ITU Centres of Excellence for Europe

Mobile Broadband: LTE/LTE-Advanced,

WiMAX and WLAN
Module 1:
3GPP mobile broadband: LTE/LTE-Advanced

Table of contents
1.1. 3GPP evolution towards mobile broadband Internet......................................2
1.2. IMT-Advanced: the ITU standard for 4G ........................................................9
1.3. LTE/LTE-Advanced standardization (3GPP Rel-8 to 3GPP Release 12) ...15
1.4. Evolved Packet System (EPS), E-UTRAN ...................................................25
1.5. Self Organizing Networks (SON) for LTE/LTE-Advanced ............................32
1.6. LTE/LTE-Advanced Radio Resource Management .....................................37
1.7. Radio network deployment and frequency planning ....................................44
1.8. Spectrum management (ITU WRC 2012) ....................................................48
1.9. Business models and forecasts for LTE/LTE-Advanced ..............................53
References .........................................................................................................57

1.1. 3GPP evolution towards mobile broadband Internet

We firmly believe that mobile
broadband data is becoming the largest opportunity
(for) mobile operators.
Mobile data services are contributing an
increasing portion of carrier revenue
as (they) move from low-bandwidth-intensive
messaging applications to bandwidth-hogging
multimedia applications.
Wedbush Securities quoted on Barrons website,
March 22, 2010

Global demand for mobile data services is exactly exploding. Nearly

everyone who uses a mobile phone or device anywhere in the world is
demanding faster access to more multimedia data. More specifically, theyre
demanding that all the applications they love on their tethered computers be
available on their mobile devices. From an operators perspective, that demands
bandwidth. Moreover, the network capacity overload and the potential crisis for
mobile communications are guided by two primary factors: limited spectrum and
growing data demands. Numerous forecasts indicate exponential data traffic
growth as mobile data usage has more than doubled each of the last five years.
Major developments this past year include not only 3rd Generation (3G)
ubiquity, but rapid deployment of 4th Generation (4G) networks; deepening
smartphone capability; mobile broadband access; the availability of hundreds of
thousands of mobile multimedia applications across multiple device ecosystems;
the maturing of new form factors such as tablets; and a better understanding of
what the industry needs to do to address data demands, which are growing
exponentially. Over this past year, the need for additional spectrum has become
particularly urgent, resulting in a number of new initiatives by industry and
government.
This is, consequently, driving the need for continued innovations in
wireless and mobile data technologies towards mobile broadband internet, in
order to provide more capacity and higher Quality of Service (QoS). When it
comes a word for the 3GPP technologies, they evolved from GSM-EDGE, to
UMTS-HSPA-HSPA+, to now initial LTE/LTE-Advanced deployments, to provide
increased broadband capacity and user experience. Furthermore, is overviewed
the 3GPP evolutionary approach towards mobile broadband in more details.

Generally, 3GPP standards development falls into three principal areas:

radio interfaces, core networks, and services.
With respect to radio interfaces, rather than emphasizing any one wireless
and mobile approach, 3GPPs evolutionary plan is to recognize the strengths and
weaknesses of every technology and to exploit the unique capabilities of each
one accordingly. GSM, based on a Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA)
approach, is mature and broadly deployed. Already extremely efficient, there are
nevertheless opportunities for additional optimizations and enhancements.
Standards bodies have already defined Evolved EDGE, which became
available for deployment in 2011. Evolved EDGE more than doubles throughput
over current EDGE systems, halves latency, and increases spectral efficiency,
and for sure has open the road towards mobile broadband Internet.
Meanwhile, CDMA was chosen as the basis of 3G technologies including
WCDMA for the frequency division duplex (FDD) mode of UMTS and Time
Division CDMA (TD-CDMA) for the time division duplex (TDD) mode of UMTS.
The evolved data systems for UMTS, such as HSPA and HSPA+, introduce
enhancements and optimizations that help CDMA-based systems largely match
the capabilities of competing systems, especially in 5 MHz spectrum allocations.
HSPA innovations such as dual-carrier HSPA, explained in detail in the
appendix section Evolution of HSPA (HSPA+), coordinate the operation of
HSPA on two 5 MHz carriers for higher throughput rates. In combination with
MIMO, dual-carrier HSPA will achieve peak network speeds of 84 Mbps and
quad-carrier HSPA will achieve peak rates of 168 Mbps. Release 11 capabilities
such as 8-carrier downlink operation will double maximum theoretical throughput
rates to 336 Mbps, which will ensure the transfer of mobile broadband Internet
services with high level of QoS support.
Given some of the advantages of an Orthogonal Frequency Division
Multiplexing (OFDM) approach, 3GPP specified OFDMA as the basis of its LTE
effort. LTE incorporates best-of-breed radio techniques to achieve performance
levels beyond what may be practical with some CDMA approaches, particularly
in larger channel bandwidths. In the same way that 3G coexists with 2G systems
in integrated networks, LTE systems will coexist with both 3G systems and 2G
systems. Multimode devices will function across LTE/3G and LTE/3G/2G.
Beyond radio technology, EPC provides a new core architecture that enables
both flatter architectures and integration of LTE with both legacy GSM-HSPA
networks, as well as other wireless technologies. The combination of EPC and
LTE is referred to as the Evolved Packet System (EPS), which will be discussed
latter in section 1.4.
HSPA+ and LTE are important to operators since these technologies
provide the efficiency and capability being demanded by the quickly growing
mobile broadband internet market. The cost for operators to deliver data (e.g.,
cost per GBit) is almost directly proportional to the spectral efficiency of the
technologies. LTE has the highest spectral efficiency of any specified technology
to date, making it one of the essential technologies as the market matures.
As market demands increase, HSPA+ is attractive to some operators
since it maximizes the efficiencies in existing deployments and provides high

performance with the use of new advanced techniques both in spectrum that is
already being utilized and also in new spectrum. Specifically:

Large Spectrum Utilization. HSPA+ can now be deployed in wider
bandwidths such as 10Mhz and 20Mhz. This functionality both
increases peak data rates and also improves spectral efficiency.

Advanced MIMO. The introduction of MIMO enhancements and the
addition of more transmit and receive antennas provides improved
spectral efficiency in existing spectrum.

Good Coverage Performance. Soft handover and other techniques
provide improved coverage, especially at the edge of the cell.
As competitive pressures in the mobile broadband market intensify and as
demand for more capacity continues unabated, LTE is developing deployment
momentum for the reason that it offers an extremely efficient and effective way of
delivering high performance, especially in new spectrum. Specifically:

Wider Radio Channels. LTE can be deployed in wide radio channels
(e.g., 10 MHz or 20 MHz). This increases peak data rates and also
provides for more efficient spectrum utilization.

Easiest MIMO Deployment. By using new radios and antennas, LTE
facilitates MIMO deployment compared to the logistical challenges of
adding antennas for MIMO to existing deployments of legacy
technologies. Furthermore, MIMO gains are maximized because all
user equipment supports it from the beginning.

Best Latency Performance. For some mobile broadband
applications, low latency (packet traversal delay) is as important as
high throughput. With a low transmission-time interval (TTI) of 1 msec
and flat architecture (fewer nodes in the core network), LTE has the
lowest latency of any cellular technology.
LTE is available in both FDD and TDD modes. Many deployments will be
based on FDD in paired spectrum. The TDD mode, however, will be important in
enabling deployments where paired spectrum is unavailable. LTE TDD will be
deployed in China, will be available for Europe at 2.6 GHz, and will operate in the
U.S. Broadband Radio Service (BRS) 2.6 GHz band.
To address ITUs IMT-Advanced requirements, 3GPP is developing LTEAdvanced, a technology that will have peak theoretical rates of more than 1
Gbps. See the following two sections for a detailed explanation.
However, LTE is one of the most promising wireless-technology platforms
for the future. The version being deployed today is just the beginning of a series
of innovations that will increase performance, efficiency, and capabilities, as
depicted in Figure 1.1. The enhancements shown in the 2013 to 2016 period are
the ones expected from 3GPP Releases 10 and 11 and are commonly referred to
as LTE-Advanced. Subsequent releases such as Release 12 and 13, however,
will continue this innovation through the end of this decade.
Although later sections (in this module) quantify performance and presents
functional details of the LTE/LTE-Advanced technologies, here we will give a
summary intended to provide a frame of reference for the subsequent discussion

for 3GPP oriented mobile broadband Internet technologies. Table 1.1

summarizes the key 3GPP technologies and their characteristics.

Figure 1.1. LTE as a Wireless Technology Platform for the Future.

Table 1.1: Characteristics of 3GPP Technologies.

Furthermore, Figure 1.2 shows the evolution of the different wireless and
mobile technologies and their peak network performance capabilities towards
mobile broadband Internet. The development of GSM and UMTS-HSPA happens
in stages referred to as 3GPP releases, and equipment vendors produce
hardware that supports particular versions of each specification. It is important to
realize that the 3GPP releases address multiple technologies. For example,
Release 7 optimized VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) for HSPA, but also
significantly enhanced GSM data functionality with Evolved EDGE. A summary of
the different 3GPP releases is as follows:
 Release 99: Completed. First deployable version of UMTS.
Enhancements to GSM data (EDGE). Majority of deployments today are
based on Release 99. Provides support for GSM/EDGE/GPRS/WCDMA
radio-access networks.
 Release 4: Completed. Multimedia messaging support. First steps
toward using IP transport in the core network.
 Release 5: Completed. HSDPA. First phase of Internet Protocol
Multimedia Subsystem (IMS). Full ability to use IP-based transport
instead of just Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) in the core network.
 Release 6: Completed. HSUPA. Enhanced multimedia support through
Multimedia Broadcast/Multicast Services (MBMS). Performance

specifications for advanced receivers. Wireless Local Area Network

(WLAN) integration option. IMS enhancements. Initial VoIP capability.
 Release 7: Completed. Provides enhanced GSM data functionality with
Evolved EDGE. Specifies HSPA+, which includes higher order
modulation and MIMO. Performance enhancements, improved spectral
efficiency, increased capacity, and better resistance to interference.
Continuous Packet Connectivity (CPC) enables efficient always-on
service and enhanced uplink UL VoIP capacity, as well as reductions in
call set-up delay for Push-to-Talk Over Cellular (PoC). Radio
enhancements to HSPA include 64 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation
(QAM) in the downlink and 16 QAM in the uplink. Also includes
optimization of MBMS capabilities through the multicast/broadcast,
single-frequency network (MBSFN) function.

Figure 1.2: Evolution of TDMA, CDMA, and OFDMA Systems.

 Release 8: Completed. Comprises further HSPA Evolution features such

as simultaneous use of MIMO and 64 QAM. Includes dual-carrier HSDPA
(DC-HSDPA) wherein two downlink carriers can be combined for a

doubling of throughput performance. Specifies OFDMA-based 3GPP LTE.

Defines EPC and EPS.
Release 9: Completed. HSPA and LTE enhancements including HSPA
dual-carrier downlink operation in combination with MIMO, HSDPA dualband operation, HSPA dual-carrier uplink operation, EPC enhancements,
femtocell support, support for regulatory features such as emergency
user-equipment positioning and Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS),
and evolution of IMS architecture.
Release 10: Completed. Specifies LTE-Advanced that meets the
requirements set by ITUs IMT-Advanced project. Key features include
carrier aggregation, multi-antenna enhancements such as enhanced
downlink MIMO and uplink MIMO, relays, enhanced LTE Self Optimizing
Network (SON) capability, eMBMS, Het-net enhancements that include
enhanced Inter-Cell Interference Coordination (eICIC), Local IP Packet
Access, and new frequency bands. For HSPA, includes quad-carrier
operation and additional MIMO options. Also includes femtocell
enhancements, optimizations for M2M communications, and local IP traffic
offload.
Release 11: In development, targeted for completion end of 2012. For
LTE, emphasis is on Co-ordinated Multi-Point (CoMP), carrier-aggregation
enhancements, and further enhanced eICIC including devices with
interference cancellation. The release includes further DL and UL MIMO
enhancements for LTE. For HSPA, provides 8-carrier on the downlink,
uplink enhancements to improve latency, dual-antenna beamforming and
MIMO, DLCELL_Forward Access Channel (FACH) state enhancement for
smart phone-type traffic, four-branch MIMO enhancements and
transmissions for HSDPA, 64 QAM in the uplink, downlink multi-point
transmission, and non-contiguous HSDPA carrier aggregation.
Release 12: In initial planning and discussion stages. Potential
enhancements include enhanced small cells/Het-nets for LTE; LTE multiantenna/site technologies such as 3D MIMO/beamforming and further
CoMP/MIMO enhancements; new procedures and functionalities for LTE
to support diverse traffic types; enhancements for interworking with Wi-Fi;
enhancements for Machine Type Communications (MTC), SON,
Minimization of Test Drives (MDT), and advanced receivers; device-todevice communication; energy efficiency; more flexible carrier
aggregation; and further enhancements for HSPA+ including further DL
and UL improvements and interworking with LTE.

