Tag Archives: Wi-Fi

Will 5G be the death of LAA and LWA?

November 21, 2018 Wade Leave a comment

Did anyone realize that moving up 5G may kill other technologies? With all the fuss and arguments that Wi-Fi had with LTE-U, it turns out it may not be so vital anyway, now that 5G is coming. Wi-Fi has such a hold on us that we can’t imagine life without it. But will it be part of the 5G ecosystem?

To be clear and blunt, 5G NR will be the death of LTE in about 10 years. The real question will be if 6G will be another forklift upgrade or simply an improvement on 5G. Originally, we all thought that 5G would include LTE, I know I did, now it’s becoming clear that LTE is going to slowly, painfully, fade away.

We needed more and more throughput, so LAA and LWA were born. I know that there will be a new aggregation with 5G and LTE-U, LTE, and CBRS. I would think that even Wi-Fi and 5G may play well together. But what out all the technology improvements made to squeeze more throughput out of LTE?

Well, LTE isn’t going anywhere today. It will need to continue to improve for a two to four more years. It came a long way already. But is LTE-U still critical? Maybe for the next 3 or 4 years. It is a good supplement to the existing systems. However, it may not last nearly as long as Wi-Fi. Everyone loves Wi-Fi and understands it. Qualcomm promised us that MulteFire would be just as easy, but we never really saw much of it in the real world, did we? Device makers didn’t put it in the devices on a mass scale, and you can’t buy the hardware anywhere like Wi-Fi. It just took too long to get to market. The carriers played with it, and we’re looking forward to having LTE in the unlicensed bands. Again, too slow to market.

Will LTE-U fade away or will the carriers push to use it? Sadly, I see it fading away. Wi-Fi backers must be happy, but they were not the LTE-U killer, were they? It was really 5G NR, which ironically, Qualcomm pushed to get out. They also pushed MulteFire for LTE-U. Is Qualcomm killing its own products? However, 5G will have a huge payback, won’t it?

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I think the larger OEMs wanted to keep LTE-U for the carriers. How did that work out? What kind of numbers were deployed? Hundreds or thousands? Probably hundreds if they’re lucky. They should have pushed more cost-effective private LTE-U networks.

When 5G gets built, they will want to have it where it makes sense. So, LTE will be around for a long time until 5G matures. As aggregation goes, Wi-Fi will continue to be the offload whereas CBRS may be the best offload alternative in the USA. Maybe LTE-U will be part of that solution if it is cheap and easy to deploy. So LWA for Wi-Fi may not gain the ground it once did, in fact, it may fade away until they find a way to do something similar with Wi-Fi and 5G.

LAA may continue to roll out but will it be LTE-U or CBRS that will be the player? I am assuming CBRS, even though there aren’t many live systems. Chances are good that the CBRS systems may be the 5G NR format.

For those point to point links, or short multipoint links we have the 60GHz range which will handle high throughput areas in buildings. I am curious how the mmwave bands will play out, I brought up 60GHz because it will be license free, but the carriers are purchasing mmwave in the auctions here in the USA. The FCC is freeing up spectrum for them to grow. How will device makers add that to their devices? I can’t wait to see.

The question in mmwave, will it be licensed or unlicensed that becomes a bigger player? I see the licensed for the carriers, but we all want to play in the lightly licensed and unlicensed zones because it’s free. The carriers won’t want to play there because it’s free. unless they need to offload.

When we look at 5G, we expect new devices that will handle everything in the 5G spectrum as well as all the legacy technologies. Most devices will need to have many technologies in them like 5G, LTE, and Wi-Fi which all need to work in many bands, including mmwave. Maybe Wi-Fi and LTE-U to work in the ISM bands. Maybe even 60GHz to work in the license-free spectrum. Devices will have more and more crammed into those little packages.

We expect 5G everywhere, and it will mature as well. We expect to see the 5G version of LAA, LWA, and anything else we can imagine. If 5G is as great as they say, hypothetically it shouldn’t need any of those technologies, right?

Listen, the transition will not happen overnight. LTE will be here a long time. Look how many carriers still have 3G alive and working. In fact, they may rely on 3G for voice since they waited so long to spend money on the VoLTE upgrade. FYI, as far as I know, there is no voice solution outside of apps to provide voice on 5G as of November 2018.

