4g americas_4g mobile broadband evolution-rel 10 rel 11 and beyond_rep_oct2012

www.4gamericas.org October 2012 Page 1

CONTENTS

PREFACE.............................. ....................................................................................................................... 5

1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... 9

2 PROGRESS FROM RELEASE 99 TO RELEASE 10 AND BEYOND: UMTS/EVOLVED HSPA

(HSPA+) AND LTE/EPC/LTE-ADVANCED ............................................................................................... 11

3 THE GROWING DEMANDS FOR WIRELESS DATA APPLICATIONS................................................ 28

3.1 WIRELESS INDUSTRY FORECASTS ........................................................................................ 30

3.2 WIRELESS DATA REVENUE ....................................................................................................... 32

3.3 MOBILE BROADBAND DEVICES ................................................................................................ 34

3.4 MOBILE BROADBAND APPLICATIONS ................................................................................... 36

3.5 SMALL CELL GROWTH ................................................................................................................ 39

3.6 SPECTRUM INITIATIVES .................................................................................................................... 42

3.7 SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................................... 44

4 STATUS AND HIGHLIGHTS OF RELEASE 8 AND RELEASE 9: EVOLVED HSPA (HSPA+) AND

LTE/EPC ..........................................................................................................................................45

4.1 VoLTE ................................................................................................................................................ 47

5 STATUS OF RELEASE 10: HSPA+ ENHANCEMENTS AND LTE-ADVANCED ................................. 50

5.1 LTE-ADVANCED FEATURES AND TECHNOLOGIES ...................................................................... 50

5.1.1 Support of Wider Bandwidth ....................................................................................................... 50

5.1.2 Uplink Transmission Enhancements .......................................................................................... 53

5.1.3 Downlink Transmission Enhancements ...................................................................................... 55

5.1.4 Relaying ...................................................................................................................................... 57

5.1.5 Heterogeneous Network Support (eICIC) ................................................................................... 61

5.1.6 MBMS Enhancements ................................................................................................................ 63

5.1.7 Son Enhancements..................................................................................................................... 63

5.1.8 Vocoder Rate Adaptation ............................................................................................................ 65

5.2 HSPA+ ENHANCEMENTS FOR RELEASE 10 .................................................................................. 66

5.2.1 Four carrier HSDPA Operation ................................................................................................... 66

5.2.2 Summary of 3GPP Supported Band Combinations for Multicarrier HSDPA .............................. 68

5.3 NETWORK AND SERVICES RELATED ENHANCEMENTS .............................................................. 70

5.3.1 Home NodeB/eNodeB Enhancements ....................................................................................... 70

5.3.2 LIPA/SIPTO ................................................................................................................................ 70

5.3.3 Fixed Mobile Convergence Enhancements ................................................................................ 74

5.3.4 Machine-to-Machine Communications ....................................................................................... 76

5.3.5 Single Radio Voice Call Continuity ............................................................................................. 78


5.3.6 IMS Service Continuity (ISC) and IMS Centralized Services (ICS) ............................................ 80

5.3.7 Interworking with Wi-Fi ............................................................................................................... 81

5.3.8 UICC ........................................................................................................................................... 82

5.3.9 IP-Short-Message-Gateway Enhancements for CPM-SMS Interworking .................................. 84

5.3.10 Lawful Interception LI10 in Release 10 ...................................................................................... 85

5.4 RELEASE-INDEPENDENT FEATURES ............................................................................................. 85

5.4.1 Band Combinations for LTE-CA ................................................................................................. 85

6 RELEASE 11 HSPA+ AND LTE-ADVANCED ENHANCEMENTS .................................................... 87

6.1 STATUS OF TIMELINE FOR RELEASE 11 ........................................................................................ 87

6.2 LTE-ADVANCED ENHANCEMENTS .................................................................................................. 87

6.2.1 Coordinated Multi-Point Transmission and Reception ............................................................... 87

6.2.2 Carrier Aggregation..................................................................................................................... 92

6.2.3 Further Heterogeneous Networks Enhancements (feICIC) ........................................................ 93

6.2.4 Uplink Enhancements ................................................................................................................. 93

6.2.5 Downlink Enhancements ............................................................................................................ 93

6.2.6 Relaying Enhancements ............................................................................................................. 94

6.2.7 MBMS Service Continuity and Location Information .................................................................. 94

6.2.8 Further SON Enhancements ...................................................................................................... 94

6.2.9 Signalling and Procedure for Interference Avoidance for In-device Coexistence ...................... 99

6.3 HSPA+ ENHANCEMENTS ................................................................................................................. 100

6.3.1 Downlink Enhancements .......................................................................................................... 100

6.3.2 Uplink Enhancements ............................................................................................................... 102

6.3.3 Cell_Fach Improvements .......................................................................................................... 103

6.4 NETWORK AND SERVICES RELATED ENHANCEMENTS ........................................................... 104

6.4.1 Machine-Type Communication (MTC) ...................................................................................... 104

6.4.2 Network Provided Location Information for IMS (NetLoc) ........................................................ 110

6.4.3 SRVCC Enhancements ............................................................................................................ 111

6.4.4 SIPTO Service Continuity of IP Data Session (SIPTO_SC) ..................................................... 114

6.4.5 Policy Control Framework Enhancement: Application Detection control and QoS Control Based

on Subscriber Spending Limits (QoS_SSL) ............................................................................. 115

6.4.6 Non-Voice Emergency Services (NOVES) ............................................................................... 117

6.4.7 Fixed Mobile Convergence ....................................................................................................... 118

6.4.8 Interworking with WI-Fi Enhancements .................................................................................... 119

6.4.9 UICC (Smart Card) Enhancements .......................................................................................... 119

6.4.10 Lawful Intercept Enhancements ............................................................................................... 120

6.4.11 Further HomeNB/eNodeB Enhancements ............................................................................... 120

6.4.12 IMS Service Continuity and IMS Centralized Services Enhancements .................................... 120


6.5 RELEASE INDEPENDENT FEATURES ........................................................................................... 120

6.5.1 New Frequency Bands ................................................................................................................ 121

6.5.2 New CA and DC Combinations ................................................................................................... 121

7 PLANS FOR RELEASE 12 ................................................................................................................. 123

7.1 TARGET TIMELINE FOR RELEASE 12 ............................................................................................ 123

7.2 HIGHLIGHTS OF RELEASE 12 PLANNING WORKSHOPS ............................................................ 124

7.2.1 LTE Small Cell/Heterogeneous Networks Enhancements .......................................................... 124

7.2.2 LTE Multi-Antenna/Site Enhancements....................................................................................... 129

7.2.3 New LTE Procedures to Support Diverse Traffic Types.............................................................. 130

7.2.4 Other Areas of Interest ................................................................................................................ 131

7.3 RELEASE INDEPENDENT FEATURES ........................................................................................... 139

7.3.1 New Frequency Bands ................................................................................................................ 139

7.3.2 New CA and DC Combinations ................................................................................................... 139

8 CONCLUSIONS .................................................................................................................................... 140

APPENDIX A: DETAILED MEMBER PROGRESS AND PLANS ON RELEASE 99 THROUGH

RELEASE 10: UMTS-HSPA+ AND LTE/LTE-ADVANCED .................................................................... 141

APPENDIX B: UPDATE OF RELEASE 9 STATUS: EVOLVED HSPA (HSPA+) AND LTE/EPC

ENHANCEMENTS .................................................................................................................................... 155

B.1 HSPA+ ENHANCEMENTS ................................................................................................................ 155

B.1.1 Non-contiguous Dual-Cell HSDPA (DC-HSDPA) ....................................................................... 155

B.1.2 MIMO + DC-HSDPA .................................................................................................................... 156

B.1.3 Contiguous Dual-Cell HSUPA (DC-HSUPA) .............................................................................. 156

B.1.4 Transmit Diversity Extension for Non-MIMO UES ...................................................................... 157

B.2 LTE ENHANCEMENTS ..................................................................................................................... 157

B.2.1 IMS Emergency over EPS ........................................................................................................ 157

B.2.2 Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS) over EPS ............................................................... 159

B.2.3 Location Services over EPS ..................................................................................................... 164

