www.rohde-schwarz.com/technology/LTE
Intraband contiguous
Intraband noncontiguous
Interband
Frequency band A
ComponentCarrier (CC)
Frequency band B
Frequency band A Frequency band B
Frequency band A Frequency band B
Carrier aggregation of licensed and unlicensed spectra
….. …..
20 MHz 20 MHz
UE
787 756777 746
Licensed bande.g. Band 13 DL
Licensed bande.g. Band 13 UL
57655725
Unlicensed bande.g. 5 GHz initially as a supplemental DL
5.725 GHz 5.85 GHz 5.925 GHz5.47 GHz5.35 GHz5.25 GHz5.15 GHz
UNII-1 UNII-2 UNII-2e UNII-3 UNII-4 (DSRC)
f in MHz
f in GHz
20 MHz 20 MHz
120 MHzcould becomeavailable inUS, Europe
Requires dynamicfrequency selection(DFS), UNII-2
20 MHz 20 MHz 20 MHz 20 MHz20 MHz20 MHz20 MHz20 MHz20 MHz20 MHz
10 MHz 10 MHz
Carrier aggregation (CA) is by far the most demanded
feature of the feature set standardized in 3GPP Release
10 and known as LTE-Advanced (LTE-A). The high in-
terest from the mobile industry and network operators
in particular has led to a continuous evolution of the
original CA definition in subsequent releases of the rel-
evant technical specification. The number of frequency
band combinations to aggregate spectrum assets are
constantly evolving, as are the achievable data rates.
New device categories are required to support these
higher data rates. The constantly increasing mobile
data consumption forces service providers worldwide
to look for alternatives to increase their spectrum hold-
ings. A promising solution is to use carrier aggregation
to expand into unlicensed spectrum. Future evolution
might require a fundamental change leading to an in-
creased number of carriers to be aggregated. This post-
er provides an overview of the CA evolution throughout
3GPP Releases 10 to 13.
Test solutions from Rohde & Schwarz evolve in
line with the carrier aggregation feature. From
infrastructure to chipset and device testing, and
from component testing to network optimization
and benchmarking, Rohde & Schwarz is the right
partner for your CA testing needs.
Evolution of Carrier Aggregation (3GPP Releases 10 to 13)
Carrier aggregation modes (Rel. 10) and Rel. 11 enhancements LTE FDD/TDD joint operation (Rel. 12)
Frequency bands (example for 4 DL/1 UL, Rel. 13)
Licensed assisted access (LAA) and extension up to 32 component carriers (Rel. 13)
Rohde & Schwarz test solutions for carrier aggregation
Evolution of UE categories due to carrier aggregation (Rel. 10 to 12)
When spectrum is auctioned off by local regulators, FDD and TDD spectrum licens-
es are typically bundled. Hence, most service providers worldwide hold licenses for
paired spectrum (FDD) and unpaired spectrum (TDD). With the ability to aggregate
spectrum using carrier aggregation and due to constantly increasing mobile data con-
sumption by their subscribers, network operators requested the ability to also aggre-
gate FDD and TDD spectrum, which 3GPP added in Release 12.
There are two types of CA: interband, and intraband with
its two submodes intraband contiguous and intraband non-
contiguous. Intraband means that the aggregated compo-
nent carriers reside in the same frequency band; the carriers
are not co-located in the case of noncontiguous. Interband
means the aggregated carriers are in different frequency
bands. The initial definition was a maximum of five carriers
and a total bandwidth of 100 MHz, with a maximum band-
width of 20 MHz for each component carrier to ensure back-
ward compatibility. Each component carrier can have any of
the six bandwidths defined for LTE. Therefore the total ag-
gregated bandwidth highly depends on the network opera-
tor’s spectrum holdings. The first rollout phase applies CA
only in the downlink, with typically two aggregated frequency
bands. One component carrier resides in a low frequency
band (below 2 GHz) and one in a high band. The next step is
triband CA in the downlink and CA in the uplink. In the third
phase, four carriers are aggregated, where the two CA types
can also be combined: component carriers reside in two or
more frequency bands, with some carriers in the same fre-
quency band and deployed in a contiguous or noncontiguous
fashion. Release 11 defines some CA enhancements, such
as multiple timing advance groups. These enable component
carriers (CC) on cells served by antennas that are geographi-
cally separated from the primary CC. CA with TDD also gains
more flexibility by allowing TDD CC combinations with differ-
ent UL/DL configurations as long as they operate in different
frequency bands.