The goal is to maintain as few technologies as possible like maybe 5G and 4G. The old 3G is a drain on resources. IT doesn’t happen overnight though, does it? Old technology dies slowly if customers have devices that they rely on. IT’s going to take time and look at how hard it was to kill 2G. On Star and services like that relied on that service being around longer than it was. It’s going to be harder and harder for service like that to keep up. Especially when cars last 5 to 10 times longer than any smartphone.

The wireless ecosystem expands beyond the smartphone. It goes out into all the verticals that are building business cases for it. Just like we expect to use 5G for more than voice communication. We expect to use it for more than internet browsing and testing. We want to build IOT systems, controls AI and AR systems. Are these wise investments I the technology will be replaced in 5 years?

Didn’t LTE mean Long Term Evolution? How long did that last? Roughly 5 years so far and we’re already doing another upgrade of new wireless technology. This 5G was supposed to be a software upgrade, but it isn’t. At some point, we have to stabilize the hardware the best we can, even though the OEMs will hate that. It will eventually need to software be defined if the hardware can keep up with the advances. Sorry, I got off point.

Back to the original question, will 5G play with other technologies? I think it has to because we’re not just looking at the carriers here. Wi-Fi has been around for decades and is NOT going anywhere. In fact, it can support 5G just not in LWA. I also think that LTE-U and CBRS will allow smaller private systems to be built, whether they are LTE or 5G has yet to be seen. If 5G NR is available to the public, why not build that system and then allow the carriers to roam onto it? I think that’s how the future systems will have to work.

Will private LTE systems start to roll out? Will the carriers still look at LAA to assist the broadband throughput? How will this happen? If 5G can deliver what it says it can.

Here’s the thing, few carriers have enough spectrum to make this happen. Why do you think there is a rush towards mmwave? It’s because most carriers don’t have the spectrum that Sprint has in the 2.5GHz spectrum. They need to supplement what they have. They need to plan for smaller cells to break down the spectrum and make it more efficient for reuse.

5G will need to align with the additional technologies and spectrums.

Also, license free will be quick and easy to deploy as systems grow. Carriers won’t have 5G everywhere until maybe 2023 if we’re lucky., It all depends on what the payback for the 5G is initially as they roll out in the heavy suburban areas.

By the way, when is the last time you read about anything in the news about LTE-U?

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Indoor Connectivity for the Smart City

July 3, 2017 Wade Leave a comment

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I know what you’re thinking, indoor connectivity, why does that matter for the smart city? What is indoor connectivity for the smart city? Is it part of a smart building? I mean really Wade, who cares? Indoor connectivity will matter just as much as outdoor connectivity. After all, the smartphone should not stop working when you go into a building. If your phone stops working, how does that make you feel? It sucks, right! What about public safety, they can’t have their radios die the minute they go into a building, that could mean death, literally, for them or whoever needs help. Indoor connectivity should be thought of as crucial for any city, much less a smart city.

Do you stop using your device when you go inside any building? Seriously? Of course not, you don’t expect it too.

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Indoor coverage included the entire building. It’s sad when you see a disaster happen and people don’t have coverage in the obvious places in a disaster, like the stairwells or the closets or basements. Why is that? Because normally people don’t go there and the building owner didn’t want to pay for something that no one would normally use. That is why there are regulations, in some cities, to make sure that at least the emergency bands used by fire and police are working in those areas. The local fire departments and radio shops can put this in and test it. However, most business people don’t enforce this because they know that businesses and building owners do not want to pay for it. We all think it’s OK until a fire or a terrorist attack happens and the people inside can’t communicate because they are in dead zones. In an emergency, a dead zone could mean that the people could die because they could not reach help. That often gets overlooked just to save a few dollars in many cities.

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So, when planning a smart city, the regulations matter, the rules to define whether a company needs to have the best coverage, wired and wireless, in their building really matters in the grand scheme. Why not think it through and look at what has happened in the past. Take the necessary measures to ensure that buildings are being built to the proper code for structure and safety.

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Fiber

We still need fiber inside the building. Run it to every floor if possible. We really need fiber not only from the outside in but from the demarcation to each floor and across every floor. We need to connect every data and computer room. Even the emergency systems, the alarms systems will need to be connected. They will also need redundancy, just in case some contract goes crazy with a drill or a reciprocating saw, I have seen this first hand with wires, pipes, and power. It happens!