B.2.4 Circuit-Switched (CS) Domain Services over EPS ................................................................... 168

B.2.5 MBMS for LTE .......................................................................................................................... 173

B.2.6 Self-Organizing Networks (SON) .............................................................................................. 180

B.2.7 Enhanced Downlink Beamforming (dual-layer) ........................................................................ 181

B.2.8 Vocoder Rate Adaptation for LTE ............................................................................................. 182

B.3 OTHER RELEASE 9 ENHANCEMENTS .......................................................................................... 184

B.3.1 Architecture Aspects for Home NodeB/eNodeB ....................................................................... 184

B.3.2 IMS Service Continuity ............................................................................................................. 188

B.3.3 IMS Centralized Services ......................................................................................................... 188


B.3.4 UICC (Smart Card): Enabling M2M, Femtocells and NFC ....................................................... 189

APPENDIX C: 3GPP MOBILE BROADBAND GLOBAL DEPLOYMENT STATUS - HSPA/HSPA+/LTE190

APPENDIX D: ACRONYM LIST .............................................................................................................. 221

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ........................................................................................................................... 233


PREFACE

Around three quarters of the worlds inhabitants now have access to a mobile phone. The number of

mobile subscriptions in use worldwide, both pre-paid and post-paid, has grown from fewer than 1 billion in

2000 to over 6 billion in 2012, of which nearly 5 billion are in developing countries. Ownership of multiple

subscriptions is becoming increasingly common, suggesting that their number will soon exceed that of the

human population. The resource of mobile communications could almost be compared to other invaluable

resources like potable water and tillable soil as it advances human and economic development from

providing basic access to health information to making cash payments, spurring job creation, and

stimulating citizen involvement in democratic processes. At the grassroots level, such success may be

attributed to the careful science of technology standards developed by the 3rd Generation Partnership

Project (3GPP).

3G Americas, now 4G Americas, has annually published a white paper to provide the most current

understanding of the 3GPP standards work, beginning in 2003 with a focus on Release 1999 (Rel-99)

through February 2011 and the publication of 4G Mobile Broadband Evolution: 3GPP Release 10 and

Beyond - HSPA+, SAE/LTE and LTE-Advanced. The latter paper provided detailed discussions of

Release 10 (Rel-10) including the significant new technology enhancements to LTE/EPC (called LTE-

Advanced) that successfully met all of the criteria established by the International Telecommunication

Union Radiotelecommunication Sector (ITU-R) for the first release of IMT-Advanced. 3GPP Mobile

Broadband Evolution: Release 10, Release 11 and Beyond - HSPA, SAE/LTE and LTE-Advanced is

focused on LTE-Advanced and HSPA+ in Release 11 (Rel-11), and key technology innovations such as

Co-ordinated Multi-Point (CoMP), Carrier Aggregation enhancements, enhanced ICIC, HSPA+

enhancements (8-carrier HSDPA, UL dual antenna beamforming/MIMO, DL multi-point transmission, etc.)

and support of Machine Type Communications (MTC). An updated status of Rel-10 and a high-level view

of plans for Release 12 (Rel-12) are also provided in the white paper.

The standards work by 3GPP, the foundation of the worlds mobile broadband infrastructure, is poised to

deliver international communications technologies to the masses. In the words of ITU Secretary-General,

Dr. Hamadoun I. Tour, We are all aware that there is no longer any part of modern life on planet earth

that is not directly impacted by ICTs and by the work we do here at ITU. In the second decade of the 21st

century, in a world with over six billion mobile cellular subscriptions and more than 2.4 billion people

online, ITUs work permeates into every business, every government office, every hospital and school,

and every household.1

Let us make no mistake: broadband is not just about high-speed Internet connectivity and accessing

more data, faster. Broadband is a set of transformative technologies, which are fundamentally changing

the way we live and which can help ensure sustainable social and economic growth not just in the rich

world, but in every country, rich and poor, developed and developing, stated Dr. Tour. Broadband will

change the world in a million ways. Some of these we can predict, but most of the changes will come as a

complete surprise to us in just the same way that the harnessing of electrical power led to the

unexpected building of skyscrapers, made possible with electrically-powered elevators, or the invention of

1 State of the Union Address, ITU Council, Geneva, Switzerland, 4 July 2012.


dozens of different sorts of labor-saving devices, from washing machines to hairdryers to toasters. So

broadband, too, will deliver unexpected and unpredictable benefits.2

Leading this progress is the GSM family of technologies, which is interchangeably called the 3GPP family

of technologies as they are based on the evolution of standards developed for GSM, EDGE, UMTS,

HSPA, HSPA+, LTE and LTE-Advanced. Network enhancements of mobile broadband HSPA+ continue

to progress in the commercial market today and the LTE revolution has arrived.

Source: Informa Telecoms & Media Subscriber Forecast, 2Q 2012

Figure 1.1. Global HSPA-LTE Subscriber Growth Forecast.

On a global basis, subscriptions to HSPA mobile broadband are growing rapidly. There were 900 million

global subscriptions for HSPA at of the end of December 2011, rising to 1 billion by 2Q 2012. This

number is expected to reach 2.8 billion by the end of 2015.3 There were 476 commercial HSPA networks

in 181 countries worldwide reported in September 2012.4

The ecosystem for HSPA is particularly vibrant. As of July 2012, there were a reported 3,362 HSPA

devices available worldwide from 271 suppliers, of which 245 included HSPA+ and 417 supported LTE.5

It may be helpful to consider the historical development of the 3GPP UMTS standards. Beginning with the

inception of UMTS in 1995, UMTS was first standardized by the European Telecommunications

Standards Institute (ETSI) in March 2000 when specifications were functionally frozen in Rel-99. This first

release of the Third Generation (3G) specifications was essentially a consolidation of the underlying GSM

specifications and the development of the new Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN). The

2 Broadband for All, Keynote Speech, Stockholm, Sweden, 25 June 2012.

3 World Cellular Information Service Forecast, Informa Telecoms & Media, June 2012.

4 Global Deployment Status HSPA-LTE, See Appendix C, 4G Americas, 1 September 2012.

5 GSA Fast Facts, 11 July 2012.


foundations were laid for future high-speed traffic transfer in both circuit-switched and packet-switched

modes. The first commercial launch (of FOMA, a derivation of UMTS) was by Japan's NTT DoCoMo in

2001.

In March 2001, a follow up release to Rel-99 was standardized in 3GPP, termed Release 4 (Rel-4), which

provided minor improvements of the UMTS transport, radio interface and architecture.

The rapid growth of UMTS led to a focus on its next significant evolutionary phase, namely Release 5

(Rel-5), which was frozen March to June 2002. 3GPP Rel-5 first deployed in 2005 had many

important enhancements that were easy upgrades to the initially deployed Rel-99 UMTS networks. Rel-5

provided wireless operators with the improvements needed to offer customers higher-speed wireless data

services with vastly improved spectral efficiencies through the HSDPA feature. In addition to HSDPA, Rel-

5 introduced the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) architecture that promised to greatly enhance the end-

user experience for integrated multimedia applications and offer mobile operators a more efficient means

for offering such services. UMTS Rel-5 also introduced the IP UTRAN concept to recognize transport

network efficiencies and reduce transport network costs.

Release 6 (Rel-6), functionally frozen December 2004 to March 2005, defined features such as the uplink

Enhanced Dedicated Channel (E-DCH), improved minimum performance specifications for support of

advanced receivers at the terminal and support of multicast and broadcast services through the

Multimedia Broadcast/Multicast Services (MBMS) feature. E-DCH was one of the key Rel-6 features that

offered significantly higher data capacity and data user speeds on the uplink compared to Rel-99 UMTS

through the use of a scheduled uplink with shorter Transmission Time Intervals (TTIs as low as 2 ms) and

the addition of Hybrid Automatic Retransmission Request (HARQ) processing. Through E-DCH, operators

benefitted from a technology that provided improved end-user experience for uplink intensive applications

such as email with attachment transfers or the sending of video (for example, videophone or sending

pictures). In addition to E-DCH, UMTS Rel-6 introduced improved minimum performance specifications

for the support of advanced receivers. Examples of advanced receiver structures include mobile receive

diversity, which improves downlink spectral efficiency by up to 50 percent, and equalization, which

significantly improves downlink performance, particularly at very high data speeds. UMTS Rel-6 also

introduced the MBMS feature for support of broadcast/multicast services. MBMS more efficiently

supported services where specific content is intended for a large number of users such as streaming

audio or video broadcast.