Whereas operators and vendors actively involved in the development of

wireless technology are heavily focused on 3GPP release versions, most users
of the technology are more interested in particular features and capabilities such
as whether a device supports HSDPA. For this reason, the detailed discussion of
the 3GPP evolution will continue in the section 1.3, where the 3GPP Release 8
up to 3GPP Release 12 are presented in more details.

1.2. IMT-Advanced: the ITU standard for 4G

The International Mobile Telecommunications-Advanced (IMT-Advanced)
systems are mobile systems that include the new capabilities of IMT that go
beyond those of well known IMT-2000. Such systems provide access to a wide
range of telecommunication services including advanced mobile services,
supported by mobile and fixed networks, which are increasingly packet-based
and moves the broadband Internet to be truly mobile.
IMT-Advanced systems support low to high mobility applications and a
wide range of data rates in accordance with user and service demands in
multiple user environments. IMT Advanced also has capabilities for high-quality
multimedia applications within a wide range of services and platforms, providing
a significant improvement in performance and Quality of Service (QoS).
Moreover, the consumer demands will shape the future development of IMT2000 and IMT Advanced. Recommendation ITU-R M.1645 describes these
trends in detail, some of which include the growing demand for mobile services,
increasing user expectations, and the evolving nature of the services and
applications that may become available. Also, Report ITU-R M.2072 details the
market analysis and forecast of the evolution of the mobile market and services
for the future development of IMT-2000, IMT-Advanced and other systems. This
Report provides forecasts for the year 2010, 2015, and 2020 timeframes.
If we go back to IMT-2000 systems, they are providing access to a wide
range of telecommunication services, supported by the fixed telecommunication
networks (e.g. PSTN/ISDN/IP), and to other services which are specific to mobile
users. To meet the ever increasing demand for wireless communication (e.g.
increased no. of users, higher data rates, video or gaming services which require
increased quality of service, etc.), IMT-2000 has been, and continues to be,
enhanced.
The Figure 1.3 is taken directly from Recommendation ITU-R M.1645 and
reflects the terminology in use at the time of its adoption. Resolution ITU-R 56
defines the relationship between IMT-2000, the future development of IMT2000 and systems beyond IMT-2000 for which it also provides a new name:
IMT-Advanced.
Resolution ITU-R 56 resolves that the term IMT 2000
encompasses also its enhancements and future developments. The term IMT
Advanced should be applied to those systems, system components, and related
aspects that include new radio interface(s) that support the new capabilities of
systems beyond IMT-2000. The term IMT is the root name that encompasses
both IMT-2000 and IMT-Advanced collectively. In October 2010, only two
technologies are accepted within the IMT-Advanced umbrella: LTE-Advanced
(LTE Release 10 & beyond) and Mobile WiMAX 2.0 (802.16m, also known as
WirelessMAN-Advanced). Moreover, ITU IMT-Advanced defines the 4G mobile
networks.

Systems Beyond IMT-2000 will

encompass the capabilities of
previous systems

Mobility

New Capabilities
Of Systems Beyond
IMT-2000

High

IMT-2000

Enhanced
IMT-2000

New
Mobile
Access

Dashed line indicates

that the exact data
rates associated with
Systems Beyond are
not yet determined.

Enhancement

New Nomadic / Local

Area Wireless Access

Low

KEY:

10
100
Peak Useful Data Rate (Mb/s)

1000

denotes interconnection between systems via networks or the like, which allows
flexible use in any environments without making users aware of constituent systems.
Nomadic / Local Area Access Systems

Digital Broadcast Systems

Dark gray color indicates existing capabilities, medium gray color indicates enhancements to IMT-2000,
and the lighter gray color indicates new capabilities of Systems Beyond IMT-2000.
The degree of mobility as used in this figure is described as follows: Low mobility covers pedestrian speed, and high
mobility co vers high speed on highways or fast trains (60 km/h to ~250 km/h, or more).

Figure 1.3. Relationship between IMT-2000 (3G LTE) and IMT-Advanced (4G).

For the last 20 years, ITU has been coordinating efforts of government
and industry and private sector in the development of a global broadband
multimedia international mobile telecommunication system, known as IMT. Since
2000, the world has seen the introduction of the first family of standards derived
from the IMT concept. ITU estimates that worldwide mobile cellular subscribers
are likely to reach the 4 billion mark before the end of this year of which IMT
systems technology will constitute a substantial part considering that already in
2007 (during the ITU World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-07) in
Geneva), there were more than 1 billion IMT-2000 subscribers in the world. It is
realised that by the year 2010 there are 1 700 million terrestrial mobile
subscribers worldwide. And moreover, it is envisaged that, by the year 2020,
potentially the whole population of the world could have access to advanced
mobile communications devices, subject to, amongst other considerations,
favourable cost structures being achieved. There are already more portable
handsets than either fixed line telephones or fixed line equipment such as PCs
that can access the Internet, and the number of mobile devices is expected to
continue to grow more rapidly than fixed line devices. Mobile terminals will be the
most commonly used devices for accessing and exchanging information. User

10

expectations are continually increasing with regard to the variety of services and
applications. In particular, users will expect a dynamic, continuing stream of new
applications, capabilities and services that are ubiquitous and available across a
range of devices using a single subscription and a single identity (number or
address). Versatile communication systems offering customized and ubiquitous
services based on diverse individual needs will require flexibility in the technology
in order to satisfy multiple demands simultaneously.
However, in planning process for the future development of IMTAdvanced, it is important to consider the timelines associated with their
realization, which depend on a number of factors:

user trends, requirements and user demand;

technical capabilities and technology developments;

standards development;

spectrum availability, including allowing sufficient time to re-locate

systems that may be using proposed bands;

regulatory considerations;

system (mobile and infrastructure) development and deployment.

All of these factors are interrelated. The first five have been and will
continue to be addressed within ITU. System development and deployment
relates to the practical aspects of deploying new networks, taking into account
the need to minimize additional infrastructure investment and to allow time for
customer adoption of the services of a major new mobile broadband system,
such as IMT-Advanced.
The timeline associated with these different factors are depicted in Figure
1.4. When discussing the time phases for systems beyond IMT-2000 (IMTAdvanced), it is important to specify the time at which the standards are
completed, when spectrum must be available, and when deployment may start.
Exactly the progression towards IMT-Advanced is given in Figure 1.4.
The IMT-Advanced can be considered from multiple perspectives,
including the users, manufacturers, application developers, network operators,
and service and content providers as it is summarized in Table 1.2. Therefore, it
is recognized that the technologies for IMT-Advanced can be applied in a variety
of deployment scenarios and can support a range of environments, different
service capabilities, and technology options. Consideration of every variation to
encompass all situations is therefore not possible; nonetheless the work of the
ITU-R has been to determine a representative view of IMT-Advanced consistent
with the process defined in Resolution ITU-R 57 Principles for the process of
development of IMT-Advanced.

11

Figure 1.4. Progression towards IMT-Advanced.

Table 1.2. Objectives from multiple perspectives in IMT-Advanced.

Perspective

Objectives

END USER

Ubiquitous mobile access

Easy access to applications and services
Appropriate quality at reasonable cost
Easily understandable user interface
Long equipment and battery life
Large choice of terminals
Enhanced service capabilities
User-friendly billing capabilities

CONTENT
PROVIDER

Flexible billing capabilities

Ability to adapt content to user requirements depending on
terminal, location and user preferences
Access to a very large marketplace through a high similarity of
application programming interfaces

SERVICE
PROVIDER

Fast, open service creation, validation and provisioning

Quality of service (QoS) and security management
Automatic service adaptation as a function of available data
rate and type of terminal
Flexible billing capabilities

NETWORK
OPERATOR

Optimization of resources (spectrum and equipment)

QoS and security management
Ability to provide differentiated services
Flexible network configuration
Reduced cost of terminals and network equipment based on
global economies of scale
Smooth transition from IMT-2000 to systems beyond IMT2000 (IMT-Advanced)
Maximization of sharing capabilities between IMT-2000 and
4G IMT-Advanced systems (sharing of mobile, UMTS
subscriber identity module (USIM), network elements, radio

12

sites)
Single authentication (independent of the access network)
Flexible billing capabilities
Access type selection optimizing service delivery

MANUFACTURER /
APPLICATION
DEVELOPER

Reduced cost of terminals and network equipment based on

global economies of scale
Access to a global marketplace
Open physical and logical interfaces between modular and
integrated subsystems
Programmable platforms that enable fast and low-cost
development

The services that users will want in mobile broadband Internet, and the
rising number of users, will place increasing demands on radio access networks.
These demands arent met by the enhancement of IMT-2000 radio access
systems (in terms of peak bit rate to a user, aggregate throughput, and greater
flexibility to support many different types of service simultaneously). It is therefore
anticipated that there will be a requirement for a new radio access technology, as
IMT-Advanced, or technologies at some point in the future to satisfy the
anticipated demands for user mobility and higher bandwidth services.
Nowadays and further ITU-R Recommendations will develop these
concepts in more detail. Other new Recommendations will address spectrum
requirements for IMT-Advanced systems, which frequency bands might be
suitable, and in what time-frame such spectrum would be needed, with a view to
accommodating emerging broadband services and applications. It is expected
that new spectrum requirements documented in these Recommendations will be
addressed at a future World Radiocommunication Conference.
IMT-Advanced 4G systems will support a wide range of symmetrical,
asymmetrical, and unidirectional services. They will also provide management of
different QoS levels to realize the underlying objective of efficient transport of
packet based services. In parallel, there will be an increased penetration of
nomadic and mobile wireless access multimedia services over Internet.
The technologies, applications and services associated with IMTAdvanced 4G systems could well be radically different from the present,
challenging the perceptions of what may be considered viable by todays
standards and going beyond what can be achieved by the future enhancement of
other radio systems. The new radio access interface(s) are envisaged to handle
a wide range of supported data rates according to economic and service
demands in multi-user broadband environments with target peak data rates of up
to approximately 100 Mbit/s for high mobility such as mobile access and up to
approximately 1 Gbit/s for low mobility such as nomadic/local wireless access.
These data rates are targets for research and investigation. They should not be
taken as the definitive requirements for 4G systems.
Moreover, these data rates will be shared between active users. The
achievable (peak or sustained) throughput for any individual user depends on
many parameters, including the number of active users, traffic characteristics,

13

service parameters, deployment scenarios, spectrum availability, and

propagation and interference conditions. These data rates are the maximum
value of the sum of the data rate for all of the active users on a radio resource; it
is possible that the peak data rate needed in the upstream direction will be
different from the downstream direction. The transport data rates may need to be
higher due to overheads, such as signalling and coding. Depending on the
services for which the technology (or technologies, such: LTE, LTE-Advanced,
802.11n, 802.16m) will be used, continuous radio coverage may not be needed
in order to meet the service requirements.
Finally, here are summarized the key features (which cover the 4G
requirements) of IMT-Advanced systems:
 a high degree of commonality of functionality worldwide while
retaining the flexibility to support a wide range of services and
applications in a cost efficient manner;
 compatibility of services within IMT and with fixed networks;
 capability of interworking with other radio access systems;
 high-quality mobile services;
 user equipment suitable for worldwide use;
 user-friendly applications, services and equipment;
 worldwide roaming capability;
 enhanced peak data rates to support advanced services and
applications (100 Mbit/s for high and 1 Gbit/s for low mobility were
established as targets for research).
These features enable IMT-Advanced to improve the user experience of
current and future mobile data and multimedia services and will make the
broadband Internet truly mobile with high level of QoS provisioning. Moreover,
the capabilities of IMT-Advanced systems are being continuously enhanced in
line with user trends and technology developments.