Fiber matters for what we want to do, the way we want to go. Broadband is what we all need to some point. Whether it’s back to an internet connection or if its dedicated fiber to a specific location for a specific purpose, we want fiber. After all, it connects the world. We all thought that satellites would do that, and they do, but they have too much delay. Fiber needs to be laid, but it works so well and opens new options.

Cable & Copper

Cable companies will be running their solutions to these building. They may even use fiber to get in the building, but they may rely on cable and CAT5 to distribute throughout the building once they are in.

CAT5 and CAT6 will be crucial. Ask any data center, any enterprise, any company that thinks they can run without having data lines all over the offices. Sure, they rely on Wi-Fi and small cells, but what feeds the Wi-Fi and small cells? That’s right, either fiber but most likely CAT5. It’s been around for a long time, and it’s not going anywhere.

I know most of you think that fiber will take over, but until fiber can carry power, (spoiler alert – it can’t alone!), then we need CAT5 or CAT6 or whatever else they come out with. CAT5 has been used for over 15 years, and it’s still going strong. Don’t deny it, we love wireless, but we need CAT5 somewhere.

Wi-Fi

This is the obvious thing that we all expect to see everywhere. I don’t think I need to cover this issue because almost every public area has Wi-Fi and most offices have it as well.

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LTE-U

This is going to be on the same spectrum as Wi-Fi and the carriers are excited because the handoff from licensed LTE spectrum to unlicensed LTE is almost seamless if it’s setup properly. This will be a game changer for all the carriers to share loading with devices in the ISM license-free band. WOW! A way for your smartphone to hand off its data and VoLTE, (Voice over LTE) calls to a spectrum that should not cost you any data on your plan.

If this can be put on every device, I would see it really is a game changer for the carriers to hand off to almost any vendors units. With the coming of age of the cloud and mobile edge computing, MEC, we will see things improve greatly.

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Public safety bands

This is critical, but it’s an unknown. I don’t talk about public safety bands much because it’s going to go through changes. These departments still need to have the urgent PTT, (Push to Talk), Voice access because it’s reliable and immediate. We don’t want to wait for the emergency responders to be able to communicate in an emergency.

They still need data to work their laptops and gather information. FirstNet is taking care of this with their recent partnership with AT&T to provide dedicated coverage for first responders. I am waiting to see how this plays out. I am glad that first responders will have a priority channel, but most of them already have smartphones. They don’t all have devices paid for by their jobs, many use their personal devices and coverage plans because not all governments have the budget to supply everyone with what they need.

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For the emergency responders, there are rules in many areas that require buildings to put in DAS systems or radios so that emergency responders have coverage as I said before. I have no idea who has this requirement and who doesn’t. It really seems to vary, even within cities.

While the public safety aspect will weigh heavily in the smart city planning, it should be thought of as part of the wireless and wireline deployment. Please don’t make it an afterthought. It will take regulations to ensure that all indoor coverage is thought out and planned properly.

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DAS systems

DAS systems are still booming in high density and high traffic areas. They are being upgraded. While small cells are making a dent, they are being used together to provide better coverage for less cost.

You see, the original DAS systems could include a Macro site to feed it for the system to reach all the areas of the building, stadium, or whatever you’re trying to cover. Now they can feed it with small cells. Now they can transport the signals digitally, meaning that instead of coax cable they can run fiber and use power from a local connection point or even run things through router and power the radio head with PoE, (Power Over Ethernet) which is really a great way to deploy.

DAS, (Distributed Antenna System), is a great way to get the signal out to the people, but it’s a financial commitment that small and some mid-size businesses don’t want to pay for. The carriers no longer see a payback on these systems, and they are looking for a less expensive way to get the signal out to the people.

Hey, I love DAS systems. They are crucial for the wireless infrastructure to cover venues. But the carriers are looking for more cost-effective ways to get the signal out. Now that we entered the age of a seamless digital network using LTE for wireless we can distribute the signal using fiber and CAT5 cable instead of the coaxial cable and splitters and analog amplifiers that we relied on in the past. DAS systems have evolved and will continue to evolve to meet the needs of today’s market.