Release 7 (Rel-7) moved beyond HSPA in its evolution to HSPA+ and also the standardization of Evolved

EDGE; the final Stage 3 was functionally frozen in December 2007. The evolution to 3GPP Rel-7

improved support and performance for real-time conversational and interactive services such as Push-to-

Talk Over Cellular (PoC), picture and video sharing, and Voice and Video over Internet Protocol (VoIP)

through the introduction of features like Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO), Continuous Packet

Connectivity (CPC) and Higher Order Modulations (HOMs). These Rel-7 enhancements are called

Evolved HSPA or HSPA+. Since the HSPA+ enhancements are fully backwards compatible with Rel-

99/Rel-5/Rel-6, the evolution to HSPA+ was made smooth and simple for operators.

Release 8 (Rel-8) specifications, frozen in December 2008, included enhancements to the Evolved HSPA

(HSPA+) technology, as well as the introduction of the Evolved Packet System (EPS) which consists of a

flat IP-based all-packet core (SAE/EPC) coupled with a new OFDMA-based RAN (E-UTRAN/LTE).


Note: The complete packet system consisting of the E-UTRAN and the EPC is called the EPS. In this

paper, the terms LTE and E-UTRAN will both be used to refer to the evolved air interface and radio

access network based on OFDMA, while the terms SAE and EPC will both be used to refer to the evolved

flatter-IP core network. Additionally, at times EPS will be used when referring to the overall system

architecture.

While the work towards completion and publication of Rel-8 was ongoing, planning for content in Release

9 (Rel-9) and Release 10 (Rel-10) began. In addition to further enhancements to HSPA+, Rel-9 was

focused on LTE/EPC enhancements. Due to the aggressive schedule for Rel-8, it was necessary to limit

the LTE/EPC content of Rel-8 to essential features (namely the functions and procedures to support

LTE/EPC access and interoperation with legacy 3GPP and 3GPP2 radio accesses) plus a handful of high

priority features (such as Single Radio Voice Call Continuity [SRVCC], generic support for non-3GPP

accesses, local breakout and CS fallback). The aggressive schedule for Rel-8 was driven by the desire

for fast time-to-market LTE solutions without compromising the most critical feature content. 3GPP

targeted a Rel-9 specification that would quickly follow Rel-8 to enhance the initial Rel-8 LTE/EPC

specification. Rel-9 was functionally frozen in December 2009.

At the same time that these Rel-9 enhancements were being developed, 3GPP recognized the need to

develop a solution and specification to be submitted to the ITU-R for meeting the IMT-Advanced

requirements. Therefore, in parallel with Rel-9 work, 3GPP worked on a study item called LTE-Advanced,

which defined the bulk of the content for Rel-10, to include significant new technology enhancements to

LTE/EPC for meeting the very aggressive IMT-Advanced requirements. In October 2009, 3GPP proposed

LTE-Advanced at the ITU-R Working Party 5D meeting as a candidate technology for IMT-Advanced and

one year later in October 2010, LTE-Advanced was agreed by ITU-R Working Party 5D as having met all

the requirements for IMT-Advanced. Working Party 5D then completed development of Recommendation

ITU-R M.2012: Detailed specifications of the terrestrial radio interfaces of International Mobile

Telecommunications Advanced (IMT-Advanced), incorporating the detailed technical specifications of the

LTE-Advanced as one of the two approved radio interfaces. Recommendation ITU-R M.2012 received

final approval by the Member States countries in ITU-R at the Radiocommunication Assembly in January

2012. Rel-10 was functionally frozen in March 2011.

This white paper will provide detailed information on 3GPP Rel-10 including HSPA+ enhancements and

the introduction of LTE-Advanced; Rel-11 including further HSPA+, LTE-Advanced and Multi-RAT related

enhancements and other release independent features for which specifications were functionally frozen in

September 2012; and planning for Release 12 (Rel-12) and beyond. Rel-12 is targeted for a functional

freeze date of June 2014. This paper has been prepared by a working group of 4G Americas' member

companies and the material represents the combined efforts of many leading experts from 4G Americas

membership.


1 INTRODUCTION

Mobile Broadband demand is at an all-time high thanks to the combination of more data-hungry devices

and higher service expectations on the part of users. As of June 2012, there was an estimated 5.63

billion 3GPP subscriptions worldwide. Projections through 2016 indicate an order of magnitude increase

in global mobile data traffic. Consequently, this is driving the need for continued innovations in wireless

data technologies to provide more capacity and higher quality of service. 3GPP technologies have

evolved from GSM-EDGE, to UMTS-HSPA-HSPA+, to LTE and soon LTE-Advanced, in order to provide

increased capacity and user experience. But even with these technology evolutions, the exponential rate

of growth in wireless data usage puts further pressure to continue driving innovations into the 3GPP

family of technologies.

The 3GPP evolution will continue in the coming years with further enhancements to HSPA/HSPA+ and to

LTE/LTE-Advanced. 3GPP froze the core specification for Rel-10 in March 2011, which provides further

enhancements to the HSPA+ technology and the introduction of LTE-Advanced. For HSPA, Rel-10

introduced support for four-carrier HSDPA as well as additional dual-carrier frequency combinations. For

LTE, Rel-10 introduced key features and capabilities needed to meet the IMT-Advanced requirements

specified by the ITU. Some of the key LTE-Advanced features introduced in Rel-10 include Carrier

Aggregation (CA), multi-antenna enhancements (for up to 8X8 MIMO), support for relays and

enhancements to Self Organizing Networks (SON), Multimedia Broadcast/Multicast Service (MBMS) and

heterogeneous networks. Other Rel-10 enhancements that are more network and service oriented and

that apply to both UMTS-HSPA and LTE include architecture improvements for Home (e)NBs such as

femtocells), local IP traffic offloading, optimizations for machine-to-machine (M2M) communications and

SRVCC enhancements.

With the completion of Rel-10, focus in 3GPP turned to Rel-11, for which the core specifications were

frozen in September 2012 and added feature functionality and performance enhancements to both

HSPA/HSPA+ and LTE/LTE-Advanced. For HSPA, Rel-11 introduces new features such as 8-carrier

HSDPA, DL Multi-Flow Transmission, DL 4-branch MIMO, UL dual antenna beamforming and UL MIMO

with 64QAM. For LTE, Rel-11 provides enhancements to the LTE-Advanced technologies introduced in

Rel-10, such as enhancements to CA, heterogeneous networks, relays, MBMS and SON. Rel-11 also

introduces the Co-ordinated Multi-Point (CoMP) feature for enabling coordinated scheduling/beamforming

and MIMO across eNBs. Finally, Rel-11 introduces several network and service related enhancements

such as enhancements to Machine Type Communications (MTC), IMS related enhancements, Wi-Fi

integration related enhancements, H(e)NB enhancements, etc., most of which apply to both HSPA and

LTE.

As work on 3GPP Rel-11 neared completion, focus began on Rel-12 planning. With a targeted functional

freeze date of June 2014, work on Rel-12 is expected to ramp up at the end of 2012 and be the focus of

work in 2013. Some of Rel-12 will consist of unfinished work from Rel-11, but there will also be new ideas

and features introduced in Rel-12. However, there is general agreement that Rel-12 will be mainly an

evolution of the LTE and LTE-Advanced technologies. At the time of this writing, some main themes for

areas of Rel-12 focus include enhancements to LTE small cell and heterogeneous networks, LTE multi-

antennas (therefore, MIMO and Beamforming) and LTE procedures for supporting diverse traffic types.

In addition to these themes, other areas of interest include enhancements to support multi-technology


(including Wi-Fi) integration, MTC enhancements, SON/MDT enhancements, support for device-to-device

communication, advanced receiver support and HSPA+ enhancements including interworking with LTE.