14

1.3. LTE/LTE-Advanced standardization

(3GPP Release 8 to 3GPP Release 12)
The pursuit for higher data rate, higher capacity, higher throughput, lower
delay, better spectrum efficiency and flexibility, high level of QoS provisioning,
diversified mobile speed and greater coverage over cellular, resulted in
GPRS/EDGE (2.5/2.75G) evolving to UMTS (3G) to HSPA (3.5G) to HSPA+
(3.75G). In one word, all is evolving towards mobile broadband internet access.
Compared to a data rate of 180 kbps in EDGE, HSPA+ promises data rates of 42
Mbps downlink and 22 Mbps uplink. Clearly the trend indicates that the mobile
phone will soon support broadband speeds. Now, with the advent of LTE (3.9G
or Super 3G) and LTE Advanced (4G), mobile broadband just got broader.
Moreover, starting with 3GPP Rel-8, it had provided significant new
capabilities, not only through enhancements to the WCDMA technology, but the
addition of OFDM technology through the introduction of LTE as well. On the
WCDMA side, Rel-8 provided the capability to perform 64 QAM modulation with
2X2 MIMO on HSPA+, as well as the capability to perform dual carrier operation
for HSPA+ (i.e. carrier aggregation across two 5 MHz HSPA-HSPA+ carriers).
Both of these enhancements enabled the HSPA+ technology to reach peak rates
of 42 Mbps. Rel-8 also introduced E-DCH enhancements to the common states
(URA_PCH, CELL_PCH and CELL_FACH) in order to improve data rates and
latency and introduced discontinuous reception (DRX) to significantly reduce
battery consumption.
In addition to enhancing HSPA-HSPA+, Rel-8 also introduced Evolved
Packet System (EPS) consisting of a new flat-IP core network called the Evolved
Packet Core (EPC) coupled with a new air interface based on OFDM called Long
Term Evolution (LTE) or Evolved UTRAN (E-UTRAN). In its most basic form, the
EPS consists of only two nodes in the user plane: a base station and a core
network Gateway (GW). The node that performs control-plane functionality
(MME) is separated from the node that performs bearer-plane functionality
(Gateway). The basic EPS architecture is illustrated in Figure 1.5 with improved
policy control and charging, a wider range of QoS capabilities, advanced
security/authentication mechanisms and flexible roaming. The EPS architecture
was designed to not only provide a smooth evolution from the 2G/3G packet
architectures consisting of NodeBs, RNCs, SGSNs and GGSNs, but also provide
support for non-3GPP accesses (e.g. WLAN, WiMAX and etc.) with help of the
packet-optimized packet core system (Evolved Packet Core) that supports
multiple access technologies, including 3GPP Internet Protocol Connectivity
Access Network (IP CANs) like GSM EDGE Radio Access Network (GERAN),
UTRAN and Evolved UTRAN (E-UTRAN) and also the mentioned non-3GPP IP
CANs (WLAN, WiMAX and etc.) and even wired technologies. For more details
about EPS see the following section (section 1.4).

15

Figure 1.5. Basic EPS Architecture (based on 3GPP TS 23.401).

This access independent evolution of the packet core system architecture

is the first major step towards the realization of an All-IP Network and reaching
the point where LTE-Advanced meeting IMT-Advanced. The timeline of LTE
releases and LTE-Advanced development is shown in Figure 1.6.
3GPP has not only evolved beyond addressing the Universal Terrestrial
Radio Access Network (UTRAN) requirements to providing bandwidth intensive
services. It has also put in a significant effort to evolve and simplify the packet
core network. Branded as System Architecture Evolution (SAE), 3GPP has
proposed a framework to evolve the 3GPP system to a higher data rate, lower
latency.

Figure 1.6. 3GPP LTE releases timeline.

In Rel-8, LTE defined new physical layer specifications consisting of an

OFDMA based downlink and SCFDMA99 based uplink that supports carrier
bandwidths from 1.4 MHz up to 20 MHz. Rel-8 defined options for both FDD and
TDD LTE carriers. Rel-8 also defined a suite of MIMO capabilities supporting
open and closed loop techniques, Spatial Multiplexing (SM), Multi-User MIMO

16

(MU-MIMO) schemes and Beamforming (BF). Because OFDMA and SC-FDMA

are narrowband based technologies, LTE supports various forms of interference
avoidance or coordination techniques called Inter-Cell Interference Coordination
(ICIC). Finally, Rel-8 provided several other enhancements related to Common
IMS, Multimedia Priority Service, support for packet cable access and service
brokering, VCC enhancements, IMS Centralized Services (ICS), Service
Continuity (SC) voice call continuity between LTE-HSPA VoIP and CS domain
(called Single Radio VCC or SRVCC) and User Interface Control Channel (UICC)
enhancements.
Although there are major step changes between LTE and its 3G
predecessors, it is nevertheless looked upon as an evolution of the UMTS/3GPP
3G standards. Despite it uses a different form of radio interface, using
OFDMA/SC-FDMA instead of CDMA, there are many similarities with the earlier
forms of 3G architecture and there is scope for much re-use. Moreover, 3GPP
LTE can be seen for provide a further evolution of functionality, increased speeds
and general improved performance. In addition to this, LTE is an all IP based
network, supporting both IPv4 and IPv6. There is also no basic provision for
voice, although this can be carried as VoIP.
Let we summarise which new technologies has LTE introduced, when
compared to the previous cellular systems. They enable LTE to be able to
operate more efficiently with respect to the use of spectrum, and also to provide
the much higher data rates that are being required.

OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex): OFDM technology
has been incorporated into LTE because it enables high data
bandwidths to be transmitted efficiently while still providing a high degree
of resilience to reflections and interference. The access schemes differ
between the uplink and downlink: OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency
Division Multiple Access is used in the downlink; while SC-FDMA(Single
Carrier - Frequency Division Multiple Access) is used in the uplink. SCFDMA is used in view of the fact that its peak to average power ratio is
small and the more constant power enables high RF power amplifier
efficiency in the mobile handsets - an important factor for battery power
equipment.

MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output): One of the main problems that
previous telecommunications systems has encountered is that of
multiple signals arising from the many reflections that are encountered.
By using MIMO, these additional signal paths can be used to advantage
and are able to be used to increase the throughput. When using MIMO,
it is necessary to use multiple antennas to enable the different paths to
be distinguished. Accordingly schemes using 2 x 2, 4 x 2, or 4 x 4
antenna matrices can be used. While it is relatively easy to add further
antennas to a base station, the same is not true of mobile handsets,
where the dimensions of the user equipment limit the number of
antennas which should be place at least a half wavelength apart.

SAE (System Architecture Evolution): as a part of the Evolved Packet
Core (EPC). With the very high data rate and low latency requirements

17

for 3G LTE, it is necessary to evolve the system architecture to enable

the improved performance to be achieved. One change is that a number
of the functions previously handled by the core network have been
transferred out to the periphery. Essentially this provides a much "flatter"
form of network architecture. In this way latency times can be reduced
and data can be routed more directly to its destination.
Moreover, in Figure 1.7 we can see the functional decomposition of the
Evolved Packet Core for 3GPP and non-3GPP IP Core Access Network. The
EPC architecture is guided by the principle of logical separation of the signalling
and data transport networks. The fact that some EPC functions reside in the
same equipment as some transport functions, does not make the transport
functions a part of the EPC. It is also possible that one physical network element
in the EPC implements multiple logical nodes.

Figure 1.7. 3GPP Evolved Packet Core System Architecture

Also, in Table 1.3 the 3GPP LTE highlight specifications are summarized.
Those specifications give an overall view of the performance that 3G LTE (Rel-8)
is offering. It meets the requirements of industry for high data download speeds
as well as reduced latency - a factor important for many applications from VoIP to
gaming and interactive use of data. It also provides significant improvements in
the use of the available spectrum.

18

Table 1.3. 3GPP LTE highlight specifications

Parameter
Peak downlink speed
64QAM
(Mbps)
Peak uplink speeds
(Mbps)
Data type
Channel bandwidths
(MHz)
Duplex schemes
Mobility
Latency
Spectral efficiency
Access schemes
Modulation types supported

Details
100 (SISO), 172 (2x2 MIMO), 326 (4x4 MIMO)

50 (QPSK), 57 (16QAM), 86 (64QAM)

All packet switched data (voice and data). No circuit
switched.
1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20
FDD and TDD
0 - 15 km/h (optimised),
15 - 120 km/h (high performance)
Idle to active less than 100ms
Small packets ~10 ms
Downlink: 3 - 4 times Rel 6 HSDPA
Uplink: 2 -3 x Rel 6 HSUPA
OFDMA (Downlink)
SC-FDMA (Uplink)
QPSK, 16QAM, 64QAM (Uplink and downlink)

With the standards definitions now available for LTE, the Long Term
Evolution of the 3G services, eyes are now turning towards the next
development, that of the truly 4G technology named IMT-Advanced. The new
technology being developed under the auspices of 3GPP to meet these
requirements is often termed LTE-Advanced (LTE Release 10 & beyond).
While 3GPP Rel-9 focuses on enhancements to HSPA+ and LTE the Rel10 focuses on the next generation of LTE for the ITUs IMT-Advanced
requirements and both were developed nearly simultaneously by 3GPP
standards working groups. Several milestones have been achieved by vendors in
recent years for both Rel-9 and Rel-10. Most significant was the final ratification
by the ITU of LTE-Advanced (Rel-10) as 4G IMT-Advanced in November 2010.
HSPA+ was further enhanced in Rel-9 and was demonstrated at 56 Mbps
featuring multi-carrier and MIMO technologies in Beijing at P&T/Wireless &
Networks Comm China in 2009. Vendors anticipate that the steps in progress for
HSPA+ will lead up to 168 Mbps peak theoretical downlink throughput speeds
and more than 20 Mbps uplink speeds in Rel-10 in coming years. At Mobile
World Congress 2010, the worlds first HSPA+ data call with a peak throughput of
112 Mbps was demonstrated by a leading vendor. M2M Identity Modules (MIM)
with Rel-9 M2M Form Factors (MFF) are being shipped around the world for
devices now embarking wireless in vehicles and harsh environments where
humidity and vibration would not allow the traditional 2FF and 3FF to perform to
the requirements. These MFF MIM also include additional software features to
enable the expected life expectancy for such devices.
19

Vendors are already progressing beyond LTE with the next generation of
technologies in Rel-10 for IMT-Advanced, the LTE-Advanced, demonstrating that
the evolution of LTE is secure and future-proof. In October 2009, 3GPP
submitted LTE-Advanced to the ITU as a proposed candidate IMT-Advanced
technology for which specifications could become available in 2011 through Rel10. Milestones have already been achieved in the commercialization of Rel-10
and beyond. As early as December 2008, researchers conducted the worlds first
demonstration of Rel-10 LTE-Advanced technology, breaking new ground with
mobile broadband communications beyond LTE. A leading infrastructure
companys researchers successfully demonstrated Relaying technology
proposed for LTE-Advanced in Germany. The demonstration illustrated how
advances to Relaying technology could further improve the quality and coverage
consistency of a network at the cell edge where users were furthest from the
mobile broadband base station. Relaying technology which can also be
integrated in normal base station platforms is cost-efficient and easy to deploy
as it does not require additional backhaul.
The demonstration of LTE-Advanced indicated how operators could plan
their LTE network investments knowing that the already best-in-class LTE radio
performance, including cell edge data rates, could be further improved and that
the technological development path for the next stage of LTE is secure and
future-proof.
Additionally, performance enhancements were achieved in the
demonstration by combining an LTE system supporting a 2X2 MIMO antenna
system and a Relay station. The Relaying was operated inband, which meant
that the relay stations inserted in the network did not need an external data
backhaul; they were connected to the nearest base stations by using radio
resources within the operating frequency band of the base station itself. The
improved cell coverage and system fairness, which means offering higher user
data rates for and fair treatment of users distant from the base station, will allow
operators to utilize existing LTE network infrastructure and still meet growing
bandwidth demands. The LTE-Advanced demonstration used an intelligent demo
Relay node embedded in a test network forming a FDD in-band self-backhauling
solution for coverage enhancements. With this demonstration, the performance
at the cell edge could be increased up to 50 percent of the peak throughput.
The performance and capabilities of 4G LTE (Rel-10) will be unmatched in
the marketplace, allowing customers to do things never before possible in a
wireless and mobile environment. Although not fixed yet in the specifications,
there are many high level aims for the new LTE Advanced specification. These
will need to be verified and much work remains to be undertaken in the
specifications before these are all fixed. Currently some of the main features that
wireless and mobile implementation of LTE-Advanced will provide are the
following:
 Peak data rates: downlink - 1 Gbps; uplink - 500 Mbps.
 Spectrum efficiency: 3 times greater than LTE. LTE-Advanced shall
operate in spectrum allocations of different sizes including wider

20














spectrum allocations than those of LTE Release 8. The main focus

for bandwidth solutions wider than 20MHz should be on consecutive
spectrum. However, aggregation of the spectrum for LTE-Advanced
should take into account reasonable user equipment (UE)
complexity. Frequency division duplex (FDD) and time division
duplex (TDD) should be supported for existing paired and unpaired
frequency bands, respectively.
Peak spectrum efficiency: downlink - 30 bps/Hz; uplink - 15 bps/Hz.
Spectrum use: the ability to support scalable bandwidth use and
spectrum aggregation where non-contiguous spectrum needs to be
used.
Latency: from Idle to Connected in less than 50 ms and then shorter
than 5 ms one way for individual packet transmission.
Cell edge user throughput to be twice that of LTE.
Average user throughput to be 3 times that of LTE.
Simultaneous user support: LTE provides the ability to perform twodimensional resource scheduling (in time and frequency), allowing
support of multiple users in a time slot, resulting in a much better
always-on experience while enabling the proliferation of embedded
wireless applications/systems (in contrast, existing 3G technology
performs one-dimensional scheduling, which limits service to one
user for each timeslot).
Mobility: Same as that in LTE: System shall support mobility across
the cellular network for various mobile speeds up to 350km/h (or
even up to 500km/h depending on the frequency band). In
comparison to LTE Release 8, the system performance shall be
enhanced for 0 up to 10 km/h.
Compatibility: LTE Advanced shall be capable of interworking with
LTE and 3GPP legacy systems.
Security: LTE provides enhanced security through the
implementation of Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC)
Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) and the associated robust and noninvasive key storage and symmetric key authentication using 128-bit
private keys. LTE additionally incorporates strong mutual
authentication, user identity confidentiality, integrity protection of all
signaling messages between UE and Mobility Management Entity
(MME) and optional multi-level bearer data encryption.
Simplified Worldwide Roaming: the widely adopted next-generation
3GPP standard, will provide the greatest opportunities for seamless
international roaming.
Mass Deployment: LTEs inherent support for Internet Protocol
version 6 (IPV6) addressing and International Mobile Subscriber
Identity (IMSI)-based identifiers makes mass deployments of
machine-to-machine applications over LTE-Advanced possible.