CBRS

I have been speaking about how the spectrum of 5G will shift into the hands of the small business once again. The US CBRS is the 3.5GHz band, which runs from 3550 to 3700 MHz band. CBRS stands for Citizens Broadband Radio Service (I remember the CB, Citizens Band, here in the US). It is a lightly licensed spectrum, but it is split up into 2 areas. There is Military radar, and Earth stations that use this spectrum that is grandfathered in and have priority access. That will not change. There will be Authorized Shared Access, (ASA). Currently in the US only, but Europe is looking to follow suit with Licensed Shared Access, (LSA).

ASA includes:

Incumbent access including the federal government and satellite providers.
Priority access licenses (PAL) which are 7 10MHz licenses to be awarded to the highest bidders. PALs will be protected from the GAA users. PAL will include commercial users like carriers, rural operators, are a 3-year license with only 1 renewal term allowed now, and will be in the 3500 to 3650 portion of the spectrum. One licensee can hold only 4 PAL licenses.
General access user, (GAA) which is “Licensed by rule” which requires the rules to be followed. This will be dedicated in the 3650 to 3750 MHz portion of the band.
A PAL may gain additional GAA spectrum.
Companies that currently have this spectrum licenses will be able to keep their licenses; this was used for WiMAX in the past, now it will be LTE focused.
Licensing will be done by the Spectrum Allocation System, (SAS), which is a group that can charge for these services, currently being led by Google and Federated Wireless.
Hardware vendors include SpiderCloud, Ruckus, Nokia, Ericsson, Samsung, ip.access, and Acceleron.

I was reading a report by ABI Research that mentions several articles pointing to Verizon Wireless plans to use CBRS to replace middle price DAS systems, the articles in RCR and Fierce Wireless using CBRS as the neutral host solution. Then it shows how Nokia added the CBRS to its Airscale product and the Ruckus OpenG product to follow suit. Not to be outdone but Acceleron also has a CBRS product. Just to be fair, Spidercloud was one of the first to have a CBRS product. It spears that Spidercloud is already reaching out the DAS vendors and Verizon to bridge the gap for smaller DAS systems. We shall see more of SAS, (Small Cell Antenna Systems) popping up to replace the smaller DAS systems.

Could CBRS solve the DAS middleware problem? Could CBRS products fill the void where no one wants to invest in those 100,000 to 500,000 square feet venues where it is too small for a carrier but too large for a small cell? Is this the savior we are looking for? I hope so! A clean way to hand off and a lightly licensed spectrum where we would not all be trampling on each other in the Wi-Fi space. I see a solution that could solve so many issues, financial and technical.

This will mostly be an indoor solution, something where we could replace some DAS system with a common platform licensed spectrum that all the carriers and non-carriers could share to reach the dense population, it will be used for enterprise and outdoor coverage as a critical part of the 5G network slice. I am looking forward to seeing what small businesses can do with this spectrum to serve the people.

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I see CBRS filling the public venues with an alternative to smaller DAS systems by dropping in a CBRS small cell with multiple bands to provide a lightly licensed signal where the carriers would roam onto this device. Clean signal without the threat of another access point going up on the same band(s).

Factories have connected systems that may not be so reliant on Wi-Fi. Now they can dedicate a specific carrier to that function inside the factory so that no one may share it. Keep that spectrum dedicated for the machines and very low latency so that no one else can use it, jump on it, or break it. That is a game changer for indoor wireless!

I often overlook the use of indoor wireless for factories and distribution warehouses. This is a great use case for indoor wireless and one that needs low latency as well as dedicated spectrum. You want to keep it secure and dedicated for one purpose. Here is a perfect spectrum that they can add to any machine in their system. It helps to cut down on issues due to latency. Distribution will need to provide accurate order filling, and factories will need to have real-time feedback on how the machines are performing or if they need to make changes.

CBRS will allow small business and Enterprise to have their lightly licensed spectrum, something that the FCC has kept from small business for quite some time. I get it, they make billions on the auctions, but it has not helped small business broadband. They feel the ISM band was enough for them to build on. I feel differently. Now I see opportunity in CBRS, centimeter wave and millimeter wave spectrums. Let’s deploy and bring broadband and narrowband to the masses! Broadband for internet access and narrowband for IOT access. It’s exciting to see the industry have more opportunity again!

How secure could you make a CBRS system? You could have a dedicated band just for your internal use and only have it on your devices. Invisible to the outside world but giving you the bandwidth that you need in your office, warehouse, or factory.

