What Advanced Applications Will We See On The LTE Network?

Verizon Wireless announced that it is updating its specifications for LTE devices that will run on the network. These new specifications are aimed at helping developers to design products and services that will run on the operators' LTE network, which is scheduled to launch in 2010 in 25 to 30 US markets.

Verizon Wireless said the updated specs will address network access, SMS requirements and data retry test plans. In addition, new information about lab and signaling conformance, open development device approval will be included. The new specs will be outlined in a webcast on the 20th of January.

What will be interesting to see after the webcast is what new applications and business models the application developers come up with. VZW wants the LTE network to expand existing types of applications while opening up entirely new classes of applications at the same time. One example that has been pointed out by VZW is the possibility of appliances such as refrigerators being fitted with wireless monitoring devices. A missing part, for instance, could be pinpointed via a wireless link, cutting service costs. Innovation in advanced video and gaming services are also envisioned by VZW.

It will be interesting to see if other operators deploying LTE at the moment push as hard for new devices and services for LTE as VZW has. TeliaSonera for instance, who have already launched their LTE network, has an agreement with Samsung who is providing it with a USB dongle. There does not seem to be a plan for anywhere near the same level of activity that we have seen with VZW when it comes to launching new devices and apps. So do operators need to go to all the trouble the VZW is?

Alcatel-Lucent and Ericsson are the "founding participants" at VZW's LTE Innovation Center in Boston, MA. A group of venture capital firms are also participating in the core working group at the center. In addition to Alcatel-Lucent and Ericsson, other participants in the core working group include Charles River Ventures, Northbridge Venture Partners, Norwest Venture Partners, New Venture Partners, and Redpoint Ventures.

An interview with Tony Malone, CTO of VZW can be found on the LTE World Series You Tube channel. Tony spoke at the LTE Americas conference in Dallas in November 09.

Is the LTE Performance Gain Simply Due to Wider Frequency Bands?

There have been various LTE trials going ahead in 2009 and of course the surprise LTE network launch by TeliaSonera who have estimated LTE user data rates to be in the range of 20-80 Mbps. Similar figures have been promoted in other operator trials.

Quite often operators and system vendors refer to the achievable peak rates, ranging from 100 Mbps to as high as 250 Mbps. However, in cases where LTE is deployed in high density, metropolitian areas, these peak data rates are unlikely to be achieved.

Omnitele has just announced that it expects actual data rates to be a lot less than the figues above. Through analysing LTE performance in technical studies and simulations using Omnitele’s state-of-the-art network planning tool analysis on the performance gain of LTE compared to HSPA technology comes mainly from the wider frequency band (up to 20MHz compared to 5 MHz for UMTS). Switching from CDMA to OFDM also has an effect, as does MIMO according to Omnitele. However, significant expectations being put on the performance of MIMO and yet the most critical element of performance which remains under the control of the designer is the antenna, The 3GPP is still proposing how to define requirements for MIMO antennas and it is a pretty complex topic with apparently little consensus developing so far.

Actual LTE user data rates are highly dependent on radio conditions and number of users sharing network resources. Most of the first commercial LTE deployments are said to utilise 20MHz bandwidth and 2x2 MIMO antenna schemes. When breaking down the performance of LTE features in different channel conditions and simulating them in a realistic metropolitan network environment, Omnitele estimated the achievable average LTE user data rates to be in the range of 15-25 Mbps per 20MHz frequency bandwidth.

LTE outperforms the current baseline HSDPA in terms of data rates by a factor of ten and HSPA+ technologies by a factor of 3-4. But it will take more than improved radio performance to really get the best out of LTE.

TeliaSonera Offers a Single-Mode Modem Only for Its LTE Launch

TeliaSonera has signed a deal for LTE modems from Samsung for its launch in Sweden and Norway in the first half of 2010. The reason behind this single mode LTE only modem is simply because that's what's currently available.

Because the Samsung modem is LTE-only, TeliaSonera customers will need to use a second modem, either built into the computer or a separate USB dongle to access the Internet when they are not in an area covered by LTE, which at first will be limited to major cities. It's too early to say how the hand-off between the two modems will work, according to TeliaSonera. However, the operator expects that users in the inner-city parts of Stockholm and Oslo will be able to move around and surf using just the LTE modem.