21

These are many of the development aims for LTE Advanced. Their actual
figures and the actual implementation of them will need to be worked out during
the specification stage of the LTE Advanced system (beyond Rel-10).
On the other hand, as it was mention in the section 1.1, Release 11, is not
scheduled to be finished until the very end of 2012. For LTE, emphasis is on Coordinated Multi-Point (CoMP), carrier-aggregation enhancements, and further
enhanced eICIC including devices with interference cancellation. The release
includes further DL and UL MIMO enhancements for LTE. For HSPA, provides 8carrier on the downlink, uplink enhancements to improve latency, dual-antenna
beamforming and MIMO, DLCELL_Forward Access Channel (FACH) state
enhancement for smart phone-type traffic, four-branch MIMO enhancements and
transmissions for HSDPA, 64 QAM in the uplink, downlink multi-point
transmission, and non-contiguous HSDPA carrier aggregation.
Table 1.4. Study items for Rel-11.

22

In Rel-11, for example, a mechanism for accommodation, authentication

and QoS control requested from the fixed access networks in EPS and
Interworking with QoS-resource-allocation and authentication functions triggered
by 3-th part applications have been added as new requirements in the
specifications. Moreover, in Table 1.4 are summarized the Rel-11 requirements.
Furthermore, in the area of charging, the requirement that the network
shall be able to reduce the user's data transmission speed once the user has
exceeded a data-usage limit set by the telecommunications operator before hand
was added.
Finally, the LTE Rel-12 and beyond will provide the initial enablers of
meeting these challenging demands as well as a smooth way into the Beyond 4G
era. Rel-12 enhancements focus on the four areas of Capacity, Coverage,
Coordination (between cells), and Cost. Improvements in these areas are based
on using several technology enablers: small cell enhancements, macro cell
enhancements, New Carrier Type (NCT) and Machine-Type Communications
(MTC). Small cell enhancements are also known as enhanced local access. NCT
helps achieve the required changes in the physical layer and initially provides
base station energy savings, flexibility in deployment and ways to reduce
interference in heterogeneous networks (HetNets).Improvements in capacity and
a more robust network performance are achieved by 3D Beamforming/MIMO
(Multiple Input Multiple Output), advanced user equipment (UE) receivers and
evolved Coordinated Multipoint (CoMP) techniques, as well as through SelfOrganizing Networks for small cell deployments. Finally, new spectrum footprint
and new business will be opened up by optimizing the system for Machine-Type
Communications, as well as by, for example, using LTE for public safety.
LTE evolution continues strongly in Rel-12 and beyond by enhancing LTE
and LTE-Advanced operation. In Figure 1.8 we present one possible radio
evolution in the present decade. Rel-12 features aim at boosting performance
and at entering new areas and spectrum. In the end, the tables 1.5 and 1.6
summarize the most promising Rel-12 features.

Figure 1.8. Illustration of the radio evolution in the present decade.

23

Table 1.5. Benefits from 3GPP Release 12 Boost performance.

Table 1.6. Benefits from 3GPP Release 12 Expand to new areas and new spectrum.

24

1.4. Evolved Packet System (EPS), E-UTRAN

3GPP Rel-8 specified the elements and requirements of the Evolved

Packet System (EPS) architecture that will serve as a basis for the nextgeneration networks. The specifications contain two major work items, namely
LTE and System Architecture Evolution (SAE) that led to the specification of the
Evolved Packet Core (EPC), Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access
Network (E-UTRAN), and Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA),
each of which corresponds to the core network, radio access network, and air
interface of the whole system, respectively. The EPS provides IP connectivity
between a User Equipment (UE) and an external packet data network using EUTRAN. In Figure 1.9, we provide an overview of the EPS, other legacy Packet
and Circuit Switched elements and 3GPP RANs, along with the most important
interfaces. In the services network, only the Policy and Charging Rules Function
(PCRF) and the Home Subscriber Server (HSS) are included, for simplicity. In
the context of 4G systems, both the air interface and the radio access network
are being enhanced or redefined, but so far the core network architecture, i.e. the
EPC, is not undergoing major changes from the already standardized SAE
architecture.

Figure. 1.9. Illustration of the EPS for 3GPP accesses.

As we mentioned in the previous sections, 3GPP has proposed a

framework to evolve the 3GPP system to a higher data rate, lower latency,
packet-optimized packet core system (EPC) that supports multiple access
technologies, including 3GPP Internet Protocol Connectivity Access Network (IP
CANs) like GSM EDGE Radio Access Network (GERAN), UTRAN and Evolved
UTRAN (E-UTRAN) and non-3GPP IP CANs like WLAN, WiMAX and even wired
25

technologies. This access independent evolution of the packet core system

architecture is the first major step towards the realization of an All-IP Network
and also it is fully compatible with LTE-Advanced, the new 4G technology.
The new SAE network is based upon the GSM / WCDMA core networks to
enable simplified operations and easy deployment. Despite this, the SAE network
brings in some major changes, and allows far more efficient and effect transfer of
data. Moreover, there are several common principles used in the development of
the LTE SAE network:
 a common gateway node and anchor point for all technologies.
 an optimised architecture for the user plane with only two node
types.
 an all IP based system with IP based protocols used on all
interfaces.
 a split in the control / user plane between the MME, mobility
management entity and the gateway.
 a radio access network / core network functional split similar to
that used on WCDMA / HSPA.
 integration of non-3GPP access technologies (e.g. cdma2000,
WiMAX, etc) using client as well as network based mobile-IP.
The main element of the LTE SAE network is what is termed the Evolved
Packet Core. This connects to the eNodeBs. Before, in the Figure 1.7 and 1.9
was illustrated the functional decomposition of the Evolved Packet Core for
3GPP and non-3GPP IP CAN. It is also possible that one physical network
element in the EPC implements multiple logical nodes. Also, in Figure 1.10 is
given a detail illustration of EPC/SAE architecture.

Figure. 1.10. EPC/SAE architecture: baseline.

As seen within the above figure, the LTE SAE Evolved Packet Core,
consists of four main elements as listed below:

26


Mobility Management Entity, MME: The MME is the main control node
for the LTE SAE access network, handling a number of features:
 Idle mode UE tracking
 Bearer activation / de-activation
 Choice of SGW for a UE
 Intra-LTE handover involving core network node location
 Interacting with HSS to authenticate user on attachment and
implements roaming restrictions
 It acts as a termination for the Non-Access Stratum (NAS)
 Provides temporary identities for UEs
 The SAE MME acts the termination point for ciphering protection for
NAS signaling. As part of this it also handles the security key
management. Accordingly the MME is the point at which lawful
interception of signalling may be made.
 Paging procedure
 The S3 interface terminates in the MME thereby providing the control
plane function for mobility between LTE and 2G/3G access networks.
The SAE MME also terminates the S6a interface for the home HSS for
roaming UEs. It can therefore be seen that the SAE MME provides a
considerable level of overall control functionality.

Serving Gateway, SGW: The Serving Gateway, SGW, is a data plane
element within the LTE SAE. Its main purpose is to manage the user
plane mobility and it also acts as the main border between the Radio
Access Network, RAN and the core network. The SGW also maintains the
data paths between the eNodeBs and the PDN Gateways. In this way the
SGW forms a interface for the data packet network at the E-UTRAN.
Also when UEs move across areas served by different eNodeBs, the
SGW serves as a mobility anchor ensuring that the data path is
maintained.

PDN Gateway, PGW: The LTE SAE PDN gateway provides connectivity
for the UE to external packet data networks, fulfilling the function of entry
and exit point for UE data. The UE may have connectivity with more than
one PGW for accessing multiple PDNs.

Policy and Charging Rules Function, PCRF: This is the generic name
for the entity within the LTE SAE EPC which detects the service flow,
enforces charging policy. For applications that require dynamic policy or
charging control, a network element entitled the Applications Function, AF
is used.
In order that requirements for increased data capacity and reduced
latency can be met, along with the move to an all-IP network, it is necessary to
adopt a new approach to the network structure. For 3G UMTS / WCDMA the
UTRAN (UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network, comprising the Node B's or
basestations and Radio Network Controllers) employed low levels of autonomy.
The Node Bs were connected in a star formation to the Radio Network
Controllers (RNCs) which carried out the majority of the management of the radio

27

resource. In turn the RNCs connected to the core network and connect in turn to
the Core Network.
To provide the required functionality within LTE SAE, the basic system
architecture sees the removal of a layer of management. The RNC is removed
and the radio resource management is devolved to the base-stations. The new
style base-stations are called eNodeBs or eNBs.
The eNBs are connected directly to the core network gateway via a newly
defined "S1 interface". In addition to this the new eNBs also connect to adjacent
eNBs in a mesh via an "X2 interface". This provides a much greater level of
direct interconnectivity. It also enables many calls to be routed very directly as a
large number of calls and connections are to other mobiles in the same or
adjacent cells. The new structure allows many calls to be routed far more directly
and with only minimum interaction with the core network.
Moreover, from a user-plane perspective there are only the eNBs and the
gateways, which is why the system is considered flat. The result is a reduced
complexity compared to previous architectures.

Figure. 1.11. LTE-Advanced E-UTRAN architecture.

In Figure 1.11, the architecture of E-UTRAN for LTE-Advanced is

presented. The core part in the E-UTRAN architecture, as we said before is the
enhanced Node B (eNodeB or eNB), which provides the air interface with user
plane and control plane protocol terminations towards the UE. Each of the eNBs
is a logical component that serves one or several E-UTRAN cells, and the
interface interconnecting the eNBs via X2 interface. Additionally, Home eNBs
(HeNBs, also called femtocells), which are eNBs of lower cost for indoor
coverage improvement, can be connected to the EPC directly or via a gateway
that provides additional support for a large number of HeNBs. Further, 3GPP is
considering relay nodes and sophisticated relaying strategies for network
performance enhancement. The targets of this new technology are increased

28

coverage, higher data rates, and better QoS performance and fairness for
different users. In addition to the new Layer 1 and Layer 2 functionality, eNBs
handle several other functions. This includes the radio resource control including
admission control, load balancing and radio mobility control including handover
decisions for the mobile or user equipment (UE). The additional levels of
flexibility and functionality given to the new eNBs mean that they are more
complex than the UMTS and previous generations of base-station. However the
new 3G LTE SAE network structure enables far higher levels of performance. In
addition to this their flexibility enables them to be updated to handle new
upgrades to the system including the transition from 3G LTE to 4G LTEAdvanced.
Moreover, The EPC specifies two types of IP-IP Gateway logical functions
for the user plane the Serving Gateway (S-GW) and the PDN Gateway (PGW). The S-GW and P-GW are core network functions of the E-UTRAN based
access. They may be implemented in one physical node or in separate physical
nodes. Early deployments are likely to see a single node implementation of SGW and P-GW functions with future proof design to decouple these functions
such that S-GWs in visited networks can connect to P-GWs of home networks for
home PLMN routed IP services.

Figure. 1.12. SAE Gateway (S-GW) and PDN Gateway (P-GW) Architecture.