This paper will first discuss the deployment progress and near term deployment plans for the 3GPP family

of technologies, focused mainly on UMTS/HSPA/HSPA+ and LTE. Section 3 will then discuss wireless

forecasts and trends in packet data growth, devices, applications and deployment models. A brief

summary of Rel-8/Rel-9 LTE/EPC is provided in Section 4 for background, with a detailed discussion of

the enhancements introduced in Rel-9 in Appendix B of this document. A detailed description of Rel-10

HSPA+ enhancements and LTE-Advanced features is provided in Section 5, followed by details on the

HSPA+ and LTE/LTE-Advanced enhancements introduced in Rel-11 in Section 6. The paper concludes

with a discussion of the initial work on Rel-12 in Section 7.


2 PROGRESS FROM RELEASE 99 TO RELEASE 10 AND BEYOND: UMTS/EVOLVED

HSPA (HSPA+) AND LTE/EPC/LTE-ADVANCED

This section summarizes the commercial progress of the 3GPP standards with primary focus on Rel-8

through Rel-10 and includes several important milestones in the industry. It is historical in nature, building

to the success of LTE as the next generation global mobile industry standard and the ongoing

commercialization of LTE-Advanced.

Leading manufacturers and service providers worldwide support the 3GPP evolution and to illustrate the

rapid progress and growth of UMTS, participating 4G Americas member companies have each provided

detailed descriptions of recent accomplishments on Rel-8 through Rel-10, which are included in Appendix

A of this white paper. A number of these technology milestones are also summarized in this section.

In November 2003, HSDPA was first demonstrated on a commercially available UMTS base station in

Swindon, U.K., and was first commercially launched on a wide-scale basis by Cingular Wireless (now

AT&T) in December 2005 with notebook modem cards, followed closely thereafter by Manx Telecom and

Telekom Austria. In June 2006, "Bit Lietuva" of Lithuania became the first operator to launch HSDPA at

3.6 Mbps, which at the time was a record speed. As of September 2012, there were more than 476

commercial HSPA networks in 181 countries with 80 additional operators with networks planned, in

deployment or in trial with HSPA (see Appendix C). Nearly all UMTS deployments are upgraded to HSPA

and the point of differentiation has passed; references to HSPA are all-inclusive of UMTS.

Figure 2.1. HSPA HSPA+ Timeline 2000-2013.


Initial network deployments of HSDPA were launched with PC data cards in 2005. HSDPA handsets were

made commercially available in 2Q 2006 with HSDPA handhelds first launched in South Korea in May

2006 and later in North America by Cingular (now AT&T) in July 2006. In addition to offering data

downloads at up to 1.8 Mbps, the initial handsets offered such applications as satellite-transmitted Digital

Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB) TV programs, with two to three megapixel cameras, Bluetooth, radios

and stereo speakers for a variety of multimedia and messaging capabilities.

Mobilkom Austria completed the first live HSUPA demonstration in Europe in November 2006. One

month later, the first HSUPA mobile data connection on a commercial network (3 Italia) was established.

In 2007, Mobilkom Austria launched the worlds first commercial HSUPA and 7.2 Mbps HSDPA network

in February, followed by commercial 7.2 USB modems in April and 7.2 data cards in May. There were

numerous announcements of commercial network upgrades to Rel-6 HSUPA throughout 2H 2007 and as

of December 2008, there were 60 commercial networks and 101 operators who had already announced

plans to deploy HSUPA.6 AT&T was the first U.S. operator to deploy enhanced upload speeds through

HSUPA on its HSPA networks in 2007 with average user upload speeds between 500 kbps and 1.2 Mbps

and average user download speeds ranging up to 1.7 Mbps.

Uplink speeds for HSUPA increased from peak 2 Mbps initially, up to 5.8 Mbps using 2 milliseconds (ms)

Transmission Time Interval (TTI). HSUPA eliminates bottlenecks in uplink capacity, increases data

throughput and reduces latency resulting in an improved user experience for applications such as

gaming, VoIP, etc.

The ecosystem of HSPA devices continues to expand and evolve. As of August 2012, 271 suppliers

commercially offered 3,362 devices,7 including smartphones, data cards, notebooks, wireless routers,

USB modems and embedded modules and supporting speeds up to 42 Mbps on the downlink.

Over the course of 2006 to 2007, there was significant progress on Rel-7 standards, which were finalized

in mid-2007. Rel-7 features were commercially introduced as HSPA+ and trials of HSPA+ began as early

as 3Q 2007 including several planned commercial announcements made in the 2007 to 2008 timeframe.

The worlds first data call using HSPA+ was completed in July 2008 achieving a data transfer rate of more

than 20 Mbps in a 5 MHz channel. The industrys first HSPA+ Rel-7 chipset was launched in early 2009,

which set the state for the first commercial launch of HSPA+ by Telstra. In February 2009, Telstra in

Australia became the first operator in the world to launch Rel-7 HSPA+ using the 850 MHz band and a

data card, and one month later in Austria, Mobilkom launched in the 2100 MHz band; both operators

initially provided peak theoretical downlink speeds of 21 Mbps. Rogers was the first mobile operator in

the Americas region to commercially launch HSPA+ at 21 Mbps in July 2009, more than doubling the

speeds of its HSPA network. By the end of 2009, there were 38 commercial launches of HSPA+ in 24

countries including Rogers, Telus and Bell Canada in Canada as well as T-Mobile USA in North America.

By the end of 2010, the number of commercial launches of HSPA+ had risen to 103 worldwide in 54

countries (see Appendix C for a list of commercial HSPA+ networks). That number stood at 233

6 Ibid.

6 Mobile TV: Applications, Devices & Opportunities 2012 2016, Juniper Resea


commercial HSPA+ networks (21 Mbps or higher peak theoretical speeds) in 112 countries as of August

2012.

In November 2011, T-Mobile USA announced that its HSPA+ network at 21 Mbps covered more than 200

million people in 208 markets including dual-carrier HSPA+ at 42 Mbps available for nearly 180 million

Americans in 163 markets. In February 2012, T-Mobile announced a $4 billion 4G network evolution plan,

which included the installation of new equipment at 37,000 cell sites, and deploying HSPA+ at 42 Mbps in

its PCS 1900 MHz band and initiating the deployment of LTE in 2013. In the second quarter of 2012, T-

Mobile USA announced an agreement with Verizon Wireless for the purchase and exchange of certain

Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) spectrum licenses (subject to regulatory approval), which would

improve T-Mobiles network coverage in 15 of the top 25 markets in the U.S.. T-Mobile also completed the

AWS license transfers (from the AT&T deal break-up) that will expand T-Mobiles coverage in 12 of the

top 20 U.S. markets. Additionally, T-Mobile announced a spectrum exchange agreement with Leap

Wireless International, Inc. that will further 4G coverage in four states.

By November 2010, 80 percent of the AT&T mobile network had been upgraded to HSPA+ Rel-7 and

covered 250 million POPs. AT&T introduced modems that could use both HSPA+ and LTE in 2010 in

preparation for their planned LTE deployment in 2011. By July 2012, AT&T commercially offered LTE in

47 markets covering a total of 80 million people. AT&Ts HSPA+ and LTE high-speed networks jointly

cover more than 260 million Americans. AT&T also announced planned deployment of Voice over LTE

(VoLTE) services in 2013 or when the standards work and product commercialization is ready.

Figure 2.2. The Evolutionary Steps of HSPA+.


HSPA and HSPA+ offer operators a great amount of flexibility and network upgrades. HSPA and HSPA+

are the leading mobile broadband technology worldwide today and for the next decade, even as LTE

commercialization is escalating. The breakdown of HSPA and HSPA+ network deployments as of

September 1, 2012 is as follows:

HSPA (7.2 or 14.4) 243 deployments Rel-6

HSPA+ (21 Mbps) 144 deployments Rel-7



There are a total of 233 commercial HSPA+ networks in 112 countries as of September 1, 2012.

Advantages of HSPA+ include its cost-efficient scaling of the network for rapidly growing data traffic

volumes, the ability to work with all HSPA devices, and improved end-user experience by reducing

latency. The majority of HSPA operators have deployed HSPA+, and in fact, the percentage of HSPA

operators who have commercially launched HSPA+ was at 49 percent by September 1, 2012.