Glossary:3GPP = 3rd Generation Partnership Project, CA = Carrier Aggregation, CC = Component Carrier, DFS = Dynamic Frequency Selection, DL = Downlink, DSRC = Dedicated Short Range Communications, E2E = End-to-End, eNB = Enhanced NodeB, E-UTRA = Evolved Uni-versal Terrestrial Radio Access, FDD = Frequency Division Duplex, IMT = International Mobile Telecommunications, IP = Internet Protocol, ISM = Industrial, Scientifi c and Medical, ITU = International Telecom-munication Union, LAA = Licensed Assisted Access, LBT = Listen Before Talk, LTE = Long Term Evolution, MIMO = Multiple Input Mul-tiple Output, MTC = Machine Type Communications, QAM = Quadra-ture Amplitude Modulation, TDD = Time Division Duplex, UE = User Equipment, UNII = Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure, UL = Uplink
R&S®CMW500 wideband radio communication tester for chipset and device testing, all layers including end-to-end (E2E) applications and IP analysis
R&S®SMW200A vector signal generator and R&S®FSW signal and spectrum analyzer for infrastructure, component and handset testing
R&S®TSMA autonomous mobile network scanner and SwissQual QualiPoc Android drive test software for mobile network testing
At the beginning of 2015, 32 FDD and 11 TDD bands were
specified for LTE deployment. The geographical region and
the network operators’ spectrum holdings determine which
band combinations for interband, intraband contiguous
and intraband noncontiguous CA will be added to the stan-
dard. A complete overview is available in the relevant 3GPP
specification, TS 36.101. As an example, the table lists the
proposed band combinations for aggregating four compo-
nent carriers in the downlink, while maintaining only one
uplink carrier, which is supposed to be added with 3GPP
Release 13. All these frequency bands are used in North
America.
Up to Release 12, all LTE networks use licensed spectrum bands. The ever-increasing demands for more capacity
forces network operators worldwide to exploit all possible spectrum accessible to them. Unlicensed spectra such
as the industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) bands, primarily at 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz, are considered. The 2.4 GHz
band is fairly crowded with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi access points, but the 5 GHz ISM band is still underutilized. Offer-
ing more than 500 MHz of additional bandwidth, the upper portion of that frequency band in particular has very
low or even no regulatory requirements in several regions worldwide. Local regulators have made some adjust-
ments to exploit the full potential of the 5 GHz band. In addition, the relevant listen before talk (LBT) functional-
ity needs to be standardized to ensure coexistence with other systems, such as 5 GHz Wi-Fi. 3GPP Release 13
will add the LBT functionality as part of LAA and enhance the carrier aggregation functionality to make use of the
5 GHz spectrum based on a fair share principle.
The initially defined five component carriers to meet the ITU requirements for IMT-Advanced are no longer
sufficient for the CA enhancement to also use unlicensed spectrum. The LTE-A standard could easily be extended
to support up to eight carriers, requiring only minor changes to the relevant specification. But the need to be
future-viable and the significant amount of unlicensed spectrum require 3GPP to discuss up to 32 component
carriers for the CA enhancement.