We have seen the players be OEMs and carriers and other integrators in this space. Who has been conspicuously absent has been the cable companies. Here is space where they can shine, grow, and spread beyond Wi-Fi without building an ironclad agreement with one carrier. They have the money and the deployment process to make this a phenomenal area of growth. I would like to think that SpiderCloud would be calling the cable companies with proposals and business cases. Just my opinion. It is time for the cable companies to make it happen in wireless deployment.

Inside coverage summary

So, to sum it up, there are plenty of options that you will have. Some you have control of and some you don’t. You also need to separate what the first responders will need and what other services will need. This is specific to the band and the coverage. It matters.

When planning, try not to think of just one service or area. Look at the building, then look at the service you want. Something like what I have below.

The building has:
1. Common areas like the entrance, the mezzanine, the food courts.
2. Emergency exits, stairwells, basements, rooftops and other areas that are only accessed by workers, contractors, and when there’s an emergency.
3. Office space that may be secure and locked occupied by tenants.
4. Rest rooms, public and tenant only.
5. Hallways where people could be walking at any given time.
6. Entrance and exit areas where people could stop to smoke on break or congregate.
Coverage for:
1. Public safety should cover the entire building.
2. Carriers will want to cover the common areas and some tenant offices.
3. IOT coverage for the meters, air conditioners, thermostats and other controls.
4. Private networks throughout the building in tenant spaces.
Emergency phone connections:
1. Elevators
2. Rooftops
3. One on each floor
4. Basement
5. Wherever the generators are located.

I hope this helps you what needs to be added to the buildings in a smart city.

Be smart, be safe, and pay attention!

See Ya!

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IWCE 2016 Review of Choosing the Right Technology

March 31, 2016 Wade Leave a comment

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Doug Chapman of Etherstack, representing PTIG in this session, talked about how P25 systems fit the current mission critical voice communications. Here is a smart guy that really understood what mission critical means and what they need to keep working.

Bill Frederickson of LMR Systems, Selex, representing DMRa, spoke of DMR systems being used as a cost-effective solution for voice communications.

Rodney Grim, National Technical Sales Manager of ICOM America, spoke about the use of NXDN and the service for real-time voice in critical communication. It is a very cost-effective voice solution for mission critical systems that has been around for year and is very reliable. It is commonly used in the USA.

John Monto, Director of Radio Technology Systems for Rockwell Collins/ARINC, spoke about TETRA systems being used not only worldwide, but here in the states today.

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Dan O’Malley is a Sr Product Manager of Cisco, for the Internet of Things, gave a really interesting talk of a Cisco system that could work in mission critical systems that rely on the IP Network and the PTT system. He had examples of how the system could switch over from one call center to another in a mission critical situation.

Scott Peabody is a senior consultant for ADCOMM Engineering Company, gave a very technical and interesting talk of how 5G will be the critical infrastructure for the future. He demonstrated how the use of Wi-Fi in today’s world can solve some connectivity issues seen in our industry. He had an example of how he could connect a hip using Wi-Fi to provide them with over 100Mbps of data. Pretty cool stuff!

I spoke about using LTE in mission critical systems, well, really I laid out the pros and cons, because LTE isn’t there yet.

Be smart, be safe, and pay attention!

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IWCE 2016 Review on Next Generation of Wireless Networks

March 28, 2016 Wade Leave a comment

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I got back from IWCE 2016 exhausted. There was so much going on at that show that I can’t begin to tell you everything. So what I will go over is what I was able to attend.

Of course, my sessions were really important! To me anyway. I talked about LTE deployment on Monday with others who talked LTE in the session M201 – Next Generation Wireless Networks: 4G, LTE and Broadband.

Mary Walsh of LBC Consultants and Services moderated the session and did a great job of introducing us all and moderating.

I was on the stage with Wim Brouwer of Nokia who spoke of Wi-Fi and how it could be leveraged to maximize LTE coverage. Wim spoke of how Wi-Fi can be used to extend the connection of your device back into the core. How now Wi-Fi does not have to have a specific SSID to connect to the core, but the device would connect through the Wi-Fi to the core. The way I understood it was that the Wi-Fi was merely a pipe to the internet that could connect to the core.

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Patrik Ringqvist, the VP and CTO of Industry and Society for Ericsson spoke about LTE and the progression into 5G. His presentation spoke of the roadmap of VoLTE being ready for services and 5G will use LTE as the foundation to build the newer 5G network.