The industrys first HSPA+ Rel-7 chipset was launched in early 2009, smartphones with HSPA+

technology emerged in the first quarter of 2010 and there were 245 HSPA+ ready mobile broadband

devices announced by August 2012.8

Rel-7 HSPA+ networks are sometimes also deployed with MIMO antenna systems providing yet another

upgrade in performance benefits. In July 2009, TIM Italy launched the worlds first HSPA+ network using

MIMO offering peak theoretical download speeds of 28 Mbps. Other operators have chosen to deploy

MIMO with HSPA+; however, most HSPA+ deployments as of August 2012 are deployed without MIMO.

(See Appendix C for a list of deployments with MIMO.)

A leading vendor implemented a bundle of Rel-7 standards-based features that delivers Continuous

Packet Connectivity (CPC) and by reducing network interference, the feature set provides five times more

uplink capacity. This enables operators to support more smartphone users on HSPA+ networks.

Most leading operators moved forward with deployment of Rel-7 HSPA+. Nearly all vendors have existing

NodeB modules that are already HSPA+ capable and the activation is done on a software basis only. This

solution is part of a converged RAN strategy with building blocks to evolve or renovate legacy networks

towards LTE. Converged BTS with Software Defined Radio (SDR) modules consisting of:

Converged Controller

Converged O&M and tools

Converged inter-technology mobility features

Converged transport

8 Ibid.


Vendors enhanced network quality with advances such as flat IP femtocells, enabling operators to

provide comprehensive in-building or in-home coverage. Mobile broadband femtocells are offered by

many leading manufacturers, and although operator deployments were slower than initially anticipated,

Vodafone (UK), China Unicom, AT&T and Verizon, were among those operators offering customers the

option for potentially improved in-building coverage by the fourth quarter of 2009. Many more operators

moved to a converged broadband environment through the proliferation of small cells in 2010, extending

the technology from residential gateways to the enterprise and into the metropolitan areas. Most

femtocells in 2009 supported the Rel-6 standard; in 2010 companies provided UICC for femtocells to

implement Rel-9 features. The introduction of femtocells is an early step in the move toward small cell

architectures, which will play a major role in the introduction of Rel-8 LTE networks.

In 2012, small cell announcements became more prevalent. For example, Telenor deployed 3G small cell

technology in the 11 countries in which it operates across Scandinavia, Central and Eastern Europe, and

Asia, to improve mobile broadband coverage in homes, offices and public locations. Telefonica is

enhancing in-building mobile broadband coverage through the use of femtocells in Europe and South

America.

IMS serves as the cornerstone for next-generation blended lifestyle services. Vendors are supporting IMS

development across multiple frequency bands to deliver valuable applications and services. Mobile

softswitches compliant with 3GPP Rel-4, Rel-5, Rel-6 and Rel-7 architecture that were in the market

in 2009 support a smooth evolution to VoIP and IMS. CS core inter-working with SIP call control, and

end-to-end VoIP support, with or without IMS, can deliver mobile voice service with up to 70 percent

savings in operating expenditures, according to a leading vendor. Some vendors IMS solutions optimize

core network topology by moving from vertically implemented services towards common session control,

QoS policy management and charging control. IMS intuitive networks are device, application and end-

user aware, resulting in the creation of an ecosystem of best-in-breed real-time multimedia applications

and services. IMS solutions, such as the service enhancement layer, allow for integration of a set of

software technologies that enable wireless, wireline and converged network operators to create and

deliver simple, seamless, secure, portable and personal multimedia services to their customers. VoIP

platforms have been developed for deployments across all types of networks that support Web Services

Software Development Kits (SDKs), which enable operators to combine communications services with the

IT world. Signalling overlay solutions for fixed and mobile operators provide number portability and SS7

signalling capabilities. They also offer a variety of features to help operators protect their networks against

SMS fraud and SMS spam.

AT&T was one of the most aggressive operators in the IMS segment of the market, having deployed the

technology for its U-Verse offering that allows customers to integrate mobile services via a broadband

connection powering in-home Internet, TV and wired phone services. AT&T further integrated its wireless

service into the mix, through apps for select smartphones that enable subscribers to control their TV

digital video recorder or watch programs on their MIDs (Mobile Internet Devices).

In general, wireless carriers have been very slowly moving towards IMS deployments for a variety of

reasons. Wireless industry analysts have noted that the slow adoption rate has been mostly due to a lack

of need for IMS to this point and with the adoption of LTE this will change. One leading vendor reports 93

IMS contracts for commercial launch, including 61 with live traffic as of August 2012 in the Americas,

Europe, Asia-Pacific and Africa with mobile and fixed network implementations. All-IP network

transformation helps operators reduce cost and improve service capability, flexibility and convenience for

customers and involves IMS and IP softswitching solutions.


Market research firm Infonetics Research reported that IMS networks continued to be deployed by fixed-

line operators, mobile operators, and cable operators; fixed line VoIP service was the mainstay of IMS

deployments, of the 21 respondents interviewed for the report, all of whom had IMS core equipment in

their networks as a requirement for participating in the Infonetics survey. Mobile services were reported to

be growing in importance; 71 percent of respondents plan to offer RCS/e, more than half plan to offer

VoLTE, and about a third will offer VoIP over 3G (for example, VoHSPA) and mobile messaging.

Mobile TV services were launched by several carriers worldwide, particularly in Japan and South Korea

by 2010. According to ABI Research analysis, several factors have hindered the widespread deployment

and adoption of mobile cellular and broadcast TV services up to 2010. However, the market inhibitors

were addressed and worldwide adoption began accelerating in 2012. The barriers for mobile TV were: a

lack of TV content (free and simulcast local and national programs), limited analog-to-digital TV

transitions in most regions that would allow broadcasters to simulcast mobile and terrestrial TV services

and the throughput speeds and latency performance that was adequate for quality mobile TV service.

Juniper Research reported that the number of streamed mobile TV users on smartphones will increase to

240 million by 2014, and according to report author Charlotte Miller, the smartphone really allows the

consumer to transport the TV experience out of the home, allowing them to view live and on-demand

content while on the move. The ubiquity of free Wi-Fi also allows users of these services to access

content without the threat of bill shock driving take up of streamed mobile TV services across all Wi-Fi-

enabled mobile devices.9

The advent of video applications creates needs for additional solutions for operators. A leading company

specializes in enabling operators to both manage and monetize the growth in mobile video consumption

by managing network congestion, analyzing user behavior and creating customized data plans that match

subscriber habits. They offer a video optimization solution that enables operators to manage congestion

when it occurs in localized hotspots rather than requiring brute force compression of all video on the

network at all times. Web optimizer uses compression, caching and transcoding techniques to increase

data transfer rates over wireless data networks while decreasing the amount of traffic flowing over the

network. It delivers faster browsing speeds and more immediate access to content while conserving

valuable bandwidth. With the increase of subscriber-aware policy management since Rel-8, the web

optimizer has the ability to enforce specific optimization triggers based on PCRF decisions through the

standard Gx interface.

The speed and latency barrier has been addressed by the evolution of HSPA+ and the deployment of

LTE. Peak theoretical speeds of up to 84 Mbps and 12 Mbps on the uplink will be supported by HSPA+,

and Rel-10 will bring the throughput rates even higher. These speeds are achieved by combining new

higher order modulation technology (64QAM), together with 2X2 MIMO antenna technology and later with

dual-carrier. In addition, LTE will provide an additional enhancement as IMS begins to take hold.

Juniper cites another driver for mobile TV growth as the continued integration of mobile services into Pay-

TV packages. Tablets can offer a richer viewing experience when used alongside traditional television by

allowing the user to access supplementary information such as plot synopses and actor biographies.

These devices also enable users to view Pay-TV content or to watch catch-up services when away from

home, extending the reach of traditional TV services. According to Junipers Miller, Consumers are

9 Mobile TV: Applications, Devices & Opportunities 2012 2016, Juniper Research, 8 May 2012.


already accustomed to timeshifting thanks to DVRs such as TiVo and Sky+; what mobile TV allows them

to do is placeshift. This allows users to watch their Pay-TV content anytime, anywhere and on any device

- the TV experience is no longer confined to the home.10

After 3GPP approved specifications for Rel-8 standards in January 2008, work continued throughout the

year, and in December 2008, the completed final standards on HSPA+, LTE and EPC/SAE

enhancements were functionally frozen.