E-UTRA CA band
E-UTRA band
Uplink (UL) operating band in MHz
Downlink (DL) operating bandin MHz
Duplex
CA_2-2-12-30
2 1850 to 1910 1930 to 1990
FDD
12 699 to 716 729 to 746
30 2305 to 2315 2350 to 2360
CA_2-2-5-30
2 1850 to 1910 1930 to 1990
5 824 to 849 869 to 894
30 2305 to 2315 2350 to 2360
CA_2-2-29-30
2 1850 to 1910 1930 to 1990
29 N/A 717 to 728
30 2305 to 2315 2350 to 2360
CA_2-4-12-30
2 1850 to 1910 1930 to 1990
4 1710 to 1785 1805 to 1880
12 699 to 716 729 to 746
30 2305 to 2315 2350 to 2360
CA_2-5-12-30
2 1850 to 1910 1930 to 1990
5 824 to 849 869 to 894
12 699 to 716 729 to 746
30 2305 to 2315 2350 to 2360
CA_2-4-29-30
2 1850 to 1910 1930 to 1990
4 1710 to 1785 1805 to 1880
29 N/A 717 to 728
30 2305 to 2315 2350 to 2360
CA_25-41-41-4125 1850 to 1915 1930 to 1995
41 2496 to 2690 2496 to 2690 TDD
CA_41-41-41-41 41 2496 to 2690 2496 to 2690 TDD
UE category
Max. data rate in Mbps
Min. number of DL CCs
DL MIMO layer(s)
Highest modu-lation scheme
DL UL DL UL
Rel. 8
1 ~10 ~5
1
1
64QAM
16QAM2 ~50 ~25
23 ~100~50
4 ~150
5 ~300 ~75 4 64QAM
Rel. 10
6 ~300 ~501 or 2 2 or 4 16QAM
7 ~300 ~100
8 ~3000 ~1500 5 8 64QAM
Rel. 11
9~450
~502 or 3
2 or 4 16QAM10 ~100
11~600
~502, 3 or 4
12 ~100
LTE Releases 8 to 11 specify
a single UE category to de-
scribe an overall capability in
terms of maximum supported
data rate and MIMO support.
They only partly refer to single
device capabilities. Additional
parameter signaling is used
to inform about detailed sup-
port for individual device
capabilities.
Example of paired (FDD) and unpaired (TDD) spectrum aggregation
UL DL
UE
f in MHz f in MHz
FDD[e.g. Band 19]
TDD[e.g. Band 42]
eNB
3GPP Releases 12 and higher decouple DL and UL capabilities. Various combinations
of DL and UL categories are specified. DL and UL categories 0 are specifically added to
support machine type communications (MTC). To ensure backward compatibility, a de-
vice that supports any of the Release 12 DL and UL category combinations also signals
the corresponding legacy UE categories (Releases 8 to 11) to the network. This enables
Release 8 to Release 11 compliant networks to support Release 12 compliant devices.
Downlink Uplink
DL cat.Rel.12
Max. data rate in Mbps
DL MIMO layer(s)
UL cat.Rel.12
Max. data rate in Mbps
64QAM support
0 ~1 1 0 ~1no
6~300
2 or 4
3 ~50
7 5 ~75 yes
9~450
7 ~100 no
10 8 ~1500yes
11~600
13 ~150
12
13 ~390
14 ~3900 8
UE DL cat.
UE UL cat.
Legacy UE categories
0 0 N/A
6 5 category 6, 4
7 13 category 7, 4
9 5 category 9, 6, 4
10 13 category 10, 7, 4
11 5 category 11, 9, 6, 4
12 13 category 12, 10, 7, 4
13 3 category 6, 4
13 5 category 6, 4
13 7 category 7, 4
13 13 category 7, 4
14 8 category 8, 5
Evolution_Carrier_aggregation_po_en.indd 1 14.04.2015 11:22:01
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at add
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ide
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ustomized
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3607.1713.82. 01.00 PDP 1 en
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w.ro
hde-
schw
arz.c
om/t
echn
olog
y/LT
E
PD 3607.1713.82 V 01.00 (as)
3606171382
Intr
aban
d c
onti
guous
Intr
aban
d n
onco
nti
guous
Inte
rban
d
Freq
uenc
y ba
nd A
Com
pone
ntCa
rrie
r (CC
)
Freq
uenc
y ba
nd B
Freq
uenc
y ba
nd A
Freq
uenc
y ba
nd B
Freq
uenc
y ba
nd A
Freq
uenc
y ba
nd B
Car
rier
ag
gre
gat
ion
of
licen
sed
an
d u
nlic
ense
d s
pec
tra
…..
…..
20 M
Hz
20 M
Hz
UE
787
756
777
746
Lice
nsed
ban
de.
g. B
and
13
DL
Lice
nsed
ban
de.
g. B
and
13
UL
5765
5725
Unl
icen
sed
band
e.g.
5 G
Hz
initi
ally
as
a su
pple
men
tal D
L5.72
5 GH
z5.
85 G
Hz
5.92
5 GH
z5.
47 G
Hz
5.35
GH
z5.
