
(3GPP) release 10 of the LTE specification. The updated specification
focuses on using technology and tweaks at the base station and hand-
set to increase the transmission speeds and spectral efficiency of 4G.
DOWNLOAD PDF
The spec is aiming for maximum download rates of 3Gbit/s and

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 [LTE-Advanced]

Inside

3 Meet The Next 4G:

LTE-Advanced
uploads of 1.5Gbit/s. These speeds will be less,
however, when deployed on real networks outside
Ericsson AB
has put out
this concise
of the lab.
6 Why You Should Care six-minute
video that
About LTE-Advanced LTE-Advanced will offer a data speed increase over runs you
(Eventually)
current LTE networks by deploying upgrades at the radio through
the major
9 Carriers Are A Mixed Bag
On LTE-Advanced
access network (RAN) and handset. These include “car-
rier aggregation” techniques that bond together two or
differences
of Release
10, LTE-
more separate radio channels to get faster data speeds,
10 T-Mobile’s LTE-Advanced:
What’s Happening two-by-two smart antenna arrays [also known as 2x2
Advanced
over current
LTE networks
(or more) multiple input, multiple output (MIMO)] for
12 Apple Goes Deep On The
Future Of 4G faster uplink and downlinks. Relay nodes — low power
radios that will provide improved coverage and capacity The NIWeek
14 NTT Docomo Chooses
LTE-Advanced Partners at the cell edge — will help speed up the network, too. Conference
talks about
Some of these upgrades will help boost speeds on how 8x8

15 AT&T Plans LTE-Advanced

For Later This Year
existing LTE devices. Taking full advantage of LTE-Ad-
MIMO
antennas
vanced will, however, require a new device with more can help
achieve
antennas onboard. 1-Gbit/s
download
rates
Watch and learn
If you prefer to watch, there’s plenty of video on LTE-
DOWNLOAD PDF
Advanced to help you learn. Here’s a selection.

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Inside
The spectrum gap
3 Meet The Next 4G:
LTE-Advanced I should note that, if you look into LTE-Advanced, it becomes
clear why so many carriers are so hot on the trail of fresh spec-
6 Why You Should Care
About LTE-Advanced trum to use. LTE-Advanced is a hungry beast and can use up to
(Eventually)
100MHz with bonded channels. It seems unlikely at the mo-

9 Carriers Are A Mixed Bag

On LTE-Advanced
ment that any carrier will be able to free up that amount of
spectrum in the foreseeable future.
Nonetheless, it is clear that LTE-Advanced is going to high-
10 T-Mobile’s LTE-Advanced:
What’s Happening light spectrum-haves and have-nots around the world. Expect
to hear a lot more belly-aching from wireless executives about
12 Apple Goes Deep On The
Future Of 4G
Here’s a useful talk on small cells and self-organizing
networks from CTTC
spectrum in the years to come. p

14 NTT Docomo Chooses

LTE-Advanced Partners

15 AT&T Plans LTE-Advanced

For Later This Year

DOWNLOAD PDF

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 [LTE-Advanced]

Inside

3 Meet The Next 4G: Why You Should Care About

LTE-Advanced (Eventually)
LTE-Advanced
Most Read
6 Why You Should Care
About LTE-Advanced
(Eventually)
LTE-Advanced is a significant 4G upgrade, but its full impact won’t
9 Carriers Are A Mixed Bag
On LTE-Advanced
be evident to many for years to come.
[ By Dan Jones ]
10 T-Mobile’s LTE-Advanced:
What’s Happening

I
t’s Sunday night, Feb. 1, 2015; you’re in the Ding Dong Lounge in New
12 Apple Goes Deep On The
Future Of 4G York City.
All around you people are hunched over their smartphones and
14 NTT Docomo Chooses
LTE-Advanced Partners tablets sending out videos, tweets and texts about that Super Bowl-
winning touchdown. The same scene is playing out in bars and restau-
15 AT&T Plans LTE-Advanced
For Later This Year
rants down the street and across the city.
The 4G network you are connected to, however, doesn’t slow down
much or fall over with all the additional data being sent over the air.
That is the real promise of LTE-Advanced for carriers and — eventually
— users too: the ability to offer a more reliable and consistent experi-
ence over 4G. It won’t come quickly, easily or cheaply though.
DOWNLOAD PDF
The LTE-Advanced specification was fully defined by the 3GPP in April