29

As shown in Figure 1.12, both the S-GW and P-GW are built on core
datacom routing and switching technologies supporting the Layer 2 and Layer 3
suite of an All IP Network. Therefore, it is anticipated that the S-GW and P-GW
are logical migration and evolution paths for the traditional IP-IP Gateway product
lines. Each IP-IP Gateway vendor will have their own hardware and platform
USP that supports line-rate switching and packet forwarding with very low latency
of high volume IP traffic. There exists a striking similarity between the S-GW and
P-GW functions. Other than the commonality at the core datacom layer, they
both act as the Policy Enforcement Points (PEP) for dynamic QoS policies. While
the S-GW is dedicated to policy and QoS enforcement at packet level, the P-GW
functions as the PEP at the service level. On the charging front, both the S-GW
and P-GW have a role to play. While the S-GW is involved in generating charging
records at packet level, the P-GW takes up the responsibility for producing
charging records at service level. Deep Packet Inspection and Legal Intercept
are dedicated functions of the P-GW, but nothing prevents the S-GW from
implementing these functions as well. Given that the S-GW is the direct interface
point for E-UTRAN eNodeB (S1-U interface), functions such as inter-E-UTRAN
mobility anchoring for the user plane (coordinating with the MME) and eNodeB
packet reordering are exclusively meant for S-GW implementation. Since the SGW directly interfaces with the GERAN and UTRAN networks (S4 and S12
interfaces), it also acts as the anchor point for inter-3GPP RAT mobility.
The P-GW on the other hand is primarily responsible for the IP address
allocation of the UE in the AIPN and acts as the anchor point for mobility across
the non-3GPP IP-CANs (for both trusted and non-trusted). For network based
mobility, the P-GW acts as the Gateway Local Mobility Anchor (LMA) terminating
Proxy Mobile IPv6 (PMIPv6) for the control signaling and IPv4/IPv6 tunneling for
the user plane. This corresponds to the S2a and S2b interfaces for the trusted
and non-trusted non-3GPP IP-CAN respectively, where the non-3GPP IP-CANs
directly terminate into the P-GW, bypassing the S-GW (as in the case of the non
roaming architecture for EPS or home routed architecture or the case of local
breakout within the visited PLMN). The trusted or non-trusted non-3GPP IP-CAN
typically emulates the MAG function of the network based mobility architecture.
For deployment architectures where the S-GW is in the path of the chained home
routed solution, the S-GW additionally plays the role of a back-to-back Gateway
LMA and MAG function. In such scenarios, the S2a and S2b interfaces from the
trusted and non-trusted non-3GPP IP-CAN respectively, are routed to the P-GW
via the S-GW.
There are two deployment models to address host-based mobility. In the
first deployment model, the S2a and S2b interfaces are based on MIPv4
technology. The P-GW acts as a MIPv4 Home Agent and the trusted and nontrusted non-3GPP IP-CAN provide the Foreign Agent function for the Mobile
Node (the UE). The user plane is based on the tunneling of end-to-end IPv4 over
transport IPv4. The second deployment model assumes that the UE is capable of
acting as a DSMIPv6 client and the P-GW is the DSMIPv6 Home Agent. All other
nodes in the network are IP Access router systems. This deployment model

30

applies to both 3GPP and non-3GPP IP-CANs (the S2c interface between the
UE and the P-GW). The formal interface between the S-GW and the P-GW is
called S5 (where S-GW and P-GW are within the same PLMN) and S8 (where SGW belongs to visited PLMN and the P-GW to the home PLMN). The S5 and S8
interfaces are otherwise functionally similar. There are two protocol options for
these interfaces. The first option is to support GTP tunnels between S-GW and
P-GW, GTP-C for control signaling and IP tunneling over GTP-U for the user
plane. This typically applies to 3GPP access deployments, where the S-GW acts
as a GTP-U relay between the 3GPP access network and the P-GW. If the UE
over the 3GPP access network supports DSMIPv6, then it is possible to run the
S2c interface over GTP over the P-GW and S-GW connection.
The second deployment model allows PMIPv6 to run as the control
signaling protocol on the S5 and S8 interfaces. For 3GPP access, this implies
that the S-GW terminates the GTP-U tunnels and tunnels user IP over transport
IP towards P-GW. Initial deployments will possibly start with non-roaming
architectures, with the S-GW and P-GW interface being initially S5 focused.
Additionally, equipment vendors will be looking into collapsed S-GW and P-GW
functions within a single physical node. Hence, vendors are likely to start
implementing the S5 interface as proprietary lightweight implementations.
However, the interface design must be future proof to make a way for the more
formal S5 interface and to evolve to the S8 interface for decoupled S-GW and PGW solutions, as operators start insisting on roaming architectures and home
PLMN routed IP services.
Both the S-GW and P-GW will have Diameter interfaces towards network
hosted Policy and Charging Rules Functions (PCRFs) and Service-based Policy
Decision Functions (SPDFs)/Radio Access Control Functions (RACFs). The
Diameter based Gxc and S7 interfaces control the Policy and Charging
Enforcement Function (PCEF) within the S-GW and P-GW functions. It is also
likely that the operator network may not have a centralized Policy Decision Point
in this case the S-GW and P-GW must be in a position to accept dynamic
policy and QoS decisions from distributed PDPs in the network after
implementing a local PDP within the Gateway for resolving policy conflicts. The
Gateways must also realize the Diameter interfaces (S6b and S6c) towards
external AAA functions for non-3GPP accesses.
As a conclusion we can clearly say that the new SAE/EPC architecture
together with E-UTRAN for LTE/LTE-Advanced provides a new approach for the
core and access networks, enabling far higher levels of data to be transported to
enable it to support the much higher data rates that will be possible with those
3GPP technologies. In addition to this, other features that enable the CAPEX and
OPEX to be reduced when compared to existing systems, thereby enabling
higher levels of efficiency to be achieved.

31

1.5. Self Organizing Networks (SON) for LTE/LTE-Advanced

As every mobile network, LTE/LTE-Advanced systems also need to be
managed. Since LTE is an evolvement of UMTS, the management should also
evolve from UMTS. There is a trend to simplify the management by autoconfiguration and auto-optimization. However, the complexity of LTE system also
place new demands on the Operations and Maintenances of the network. SelfOrganizing Networks (SON) is seen as one of the promising area for an operator
to save operational expenditures. The SON, aims to leapfrog to a higher level of
automated operation in mobile networks. Therefore SON is currently discussed in
3GPP standardisation.
But, in the same beginning, let we see which are the main drivers for
SON:
 The number and structure of network parameters have become large and
complex;
 Quick evolution of wireless networks has led to parallel operation of 2G,
3G, EPC infrastructures;
 The rapidly expanding number of Base Stations (especially Home eNB)
needs to be configured and managed with the least possible human
interaction.
Moreover, SON aims to configure and optimize the network automatically,
so that the interaction of human can be reduced and the capacity of the network
can be increased. An intelligent network with the ability to quickly and
autonomously optimize itself could sustain both network quality and a satisfying
user experience. SON offers tremendous potential and many ways of improving
operating efficiency. In Figure 1.13 illustrates the functional overview of SON for
LTE/LTE-Advanced, i.e. the three classes of key functions prominently in SON
are given.

Figure. 1.13. Functional overview of SON.

Self-configuration comprises all tasks necessary to automate the

deployment and commissioning of networks and the configuration of parameters.
Network elements operate autonomously, running setup routines, authenticating

32

and connecting to the OSS, as well as linking up and swapping parameters with
need-to-know neighbours. More precisely said, the self-configuration process
is defined as the process where newly deployed nodes (eNBs) are configured by
automatic installation procedures to get the necessary basic configuration for
system operation. Self-configuration process works in preoperational state, which
starts from when the eNB is powered up and has backbone connectivity until the
RF transmitter is switched on.

Figure. 1.14. Framework for SON.

As shown in Figure 1.14 (where the SON framework is shown), selfconfiguration includes two stages: basic setup and initial radio configuration. The
whole procedure is shown in Figure 1.15:
1. An IP address is allocated to the new eNB and the information of the
Selfconfiguration Subsystem of OAM (Operation and Management) is given to
the eNB.
2. A GW is configured for the new eNB so that the eNB can exchange IP
packets with other internet nodes.
3. The new eNB provides its information, including type, hardware and
etc., to the Self-configuration Subsystem for authentication. Necessary software
and configuration data are downloaded from the Self-configuration Subsystem.
4. The new eNB is configured based on the transport and radio
configuration data.
5.The new eNB connects to the normal OAM subsystems for other
management functions.
6. S1 and necessary X2 interfaces are established.

33

Figure. 1.15. Self-configuration procedure.

Self-optimization serves to improve or recoup network quality by tuning

network parameters on the fly. Key tasks involve brokering handovers and
balancing loads among neighbouring cells. Contributing to a greener network
environment, SON offers advanced energy-saving features. Self-optimization
process more precisely is defined as the process where UE & eNB
measurements and performance measurements are used to autotune the
network. This process works in operational state, which starts when the RF
interface is switched on. The self-optimization process collects measurement
information from UE and eNB and then with the help of external optimization tool,
it auto-tune the configuration data to optimize the network. A typical example is
neighbour list optimization.
Finally, the self-healing encompasses a set of key functions designed to
cope with major service outages, including detection, root cause analysis, and
outage mitigation mechanisms. Auto-restart and other automatic alarm features
afford the network operator even more quick-response options. Self-planning
combines configuration and optimization capabilities to dynamically re-compute
parts of the network, the aim being to improve parameters affecting service
quality.
Another issue is the allocation of SONs functions and algorithms. A selfconfiguration Subsystem will be created in OAM to be responsible for the selfconfiguration of eNB. For self-optimisation functions, they can be located in OAM
or eNB or both of them. So according to the location of optimisation algorithms,
SON can be divided into three classes: Centralised SON, Distributed SON and
Hybrid SON.
In Centralized SON, optimisation algorithms are executed in the OAM
System. In such solutions SON functionality resides in a small number of

34

locations, at a high level in the architecture. Figure 1.16 shows an example of

Centralized SON.

Figure 1.16. Centralized SON.

In Centralized SON, all SON functions are located in OAM systems, so it

is easy to deploy them. But since different vendors have their own OAM systems,
there is low support for optimization cases among different vendors. And it also
does not support those simple and quick optimization cases. To implement
Centralized SON, existing Itf-N interface needs to be extended.
In Distributed SON, optimization algorithms are executed in eNB. In such
solutions SON functionality resides in many locations at a relatively low level in
the architecture. Figure 1.17 shows an example of Distributed SON. In
Distributed SON, all SON functions are located in eNB, so it causes a lot of
deployment work. And it is also difficult to support complex optimization
schemes, which require the coordination of lots of eNBs. But in Distributed SON
it is easy to support those cases, which only concern one or two eNBs and
require quick optimization responses. For Distributed SON, X2 interface needs to
be extended.
In Hybrid SON, part of the optimization algorithms are executed in the
OAM system, while others are executed in eNB. Figure 1.18 shows an example
of Hybrid SON. In Hybrid SON, simple and quick optimization schemes are
implemented in eNB and complex optimization schemes are implemented in
OAM. So it is very flexible to support different kinds of optimization cases. And it
also supports the optimization between different vendors through X2 interface.
But on the other hand, it costs lots of deployment effort and interface extension
work.

35

Figure 1.17. Distributed SON.

Figure 1.18. Hybrid SON.

Overall we can conclude that SON for LTE/LTE-Advanced is designed to

leapfrog to the next level of automated operation with the twin aims of improving
network quality and driving down OPEX. Various self-configuration, optimization,
and healing functions cater to specified SON use cases, bringing big benefits to a
wide range of operating scenarios. While 3GPP standardization efforts will
assure the necessary interoperability, the real power behind SON performance is
architecture and algorithms. This challenges vendors to turn up viable
implementations and efficient, robust SON LTE/LTE-Advanced functions and it
affords them many opportunities to differentiate their offerings. Indeed, the lack of
a clear-cut implementation compels vendors to persist with rigorous research.

36

1.6. LTE/LTE-Advanced Radio Resource Management

An intelligent radio resource management (RRM) is the core system of

LTE/LTE-Advanced networks in order to provide the broadband mobility needs of
upcoming years. RRM system will schedule the available radio resources in a
best way, so all the users will be served by enough transmission capability and
required level of QoS and mobility, and also RRM system will assure that the
assigned resources would not interfere with any previous assigned resources.
Using aggressive frequency reuse (factor of 1) in LTE/LTE-Advanced network
means that the whole frequency spectrum will be available in single eNodeB
which creates large effect of inter cell interference (ICI) especially at the edge of
the cell. Moreover, the development of Self Organizing Network (given in the
previous section) techniques, algorithms and eventually standards is a critical
step in LTE/LTE-Advanced femtocell deployments and a great confirmation
about the importance of RRM.
The LTE system requires optimized signaling as well as optimized radio
transmission and radio access network. The radio access network of the LTE
system, Evolved UMTS Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) is agreed to have
only one type of node eNodeB. LTE system prefers UEs to be less intelligent,
and allows network to have all control over services and resources. These
system features should be considered sufficiently in designing the optimized LTE
signaling protocols and radio resources management algorithms. The E-UTRAN
is discussed in more details in section 1.4.
Furthermore, as we mentioned, the LTE-Advanced should be real mobile
broadband wireless network that provides peak data rates equal to or greater
than those for wired networks, i.e., FTTH (Fiber To The Home), while providing
better QoS. The major high-level requirements of LTE-Advanced are reduced
network cost (cost per bit), better service provisioning and compatibility with
3GPP systems. Just to mention that LTE-Advanced being an evolution from LTE
is backward compatible. Here will be summarized some of the major technology
proposals of LTE-Advanced are:
 Asymmetric transmission bandwidth
 Layered OFDMA
 Advanced Multi-cell Transmission/Reception Techniques
 Enhanced Multi-antenna Transmission Techniques
 Enhanced Techniques to Extend Coverage Area
 Support of Larger Bandwidth in LTE-Advanced
Access such as Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) and Time Division
Duplex (TDD) are the two most prevalent duplexing schemes used in fixed
broadband wireless networks. FDD uses two distinct radio channels and
supports two-way radio communication and TDD uses a single frequency to
transmit signals in both the downstream and upstream directions. Symmetric
transmission results when the data in down-link and in the up-link are transmitted
at the same data rate. This is one of the cases in voice transmission which
37

transmits the same amount of data in both directions. However, for internet
connections or broadcast data (for example, streaming video), it is likely that
more data will be sent from the server to the UE (the down-ink).
Based on the current and future traffic demands in cellular networks the
required bandwidth in up-link will be narrower than that in down-link. So
asymmetric transmission bandwidth will be a better solution for efficient utilization
of the bandwidth (see Figure 1.19).