25 G
Hz
5.15
GH
z
UN
II-1
UN
II-2
UN
II-2e
UN
II-3
UN
II-4
(DSR
C)
f in
MH
z
f in
GHz
20 M
Hz
20 M
Hz
120
MH
zco
uld
beco
me
avai
labl
e in
US,
Eur
ope
Requ
ires
dyna
mic
freq
uenc
y se
lect
ion
(DFS
), U
NII-
2
20 M
Hz
20 M
Hz
20 M
Hz
20 M
Hz
20 M
Hz
20 M
Hz
20 M
Hz
20 M
Hz
20 M
Hz
20 M
Hz
10 M
Hz
10 M
Hz
Car
rier
agg
reg
atio
n (C
A) i
s by
far
the
mos
t de
man
ded
feat
ure
of t
he f
eatu
re s
et s
tand
ardi
zed
in 3
GP
P R
elea
se
10 a
nd k
now
n as
LTE
-Adv
ance
d (L
TE-A
). Th
e hi
gh
in-
tere
st f
rom
the
mob
ile in
dust
ry a
nd n
etw
ork
oper
ator
s
in p
artic
ular
has
led
to a
con
tinuo
us e
volu
tion
of t
he
orig
inal
CA
def
initi
on in
sub
sequ
ent
rele
ases
of
the
rel-
evan
t te
chni
cal s
peci
ficat
ion.
The
num
ber
of f
requ
ency
band
com
bina
tions
to
agg
reg
ate
spec
trum
ass
ets
are
cons
tant
ly e
volv
ing
, as
are
the
achi
evab
le d
ata
rate
s.
New
dev
ice
cate
gor
ies
are
requ
ired
to s
uppo
rt t
hese
hig
her
data
rat
es. T
he c
onst
antly
incr
easi
ng m
obile
data
con
sum
ptio
n fo
rces
ser
vice
pro
vide
rs w
orld
wid
e
to lo
ok f
or a
ltern
ativ
es t
o in
crea
se t
heir
spec
trum
hol
d-
ing
s. A
pro
mis
ing
sol
utio
n is
to
use
carr
ier
agg
reg
atio
n
to e
xpan
d in
to u
nlic
ense
d sp
ectr
um. F
utur
e ev
olut
ion
mig
ht r
equi
re a
fun
dam
enta
l cha
nge
lead
ing
to
an in
-
crea
sed
num
ber
of c
arrie
rs t
o be
ag
gre
gat
ed. T
his
post
-
er p
rovi
des
an o
verv
iew
of
the
CA
evo
lutio
n th
roug
hout
3GP
P R
elea
ses
10 t
o 13
.
Test
solu
tion
s fr
om
Roh
de
& S
chw
arz
evolv
e in
lin
e w
ith
th
e ca
rrie
r ag
gre
gat
ion
fea
ture
. Fr
om
in
fras
tru
ctu
re t
o c
hip
set
and
dev
ice
test
ing
, an
d
from
com
pon
ent
test
ing
to n
etw
ork
op
tim
izat
ion
an
d b
ench
mar
kin
g, R
oh
de
& S
chw
arz
is t
he
rig
ht
par
tner
for
you
r C
A t
esti
ng
nee
ds.
Evol
utio
n of
Car
rier A
ggre
gatio
n (3
GPP
Rele
ases
10
to 1
3)Ca
rrie
r agg
rega
tion
mod
es (R
el. 1
0) a
nd R
el. 1
1 en
hanc
emen
tsLT
E FD
D/TD
D jo
int o
pera
tion
(Rel
. 12)
Freq
uenc
y ba
nds
(exa
mpl
e fo
r 4 D
L/1
UL, R
el. 1
3)Li
cens
ed a
ssis
ted
acce
ss (L
AA) a
nd e
xten
sion
up
to 3
2 co
mpo
nent
car
riers
(R
el. 1
3)
Rohd
e & S
chw
arz t
est s
olut
ions
for c
arrie
r agg
rega
tion
Evol
utio
n of
UE
cate
gorie
s du
e to
car
rier a
ggre
gatio
n (R
el. 1
0 to
12)
Whe
n sp
ectr
um is
auc
tione
d of
f by
loca
l reg
ulat
ors,
FD
D a
nd T
DD
spe
ctru
m li
cens
-
es a
re t
ypic
ally
bun
dled
. Hen
ce, m
ost
serv
ice
prov
ider
s w
orld
wid
e ho
ld li
cens
es f
or
paire
d sp
ectr
um (F
DD
) and
unp
aire
d sp
ectr
um (T
DD
). W
ith t
he a
bilit
y to
ag
gre
gat
e
spec
trum
usi
ng c
arrie
r ag
gre
gat
ion
and
due
to c
onst
antly
incr
easi
ng m
obile
dat
a co
n-
sum
ptio
n by
the
ir su
bscr
iber
s, n
etw
ork
oper
ator
s re
ques
ted
the
abili
ty t
o al
so a
gg
re-
gat
e FD
D a
nd T
DD
spe
ctru
m, w
hich
3G
PP
add
ed in
Rel
ease
12.
