Understanding LTE-Unlicensed // July 2015
Editor's Note
LTE-U Attracts
Controversy and
Industry support
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Can LTE and Wi-Fi
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T-Mobile and LTE-U: An
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FierceWireless
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Editor's Note
By Sue Marek
Editor-in-Chief /// FierceWireless
At the Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona
earlier this year, a hot topic of discussion was how
and when wireless operators should deploy LTE over
unlicensed spectrum. The idea of deploying LTE in
unlicensed airwaves holds great promise for operators
because it allows them to increase capacity without
having to spend billions on licensed spectrum.
Operators like Verizon have tested the technology and
the company said it plans to deploy LTE Unlicensed
technology in the 5 GHz and 3.5 GHz bands starting in
2016. Likewise, T-Mobile announced this year that it too
will deploy what it calls Licensed Assistance Access (a
form of LTE-U) in the 5 GHz band in 2016.
Despite the bullish attitude of operators like Verizon and
T-Mobile, there are still many concerns about whether
Wi-Fi and other devices that use unlicensed spectrum
can coexist with LTE-Unlicensed and LAA protocols.
Wi-Fi is a pretty big user of unlicensed spectrum and
Wi-Fi providers worry that LTE won't employ the Listen-
before-Talk (LBT) protocol that Wi-Fi uses to avoid
interference.
Proponents of LTE-U, meanwhile, insist that the
technology has a spectrum-sensing capability that
can identify open frequencies not occupied by other
unlicensed users. They also say that LTE-U has "adaptive
duty cycle" that allows it to take turns with other users.
T-Mobile told FierceWireless contributor Colin Gibbs
that the company is looking at protocols like LBT and
Dynamic Channel Selection, which are used by LAA,
to help ensure LTE co-exists with Wi-Fi, but said it's
a bit early to have a discussion about specific technical
capabilities of the protocols.
Qualcomm, which is a big proponent of LTE-U, has
conducted many tests to on its LTE-Unlicensed product
and recently said that it ran even more tests to show that
LTE-U not only plays nice with Wi-Fi, but it also protects
Wi-Fi to a greater degree than Wi-Fi protects itself. In a
filing with the FCC, Qualcomm said that all three versions
of LTE Unlicensed, including LAA and its own branded
MuLTEfire product, will successfully share spectrum with
Wi-Fi.
Nevertheless, the debate continues. In this ebook from
FierceWireless, we explore the pros and cons of deploying
LTE-Unlicensed. n