Figure 1.19. Support of Asymmetric Bandwidths for LTE Advanced.

In layered OFDMA structure, the entire system bandwidth comprises

multiple basic frequency blocks. The bandwidth of basic frequency block is, 15
20 MHz. Layered OFDMA radio access scheme in LTE-Advanced will have
layered transmission bandwidth, support of layered environments and control
signal formats. The support of layered environments helps in achieving high data
rate (user throughput), QoS, or widest coverage according to respective radio
environments such as macro, micro, indoor, and hotspot cells.
The control signal formats are straightforward extensions of L1/L2 control
signal formats of LTE to LTE-Advanced. Independent control channel structure is
used for each component carrier. Control channel supports only shared channel
belonging to the same component carrier.
In
a
multi-user
multi-cell
environment
employing
multitransmission/reception antenna devices for each cell have multiple first units and
second units in wireless communication. The first units consists of a
predetermined antenna and the second unit consists of the following sub-units:

Estimation unit: Estimates channel information on signals from the
individual first units and estimates information of noise and
interference signals from adjacent cells.

Calculation unit: Calculates the sum of transfer rates for each user
group having at least one first unit using the information estimated
by the estimation unit.

Determination unit: Determines one user group by comparing the
sum of the transfer rates of each user group calculated by the
calculation unit.
38


Feedback unit: Information on the user group determined by the

determination unit is fed back to the first units of the corresponding
cell.
In LTE-Advanced, the advanced multi-cell transmission/reception
processes (also called as coordinated multipoint transmission/reception) helps in
increasing frequency efficiency and cell edge user throughput. Faster handovers
among different inter-cell sites are achieved by employing Inter-Cell Interference
(ICI) management (that is, inter-cell interference coordination (ICIC) aiming at
inter-cell orthogonalization).
Moreover, the mobile broadband traffic in wireless communications has
been increasing multi folds over the years, which amplifies the requirement of
higher-order MIMO channel transmissions and higher peak frequency efficiency
than LTE. In LTE-Advanced, the MIMO scheme has to be further improved in the
area of spectrum efficiency, average cell through put and cell edge performances
(see Figure 1.20). With multipoint transmission/reception, where antennas of
multiple cell sites are utilized in such a way that the transmitting/receiving
antennas of the serving cell and the neighboring cells can improve quality of the
received signal at the UE/eNodeB and reduces the co-channel interferences from
neighboring cells. Peak spectrum efficiency is directly proportional to the number
of antennas used. In LTE-Advanced the antenna configurations of 8x8 in DL and
4x4 in UL are planned.

Figure 1.20. MIMO Tx & Rx Schemes LTE-Advanced (8 X 4 MIMO).

Moreover, the Remote Radio Requirements (RREs) using optical fiber

should be used in LTE-Advanced as effective technique to extend cell coverage
(see Figure 1.21). Layer 1 relays with non-regenerative transmission, that is,
repeaters can also be used for improving coverage in existing cell areas. Layer 2
and Layer 3 relays can achieve wide coverage extension through an increase in
Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR).

39

Figure 1.21. RRE using optical fibers.

Finally, peak data rates up to 1Gbps are expected from bandwidths of

100MHz. OFDM adds additional sub-carrier to increase bandwidth. The available
bandwidth may not be continuous as a result of fragmented spectrum. To ensure
backward compatibility to the current LTE, the control channels such as
synchronization, broadcast, or PDCCH/PUCCH might be needed for every 20
MHz.
Furthermore, are discussed the two fundamental types of RRM; the first
type is general RRM schemes and the second type is with the consideration of
SON requirements. As already in LTE Rel-8 and also in LTE-Advanced robust
general minimum RRM requirements ensure good mobility performance across
the cellular network for various mobile speeds and different network
deployments. The minimum RRM requirements are defined both in idle mode
and in active mode. In Active mode the requirements are defined both without
DRX and with DRX in order to ensure that good mobility performance in all cases
while still minimising UE battery consumption especially with long DRX cycles.
Different network controlled parameter values for cell reselection in idle mode
and for handover in active mode can be utilized for optimizing mobility
performance in different scenarios, which also include low mobility and high
mobility scenarios.
The General resources scheduling algorithms are the following:
Proportional fairness resource allocation algorithm: the priority for each user
at each resource block should be calculated first and then the user how has
the maximum priority the RB (resource block) will be assigned to him and the
algorithm continues to assign the RBs to the next maximum priorities between
the users until all RBs are assigned or all users have been served. This
priority of k-th user to be assigned with j-th resource block at time (t) is given
by:
Pkj(t)=RDRkj(t) /Rk(t)
Where RDRkj (t) is the requested data rate for the k-th user over j-th RB in
time (t) and Rk (t) is the low-pass filtered averaged data rate of the k-th user.
The value of RDR is estimated by using AMC (Adaptive Modulation and
Coding) selection which is depends on current transmission channel
condition. In case of retransmission RDR is different from the one for new

40

resource user request in order to guarantee the successful transmission, so

the RDR estimated form is:
RDRkj=RMCS(SNRAC)
Here RMCS is the rate estimation function and SNRAC is the accumulated
signal to noise ratio over the transmission channel. In any time interval of
scheduling
is
updated
as
follows:
Rk(t+1)=(1a)Rk(t)+aDRDk(t)
Where (a) is the average rate window size and DRDk (t) is the aggregate data
rate for user k at time t.
Softer frequency reuse based resource scheduling algorithm: By the aim of
reduction of frequency selective scheduling gain loss and to increase the data
rate at the cell edge, this scheme is proposed. By this algorithm the frequency
reuse factor is 1 at the center and the edge of the cell. The frequency
scheduler is working in a way that the cell edges users have higher
probability of using the frequency band with higher power and the cell centers
users have the higher probability of using frequency band with lower power.
Here the priority is calculated by: Pkj(t)=RDRkj(t) / Rk(t)Fkj.
This formula is modifications form of the previous algorithm where Fkj is the
priority factor and can take value between 0 and 1 among the following cases:
User k at cell center, RB j is low power
User k at cell center, RB j is high power
User k at cell edge, RB j is low power
User k at cell edge, RB j is high power
Giving different values to Fkj is the way of controlling the resources
assignment to users in the edge and center of the cell.
Round robin scheduling algorithm: this method is used to allocate the radio
resources to users, the first user will be served with the whole frequency
spectrum for a specific period of time and then serve the next user for another
time period. The previously server user will placed at the end of the waiting
queue till to be served again in the next round. All the new resources request
also will be placed at the end of waiting queue. This scheme offers great
fairness in radio resource assignment among the users but with lowering the
whole system throughput.
Resource scheduling scheme based on maximum interference: this algorithm
all the users in the cell are ranked according to the experienced interference
so the user with the worst CQI (Channel quality indicator) will be in the top of
ranking and scheduled to assign RBs for him and the turn goes for the user
with the next worst CQI to have his RBs. The ranking K can be presented as:
K=argmax( Yk(t))
Where Y is the vector of experienced interference by the users in the cell
in time (t).
Resource scheduling algorithm based on dynamic allocation: this allocation
algorithm is using a kind of signaling process by a small chunks of class traffic
smaller than the packet of streaming class traffic are transmitted in the
network, this algorithm gives equal allocation of the radio resources but not
with the capacity of traffic which can be handled by these physical resource
blocks (PRB). This algorithm depends on three main parameters:

41

M=total number of available PRBs

U=total users to multiplex on a PRB
RB=resource blocks which are assigned to k user. Thus the k user
select best PRB from N based on the channel condition.
Furthermore, the Radio Resource Management for SON in LTE/LTEAdvanced can be as following:
Joint radio resource management: All operators have to deal with coexistence
RATs and the integration between LTE/LTE-Advanced networks and other
wireless networks, so the exploitation of the complementarities between
technologies through JRRM will be needed. This scheme is based on
Reinforcement Learning (RL). The RRM through smart mechanisms that take
jointly into account the resources available in all the RATs to make the
appropriate allocations, these are referred to as Joint RRM (JRRM) or
Common RRM (CRRM). The mechanism puts RL agent in each cell which
works in Real time independently from the agents in other cells, and it is
responsible for distributing the users among the technologies and the
decision can be taken either at session initiation, or during session lifetime,
which could lead to a vertical handover. For example, in this model if we
assume that the reuse factor is 3 in the LTE, so that only 8 out of 24
frequency chunks (resource blocks) are assigned to one cell as active. The
remaining 16 chunks would be used by neighboring cells.
Multi radio resource management: incorporates a multi-radio resource and
mobility management, allowing for intelligent network-centric access
selection, seamless handovers and optimized load balancing over a number
of different kinds of access networks, including 3GPP and non-3GPP
networks. This system consists of three parts; the first one MRM-TE is
located on the user terminal and it has to provide intersystem measurement
functions and an initial access selection algorithm that is used as long as the
terminal has not yet established a connection with the access network. The
second part MRM-NET is located in the access network and is associated
with all active users within its service area. Last part (MRM-HAM) is the
heterogeneous access management function and its main mission is to make
access selection decisions based on various input parameters such as link
performance, resource usage and availability measurements.
Cognitive radio resource management: the concept idea is to enrich the LTE
system with Cognitive features which can be used to provide the system with
knowledge that derives from past interactions with the environment. The
selfmanagement function of cognitive systems may be introduced in the
terminal level, access point or network segment level. The system examines
the current operated context has been treated in the past for better and
suitable exploitation of experience and knowledge that can be used to
produce wiser RRM decisions and actions. Next we must explain the concept
of Intra Cell RRM: Intra-cell configuration includes sub-carrier assignment,
power allocation and adaptive modulation. Each one of them is reflected by
DSA (Dynamic Spectrum Access), APA (Adaptive Power Allocation) and AM

42

(adaptive modulation) respectively. Multiple sub-carriers are allowed to be

assigned to a single user. However, the same sub-carrier isnt allowed to be
assigned in more than one user, and the number of subcarriers that should be
assigned to any user depends on many factors parameters like user location,
the requested service, user profile and Network Operators (NOs) policies.
Dynamic fractional frequency reuse scheme: In the system a mix of high and
low reuse frequency resources (e.g., reuse 1 and 3, respectively) are allowed
in each cell. The users distance from the cell center is the factor which
means the reuse 1 is for the close users from the cell center while the lower
reuse resources are assigned to interference-limited users at the cell edge. In
the Down Link FRR: by the consideration of the distribution of mobile or traffic
load the basic idea is the usage of a relative narrowband transmit power
(RNTP) indicator, which is exchanged between BSs on the X2 interface. The
RNTP is a per physical resource block (PRB) indicator which conveys a
transmit power spectral density mask that will be used by each cell. This
feature results in arbitrary soft reuse patterns being created across the
system. Every cell would have a special subband for generating low
interference with its reduced transmit spectral density. Based on the
knowledge of which cell is causing the dominant interference in the DL, the
scheduler can inquire the RNTP report in that cell to know which subband is
being transmitted at reduced power and hence generating less interference,
and can choose to schedule mobile in that subband so that it experiences
higher SINR. For the Up Link FFR another indicator is used (high interference
indicator HII), which is defined per PRB, can be exchanged between cells via
the X2 interface to implement uplink FFR. When the HII bit is set to 1 for a
particular PRB so it has high sensitivity to uplink interference for this cell;
when the HII bit is set to 0 so it signifies that this PRB has low sensitivity to
uplink interference and by The exchange of HII reports between cells allows
the creation of fractional reuse patterns through uplink scheduling and power
control.
Finally, in order to design an intelligent RRM for LTE/LTE-Advanced
networks many issues should be taken under our consideration, efficient
frequency reuse; fairness; QoS; inter cell interference control (ICIC); optimum
power allocation; SON requirements and vertical handover.