Ther
e ar
e tw
o ty
pes
of C
A: i
nter
band
, and
intr
aban
d
with
its
two
subm
odes
intr
aban
d co
ntig
uous
and
intr
aban
d no
ncon
tiguo
us. I
ntra
band
mea
ns t
hat
the
agg
reg
ated
com
pone
nt c
arrie
rs r
esid
e in
the
sam
e fr
e-
quen
cy b
and;
the
car
riers
are
not
co-
loca
ted
in t
he c
ase
of n
onco
ntig
uous
. Int
erba
nd m
eans
the
ag
gre
gat
ed
carr
iers
are
in d
iffer
ent
freq
uenc
y ba
nds.
The
initi
al
defin
ition
was
a m
axim
um o
f fiv
e ca
rrie
rs a
nd a
tot
al
band
wid
th o
f 10
0 M
Hz,
with
a m
axim
um b
andw
idth
of
20 M
Hz
for
each
com
pone
nt c
arrie
r to
ens
ure
back
war
d
com
patib
ility
. Eac
h co
mpo
nent
car
rier
can
have
any
of
the
six
band
wid
ths
defin
ed f
or L
TE. T
here
fore
the
tot
al
agg
reg
ated
ban
dwid
th h
ighl
y de
pend
s on
the
net
wor
k
oper
ator
’s s
pect
rum
hol
ding
s. T
he f
irst
rollo
ut p
hase
appl
ies
CA
onl
y in
the
dow
nlin
k, w
ith t
ypic
ally
tw
o ag
-
gre
gat
ed f
requ
ency
ban
ds. O
ne c
ompo
nent
car
rier
re-
side
s in
a lo
w f
requ
ency
ban
d (b
elow
2 G
Hz)
and
one
in
a hi
gh
band
. The
nex
t st
ep is
trib
and
CA
in t
he d
ownl
ink
and
CA
in t
he u
plin
k. In
the
thi
rd p
hase
, fou
r ca
rrie
rs a
re
agg
reg
ated
, whe
re t
he t
wo
CA
typ
es c
an a
lso
be c
om-
bine
d: c
ompo
nent
car
riers
res
ide
in t
wo
or m
ore
fre-
quen
cy b
ands
, with
som
e ca
rrie
rs in
the
sam
e fr
eque
n-
cy b
and
and
depl
oyed
in a
con
tiguo
us o
r no
ncon
tiguo
us
fash
ion.
Rel
ease
11
defin
es s
ome
CA
enh
ance
men
ts,
such
as
mul
tiple
tim
ing
adv
ance
gro
ups.
The
se e
nabl
e
com
pone
nt c
arrie
rs (C
C) o
n ce
lls s
erve
d by
ant
enna
s
that
are
geo
gra
phic
ally
sep
arat
ed f
rom
the
prim
ary
CC
.
CA
with
TD
D a
lso
gai
ns m
ore
flexi
bilit
y by
allo
win
g T
DD
CC
com
bina
tions
with
diff
eren
t U
L/D
L co
nfig
urat
ions
as
long
as
they
ope
rate
in d
iffer
ent
freq
uenc
y ba
nds.