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Inside

3 Meet The Next 4G: 2011 as part of Release 10 of the 4G spec. Along with • R
 elay nodes, low power radios that will provide im-
LTE-Advanced WiMAX 2, LTE-Advanced was originally considered the proved coverage and capacity at the cell edge of the
first true fourth generation (4G) by the ITU because, in network
6 Why You Should Care
About LTE-Advanced theory anyway, it met the conditions of maximum down- • A
 s the 3GPP says LTE-Advanced is about supporting
(Eventually)
link speeds of 100Mbit/s when a user is on the move and an “increased number of simultaneously active sub-

9 Carriers Are A Mixed Bag

On LTE-Advanced
up to 1Gbit/s for stationary downloads.
Carriers around the world are unlikely to achieve those
kinds of speeds even when all the hardware and software
10 T-Mobile’s LTE-Advanced:
What’s Happening pieces are actually in place. This is because achieving
these speeds could require up to 100MHz in linked chan-
12 Apple Goes Deep On The
Future Of 4G nels, which is just not feasible for many operators round
the world.
14 NTT Docomo Chooses
LTE-Advanced Partners LTE-Advanced will offer a data speed increase over
current LTE networks by deploying upgrades at the radio
15 AT&T Plans LTE-Advanced
For Later This Year
access network (RAN) and handset. These include:
• Carrier aggregation techniques that bond together
two or more separate radio channels for more speed
and capacity
• Multiple input, multiple output (MIMO) antenna ar-
rays of 2x2 or more on the devices and infrastructure
DOWNLOAD PDF
for faster uplink and downlinks

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Inside

3 Meet The Next 4G:

LTE-Advanced
scribers” on the network as well.
This is important — consider that IDC predicts that LTE
earliest — before we get many affordable devices that can
support LTE-Advanced and operators will need to build out
traffic will grow 207 percent in 2013. Factor in all the network density as part of the march toward Advanced.
6 Why You Should Care
About LTE-Advanced new smartphones, tablets and machine-to-machine devic- This should clue you in to something else as well. LTE-
(Eventually)
es coming and you can see that planning ahead for ca- Advanced makes sense in a city where operators are sup-

9 Carriers Are A Mixed Bag

On LTE-Advanced
pacity and coverage density is just as important as speed,
if not more so.
porting large and sometimes unpredictable flows of users
and traffic. It may not make much financial sense to add
Hence, carriers like T-Mobile USA are getting in on the more density to rural parts of the network.
10 T-Mobile’s LTE-Advanced:
What’s Happening ground floor with networks that might be considered So, LTE-Advanced probably won’t be trickling down to
LTE-Advanced ready rather than full-blown LTE-Advanced Monowi, Neb. (which has an official population of just 1)
12 Apple Goes Deep On The
Future Of 4G right now. any time soon. p
Vendors like Broadcom Corp. have started to unveil
14 NTT Docomo Chooses
LTE-Advanced Partners LTE-Advanced modems for phones that support features
like carrier aggregation in the last month or so that will
15 AT&T Plans LTE-Advanced
For Later This Year
go into commercial production in 2014. Though 2x2
MIMO antenna arrays are not uncommon on devices,
larger arrays and bigger modems all start to become
device size and battery concerns. So like LTE, laptops
and data dongles are likely to be the first to get LTE-Ad-
vanced capabilities.
DOWNLOAD PDF
As you see, it will likely be sometime in 2014 — at the

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 [LTE-Advanced]

Carriers Are A Mixed Bag

Inside

3 Meet The Next 4G:

On LTE-Advanced
LTE-Advanced

6 Why You Should Care

About LTE-Advanced
(Eventually)
2013 looks to be a foundation year for LTE-Advanced, but many of the features
won’t be implemented until much later.
9 Carriers Are A Mixed Bag
On LTE-Advanced
[ By Dan Jones ]
10 T-Mobile’s LTE-Advanced:
What’s Happening

