The Generation Game

Will LTE deliver what it says on the tin?

Mobile Broadband World September 2012

John M Meredith, Director ETSI Mobile Competence Centre, 3GPP Specifications Manager
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LTE?

LTE is a radio access technology for cellular telecommunications networks, developed by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project, 3GPP.

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Why LTE?
2004: 3G (UMTS, HSPA) already a great improvement on 2G (GSM, EDGE / PDC / CDMA). Many networks deployed, growing
commercial experience, technical standard still evolving. But

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Whence LTE?
2004: Already an awareness that even more performant radio access technology would be needed in the long term. So 3GPP Long Term Evolution study begins.

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Whence LTE?
2005: ITU forecasts that mobile data will increase from 610 petabytes per year in 2010 to 1450 PB/yr in 2020. 2010: Actual mobile data is seven times the ITU prediction of five years ago. 2012: Demand for mobile data is huge and rising.
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Whence LTE?
2005: ITU begins to develop its IMT Advanced concept to take over from where IMT 2000 left off. 3GPP approves Technical Reports 25.912 and 25.913 covering, respectively a feasibility study on the evolution of the 3G radio access technology UTRA*, and requirements for the radio parameters of such a technology.
* 3GPP bashfully coined the term Universal Terrestrial Radio Access for its W-CDMA offering.
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Conclusions of the 3GPP studies (1)

Throughput to be up to five times that of 3G UTRA. Improved spectral efficiency (bits per second per herz of bandwidth) Improved radio technology (D/L OFDMA,
U/L SC-FDMA) MIMO (U/L & D/L)

Simple channel structure Catering for point-to-point and point-tomultipoint transmission

Simple radio resource control state model Idle, Connected

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Conclusions of the 3GPP studies (2)

And a simpler network architecture, less expensive to install and maintain

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LTE or E-UTRA?
Thus was launched 3GPPs work item on the long term evolution of its radio access technology, termed Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access, E-UTRA But the worlds technical press had
latched on to the term LTE which persisted!

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This is LTE
The result was the Release-8 set of 36.-series technical specifications

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Conclusions of the studies (3)

2008: A further report 3GPP TR 36.913 laid the foundations for an even more powerful radio access technology

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3GPP: from generation unto generation

1G = analogue cellular (TACS, NMT, ) 2G = GSM 2.5G = EDGE* 3G = UTRA 3.5G = HSPA 3.75G = HSPA+ 4G = LTE LTE-Advanced

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* Some operators claim EDGE exhibits 3G capability.

3GPP: from generation unto generation

1G = analogue cellular (TACS, NMT, ) 2G = GSM 2.5G = EDGE* 3G = UTRA 3.5G = HSPA 3.75G = HSPA+ 4G = LTE LTE-Advanced
IMT Advanced

IMT 2000

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* Some operators claim EDGE exhibits 3G capability.

3GPP: from generation unto generation

1G = analogue cellular (TACS, NMT, ) 2G = GSM 2.5G = EDGE* 3G = UTRA 3.5G = HSPA 3.75G = HSPA+ 4G = LTE LTE-Advanced
3GPP Rel-8, Rel-9
3GPP Rel-10 onwards

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* Some operators claim EDGE exhibits 3G capability.

Why LTE Advanced? (1)

LTE Advanced a high degree of commonality of
functionality worldwide while retaining the flexibility to support a wide range of services and applications in a cost efficient manner; compatibility of services within IMT and with fixed networks; capability of interworking with other radio access systems; high quality mobile services; user equipment suitable for worldwide use (worldwide roaming capability);

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Why LTE Advanced? (2)

LTE Advanced user-friendly applications, services and
equipment; enhanced peak data rates to support advanced services and applications (100 Mbit/s for high and 1 Gbit/s for low mobility.

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How many megabits per second???

LTE Advanced user-friendly applications, services and
equipment; enhanced peak data rates to support advanced services and applications (100 Mbit/s for high and 1 Gbit/s for low mobility.

Compare these rates with todays wire line offerings from ISPs.

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So is LTE a technical success?

YES ! LTE and of course LTE Advanced offers
always-on packet connection with excellent throughput rates (better than wire line). Use of femto cells (Home eNode-B) for coverage of hard-to-reach areas or high population density areas, or closed subscriber groups for blanket coverage of commercial/industrial sites can ensure excellent quality of service.

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But is it a commercial success? (1)

Commercial viability was a requirement built in from the start of the LTE study. Around 100 LTE networks are already in commercial operation in some 50 countries around the world. A further 350 operators interested or committed to opening LTE service.

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But is it a commercial success? (2)

Some 28 million LTE terminals are in operation (50% in the Americas). Around 420 LTE terminals on the market: Samsung (Galaxy SIII) HTC (One) Huawei (Ascend P1) Nokia (Lumia) Apple (iPhone5) Amazon (Kindles)

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But is it a commercial success? (3)

First UK LTE network from EE trialling in London, to cover 16 cities by end 2012, 98% of population by end 2014.

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Whither LTE? (1)

Improved antenna technology will increase the level of MIMO and the accuracy of beamforming / tilting. Carrier aggregation will allow consistently high bandwidth and enable operators to make the most of their fragmented spectrum allocations. Network infrastructure shared between two or more operators will reduce capital and operational costs for operators.
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Whither LTE? (2)

Machine-to-machine (internet of things) communications will increase total data communications enormously. Does not necessarily need high speed
data or low latency for any one device, but There will be many millions of devices competing for available bandwidth, so high speed and low latency and low cost will be vital.

LTE selected for the next generation of public safety (blue-light) services in the USA.
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So is it all plain sailing?

Bandwidth is in short supply, though regulators are continually making more available: Digital dividend from closure of analogue
TV broadcasting Refarming of 2G and even 3G bands New allocation of spectrum to meet ever rising demand

LTE is designed to operate in a large number of bands* but not all terminals yet support all bands (thus hampering roaming).
* Commercial services currently operating in 700, 800, 850, 1700, 1800, 1900, 2100, 2600 MHz bands..
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The greening of mobile

The standardization community has an obligation to look at the impact of technology evolution on society. 3GPP is taking environmental issues very seriously. Reducing the carbon footprint and improving energy efficiency are key requirements for 3GPP Members.

Socially responsible Cheaper to run

Dedicated feasibility study included in Release 10 on energy savings management (3GPP TR 32.826) and a guide to potential solutions for energy saving in LTE networks (3GPP TR 36.927).
improve energy efficiency
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reduce CO2 emissions

reduce the cost of running mobile networks

But thats not all, folks!

A workshop held just before the 56th plenary meeting of 3GPPs technical specification group on radio access networks concluded that, for Release 12 and beyond, it would concentrate on a number of topics such as Energy saving Cost efficiency Support for diverse application and traffic types Backhaul enhancements Small cell enhancements, including backhaul Self-organizing/optimizing networks Terminal-to-Terminal services (to meet public safety service needs) It would also continue its work on increasing capacity (data traffic is predicted to double in each of the next five years)
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The end (but only of the presentation)

John M Meredith Director, ETSI Mobile Competence Centre 3GPP Specifications Manager john.meredith@etsi.org mobile: +33 (0)6 1042 0376 fixed: +33 (0)4 9292 4237 www.3gpp.org

If you have been thanks for listening

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