Glo
ssar
y:3GPP = 3
rd G
ener
atio
n Pa
rtne
rshi
p P
roje
ct, CA = C
arrie
r A
gg
reg
atio
n,
CC = C
ompo
nent
Car
rier, DFS = D
ynam
ic F
requ
ency
Sel
ectio
n,
DL = D
ownl
ink,
DSRC = D
edic
ated
Sho
rt R
ang
e C
omm
unic
atio
ns,
E2
E =
End
-to-
End
, eNB = E
nhan
ced
Nod
eB, E-UTRA = E
volv
ed U
ni-
vers
al T
erre
stria
l Rad
io A
cces
s, FDD = F
requ
ency
Div
isio
n D
uple
x,
IMT = In
tern
atio
nal M
obile
Tel
ecom
mun
icat
ions
, IP = In
tern
et P
roto
col,
ISM = In
dust
rial,
Sci
entifi
c a
nd M
edic
al, ITU = In
tern
atio
nal T
elec
om-
mun
icat
ion
Uni
on, LAA = L
icen
sed
Ass
iste
d A
cces
s, LBT = L
iste
n B
efor
e Ta
lk, LTE = L
ong
Ter
m E
volu
tion,
MIM
O = M
ultip
le In
put
Mul
-tip
le O
utpu
t, MTC = M
achi
ne T
ype
Com
mun
icat
ions
, QAM = Q
uadr
a-tu
re A
mpl
itude
Mod
ulat
ion,
TDD = T
ime
Div
isio
n D
uple
x, UE = U
ser
Equ
ipm
ent,
UNII = U
nlic
ense
d N
atio
nal I
nfor
mat
ion
Infr
astr
uctu
re,
UL = U
plin
k
R&
S®C
MW
500
wid
eban
d ra
dio
com
mun
icat
ion
test
er f
or c
hips
et a
nd d
evic
e te
stin
g, a
ll la
yers
in
clud
ing
end
-to-
end
(E2E
) app
licat
ions
and
IP
anal
ysis
R&
S®S
MW
200A
vec
tor
sig
nal g
ener
ator
an
d R
&S
®FS
W s
igna
l and
spe
ctru
m a
naly
zer
for
infr
astr
uctu
re, c
ompo
nent
and
han
dset
te
stin
g
R&
S®T
SM
A a
uton
omou
s m
obile
net
wor
k sc
anne
r an
d S
wis
sQua
l Qua
liPoc
And
roid
driv
e te
st s
oftw
are
for
mob
ile
netw
ork
test
ing
At
the
beg
inni
ng o
f 20
15, 3
2 FD
D a
nd 1
1 TD
D b
ands
wer
e
spec
ified
for
LTE
dep
loym
ent.
The
geo
gra
phic
al r
egio
n an
d
the
netw
ork
oper
ator
s’ s
pect
rum
hol
ding
s de
term
ine
whi
ch
band
com
bina
tions
for
inte
rban
d, in
trab
and
cont
iguo
us
and
intr
aban
d no
ncon
tiguo
us C
A w
ill b
e ad
ded
to t
he s
tan-
dard
. A c
ompl
ete
over
view
is a
vaila
ble
in t
he r
elev
ant
3GP
P
spec
ifica
tion,
TS
36.
101.
As
an e
xam
ple,
the
tab
le li
sts
the
prop
osed
ban
d co
mbi
natio
ns f
or a
gg
reg
atin
g f
our
com
po-
nent
car
riers
in t
he d
ownl
ink,
whi
le m
aint
aini
ng o
nly
one
uplin
k ca
rrie
r, w
hich
is s
uppo
sed
to b
e ad
ded
with
3G
PP
Rel
ease
13.
All
thes
e fr
eque
ncy
band
s ar
e us
ed in
Nor
th
Am
eric
a.
Up
to R
elea
se 1
2, a
ll LT
E n
etw
orks
use
lice
nsed
spe
ctru
m b
ands
. The
eve
r-in
crea
sing
dem
ands
for
mor
e ca
paci
ty
forc
es n
etw
ork
oper
ator
s w
orld
wid
e to
exp
loit
all p
ossi
ble
spec
trum
acc
essi
ble
to t
hem
. Unl
icen
sed
spec
tra
such
as t
he in
dust
rial,
scie
ntifi
c an
d m
edic
al (I
SM
) ban
ds, p
rimar
ily a
t 2.
4 G
Hz
and
5 G
Hz,
are
con
side
red.
The
2.4
GH
z
band
is f
airly
cro
wde
d w
ith B
luet
ooth
and
Wi-F
i acc
ess
poin
ts, b
ut t
he 5
GH
z IS
M b
and
is s
till u
nder
utili
zed.