T
he U.S. market’s two smaller national mobile operators
12 Apple Goes Deep On The
Future Of 4G appear to be more publicly pushing LTE-Advanced-
ready networks than their bigger rivals.
14 NTT Docomo Chooses
LTE-Advanced Partners T-Mobile USA is set to launch its first LTE networks in
Las Vegas and Kansas City in late March/early April 2013.
15 AT&T Plans LTE-Advanced
For Later This Year
The operator is deploying a 3GPP Release 10 LTE network,
which is the basis of LTE-Advanced, but it doesn’t have the
hardware or device support to implement all the features.
Sprint Nextel Inc. said at the start of its Network Vision
3G and 4G upgrades in late 2011 that it was planning to
move to LTE-Advanced.
DOWNLOAD PDF
Iyad Tarazi, VP of network development & engineering,

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Inside

3 T-Mobile’s LTE-Advanced:
Meet The Next 4G: said Sprint was testing 4x4
LTE-Advanced antenna arrays in the lab

What’s Happening
in late 2011. He suggested
6 Why You Should Care
About LTE-Advanced that Sprint could deploy in
(Eventually)
2013 and that the larger

9 Carriers Are A Mixed Bag

On LTE-Advanced
form factor of tablets will
likely be an initial platform.
Where T-Mobile’s going with its LTE-Advanced-ready network, what speeds it might
get and what the future holds.
AT&T Inc., meanwhile, is
10 T-Mobile’s LTE-Advanced:
What’s Happening expected to start deploying
[ By Dan Jones ]
the new technology in the
12
T
Apple Goes Deep On The
Future Of 4G second half of 2013, ac- -Mobile USA is set to shake up the erly be considered LTE-Advanced ready.
cording to analysts at Tech- U.S. 4G services market with its LTE It is not offering features such as carrier
14 NTT Docomo Chooses
LTE-Advanced Partners nology Business Research launch. Here’s a snapshot of what aggregation — the ability to bond radio
Inc. (TBR). the initial service could offer. channels to get more bandwidth and
15 AT&T Plans LTE-Advanced
For Later This Year
An AT&T spokesman said capacity — since smartphones that can
the carrier doesn’t have any The underlying technology support that functionality are unlikely to
further updates to share T-Mobile is the first U.S.-based carrier to be ready much before 2014.
about its plans. deploy the 3GPP Release 10 of the Long
Verizon Wireless has previ- Term Evolution specification, otherwise The speeds
ously said that it is testing known as LTE-Advanced. The operator’s The speeds T-Mobile gets on its new
DOWNLOAD PDF
the technology. p new network can, however, more prop- network will very much depend on the

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Inside
The future
3 Meet The Next 4G:
LTE-Advanced
amount of bandwidth it has to play with, which will vary
with each market. Users peeping at T-Mobile’s LTE signals T-Mobile is able to start this first stage of its nascent
in NYC and Baltimore have spotted two 5MHz LTE chan- LTE-Advanced network deployment thanks to the spec-
6 Why You Should Care
About LTE-Advanced nels on the AWS band, which suggests a network that trum and roaming rights it got from AT&T Inc. after that
(Eventually)
can achieve peaks of around 25Mbit/s to 30Mbit/s and merger failed. Now it needs its proposed merger with

9 Carriers Are A Mixed Bag

On LTE-Advanced
less on average. Those numbers should get higher wher-
ever T-Mobile has two 10MHz channels to use.
MetroPCS to close in order to make the network a stand-
out. If and when the MetroPCS spectrum gets layered in,
T-Mobile will be able to add capacity and depth to its new
10 T-Mobile’s LTE-Advanced:
What’s Happening The first markets network in the Northeast while still having some of the
T-Mobile has prepared Las Vegas and Kansas City as its best 3G fall-back speeds available via HSPA 21 and 42. p
12 Apple Goes Deep On The
Future Of 4G launch markets. Users have also spotted signals in New
York City; the D.C. and Baltimore area; Houston; and
14 NTT Docomo Chooses
LTE-Advanced Partners other parts of Texas. T-Mobile hopes to cover 200 million
people with the technology by the end of 2013. T-Mo-
15 AT&T Plans LTE-Advanced
For Later This Year
bile’s current networks cover 283 million people or 92
percent of the population of the mainland United States.

