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To meet all foreseeable requirements of the new and advanced capabilities of enhanced mobile broadband system and internet of things (IoT), a number of technical requirements have to be addressed for; ultra-reliable services, resilience, very low latency, all while supporting ultra-high speed data communications. The 5G systems will take advantage from the integration of evolved LTE radio access technologies and the new radio (NR) air interface, creating a coherent end-to-end system able to address the above mentioned requirements.

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The continuing mobile broadband subscriptions and traffic uptakes are clearly powered by the evolution of mobile infrastructure; infrastructure that is providing ever enhancing area coverage and the increasing capability to exchange data while responding to the consumers’ appetite for more capable smart devices, thrilling services and engaging applications. Mobile broadband networks are providing ubiquitous access to advanced data and information based services, an increasing array of multimedia applications and the corresponding educational and social benefits. All of which is increasingly attractive to consumers, businesses and a wide range of industry and government institutions.

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The weather in New Delhi was hot: +40˚C, (104 F) yet the hosts of the PCG#36 meeting, the Telecommunications Standards Development Society of India (TSDSI), ensured the meeting room at the India Habitat Centre was cool and comfortable. TSDSI became a fully-fledged 3GPP Organizational Partner (OP) in January 2015 and aims to develop and promote India-specific requirements, standardizing solutions for meeting international standards.

What did we discover?

3GPP Release 13 was frozen in March 2016 although there are some existing items to be concluded. The main item was the progress of Cellular IoT or Narrow Band-IoT which is planned for completion in June – though this could slip to September due to the decision to incorporate C-IoT within Rel. 13, creating a backlog of work within 3GPP.

NB-IoT  progress has been very good considering the short time to complete the work.

The main radio characteristics are:
Bandwidth: 180 KHz
Deployment: In-band & Guard-band LTE, standalone
Downlink: OFDMA, 15 KHz tone spacing, TBCC, 1 Rx
Uplink: Single tone, 15 KHz and 3.75 KHz spacing; SC-FDMA, 15 KHz tone spacing, Turbo code
Peak rate: DL: ~50 kbps; UL: ~50 for multi-tone, ~20 kbps for single tone
Duplexing: HD (type B), FDD
Power saving: PSM, extended I-DRX, C-DRX
Power class: 23 dBm
Way forward on NB-IOT UE capabilities
Single-tone transmission support is a mandatory part of the NB-IoT UE category
Both subcarrier spacings, 3.75 kHz and 15 kHz, are mandatory components of the NB-IoT UE category
IOT bit to indicate whether UE supports 15 kHz multi-tone transmission

There is good progress for Rel. 14 and a number of new LTE enhancements to improve system efficiency are being studied. These include enhancements on FD-MIMO, Uplink Capacity, VoLTE, and Layer 2 latency. In addition there is a plan to introduced a “basket approach” to manage new LTE Carrier Aggregation band combinations.

The 3GPP submission to IMT 2020 (aka 5G) will include a “New Radio of 5G”, aka NR. (Though a new name will be suggested). A key requirement for the NR design should be that it is forward compatible at its core so that features can be added in later release in the most optimal way.

Current timing for future releases are:

Rel.14 – June 2017

Rel. 15 – September 2018

Rel. 16 – March 2020.

There will be two phases to the 5G work. Phase 1 is planned to be completed by September 2018/Rel-15 to address a more urgent subset of the commercial needs (details to be agreed). Phase 2 is planned to be completed by March 2020/Rel-16 for the IMT 2020 submission and to address all identified use-cases & requirements.

The proposed merger of RAN and GERAN TSGs was reported to be on schedule. The revised Terms of Reference were endorsed by the PCG for submission at the OP meeting the following day and were approved. Since this would be the last time that Olof Liberg would be reporting to the PCG, Olof was thanked for his services as TSG GERAN Chairman.

3GPP marketing presented a proposal that professional assistance should be obtained in order to determine the name to be used for 3GPP’s series of “5G” specifications. This should be ready to be announced at Mobile World Congress (Barcelona) in February 2017. Previous names such as HSPA, LTE etc. had come about from internally based programs and while they were well known it is felt that given the far reaching and different implications for 5G that a more consumer and business orientated name should be developed. The decision on how to progress this would be made by the end of May to be able to meet the proposed timeline.

Market Representative Partners

GSA, GSMA, NGMN, UMTS Forum, COAI and 5G Americas presented.

It was noted that in India the ARPU was very low – typically $2 per month and ideas were needed to find a way to increase this figure. GSMA has recently corresponded with the India government to urge them to lower the price of 700 MHz spectrum which was expected to be auctioned in 2016.

There are moves in the industry to engage with and to better understand different vertical industries and how mobile technologies will be used.

It was generally agreed that spectrum was gaining in importance and that WRC-19 activity was needed. GSA has become more active in spectrum issues with the formation of the GSA Spectrum Group (GSG). Dr. Wee (TTA) stressed the importance of GSA to produce spectrum reports that clarified assumptions in areas such as spectrum sharing so that spectrum discussions could be based on more accurate facts.

GSA presented some of the latest market data from the GSA Evolution to LTE Report and communicated that hot topics based on the high volume of downloads from the GSA Web Site included, VoLTE, Spectrum Sharing, eMBMS, LTE-Advanced Pro and IoT. The next update to the GSA 5G Executive Report would be published in June just prior to the 5G World event at Olympia in London. GSA will host a 5G Round Table on the 28th June where the paper, which will focus on spectrum issues, will be discussed.

GSA welcomed Intel as the latest GSA Executive Member and both Radisys and Drayson Technologies as new Members. New GSA subscriptions were also mentioned as access to the GSA GAMBoD devices database increases its relevance to the industry. A total of 5,105 LTE devices are now logged into the database, while another 1,000 devices have been identified and need to be added – which will take a little time to complete.