Rel-8 HSPA evolution at 42 Mbps was first demonstrated at CTIA Wireless 2008 using a form-factor

handheld device. The industrys first dual-carrier HSPA+ Rel-8 chipset was launched in August 2010.

The improved speed allowed operators to leverage existing network infrastructure to meet the growing

consumer appetite for advanced multimedia services. Some operators chose to deploy HSPA+ with

higher order modulation and forestall MIMO. They achieved excellent advances and benefits, with speeds

up to 21 Mbps without deploying MIMO. In Rel-9, HSPA+ was further enhanced and was demonstrated at

56 Mbps featuring multi-carrier and MIMO technologies in Beijing at P&T/Wireless & Networks Comm

China in 2009.

As operators evolve their networks toward LTE and EPS architecture and consider software solutions,

they can build upon the capabilities of their proven HLR to incorporate carrier-grade RADIUS AAA for

packet-switched traffic, Diameter-based AAA and HSS support for the IMS core. Inclusive functional

suites take full advantage of the communications and media software solutions to ensure data-level

coherence and behavioral consistency of the overall mobility management solution across all access

domains and technology generations. Linked with pan-generational mobility and data management

products that are able to service multiple fixed and mobile access domains, operators can leverage the

CMS Policy Controller to assure Quality of Service (QoS) and provide a fine degree of control for service

offerings consistent with the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) and 3GPP Rel-8 specifications.

The increasing traffic challenge for operators is how to manage their network traffic. Solutions are being

offered for agile intelligent mobile networks, including solutions like web optimizers that will support Rel-8

and beyond networks by using compression, caching and transcoding techniques to increase data

transfer rates while decreasing the amount of traffic flowing over the network. Web and media optimizing

are intelligent, content-aware solutions that work to automatically trigger optimization when the network

reaches pre-determined thresholds. Media optimization will address the growing richness of the mobile

internet video content.

LTE lab trials between vendors and operators for the Evolved Packet Core (EPC) or System Architecture

Evolution (SAE) began in 2007, including support for an integrated Voice Call Continuity (VCC) solution

for GSM-WLAN handover. In November 2007, LTE test calls were completed between infrastructure

vendors and device vendors using mobile prototypes representing the first multivendor over-the-air LTE

interoperability testing initiatives. Field trials in realistic urban deployment scenarios were created for LTE

as early as December 2007, and with a 2X2 MIMO antenna system, the trials reached peak data rates of

up to 173 Mbps and more than 100 Mbps over distances of several hundred meters. Trials demonstrated

that future LTE networks could run on existing base station sites.

10 Mobile TV: Applications, Devices and Opportunities 2012 - 2016, Juniper Research, 8 May 2012.


Many lab and field trials for LTE were conducted in 2008. As of the end of 2009, more than 100 operators

had indicated their intentions to trial or deploy LTE and that number grew to more than 350 operators by

September of 2012 (for a complete list of LTE commitments, see Appendix C). TeliaSonera launched the

first commercial LTE networks in Oslo, Norway and Stockholm, Sweden in December 2009. In September

2012, the milestone of 100 commercial LTE networks, including nine TD-LTE networks, was achieved.

For detailed information of the progress of commercialization of the 3GPP standards by leading

companies, see Appendix A.

Figure 2.3. LTE-LTE Advanced Timeline 2008-2014.11

Live 2X2 LTE solutions in 20 MHz for Rel-8 were demonstrated in 2008. Among the new exciting

applications demonstrated on LTE networks at various bands, including the new 1.7/2.1 GHz AWS band,

were: HD video blogging, HD video-on-demand and video streaming, multi-user video collaboration, video

surveillance, online gaming and even CDMA-to-LTE handover showing the migration possible from

CDMA and EV-DO to LTE.

One of key elements of the LTE/EPC network is the new enhanced base station, or Evolved NodeB

(eNodeB), per 3GPP Rel-8 standards. This enhanced BTS provides the LTE interface and performs radio

resource management for the evolved access system. The eNodeB base stations offer a zero footprint

LTE solution, address the full scope of wireless carriers deployment needs and provide an advanced LTE

RAN solution to meet size and deployment cost criteria. The flexible eNodeB LTE base stations support

FDD or TDD and are available in a range of frequencies from 700 MHz to 2.6 GHz with bandwidths from

1.4 MHz to 20 MHz. The first Rel-8 compliant LTE eNodeB ready for large-scale commercial deployment

11 LTE-LTE Advanced Timeline, 4G Americas and Informa Telecoms & Media, July 2012.


was launched in July 2009, and is capable of supporting a peak theoretical rate of up to 150 Mbps on the

downlink.

The eNodeB features enhanced coverage and capacity for improved performance, superior power

efficiency for reduced energy consumption, lower total cost of ownership, and advanced Self-Organizing

Network (SON) implementation to help operators build and operate their LTE networks at a lower cost.

SON aims to leapfrog to a higher level of automated operation in mobile networks and is part of the move

to LTE in Rel-8. Benefits of SON include its ability to boost network quality and cut OPEX. Traffic patterns

in cellular networks are changing quickly with mobile data closing in on voice services; therefore, an

intelligent network with the ability to quickly and autonomously optimize itself could sustain both network

quality and a satisfying user experience. In this context, the term Self-Organizing Network is generally

taken to mean a cellular network in which the tasks of configuring, operating, and optimizing are largely

automated. Radio access elements account for a large share of cellular networks installation, deployment

and maintenance costs. This is why efforts to introduce SON focus on the networks radio access assets

first. A 2006 decision by the Next Generation Mobile Networks (NGMN) Alliance was instrumental in

driving development of SON. NGMN singled out SON as a key design principle for the next-generation

mobile network, and published a specifications paper in 2008. Hence, SON was often associated with

LTE technology. And as a consequence, while drafting LTE specifications, 3GPP introduced SON in Rel-

8. Subsequent 3GPP Releases further covered SON specifications, starting with auto-configuration

functions.

In October 2009, T-Mobile completed testing on the worlds first LTE Self-Organizing Network in

Innsbruck, Austria. Perhaps among the more exciting milestones in 2009 was TeliaSoneras December

14 launch of the worlds first commercial LTE networks in both Sweden and Norway. With network speeds

capable of delivering HD video services, this major achievement was supported by two leading vendors.

3GPP technologies operate in a wide range of radio bands. As new spectrum opportunities become

available, 3GPP updates its technical specifications for these new bands. The 3GPP standards support

37 spectrum bands for LTE and there were 13 spectrum bands being used for LTE commercial

deployments as of mid-year 2012. There are further opportunities for standardizing LTE for more

spectrum bands by introducing 3GPP technologies in frequency bandwidths smaller than 5 MHz (for

example, the 450 MHz) spectrum bands (due to LTE support for carrier bandwidths down to 1.4 MHz).

Such a wide selection of bands benefits operators because it provides more flexibility.


Table 2.1. E-UTRA frequency bands.12

E-UTRA

Operating

Band

Uplink (UL) operating band

BS receive

UE transmit

Downlink (DL) operating band

BS transmit

UE receive

Duplex

Mode

FUL_low FUL_high FDL_low FDL_high

1 1920 MHz 1980 MHz 2110 MHz 2170 MHz FDD




5 824 MHz 849 MHz 869 MHz 894MHz FDD




9 1749.9 MHz 1784.9 MHz 1844.9 MHz 1879.9 MHz FDD






15 Reserved Reserved FDD

16 Reserved Reserved FDD




20 832 MHz 862 MHz 791 MHz 821 MHz




24 1626.5 MHz 1660.5 MHz 1525 MHz 1559 MHz FDD





...

33 1900 MHz 1920 MHz 1900 MHz 1920 MHz TDD












Note 1: Band 6 is not applicable.

12 3GPP TS 36.104 V11.2.0 (2012-09).


Depending on regulatory aspects in different geographical areas, radio spectrum for mobile

communication is available in different frequency bands, in different sizes and comes as both paired and

unpaired bands. Consequently, when the work on LTE started in late 2004 with 3GPP setting the

requirements on what the standard should achieve, spectrum flexibility was established as one of the

main requirements, which included the possibility to operate in different spectrum allocations ranging from

1.4 MHz up to 20 MHz, as well as the possibility to exploit both paired and unpaired spectrum. In

essence, this meant that the same solutions should be used for FDD and TDD whenever possible in

order to provide a larger economy of scale benefit to both LTE FDD and LTE TDD.