TeliaSonera will have enough modems for a commercial launch, but isn't willing to provide exact quantities. It is hoped that the use of an LTE-only modem is a temporary measure. Samsung is working on a modem that will come out next year and support a multitude of mobile broadband technologies. Obtaining a supply of next-generation modems and phones continues to be the biggest challenge when it comes to rolling out new mobile technologies and is the main reason that operator are cautious of deploying LTE early. AT&T, NTT Docomo and Telefónica are just a few operators to have voiced concerns about vendors' ability to have modems ready by the end of next year.

TeliaSonera said its LTE launch will happen during first half of 2010, but wouldn't provide a more exact timeframe.

A Day at the Huawei Campus in Shen Zhen

My colleagues and I at Informa were invited to visit the Huawei campus in Shen Zhen last week, the day before the LTE Asia conference which took place in Hong Kong to discuss their plans for the future with LTE being central to their growth prospects.

Huawei has been an early investor in LTE and it is clear that they have been thinking ahead. Huawei launched their All-IP based FMC solutions back in 2006. To maintain a leadership position in All-IP FMC, they established an integrated core network product line, with 6,000 engineers engaged in R&D supported by a service team of 2,000 professionals around the globe dedicated to providing customers with all-round consultation, planning, delivery maintenance and training services.

Its no wonder that the campus in Shen Zhen has grown to include an administration centre, marketing centre, R&D centre, testing centre, training centre, exhibition hall, logistics and manufacturing centre and a staff condominium. Just to cater for all the staff on the campus requires a total of 9 canteens providing food for 30,000 employees, catering for all tastes and cultures. What was clear during our tour of the facilities was that Huawei does not do things by halves and why would they when they serve 36 of the world’s top 50 operators?

Huawei is a relatively young company they are continuing to gain steady recognition and acceptance from operators in more developed telecommunications markets. Although I have heard rumors about their integrity as well as to product quality ranging from the absurd to the bizarre, this has clearly not deterred their customers. To a significant degree, Huawei’s early and ongoing experience with successful deployments under the constraints of emerging markets has helped to win contracts with the now price conscious operators in most developed markets. This includes TELUS and Bell Canada’s LTE-oriented HSPA network as well as winning the world’s first LTE contract with TeliaSonera along with Ericsson.

Operators are increasingly looking at vendors that have a comprehensive, end-to-end portfolio of products and solutions for LTE. Huawei’s strength lies in the full breadth of their comprehensive, scalable and interoperable offerings for customers and so it was no surprise that Huawei was recently recognized by BusinessWeek as one of the world’s most influential companies.

NTT DoCoMo plans to launch LTE in December 2010

The Japanese service will initially be aimed at PC users, with DoCoMo offering card-type terminals for laptops, said Ryuji Yamada, president and CEO of NTT DoCoMo at a Tokyo news conference. It will be expanded to include handset terminals from 2011, he said. Those terminals will be dual-mode devices that use LTE networks where available and fall back to 3G networks to provide nationwide coverage. LTE's introduction is also expected to reduce the per-byte cost of data communications.

By 2014 the operator plans to provide LTE service to 50 percent of Japan from around 20,000 base stations. DoCoMo plans to invest between ¥300 billion and ¥400 billion (US$3.2 billion to $4.2 billion) during the first five years of the roll-out, said Yamada.

NTT DoCoMo was the first carrier in the world to launch a commercial 3G wireless service based on WCDMA but based on its LTE roll-out it will likely be beaten this time around by carriers in other countries.

Verizon Wireless is likely to be the first operator to launch LTE in the world. European operators are also getting behind the technology with several tests under way or planned on the continent. TeliaSonera has said it will build a commercial LTE network in Stockholm, Sweden, and in Oslo, Norway.

NTT DoCoMo will be speaking at the LTE Asia conference in Hong Kong on the 8th and 9th of September. For more information and a full line up of speakers, visit www.lteconference.com/asia