Off
er-
ing
mor
e th
an 5
00 M
Hz
of a
dditi
onal
ban
dwid
th, t
he u
pper
por
tion
of t
hat
freq
uenc
y ba
nd in
par
ticul
ar h
as v
ery
low
or
even
no
reg
ulat
ory
requ
irem
ents
in s
ever
al r
egio
ns w
orld
wid
e. L
ocal
reg
ulat
ors
have
mad
e so
me
adju
st-
men
ts t
o ex
ploi
t th
e fu
ll po
tent
ial o
f th
e 5
GH
z ba
nd. I
n ad
ditio
n, t
he r
elev
ant
liste
n be
fore
tal
k (L
BT)
fun
ctio
nal-
ity n
eeds
to
be s
tand
ardi
zed
to e
nsur
e co
exis
tenc
e w
ith o
ther
sys
tem
s, s
uch
as 5
GH
z W
i-Fi.
3GP
P R
elea
se 1
3
will
add
the
LB
T fu
nctio
nalit
y as
par
t of
LA
A a
nd e
nhan
ce t
he c
arrie
r ag
gre
gat
ion
func
tiona
lity
to m
ake
use
of t
he
5 G
Hz
spec
trum
bas
ed o
n a
fair
shar
e pr
inci
ple.
The
initi
ally
def
ined
fiv
e co
mpo
nent
car
riers
to
mee
t th
e IT
U r
equi
rem
ents
for
IMT-
Adv
ance
d ar
e no
long
er
suff
icie
nt f
or t
he C
A e
nhan
cem
ent
to a
lso
use
unlic
ense
d sp
ectr
um. T
he L
TE-A
sta
ndar
d co
uld
easi
ly b
e ex
tend
ed
to s
uppo
rt u
p to
eig
ht c
arrie
rs, r
equi
ring
onl
y m
inor
cha
nges
to
the
rele
vant
spe
cific
atio
n. B
ut t
he n
eed
to b
e
futu
re-v
iabl
e an
d th
e si
gni
fican
t am
ount
of
unlic
ense
d sp
ectr
um r
equi
re 3
GP
P t
o di
scus
s up
to
32 c
ompo
nent
carr
iers
for
the
CA
enh
ance
men
t.
E-U
TR
A
CA band
E-U
TR
A
ban
d
Up
link (
UL)
op
erat
ing
b
and
in
MH
z
Dow
nlin
k (
DL)
op
erat
ing
ban
din
MH
zD
uple
x
CA
_2-2
-12-
30
218
50 t
o 19
1019
30 t
o 19
90
FDD
1269
9 to
716
729
to 7
46
3023
05
to 2
315
2350
to
2360
CA
_2-2
-5-3
0
218
50 t
o 19
1019
30 t
o 19
90
582
4 to
849
869
to 8
94
3023
05
to 2
315
2350
to
2360
CA
_2-2
-29-
30
218
50 t
o 19
1019
30 t
o 19
90
29N
/A71
7 to
728
3023
05
to 2
315
2350
to
2360
CA
_2-4
-12-
30
218
50 t
o 19
1019
30 t
o 19
90
417
10 t
o 17
8518
05
to 1
880
1269
9 to
716
729
to 7
46
3023
05
to 2
315
2350
to
2360
CA
_2-5
-12-
30
218
50 t
o 19
1019
30 t
o 19
90
582
4 to
849
869
to 8
94
1269
9 to
716
729
to 7
46
3023
05
to 2
315
2350
to
2360
CA
_2-4
-29-
30
218
50 t
o 19
1019
30 t
o 19
90
417
10 t
o 17
8518
05
to 1
880
29N
/A71
7 to
728
3023
05
to 2
315
2350
to
2360
CA
_25-
41-4
1-41
2518
50 t
o 19
1519
30 t
o 19
95
4124
96 t
o 26
9024
96 t
o 26
90TD
D
CA
_41-
41-4
1-41
4124
96 t
o 26
9024
96 t
o 26
90TD
D
UE
cate
gory
Max
. d
ata
rate
in
Mb
ps
Min
. n
um
ber
of
DL
CC
s
DL
MIM
O
laye
r(s)
Hig
hes
t m
od
u-
lati
on
sch
eme
DL
UL
DL
UL
Rel
. 8
1~
10~
5
1
1
64Q
AM
16Q
AM
2~
50~
25
23
~10
0~
504
~15
0
5~
300
~75
464
QA
M
Rel
. 10
6~
300
~50
1 or
22
or 4
16Q
AM
7~
300
~10
0
8~
3000
~15
005
864
QA
M
Rel
. 11
9~
450
~50
2 or
3
2 or
416
QA
M10
~10
0
11~
600
~50
2, 3
or
412
~10
0
LTE
Rel
ease
s 8
to 1
1 sp
ecify
a si
ngle
UE
cat
egor
y to
de-
scrib
e an
ove
rall
capa
bilit
y in
term
s of
max
imum
sup
port
ed
data
rat
e an
d M
IMO
sup
port
.