LTE operating in both FDD and TDD modes on the same base station was first demonstrated in January

2008. By using the same platform for both paired and unpaired spectrum, LTE provides large economies

of scale for operators. In September of 2009, the LTE/SAE Trial Initiative (LSTI), a global collaboration at

the time between 39 vendors and operators, completed a LTE TDD proof of concept. The tests achieved

the industrys peak spectral efficiency target of 5 bps/Hz downlink and 2.5 bps/Hz uplink in a live air test

using prototype equipment while 2X2 MIMO delivered 40 Mbps and 7.3 bps/Hz spectral efficiency. LTE

TDD has similar high performance as LTE FDD in spectral efficiency, latency, etc. and is widely

considered as the natural evolution of TD-SCDMA with great potential for economies of scale and scope

in infrastructure and devices due to the important Chinese operator and vendor support of TD-SCDMA

and LTE TDD.

China Mobile announced that it was jointly implementing tests with relevant operators to set up TD-

SCDMA LTE TDD trial networks in 2010 and investing in research and development to build the

ecosystem. In collaboration with Chinas Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), Phase I

field trials and a full feature set TD-LTE lab trial supported 3GPP Rel-8. All major pavilions at the World

Expo 2010 Shanghai China had indoor coverage with TD-LTE (Rel-8) and China Mobile launched the

worlds first trial TD-LTE network in May 2010. The first TD-LTE dongle was also unveiled at Shanghai

Expo. Another first at Shanghai for TD-LTE was the first high-definition video call including handover with

a TD-LTE device from a leading manufacturer in August 2010. In 2011, the worlds first LTE

FDD/TDD/UTS/GSM/CDMA multimode data card was released. In 2012, the first commercial LTE TDD

3.5 GHz CPE was announced by a leading vendor and UKB in Britain deployed the first 3.5 GHz LTE

TDD commercial network while Bharti in India deployed the largest 2.3 GHz LTE TDD commercial

network.

The first multi-mode LTE chipsets were sampled in November 2009, supporting both LTE Frequency

Division Duplex (FDD) and LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD) including integrated support for Rel-8 CD-

HSPA+ and EV-DO Rev B, helping to provide the user with a seamless mobile broadband experience. By

mid-2012, processors included LTE Rel-8 multimode modems as a fully integrated feature incorporating

all seven of the worlds major cellular standards (LTE FDD, TD-LTE, UMTS-HSPA, EV-DO, CDMA1x, TD-

SCDMA and GSM/EDGE).

One vendor was supporting China Mobiles LTE network with the launch of the worlds first multi-standard

USB modem and uFI (hotspot), which supported both FD-LTE and TD-LTE networks in August 2012.

Another vendor announced a single-chip LTE world modem that supports both TD and FD-LTE. These

devices are significant as they are the indicative of China Mobile and Clearwires deployment of TD-LTE

on unpaired spectrum in the 2.5 GHz band. (The majority of operators in the U.S. have chosen to deploy


FD-LTE such as AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon.) Clearwire will look to China Mobile to help drive scale and

bring down prices on TD-LTE devices going forward. A recent report from Ovum predicts 25 percent of all

LTE connections will include TD-LTE by 2016.13

As of September 2012, there were nine commercial deployments of TD-LTE reported, including UK

Broadband, Sky Brazil, NBN Co, (Australia), 3 Sweden, Aero 2 (Poland), Bharti Airtel (India), Softbank

(Japan) and Mobily and STC in Saudi Arabia.

The worlds first triple mode LTE modem was introduced in February 2010, which is compatible with all

three major network standards: GSM, UMTS and LTE (supporting Rel-8). By April 2012, the number of

devices supporting LTE had grown to 347, of which 250 were announced in the past year. Smartphones

(64) and tablets (31) represented the majority of device growth, with routers (131), dongles (64), modules

(41), notebooks (13), notebooks (13), PC cards (2), and a femtocell (1) offering a full variety.14

Of those

devices, 217 operate on HSPA, HSPA+ or DC-HSPA+ networks (91 support DC-HSPA+) and 108

support EV-DO networks. The majority of the LTE devices operate in the 700 MHz band; there are also

many devices that operate in the 2600 MHz and 1800 MHz spectrum bands. There were also 53 LTE

TDD capable devices among the 347 total devices reported in April 2012, and that number was also

growing.15

Rel-8 User Interface Control Channels to LTE networks in the U.S. and around the world were provided in

2010 enabling Over the Air (OTA) remote application and file management over Hypertext Transfer

Protocol Secure HTTP(S). This migration away from the traditional UICC updates over (Short Message

Service) SMS enables greater efficiency and reduced cost of operation with higher availability.

In order to make LTE licensing as fair and reasonable as possible, in April 2008, a joint initiative was

announced by leading vendors Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, NEC, NextWave Wireless, Nokia, Nokia

Siemens Networks and Sony Ericsson to enhance the predictability and transparency of (Intellectual

Property Rights) IPR licensing costs in future 3GPP LTE/SAE technology. The initiative included a

commitment to an IPR licensing framework to provide more predictable maximum aggregate IPR costs for

LTE technology and enable early adoption of this technology into products.

The readiness of LTE to deliver mission critical communications for public safety has been demonstrated

in the U.S., leading the way to the establishment of a nationwide LTE broadband network (Rel-8). An LTE

data call was successfully completed over 700 MHz Band 14, the spectrum earmarked for public safety

agencies in the U.S. The first live test of a real-time first responder LTE network was completed in July

2012 in Florida and covered four states. Charlotte, North Caroline deployed its LTE public safety network

in the 700 MHz band with the help of a leading vendor; Houston, Texas is now also is expanding an LTE

700 MHz public safety network. In a February 22, 2012 tax-cut bill, the U.S. government called for NTIA

to establish a service provider, called First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet), to operate a 700 MHz

LTE public safety network and deliver services on it to approximately 60,000 federal, state and local

agencies. FirstNet will have more stringent coverage requirements than the typical commercial mobile

operator. It will need to cover 95 percent of the U.S., including all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and

13 ZTE Boast First Multi-Standard LTE Hotspot, USB Modem, Wireless Week, 17 August 2012.

14 GSA confirms 347 LTE user devices, with smartphones and tablets leading growth, GSA, 4 April 2012.

15 GSA confirms 347 LTE user devices, with smartphones and tablets leading growth, GSA, 4 April 2012.


all territories, including places such as Guam and the Marianas Islands in the Pacific. The system will also

have to cover 98 percent of the U.S. population.

Outside of the U.S., countries in Europe, Asia-Pacific and some parts of South America, are considering

the 400MHz frequency band which is currently used by public safety agencies for their TETRA and

TETRAPOL communications systems.

E911 calls over LTE are being supported by adding LTE node functionality to existing location service

platforms by a leading vendor.

The IMS Core in wireless and wireline networks began moving from vertically implemented services

towards common session control, QoS policy management and charging control in 2009.

The first operators to launch Voice over LTE (VoLTE) services were MetroPCS in the U.S, and South

Korean mobile operator SK Telecom (SKT) in August 2012. Several operators have announced plans to

deploy VoLTE as early as the first half of 2013 including AT&T, Verizon, and Clearwire in the U.S. T-

Mobile is also considering VoLTE in conjunction with the launch of its LTE network in 2013. It has

already launched an IMS-based WiFi calling capability on certain of its handsets.16

Operators with LTE commercially deployed as of August 2012 were not using LTE for voice services. It is

technically feasible to transfer VoLTE calls to an operator's legacy network, but it requires operators to

support Dual Radio or Single Radio Voice Call Continuity (SRVCC) technology. Supporting SRVCC adds

an additional layer of complexity to both handsets and the underlying LTE network, a technology valued

for its simplicity. For example, CDMA operators are using LTE for only data services and falling back on

legacy CDMA networks for voice services. Leading vendors demonstrated SRVCC at MWC 2012, a

critical feature aimed at facilitating successful VoLTE deployment.