43

1.7. Radio network deployment and frequency planning

The upgrade to LTE/LTE-Advanced is relatively straightforward, with new
LTE infrastructure having the ability to reuse a significant amount of the UMTSHSPA cell site and base station including using the same shelter, tower,
antennas, power supply and climate control. Different vendors have different, socalled zero-footprint solutions, allowing operators to use empty space to enable
re-use of existing sites without the need for any new floor space.
An operator can add LTE capability simply by adding an LTE baseband
card. New multi-standard radio units (HSPA and LTE), as well as LTE-only
baseband cards, are mechanically compatible with older building practices, so
that operators can use empty space in an old base station for LTE baseband
cards, thus enabling re-use of existing sites without the need for any new floor
space, as mentioned previously.
Base station equipment is available for many bands including the 1.7/2.1
GHz AWS band and the 700 MHz bands in the U.S.A. (for more details about
other frequency bands of LTE / LTE-Advanced and their spectrum management
see the following section 1.8). On the device side, multi-mode chipsets will
enable devices to easily operate across UMTS and LTE networks.
There are many different scenarios that operators will use to migrate from
their current networks to future technologies such as LTE/LTE-Advanced. Figure
1.22 presents various scenarios including operators who today are using
CDMA2000, UMTS, GSM and WiMAX. For example, as shown in the first bar, a
CMDA2000 operator in scenario A could defer LTE deployment to the longer
term. In scenario B, in the medium term, the operator could deploy a combination
of 1xRTT, EV-DO Rev A/B and LTE and, in the long term, could migrate EV-DO
data traffic to LTE. In scenario C, a CDMA2000 operator with just 1xRTT could
introduce LTE as a broadband service and, in the long term, could migrate
1xRTT users to LTE including voice service.
3GPP and 3GPP2 both have specified detailed migration options to LTE.
One option for GSM operators that have not yet committed to UMTS, and do not
have an immediate pressing need to do so, is to migrate directly from
GSM/EDGE or Evolved EDGE to LTE with networks and devices supporting
dual-mode GSM-EDGE/LTE operation.
Moreover, in order to achieve effective performance and broadband
mobility, a careful radio planning needs to be performed. Since LTE and LTEAdvanced are very flexible, i.e. they can be deployed in various frequency bands
using a mixture do channel bandwidths, the actual planning decision is based on
various factors, some of which are illustrated in the Figure 1.23.

44

Figure 1.22. Different Deployment Scenarios for LTE.

Figure 1.23. Factors influencing LTE cell planning.

The typical deployment will be based on a three sector site. This is

apparent due to historic frequency planning methods, vendor implementation and
also the fact that allocation of the LTE PCI (Physical Cell Identifier) includes a
CellID1 (Cell Identity Group Number) and CellID2 (Cell Identity Number), the latter
is encoded as 0, 1, or 2 to reflect one of the three sectors. There are also various
scenarios when a two sectored site or an omni directional site would be
implemented.
In addition to standard frequency reuse, LTE/LTE-Advanced radio
planning can also employ SFR (Soft Frequency reuse). To explain the concept of
SFR, it is first best to describe FFR (Fractional Frequency Reuse) and PFR
(Partial Frequency Reuse) schemes. In this two network technologies, OFDMA
(Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access) and SC-FDMA (Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access) are defined. These both utilize 15KHz
subcarriers which are then grouped into PRB (Physical Resource Blocks), each
containing 12 subcarriers equating to 180KHz of spectrum. The figure 1.24
presents this concept.

45

Figure 1.24. The utilization of 15KHz subcarriers.

There are various options how these Physical Resource Blocks can be
allocated, as well as implemented for FFR, PFR and SFR. Fractional and partial
frequency reuse schemes are both fundamentally based on allocating a number
of these PRBs in a sector. The main issue with these is that they limit the
maximum throughput available to a user - since they are not able to allocate the
full bandwidth.
In comparison, the concept of Soft Frequency Reuse enables the system
to maximize the capacity of the network by enabling each sector to utilize the full
bandwidth. To do this, SFR adjusts the power allocated to certain PRBs in order
to mitigate ICI (Inter Cell Interference). It also enables the eNB to allocate the full
bandwidth (all PRBs at a lower power) to users close to the cell, thereby
achieving higher peak rates. This process is shown in Figure 1.25.

Figure 1.25. The Soft frequency reuse.

In addition, the LTE/LTE-Advanced system includes ICIC (Inter-cell

Interference Coordination) techniques which enable the eNB (Evolved Node B),

46

via the X2 interface (eNB to eNB), to pass overload and high interference
information. This in turn may be used by the eNB to dynamically adjust the
number and power of PRBs allocated in a cell. In the following figure 1.26 the
above techniques are illustrated.

Figure 1.26. Inter-cell Interference Coordination technique.

Another capability being planned for LTE-Advanced is relays as shown in

Figure 1.27. The idea is to relay frames at an intermediate node, resulting in
much better in-building penetration, and with better signal quality, user rates will
be much improved. Relay nodes can also improve cell-edge performance by
making it easier to add picocells at strategic locations. Relays provide a means
for lowering deployment costs in initial deployments in which usage is relatively
low. As usage increases and spectrum needs to be allocated to access only,
operators can then employ alternate backhaul schemes.

Figure 1.27. LTE-Advanced Relay.

The final phase of the Radio Frequency planning and deployment process
involves continuous optimisation of the Radio Frequent plan to accommodate for
changes in the environment or additional service requirements (e.g. additional
coverage or capacity). This phase starts from initial network deployment and
involves collecting measurement data on a regular basis that could be via drive
testing or centralised collection. The data is then used to plan new sites or to
optimize the parameter settings (e.g. antenna orientation, downtilting, frequency
plan) of existing sites.

47

1.8. Spectrum management (ITU WRC 2012)

Spectrum continues to be one of the most important issues facing the
industry. There are two issues to consider. One is the limited amount of spectrum
available to support this dynamic industry and the other is how the industry is
responding to take advantage of available technology.
Given that spectrum is a limited resource, the industry is undertaking the
following initiatives to leverage all available spectrum:
 Increasing the spectral efficiency of technologies to continually increase the
bits per second of data bandwidth for every available Hertz.
 Adapting specifications to enable operation of UMTS-HSPA and LTE/LTEAdvanced in all available bands.
 Designing both FDD and TDD versions of technology to allow operation in
both paired and unpaired bands.
 Designing carrier aggregation techniques in HSPA+ and LTE-Advanced
that bonds together multiple radio channels (both intra- and inter-frequency
bands) to improve both peak data rates and efficiency.
 Deploying as many new cells (large and small) as is feasible.

It might be thought that new technologies such as small cells and smart
antennas would obviate the need for spectrum. These technologies, however,
are already on the roadmap for 3GPP evolution and, by themselves, do not
sufficiently increase capacity to meet growing demand.
ITU World Radiocommunication Conferences (WRC), held every three
or four years, are mandated to review and revise the Radio Regulations, the
international treaty governing the use of radio-frequency spectrum (spectrum
management) and satellite orbit resources. The agenda of a world radiocommunication conference may include any other question of a worldwide
character within the competence of the conference.
The WRC for 2012 took place in Geneva, Switzerland, from 23 January up
to 17 February 2012, and was triggering event for the radio communication world
and the frequency management sphere. The unprecedented number of
proposals (more than 1700) addressing the various items on the WRC-12
agenda cover almost all radio services and applications, and illustrated the
importance of this conference to governments and businesses.
The scope and complexity of the WRC-12 agenda make it impossible to
consider all the items in a section as brief as this. And in summarizing the main
topics to be dealt with by the conference, the specific concerns and interests of
some groups or entities will inevitably be neglected. With those caveats in mind,
here shortly we can summarize WRC-12 (for more details see the references),
and we can say that it focus on:
 the review and possible revision of the international regulatory framework for
radiocommunications, in order to reflect in the Radio Regulations the
increasing convergence of radio services arising from the rapid evolution of
information and communication technologies (ICT), and to adapt to new and
potentially disruptive technologies such as software-defined and cognitive radio
systems or short-range devices;

48

 the management of satellite orbits and associated spectrum resources, for

which the increasing demand may soon exceed current availability;
 the allocation of scarce radio-frequency spectrum to provide new opportunities
for radiocommunication services, including those for the safety and security of
maritime and aeronautical transport, as well as those dedicated to scientific
purposes related to the environment, and to disaster prediction, mitigation and
relief;
 the introduction and development of mobile broadband and other advanced
technologies, including the use of the digital dividend resulting from the
switchover from analogue to digital terrestrial television broadcasting and the
development of advanced digital satellite broadcasting applications.

Other topical subjects

to be addressed
include
science,
radiodetermination and radionavigation-satellite matters. The conference also
has the task of identifying items for the agenda of the next conference, which is
scheduled to take place in 2015.
Moreover, can the current international regulatory framework adequately
meet the changing requirements for radio communication spectrum in a way that
allows innovative technologies to be implemented in a timely manner? The
conference is answering that question. The corresponding agenda item aims at
addressing changes to the Radio Regulations that will make them more
responsive to new technological developments and convergence. Discussions on
this subject started in WRC-03, and of course they are concluded at WRC-12.
One of the most complex topics regarding satellite regulations that the
conference is likely to encounter concerns a series of procedures, processes and
provisions that no longer seem to be aligned with the principles on which they
were based. This concerns, in particular, the principle of equitable access
contained in Article 44 of the ITU Constitution. The procedures in the spotlight
include those related to the processes for publication, coordination, notification,
recording, bringing into use, suspension and due diligence applicable to satellite
networks. Voluminous and intricate proposals are tabled, and each proposed
change in the procedures could affect current and future satellite operations. This
item is likely to occupy the conference throughout its duration, and the reports by
the Radiocommunication Bureau and the Radio Regulations Board will help to
move these discussions forward. The 22.0 GHz band is one of the most
favourable frequency bands for advanced digital satellite broadcasting
applications, which require larger bandwidth capacity than ever needed before.
These applications include ultra-high definition television, three-dimensional
television, digital multimedia video information systems, multi-channel high
definition television, large screen digital imagery, and extremely high resolution
imagery. These applications have been extensively studied in ITUR to enhance
the broadcasting service. Despite the complexity of this area, the conference is
likely to make permanent arrangements for use of the 21.422 GHz band by the
broadcasting-satellite service, to facilitate use of this band for advanced digital
satellite broadcasting applications which require larger bandwidth capacity.
At WRC-07, the band 790862 MHz was allocated to the mobile service in
Region 1 (Africa and Europe), complementing previous allocations to that service
in Regions 2 (Americas) and 3 (Asia and Australasia), and was identified for

49

international mobile telecommunications (IMT) worldwide. At that time, concerns

were raised about the protection of services (mainly broadcasting and
aeronautical radionavigation services) that were already allocated in this
frequency band in the event that neighbouring administrations would implement
mobile service. WRC-12 will therefore consider the results of sharing studies in
this band to ensure the adequate protection of the services involved, and take
appropriate action. In an unprecedented effort to resolve this difficult problem, the
administrations of CEPT and RCC have adopted a pragmatic approach by
developing and concluding a series of bilateral frequency coordination
agreements that are expected to smooth out the opposing views which had
initially been expressed on the compatibility between the mobile and the
aeronautical radionavigation services in this band.
The studies and discussions on this agenda item have also highlighted the
need in a number of Region 1 countries to urgently review the WRC-07 allocation
to the mobile service in the UHF band to face the growing demand for mobile
broadband. Pressure is therefore likely to grow in favour of a worldwide mobile
allocation of the 700 MHz band, which is being considered in Regions 2 and 3 for
the digital dividend.
Furthermore, the aeronautical community is seeking to facilitate the
introduction of new aeronautical mobile systems in the bands 112117.975 MHz,
9601 164 MHz and 5 0005 030 MHz. These systems provide radio links that
are critical for the safety and regularity of flights, and surface communications at
airports. The ITUR compatibility studies showed that sharing is generally
possible. The use of the 1.5/1.6 GHz bands by the aeronautical mobile-satellite
(route) service has priority with regard to other mobile-satellite service systems.
This is required to ensure interference-free communications with aircraft, taking
into account the safety of life aspects of such links. At present, this priority is
established through multilateral or bilateral frequency coordination meetings
between mobile-satellite service operators. Proposals to WRC-12 suggest
additional procedures to resolve concerns that have been expressed about the
ability of this practice to accommodate aeronautical requirements. Also, the
WRC-12 will consider spectrum requirements and possible regulatory actions,
including the identification of globally harmonized spectrum, in order to support
the safe operation of unmanned aircraft systems in the non-segregated airspace
used by civil aviation. Although unmanned aircraft systems have traditionally
been used in segregated airspace where separation from other air traffic can be
assured, administrations expect broad deployment of unmanned aircraft systems
in non-segregated airspace alongside manned aircraft.
The development of unmanned aircraft systems is based on recent
technological advances in aviation, electronics and structural materials, making
the economics of unmanned aircraft system operations more favourable,
particularly for repetitive, routine and long-haul and long-duration applications.
The required spectrum will be used for command and control of unmanned
aircraft, for relay of air-traffic control communications, and for relay of sense and
avoid data. The unmanned aircraft systems will be composed of a terrestrial
component (radio links between the unmanned aircraft and its control station)

