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CONTENTS
1.Introduction
4
6
7
8
9
10
11
11
3.Summary
13
4. Further reading
15
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1.Introduction
In 2014 the speed of LTE networks is evolving from 150 Mbps to 300
Mbps, using LTE-Advanced Carrier Aggregation. A further evolution to
450 Mbps has been demonstrated by Nokia Networks at Mobile World
Congress 2014. With the upcoming 3GPP releases from Release12
onwards, we will see many more enhancements to the LTE and TD-LTE
technology. This whitepaper aims to provide a concise overview.
The continuing demand for ever more capacity is driven largely by
growing use of video. As outlined by Nokia Networks in its Vision 2020,
a 1,000 fold increase in network capacity requires increases in all
dimensions efficiency, spectrum and density.
MIMO &
adv. receiver
Carrier
Aggregation
Advanced
macros
Smart
Scheduler
New bands
HetNet
management
eCoMP
ASA
Flexible
small cells
As people from all walks of life start to use media more intensively,
another issue is their continually rising expectations of throughput
and service - by 2020, a typical user will consume 1 Gbyte of data
per day. Operators also need to secure their share of the mobile
broadband market by improving the efficiency of their operations
and the robustness of their networks robustness, developing new
business opportunities, extending their spectrum and by protecting
their investment.
LTE 3GPP Release 12 and beyond will provide a foundation to meets
these challenging demands, as well as smooth the way towards the
4G / 5G era.
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Capacity
Coverage
Small cell
enhancements
Macro cell
enhancements
1000x capacity
increase
Carrier Aggregation
enhancements
Coordination
Cost
Machine-Type
Communications
SON, WLAN integration,
public safety
Eciency and
robustness
Figure 1: The Focus (a.k.a. The Four Cs), the Enablers, the Benefits
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The high number of small cells will increase signaling traffic in the core
network as users move frequently from one small cell to another. This
situation will be improved by separating the user plane and control
plane functions in the Radio Access Network (RAN) architecture. This
method lets the macro layer manage the mobility while offloading high
data traffic to the small cells.
Dual connectivity also known as Inter-site carrier aggregation, is used
to achieve carrier aggregation between sites. This is an attractive
solution for Heterogeneous Networks (HetNets) with no ideal backhaul
network. Dual connectivity allows mobility management to be
maintained on the macro layer while aggregating small cells to provide
extra user plane capacity, increasing the throughput. Inter-site carrier
aggregation is one of Nokia Networks innovations in the small cell
area. The concept optimizes performance by combining the benefits
of macro cell coverage and small cell capacity. Based on increasing the
bandwidth through carrier aggregation, inter-site carrier aggregation
can provide a cell edge gain of 50%, even in loaded networks.
Figure 2 describes how Dual Connectivity is achieved. The radio
protocols of the user plane are split between the Master eNB (MeNB,
typically a macro cell) and the Secondary eNB (SeNB, typically a small
cell). This gives more flexibility to radio bearers carrying user data.
They can either use resources of the macro cell only (depicted in grey),
of the small cell only (depicted in cyan) or aggregate both (depicted
in blue), depending on whether coverage, offload or throughput is to
be favored.
In addition to enhancements for the higher layer, Release 12 also
improves physical layer capabilities for small cells. The introduction
of 256 QAM in the downlink enhances the spectrum efficiency
for terminals experiencing favorable channel conditions. Another
improvement area is enhanced small cell discovery, which reduces
transition time for dormant cell on/off. This enables further energy
savings and reduces Cell-Specific Reference Signals (CRS) interference
under varying traffic load.
S1
S1
PDCP
PDCP
RLC
RLC
X2
PDCP
RLC
RLC
MAC
MAC
MeNB
SeNB
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TDD
FDD
150 Mbps
20 MHz
150 Mbps
20 MHz
150 Mbps
450 Mbps
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UE-specic elevation
beamforming/3D-MIMO
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3.Summary
LTE development continues strongly in Release 12 and beyond
by enhancing LTE and LTE-Advanced. In particular, LTE Release
12 addresses coordinated small cell deployments, macro cell
enhancements, discovery in device-to-device communication,
enhanced SON, flexible deployment and improved interference
management in HetNets.
Release 12 features aim to boost performance and enter new
areas and spectrum. The following two tables summarize the most
promising Release 12 features:
Benefit
Advanced receivers
Enhanced SON
Benefits from 3GPP Release 12 Expand to New Areas and New Spectrum
Rel12 Feature
Benefit
LTE-WLAN integration
LTE-HSPA integration
Public safety
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2020+
2015+
2013+
2010+
5G
LTE Advanced
Rel-10 and Rel-11
LTE
Rel-8 and Rel-9
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4. Further reading
Nokia Technology Vision
LTE in Unlicensed Spectrum: European Regulation and Co-existence
Considerations, Nokia 3GPP presentation
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Public
Nokia is a registered trademark of Nokia Corporation. Other product and company names mentioned herein may be trademarks or trade names of their
respective owners.
Nokia
Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy
P.O. Box 1
FI-02022
Finland
Visiting address:
Karaportti 3,
ESPOO,
Finland
Switchboard +358 71 400 4000
Product code C401-01005-WP-201406-1-EN
Nokia Solutions and Networks 2014
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