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February 2014
LTE Release 12
and Beyond
CONTENTS
1.Introduction
4
6
7
8
9
10
11
11
3.Summary
13
4. Further reading
15
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1.Introduction
Living up to what LTE promised, commercial LTE deployments have
shown that LTE networks can deliver peak data rates of up to 150
Mbps and average data rates of tens of Mbps as well as latencies
below 20 milliseconds. The next step in LTE evolution has already been
made, with LTE-Advanced pushing peak data rates beyond 1 Gbps and
enhancing multi-band and multi-antenna operation that is compatible
with existing deployments. The first LTE-A feature being commercial
deployed e.g. in Korea is carrier aggregation.
The continuing demand for ever more capacity is driven largely by
video usage. As outlined by Nokia Solutions and Networks (NSN) in
its Vision 2020, a 1,000 fold increase in network capacity requires
increases in all dimensions:
MIMO &
adv. receiver
Carrier
Aggregation
Advanced
macros
Smart
Scheduler
New bands
HetNet
management
eCoMP
ASA
Flexible
small cells
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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, that is,
letting the macro layer manage the mobility while offloading high data
traffic to the small cells.
Dual connectivity (Inter-site Carrier Aggregation) i.e. carrier
aggregation between sites is an attractive solution for HetNets
that do not have an 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 NSNs 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 below describes how, in order to support dual connectivity,
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). With such a protocol architecture, radio bearers carrying
user data can either use resources of the macro cell only (depicted
in grey), of the small cell only (depicted in light grey) or aggregate
both (depicted in orange), depending on whether coverage, offload or
throughput is to be favored.
In addition to higher layer related enhancements, Release 12 improves
also physical layer capabilities in small cell environment. Introduction
of 256 QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation) in downlink enhances
the spectrum efficiency for UEs experiencing favorable channel
conditions. Another improvement area is to reduce transition time for
dormant cell on/off with enhanced small cell discovery. This provides
improved opportunities for energy saving and allows further reduction
of Cell-Specific Reference Signals (CRS) interference in varying traffic
load conditions.
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 evolution continues strongly in Release 12 and beyond by
enhancing LTE and LTE-Advanced operation. 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 at boosting performance and at entering
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
LTE-Advanced The advanced LTE toolbox for more efficient delivery
of better user experience, NSN White Paper
Deployment Strategies for Heterogeneous Networks, NSN
White Paper
Release 12 and beyond for C4 (Cost, Coverage, Coordination of
small cells, and Capacity), NSN 3GPP presentation
Looking ahead to 5G, NSN White Paper
NSN Technology Vision
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