They
onl
y pa
rtly
ref
er t
o si
ngle
devi
ce c
apab
ilitie
s. A
dditi
onal
para
met
er s
igna
ling
is u
sed
to in
form
abo
ut d
etai
led
sup-
port
for
indi
vidu
al d
evic
e
capa
bilit
ies.
Exa
mp
le o
f p
aire
d (FD
D) an
d u
np
aire
d (TD
D) sp
ectr
um
aggre
gat
ion
ULDL
UE
f in
MHz
f in
MHz
FDD
[e.g
. Ban
d 19
]TD
D[e
.g. B
and
42]
eNB
3GP
P R
elea
ses
12 a
nd h
ighe
r de
coup
le D
L an
d U
L ca
pabi
litie
s. V
ario
us c
ombi
natio
ns
of D
L an
d U
L ca
teg
orie
s ar
e sp
ecifi
ed. D
L an
d U
L ca
teg
orie
s 0
are
spec
ifica
lly a
dded
to
supp
ort
mac
hine
typ
e co
mm
unic
atio
ns (M
TC).
To e
nsur
e ba
ckw
ard
com
patib
ility
, a d
e-
vice
tha
t su
ppor
ts a
ny o
f th
e R
elea
se 1
2 D
L an
d U
L ca
teg
ory
com
bina
tions
als
o si
gna
ls
the
corr
espo
ndin
g le
gac
y U
E c
ateg
orie
s (R
elea
ses
8 to
11)
to
the
netw
ork.
Thi
s en
able
s
Rel
ease
8 t
o R
elea
se 1
1 co
mpl
iant
net
wor
ks t
o su
ppor
t R
elea
se 1
2 co
mpl
iant
dev
ices
.
Dow
nlin
kU
plin
k
DL c
at.
Rel
.12
Max
. d
ata
rate
in
M
bp
s
DL
MIM
O
laye
r(s)
UL c
at.
Rel
.12
Max
. d
ata
rate
in
M
bp
s
64
QA
M
sup
port
0~
11
0~
1no
6~
300
2 or
4
3~
50
75
~75
yes
9~
450
7~
100
no
108
~15
00ye
s11
~60
013
~15
0
12 13~
390
14~
3900
8
UE D
L
cat.
UE U
L
cat.
Leg
acy
UE
cate
gori
es
00
N/A
65
cate
gor
y 6,
4
713
cate
gor
y 7,
4
95
cate
gor
y 9,
6, 4
1013
cate
gor
y 10
, 7, 4
115
cate
gor
y 11
, 9, 6
, 4
1213
cate
gor
y 12
, 10,
7, 4
133
cate
gor
y 6,
4
135
cate
gor
y 6,
4
137
cate
gor
y 7,
4
1313
cate
gor
y 7,
4
148
cate
gor
y 8,
5
Evol
utio
n_C
arrie
r_ag
greg
atio
n_po
_en.
indd
1
13.0
4.20
15
17:1
1:34
Evol
utio
n of
Car
rier A
ggre
gatio
n(3
GPP
Rele
ase
10 to
13)A
bou
t Roh
de &
Sch
warz
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3607.1736.82 | Version 01.00 | A
pril 2015 (as)
Evolution of C
arrier Ag
greg
ation
Data w
ithout tolerance limits is not binding
| Subject to chang
e
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ohde & S
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ermany
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Evolution_Carrier_aggregation_po_en.indd 2 14.04.2015 11:22:02