For many operators, VoLTE service will support more than just voice calls. Smartphones compatible with

VoLTE service will be able to handle a variety of rich communications services, such as video calls,

multimedia messaging and instant-message style presence indicators.

"In the first quarter of 2012 we saw the largest order of IMS core equipment and application server

licenses on record a clear sign that operators in North America are gearing up for voice over LTE

deployments," said Diane Myers, principal analyst for VoIP and IMS at Infonetics. The firm's research

showed that North American operators led in carrier VoIP and IMS spending during the first quarter of

2012, with outlays up 76 percent year-over-year. As operators gear up to offer VoLTE over the next five-

plus years, Myers said, "large equipment orders will be sporadic and the IMS market will continue to be

lumpy."17

Exact Ventures reported that the IMS Core market nearly tripled year-over-year in the first quarter of 2012

in major part due to significant VoLTE deployments in North America. "While the IMS Core market

showed very strong growth during the quarter it is still a relatively small market, accounting for just 10

percent of the total -- wireline plus wireless -- voice core market," said Greg Collins, Founder and

16 MetroPCS silences SKs LTE voice launch, GSMA Mobile Business Briefing, 8 August 2012.

17 North American VoLTE Preparations Propel IMS Spending, Fierce Broadband Wireless, 23 May 2012.


Principal Analyst at Exact Ventures. "The transition away from circuit switching to an all IP core network

based on IMS is just beginning and is expected to last well over a decade."18

Evolved Packet Core (EPC) is the IP-based core network defined by 3GPP in Rel-8 for use by LTE and

other access technologies. The goal of EPC is to provide simplified all-IP core network architecture to

efficiently give access to various services such as the ones provided in IMS. EPC consists essentially of a

Mobility Management Entity (MME), a Serving Gateway (S-GW) that interfaces with the E-UTRAN and a

PDN Gateway (P-GW) that interfaces to external packet data networks. EPC for LTE networks were

announced by numerous vendors beginning in February 2009, allowing operators to modernize their core

data networks to support a wide variety of access types using a common core network. EPC solutions

typically include backhaul, network management solutions, video solutions that monetize LTE investment

and a complete portfolio of professional services.

One leading vendors installed Mobile Softswitch Solution (MSS) base of over 330 commercial networks

provides a strong foundation for growth through expansion and enables smooth evolution towards

VoLTE. Some vendors have a complete end-to-end solution portfolio (MSS, IMS-MMTel, EPC,

LTE/GSM/UMTS RAN) for providing telecom grade voice and video calling over LTE based on VoLTE

and circuit switched fallback (CSFB). As an example, a Single EPC solution can provide a series of

business solutions including bandwidth management, content delivery, smartphone signalling

optimization and network visualization, helping operators to easily evolve their networks from a pipe to a

smart mobile broadband network. Current Single RAN/EPC solutions support Rel-10 specifications and

will be compliant with Rel-11 specifications in 2014. A Single RAN Advanced LTE product in the market

integrates small cells (based on Rel-10 standardization); EPC (Rel-8); and VoLTE (Rel-9); as well as

professional services as part of its offering to network operators.

DellOro Group reported in August 2012 that significant growth is being driven by VoLTE projects which

exceeded $209 million over the previous four quarters on devices such as IMS Core devices and

Telephone Application Servers. The most important trend underway in the telecom voice market is

VoLTE. It is stimulating significant spending both in the wireless infrastructure, but also in the wireline

infrastructure, said Chris DePuy, Analyst at DellOro. Three operators were commercially operating

VoLTE by the third quarter of 2012.19

Gabriel Brown, a senior analyst at Heavy Reading, wrote a white paper entitled, LTE/SAE & the Evolved

Packet Core: Technology Platforms & Implementation Choices, which provides insight into the key

considerations for EPC.

Evolved Packet Core is critical to capturing the cost and performance benefits of LTE, noted Brown. It

introduces demanding new requirements to the mobile core network and must support the robust mix of

services operators need to maximize return on LTE infrastructure investment. Suppliers with deep

expertise in both wireless and IP networking technology are well positioned to deliver and support this

leading edge equipment.

18 Voice-over-LTE Drives IMS Core Market in 1Q12, According to Exact Ventures, Fierce Wireless, 23 May 2012.

19 Voice over LTE Infrastructure Revenues Topped $200 Million in the Past Year, Cellular-News, 17 August 2012.


Telstra, Australia was first to go live in September 2011 with a combined GSM, UMTS-HSPA, LTE core

and triple-access SGSN-MME pool based on a leading vendors portfolio thereby leading in the

commercialization of the EPC.

The M2M market is beginning to develop in all areas. To support the development of M2M standards, a

new global organization called oneM2M was established by seven of the worlds leading information and

communication technology (ICT) Standards Development Organizations (SDOs) in July 2012. The new

organization will develop specifications to ensure the global functionality of M2M allowing a range of

industries to effectively take advantage of the benefits of this emerging technology. The specifications

developed by oneM2M will provide a common platform to be used by communications service providers

to support applications and services as diverse as smart grid, the connected car, eHeatlh and

telemedicine, enterprise supply chain, home automation and energy management and public safety. The

initial goal will be to confront the critical need for a common M2M Service Layer, which can be readily

embedded within various hardware and software, and relied upon to connect the myriad of devices in the

field with M2M application servers worldwide. Ultimately, the work of one M2M will drive multiple

industries towards the goals of lowering operating and capital expenses, shortening time-to-market,

creating mass-market economies of scale, simplifying the development of applications, expanding and

accelerating global business opportunities and avoiding standardization overlap.20

M2M Identity Modules (MIM) with Rel-9 M2M Form Factors (MFF) were being shipped around the world

in 2010 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.

In addition to the work by 3GPP in developing the standards for LTE (Rel-8 through Rel-12), other

organizations are also spearheading efforts to successfully deliver LTE to the global market. The LSTI

has provided support to ensure timely development of the LTE ecosystem. Early co-development and

testing with chipset, device and infrastructure vendors helped accelerate comprehensive interworking and

interoperability activities and the availability of the complete ecosystem. Some manufacturers support a

complete in-house ecosystem providing LTE chipsets, handsets and CPE, backhaul solutions and

experience in the deployment of OFDM/LTE mobile broadband networks.

While 3GPP Rel-9 focused on enhancements to HSPA+ and LTE, Rel-10 focuses on the next generation

of LTE for the ITUs IMT-Advanced requirements; both releases were developed nearly simultaneously by

3GPP standards working groups. One of the most significant industry milestones in recent years was the

final ratification by the ITU of LTE-Advanced (Rel-10) as 4G IMT-Advanced in November 2010.

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 2010, the worlds first

HSPA+ data call with a peak throughput of 112 Mbps was demonstrated by a leading vendor.

Vendors are already progressing beyond LTE with the next generation of technologies in Rel-10 for IMT-

Advanced, called LTE-Advanced, demonstrating that the evolution of LTE is secured and future-proof.

Detailed information on the progress of LTE-Advanced is provided in Section 5 of this paper.

20 Leading ICT Standards Development Organizations Launch oneM2M, ATIS press release, 24 July 2012.


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 in-

band, 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, allows 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.

In March 2010, LTE-Advanced was demonstrated with the worlds fastest downlink speed of up to 1.2

Gbps with a prototype product containing some projected Rel-10 features. Another vendor recorded a

world speed record of 1.3 Gbps for TD-LTE and 1.4 Gbps for FD-LTE (Rel-10).

The industrys first live field tests of Coordinated Multipoint Transmission (CoMP), a new technology

based on network MIMO, were conducted in Berlin in October 2009. CoMP will increase data

transmission rates and help ensure consistent service quality and throughput on LTE wireless broadband

networks as well as on 3G networks. By coordinating and combining signals from multiple antennas,

CoMP will make it possible for mobile users to enjoy consistent performance and quality when they

access and share videos, photos and other high-bandwidth services whether they are close to the center

of an LTE cell or at its outer edges.

Next-generation modem processors to support both LTE-Advanced Rel-10 and HSPA+ Rel-9 features

have been announced by at least one leading vendor, and will support LTE car

4g americas_4g mobile broadband evolution-rel 10 rel 11 and beyond_rep_oct2012

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