Devices
T-Mobile has the Samsung Corp. Galaxy Note II. The
BlackBerry Z10 smartphone will follow later this month.
DOWNLOAD PDF

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Inside

3 Meet The Next 4G:

LTE-Advanced
Apple Goes Deep On The
6 Why You Should Care
About LTE-Advanced
(Eventually)
Future Of 4G
Apple is advertising for an engineer to work with
9 Carriers Are A Mixed Bag
On LTE-Advanced
carriers and vendors to develop wireless specifications
for 4G LTE-Advanced and beyond.
10 T-Mobile’s LTE-Advanced:
What’s Happening [ By Dan Jones ]

12 Apple Goes Deep On The

Future Of 4G

A
pple Inc. is looking to have more influence on the
14 NTT Docomo Chooses
LTE-Advanced Partners radio network technology behind 4G and is
looking to get involved in the groundwork for
15 AT&T Plans LTE-Advanced
For Later This Year
mobile broadband specifications beyond LTE-Advanced.
The iPhone vendor has been advertising for a senior
wireless standardization engineer to be based in Santa
Clara, Calif. The successful candidate will represent
Apple “in wireless communication standard bodies”
and be responsible for pushing the company’s strategic
DOWNLOAD PDF
interests therein.

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3 Meet The Next 4G:

LTE-Advanced
A big part of that task will involve making contributions
to the development of standards and specifications for
phone vendors and chip developers. Apple appears to
be sending engineering manager Ajoy Singh to the next
the network radio interfaces of future 4G technologies by meeting in Chicago in April, but hasn’t always been rep-
6 Why You Should Care
About LTE-Advanced sitting in on 3GPP RAN Working Group 2 meetings. resented at the gatherings.
(Eventually)
Specifically, Apple wants the engineer to be involved in Now that so much of Apple’s business is tied up in wire-

9 Carriers Are A Mixed Bag

On LTE-Advanced
the development of “specifications dealing with UTRA,
Evolved UTRA, and beyond.” E-UTRAN (Evolved Univer-
lessly connected smartphones and tablets, it makes sense
that the vendor would like to have an advocate to work
sal Terrestrial Access Network) is the LTE air interface on the air interface standards for 4G and beyond. p
10 T-Mobile’s LTE-Advanced:
What’s Happening specification, where maximum data rates and the chan-
nel bandwidth used are defined.
12 Apple Goes Deep On The
Future Of 4G E-UTRAN was first “frozen” in Release 8 of the speci-
fications (completed in 2008). Release 10, which defines
14 NTT Docomo Chooses
LTE-Advanced Partners LTE-Advanced, was frozen in April 2011. The specifica-
tion calls for maximum data rates of 1 Gbit/s, although it
15 AT&T Plans LTE-Advanced
For Later This Year
will likely be much slower on deployed commercial net-
works. The 3GPP has a useful primer on the technology
at its website.
Now, the focus for the mobile technology community
is on the specifications beyond LTE-Advanced.
The RAN Working Group 2 meetings are attended by a
DOWNLOAD PDF
wide array of major carriers, equipment vendors, smart-

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 [LTE-Advanced]

Inside

3 Meet The Next 4G:

LTE-Advanced NTT Docomo Chooses
6 Why You Should Care
About LTE-Advanced
(Eventually)
LTE-Advanced Partners
9 Carriers Are A Mixed Bag
On LTE-Advanced
NTT Docomo move could spark a wave of LTE-Advanced action at Mobile World Congress.
[ By Ray Le Maistre ]
10 T-Mobile’s LTE-Advanced:
What’s Happening

F
or many mobile operators, introducing 4G/LTE technol-
12 Apple Goes Deep On The
Future Of 4G ogy into their networks is either very new or still in the
planning stages.
14 NTT Docomo Chooses
LTE-Advanced Partners Not at NTT Docomo Inc.
In February 2013 the Japanese innovator reached 10 million
15 AT&T Plans LTE-Advanced
For Later This Year
subscribers for its LTE service called Xi (pronounced Crossy)
and is now looking towards the next step in its technology
evolution, LTE-Advanced, with the help of Nokia Siemens Net-
works and Panasonic Mobile Communications Co. Ltd.
LTE-Advanced is laid out in the 3rd Generation Partnership
Project (3GPP) release 10 of the LTE specification, which in-
DOWNLOAD PDF
cludes enhancements to base station and device technology