Mr. Phil Kinder (TCCA) appreciated the the completion of Mission Critical Push-to-Talk in Rel. 13 and noted that a number of countries were committed to deploying this function.

Two new MRPs were proposed at the Organizational Partners meeting, CTIA – The Wireless Association, originally known as the Cellular Telephone Industries Association and GCF, the Global Certification Forum. Both proposals were approved. They join the other 3GPP MRPs: GSA, GSMA, NGMN Alliance, UMTS Forum, COAI, IPV6 Forum, Small Cells Forum, TD Industry Alliance, MDG, TCCA and 5G Americas (previously 4G Americas).

Dr. Wee (TTA Head of Delegation) is soon retiring from TTA and a vote of thanks was voiced by the whole of the OP meeting attendees for the many years support he has provided to 3GPP.

The next meeting of the PCG and OP will be 20-21 October in London.

©2016 GSA

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SpiderCloud has united with other GSA Member companies Qualcomm, Nokia, Ericsson and Intel, in joining the MulteFire Alliance. MulteFire extends the benefits of LTE to unlicensed spectrum, with a simple, secure and seamless network architecture, offering services providers of all stripes – big and small – an alternative to Wi-Fi. At SpiderCloud, we are really excited about the possibilities of MulteFire and would like to share why.

Wireless technology for all service providers – big and small

Since MulteFire is based on LTE, it is a technology designed for wireless service providers. Broadly defined, a service provider is anyone who needs to provide wireless connectivity to its users. This includes not only today’s massive mobile network operators, but also malls that need to provide wireless access to shoppers, stadiums that need to make sure that fans have a fantastic experience, hospitals where guests want to connect, and IT departments of large corporations. All of them face the same challenge that big mobile operators face: How to provide robust high speed wireless connectivity? How to keep the network secure? How to ensure quality of service? How to manage the cost of delivering service per user? Basically, how to be a good, trusted service provider?

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Guest blog – Qualcomm Incorporated

Mobile networks have been redefined once before in their 30+ year history. From primarily voice networks with 1G/2G, to high-speed data networks with 3G/4G LTE which mobilized the Internet and ushered in the era of the smartphone. And now, as we progress toward 5G, a new kind of mobile network sits on the horizon. A network that will connect new industries, enable new services, and empower new user experiences. A network that will rise up to meet the significantly expanding connectivity needs of today and tomorrow.

At Qualcomm, we are working on a rich roadmap of 4G LTE technologies that has begun this transformation. Pushing the boundaries and capabilities of LTE toward 5G is just one more way Qualcomm is bringing the future forward faster. These new technologies are not only vastly enhancing mobile broadband performance and efficiency, but also expanding LTE to new frontiers such as unlicensed spectrum, device-to-device communications, the Internet of Things, and much more. Introducing LTE Advanced Pro—part of the global 3GPP standard starting with Release 13 and beyond.

Propelling your mobile broadband experience to the next level

LTE Advanced Pro is evolving existing LTE technologies, as well as introducing new features, to make your mobile broadband services faster, more reliable, and more responsive.

1. Delivering fiber-like speeds by evolving Carrier Aggregation (first introduced with LTE Advanced) to aggregate across more carriers, diverse spectrum types and different cells.

2. Extending LTE to unlicensed spectrum globally with Licensed Assisted Access (LAA) to make the best use of the vast amounts of unlicensed spectrum available.

3. Driving significantly lower latency by evolving the LTE TDD and FDD frame structure for faster, more responsive connections.

4. Increasing flexibility of the LTE TDD and FDD frame structure such as allowing dynamic configuration of uplink and downlink capacity based on traffic conditions.

5. Enabling many more antennas at the basestation (up to 64-antenna elements) to exploit 3D beamforming (FD-MIMO)—significantly increasing capacity and coverage.

Proliferating LTE to connect new use cases and services

LTE Advanced Pro is also introducing new technologies that push the boundaries of LTE to support the proliferation of connected cars, smart cities, smart homes and wearables—connecting the world around us. This includes enabling new classes of LTE services that open up new opportunities for the entire mobile ecosystem.

6. Connecting the Internet of Things (IoT) by delivering advanced techniques (LTE-M, NB-IOT) to significantly extend battery life, reduce device costs, and deepen coverage—optimizing LTE for the communication needs of remotely gathering small amounts of data periodically from machines, wearables, and sensors.

7. Building the connected car of the future by delivering new LTE device-to-device and multicast capabilities (LTE V2X) to connect cars to each other, to pedestrians, and to everything around them—making your driving experience safer and more autonomous.

8. Creating a converged digital TV network by evolving LTE Broadcast to enable a single network for Digital TV services for both your mobile and fixed devices (e.g., your home television/STB).

9. Empowering new proximity services by expanding the LTE Direct device-to-device platform to give your mobile devices and apps the ability to passively discover and interact with the world around you—for example, social networking and local search applications.

10. Delivering robust public safety communications by using LTE technologies and the LTE ecosystem for robust public safety services such as Mission-Critical Push-to-Talk communications.

If you want to learn more about the ways LTE Advanced Pro is redefining mobile networks, check out our upcoming webinar with FierceWireless: Leading the Path to 5G with LTE Advanced Pro. You can get further information on both LTE Advanced Pro and 5G from our website. And finally, don’t forget to check us out at MWC2016 where we will be demonstrating LTE Advanced Pro and 5G technologies at the Qualcomm booth. See you then!

© Qualcomm 2016  – To see the video that accompanies this blog go here

This document is made available here on the GSA website with the permission of the author.

Opinions expressed in the content posted here are the personal opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of GSA. The content is provided for informational purposes only.

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