50

and a satellite component (radio links between satellite and unmanned aircraft
control station, and between satellite and unmanned aircraft).
Moreover, the main topic to be discussed under the terrestrial component
is possible new allocations to the aeronautical mobile (route) service in all or
some portions of the bands 5 0005 150 MHz and 15.415.5 GHz. The main
topics relating to the satellite component are, first, the use of communication links
within existing allocations to the aeronautical mobile-satellite (route) service, and
second, the use of existing fixed-satellite service, mobile-satellite service and
aeronautical mobile-satellite service allocations for communication links between
the unmanned aircraft and satellite, and between the unmanned aircraft control
station and satellite. There is a general understanding of the pressing need for
allocations for unmanned aircraft systems, particularly for the terrestrial
component, and the discussion may well centre on the exact band and amount of
spectrum. Concerning maritime safety, WRC-12 is expected to adopt special
measures to enhance maritime safety systems for ships and ports.
Enhancements are proposed in three main areas to:

provide satellite detection of signals from automatic identification systems on
board ships (by adopting a new allocation to the mobile-satellite service around
156 MHz for satellite detection of automatic identification system signals, to
provide global ship-tracking and enhance search and rescue);

improve the broadcasting of safety and security information for ships and ports
(by making a worldwide allocation to the maritime mobile service in the 495505
kHz band as well as a regional allocation in 510525 kHz band in Region 2
which would enhance transmission of safety and security information in ports and
coastal waters);

improve VHF communications for port operations and ship movement (it is
planned to revise Appendix 18 of the Radio Regulations in order to implement
new digital technologies in the band 156174 MHz and increase the number of
simplex channels to make more channels available for the ports with heavy traffic
where communications are congested).

Given the existing situation, the global maritime community has agreed on
special measures to enhance maritime safety systems for ships and ports,
recognizing that additional satellite channels may be required to enhance and
accommodate global ship tracking capabilities. Everyone is keen to agree on the
proposed methods and options.
On the other side, several WRC-12 agenda items are related to important
environmental topics, in particular the use of ICT in combating climate change
and mitigating its effects, and in predicting natural disasters and facilitating relief
efforts. Since the 1970s, interest in and use of oceanographic radar operating in
the 3 to 50 MHz range has increased significantly. Preparatory work has
identified potential spectrum allocations in terms of both compatibility with other
users and effectiveness of ocean measurements. The need for additional data to
mitigate the effects of disasters, including tsunamis, to understand climate
change, and to ensure safe maritime travel has led to the consideration of the
operational use of oceanographic radar networks on a global basis. Increased
reliance on the data from these systems for maritime safety and disaster
response, as well as for oceanographic, climatological and meteorological

51

operations, has driven the need to improve the regulatory status of the spectrum
used by oceanographic radars while taking into account the protection of existing
allocated services. The ITU membership seems to fully support making
allocations for this application.
Long-range lightning detection using observations near 10 kHz has been
performed since 1939, originally with a labour-intensive system for measuring the
direction from which signals were received. Since 1987, there has been an
automated system to derive strike locations: a distributed network of groundbased sensors can locate the origin of the lightning strike, using the time
differences between the arrival of the lightning emission at the individual sensor
sites. The maximum spectral emissions from lightning strikes are between 9 and
20 kHz. At these frequencies, the sky waves reflected off the ionosphere
propagate for long distances with relatively little attenuation. It is thus possible to
receive the emissions from a lightning strike at thousands of kilometres from the
strike location. The conference will consider the possibility of an allocation in the
frequency range below 20 kHz for passive systems for lightning detection in the
meteorological aids service. Operational non-geostationary meteorological
satellite (MetSat) systems now use the band 7 7507 850 MHz to gather
instrument data to dedicated earth stations with a bandwidth of up to 63 MHz.
The measurements and observations performed by the MetSat systems provide
the data used in operational meteorology, climate monitoring and detection of
global climatic changes. The data have significantly improved operational
meteorology, in particular with respect to numerical weather prediction. The next
generation of non-geostationary MetSat systems will have to provide continuity of
data, aligned to the measurements and observations performed by the current
systems. These future systems will also perform additional and higher-resolution
measurements and observations of meteorological and climate parameters,
requiring much higher data rates and bandwidth as compared to current systems.
The necessary bandwidth for future non-geostationary MetSat systems to fulfil
those requirements would be up to 150 MHz. The conference is expected to
support the corresponding extension of bandwidth.
Finally, the WRC-12 conference considers the need for regulatory action
to foster the development of advanced wireless systems and applications, such
as software-defined radio, cognitive radio systems, short-range devices, fixed
wireless systems above 71 GHz, gateway links for high-altitude platform stations,
and electronic news gathering. The Radio Regulations, in their current form, are
generally considered to provide an appropriate framework for the development of
these systems and applications. Specific requirements can be addressed through
the standardization work of the ITUR study groups.
Previous WRCs have successfully provided for timely enhancements to
the Radio Regulations to cope with technical and regulatory developments, and
to address the needs of the ITU membership for the allocation, management and
use of the radio-frequency spectrum and orbit resources. In keeping with the
tradition of goodwill and international cooperation which has always prevailed
under these circumstances, the WRC-12 undoubtedly is another successful
milestone in the history of the ITU.

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1.9. Business models and forecasts for LTE/LTE-Advanced

The Telecom Market has seen tremendous changes and this trend will
certainly continue. New entrants and existing operators continue to adopt and
integrate new Telecom technologies, reinventing and reinvigorating their
business models. Today we are seeing the traditional Telecom boundaries
blurring with traditional Mobile Operators moving into the fixed line broadband
business and Fixed Operators looking to expand their reach outside of the home,
towards mobile broadband internet. At the LTE World Summit in 2008, the whole
telecom industry weighed the choice between LTE and WiMAX. At that time, LTE
was only vaguely understood, and much was made of its fast 150Mbps downlink
rate. But, at the LTE World Summit in 2009, the industry came to understand the
importance of LTE and began discussing the challenges faced by LTE. Such
challenges included the 2.6GHz band coverage and voice over LTE (VoLTE). As
we said before, the radio technologies are moving from voice to data, from
narrowband to mobile broadband, from single-mode to multimode, from multiple
technologies to key technologies dominated by OFDM and MIMO. However,
there is only one goal underlying these trends: to provide more wireless
bandwidth. LTE and moreover, the LTE-Advanced are important stepping stones
on this evolutionary path.
But, firstly let we see what has driven the rapid development of LTE/LTEAdvanced in recent years? One of the most important factors has been growing
market demands for wireless data services. Users need fast and convenient data
services through their terminals, and operators need all-IP networks for highspeed data connectivity. Competition between fixed-line and mobile operators
has also driven the evolution of radio technologies. Moreover, the growth of
wireless data traffic has brought in more revenue for operators which have, in
turn, pushed forward radio technologies. Another driving force has been
operators seeking higher benefits and lower costs.
First of all, one significant question is stepping before the telecom
operators: When to deploy LTE/LTE-Advanced? The timing of LTE network
deployment is affected by the progress of LTE/LTE-Advanced standardization
and maturity of commercial LTE terminals and systems and also by the economic
level, demands for wireless data services, user habits, and spectrum licenses
issued by governments. This means the timing of LTE deployment may vary from
country to country. Only deploying at the right time brings the best return on
investment. This is fundamental to a profitable LTE business model. As
evidenced by the premature deployment of 3G, there are risks related to
unfinalized 3GPP specifications, poor interoperability (even between terminals
and systems of the same manufacturer), mobility of 2G and 3G, poor coverage,
and lack of terminals and services. These issues can well be regarded as a
checklist for successful LTE deployment. So too, late deployment might mean
that good market opportunities slip by. So if we want to answer of the question:
How should an operator decide the proper time to deploy LTE? The answer is:
This is a hard question. However, the following points should be considered:

53

 3G services have grown rapidly, wireless broadband data traffic is

surging, and user habits have been fully developed. Sales of 3G
terminals and data cards have also grown rapidly.
 Wireless data revenues have risen substantially and now account for
a larger portion of operators total income. Statistics collected by
Qualcomm from Vodafone, Telstra, Verizon, and AT&T show that
wireless data services increased by an average of 30% from 2008 to
2009. These tier-one mobile operators are all running LTE trials.
Verizon announced its commercial LTE network in December 2010.
 Wireless data volume exceeds that of voice, and data revenue is now
greater than voice revenue. CSL, Hong Kongs largest mobile
operator, has seen an explosive growth in data traffic since the
launch of commercial HSPA+ in March 2009. CSL continued its LTE
cooperation with ZTE, aiming at future mobile applications that can
meet strong demands for high-speed broadband services.
 Trial and commercial LTE plans of competitors should be considered.
Tier-one operators, multinationals, and the largest operator in a
country are always leaders in LTE deployment. LTE trials are usually
run to build a high-end brand image. The second largest operator in a
country also usually develops LTE in order to catch up with or even
surpass the leader.
An LTE network provides a data rate of up to 100Mbps in the downlink
and 50Mbps in the uplink. On the other side, LTE-Advanced provides a data rate
of up to 100 Mbit/s for high and 1 Gbit/s for low mobility were established as
targets for research. These high data rates greatly enhance user experience.
With greater spectrum efficiency, simpler architecture and the ability to re-use
low frequency spectrum, LTE/LTE-Advanced will boast much improved capacity
for both voice and data delivered at a significantly lower cost compared to legacy
technologies. These improvements contribute to a lower cost per bit for both
voice and data services. In fact, some simulations are showing voice services on
UMTS to be several times more expensive than LTE. The relative total cost of
ownership (TCO) for LTE by Subscribers GB/month also presents significant
improvement opportunities over existing 3.5 G networks.
Moreover, the studies on LTE/LTE-Advanced business models are
ongoing, and recent studies have focused on mobile broadband Internet. In the
foreseeable future, LTE/LTE-Advanced business models may be found in highspeed and high-bandwidth Internet services, mobile Internet platforms, on-line
wireless communities, and Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications.
LTE/LTE-Advanced are supplying the users with a high-speed service
experience. According to some surveys, those who subscribed to LTE/LTEAdvanced early had begun to like the technology. Over 90% of those surveyed
were originally 3G users and 43% owned iPhones. 65% used LTE to supplement
fixed bandwidth and 54% would not consider turning back to 3G. The new
technology is shaping mobile Internet usage habits: 26% of those surveyed said
they would use their mobile more for work, 23% downloaded larger files than

54

before, 19% would watch on-line TV or streaming movies, and 16% were using
Internet more often as a result of subscribing to LTE.
All this shows that users are demanding better mobile broadband
experience whenever conditions allow. Once they have the improved experience,
it is hard to turn back to the lower-rate service. As one old saying goes, It is hard
to become frugal after being accustomed to luxury. The emergence of cloud
computing is further boosting the prosperous development of Internet data
services.
Moreover, from voice only mobile phones to multimedia phones and
iPhone and Android terminals, mobiles have tended to develop into mobile
broadband Internet platforms (see figure 1.28). This is also the developmental
trend of computers. Terminals are evolving into Internet service platforms where
all processing is completed via service plug-ins to the cloud and using a
background high-speed mobile data network.

Figure 1.28. Computers and mobile devices evolving towards mobile broadband internet
platforms.

The ultimate goal of communications is to connect anything or anyone to

anything or anyone from anywhere at any time at any place. New technologies
such as network convergence, all-IP, and RFID have made this goal possible.
LTE and LTE-Advanced are important stepping stones in the path toward this
ultimate goal. Mobile Internet platforms have been introduced to provide users
with fast and easy access to a variety of local and Internet applications. People
will change from using fixed terminals to using mobile terminals and from pointto-point connections to online communities and games circles.
With the trend towards high-bandwidth all-IP networks, M2M technology
which allows the flow of data to be transferred in real time between machines or
between people and machines using wireless networks and background server
networkshas been commercially deployed in Europe, Korea, and Japan. M2M
applications can be found in safety monitoring, mechanical and repair service,
public transportation, fleet management, industrial automation, and citywide

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information networks. Operators currently providing M2M services include BT,

Vodafone UK, T-Mobile, NTT-Docomo, and SK. The development of M2M
services has just started in China.
Finally, the evolution in the telecommunications industry is unceasing.
There will be challenges accompanied by opportunities. In the LTE/LTEAdvanced age, operators, regulators and equipment suppliers must understand
the latest changes and quickly adapt by preparing for new business models and
new sources of profit.

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