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 [LTE-Advanced]

Inside

3 Meet The Next 4G:

to help boost the transmission speeds and spectral effi-
ciency of 4G. In theory, LTE-Advanced can deliver downlink AT&T Plans
LTE-Advanced
LTE-Advanced speeds of up to 3 Gbit/s but in commercial operational
networks the speeds would be a lot less.
6 Why You Should Care
About LTE-Advanced NSN and Panasonic are to develop LTE-Advanced base

9
(Eventually)

Carriers Are A Mixed Bag

On LTE-Advanced
station technology, including Remote Radio Head capabili-
ties (no, not “remote Radiohead”) for small-cell rollout, for
For Later This Year
delivery by 2015. NSN’s Liquid Radio architecture involves
the de-coupling of the antenna and baseband elements of Looking to migrate more from wireline to wireless,
10 T-Mobile’s LTE-Advanced:
What’s Happening the radio access network (RAN) and having a centralized
AT&T is looking at launching next-generation 4G LTE
in late 2013, say TBR analysts.
pool of baseband capacity shared by multiple antennas.
12 Apple Goes Deep On The
Future Of 4G While Docomo is usually far ahead of other major [ By Ray Le Maistre ]
operators in terms of technology deployments, it’s not

A
14 NTT Docomo Chooses
LTE-Advanced Partners alone in looking towards next generation 4G — in fact, it T&T Inc. “will begin firing up” LTE-Advanced
may find itself in the chasing pack for once, as AT&T Inc. networks in the second half of 2013 as it tries to
15 AT&T Plans LTE-Advanced
For Later This Year
appears to be on course for some sort of LTE-Advanced move more wireline customers to 4G wireless,
deployment during 2013. according to a report produced by Technology Business
With Docomo giving its vendor partners the green Research Inc. (TBR).
light and a timetable, and AT&T looking to be an early LTE-Advanced is based on release 10 of the 3rd
mover, it’ll be surprising if there isn’t a fair buzz about Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) specification,
LTE-Advanced in the coming months, even though 4G is and it is aiming for maximum download rates of
DOWNLOAD PDF
hardly out of the starting blocks. p 3Gbit/s and uploads of 1.5Gbit/s. These speeds are

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Inside bound to be lower, however, when deployed on real mission (FCC) early in November 2012 to update its

3 Meet The Next 4G:

LTE-Advanced
networks outside of the lab.
AT&T has more than 150 markets up and running us-
rules so that wired or wireless IP systems can be consid-
ered as a replacement for the traditional copper phone-
ing the older LTE specification. It is hoping to cover 300 line system. p
6 Why You Should Care
About LTE-Advanced million potential users with LTE by the end of 2014 via
(Eventually)
its $14 billion Project Velocity IP plans.

9 Carriers Are A Mixed Bag

On LTE-Advanced
In the report, TBR analysts Ken Hyers and Eric Costa
note that 4G technology will help underpin new initia-
tives from AT&T, such as its Mobile Premise wireline re-
10 T-Mobile’s LTE-Advanced:
What’s Happening placement scheme, Digital Life home automation plans,
Connected Car scheme and its involvement with the ISIS
12 Apple Goes Deep On The
Future Of 4G mobile payments project.
For Mobile Premise, AT&T will offer a $9.99 a month
14 NTT Docomo Chooses
LTE-Advanced Partners service that lets customers port their wireline numbers to
a device that forwards calls directly to their cellphones
15 AT&T Plans LTE-Advanced
For Later This Year
and to in-home wired phones.
“As customers continue to give up wireline numbers
for wireless, AT&T responds by developing a solution
that will cannibalize its own wired network, rather
than having other operators take their customers,”
the analysts write.
DOWNLOAD PDF
AT&T petitioned the Federal Communications Com-

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