Dan O’Malley a senior product manager of Cisco gave his talk on what is broadband. While he gave a strong Cisco position it was very interesting. He was able to show us the LTE options and how the broadband system was not only the RAN, but the applications all the way to the core. It was really quite interesting.

Sami Honkaniemi, the managing director or the Mentura Group, gave a great talk on how hybrid systems of the current PTT and LTE systems can co-exist and work together now. This was showing how for mission critical system the LTE would have to have solutions to bridge the open gap between your data on LTE and your mission critical voice on your PTT system which could be DMX, TETRA, P25, or anything else. It looked really cool!

Mohan Tammisetti, the CTO and Co-Founder of Virtualcomm, and Gary Monetti, founder and managing director of Monetti and Associates, talked about how the LTE systems can be expanded by using a small interface and a LTE hotspot for emergency situations. This small LTE system extender was really a hit and something that people are interested in because you can expand the network in a crisis situation with little effort! (If the FAA would allow it, which by todays rules, they don’t.) Then you could launch a drone with the hotspot and connect back to the mini core with either Wi-Fi or a back channel, and use that for the first responders on site. If only the FAA could clear up the drone rules for business and emergency use.

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Mohan Tammisetti was planning to do a demo later that evening. I would have loved to have seen the demo but I could not make it. They were going to show the connectivity of the LTE through their tiny core and the hotspot. It was a proof of concept.

I went over the actual LTE Wireless deployment. This was the session that I thought would really highlight what the deployment teams do for LTE. Remember, without the deployment teams, RF Design, installers, tower climbers, optimization teams, site acquisition teams, and all the people that put the system out there, not of the above systems will work. They mean nothing if you keep them in a lab, when they are deployed, that is when they make money!

I was able to absorb quite a bit of information, don’t be afraid to click here to see all of my IWCE 2016 sessions.

I hope that sums it up for you!

Remember, be smart, be safe, and pay attention!

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XcellAir tells us about QoE

February 16, 2016 Wade Leave a comment

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Today I have an interview with Hardik Ajmera of XcellAir, http://xcellair.com/, who provides a solution for carriers to manage and optimize their wireless network to deliver the best Quality of Experience, (QoE), to the end use. You see, if the end-user has a poor QoE then they may not want to stay with that carrier. Mobile Network Operators, (MNO), have a hard time managing the transition from LTE to Wi-Fi. This is where XcellAir comes to the rescue.

OSHA is asking for public comment on Safety and Management, click here.

They provide solutions for the MNO to utilize both licensed and unlicensed spectrum providing the end-user with a quality experience. They provide an industry first cloud based, multi-market Wi-Fi and LTE QoE solution. How cool is that? They actually can manage the system to give the end use the best QoE possible.

This package allows the MNO to manage and optimize the wireless system so that the unlicensed spectrum is utilized to the best of its capacity. By improving the unlicensed spectrum usage the capacity for the carriers will greatly increase scalability.

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If you want to learn more, the resources page is awesome, http://xcellair.com/resources/, and I would recommend you go there and download the information they have and watch the video. You will learn more about what they do and see a business case so that you can see how this leads to monetary gain. There is a wealth of information here, technical and business information.

I interviewed Hardik, the Director of Product Management, about not only XcellAir, but what they do and what they have to offer the Wi-Fi teams. It was interesting.

It didn’t stop there, I also brought up the constant battle between Wi-Fi and LTE-U that has been brewing in the industry from some time now. Hardik sees the problems that could arise from LTE-U running where there was once only Wi-Fi. He also knows that LTE-U is coming and they his company has to prepare for the release of LTE-U. They are already preparing for it in their packages.

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We discussed small cells and how they would work with Wi-Fi and the unlicensed spectrum. XcellAir needs to be prepared for these changes and they are working to improve their package so that the end use has the best possible QoE they possible can. Remember, if the customer isn’t happy on your network, they will find a carrier that works better and make the use experience a pleasure, not a headache.

With XcellAir providing support for LTE-U it doesn’t mean they will go away from Wi-Fi, they know that Wi-Fi is here to stay and that every device today and in the future will have Wi-Fi in it. Wi-Fi is here to stay, it will just have a new neighbor called LTE-U.

Keep in mind that Wi-Fi is needed by the carriers to offload the heavy data use that devices demand. End users are going to be more and more demanding as the wireless ecosystem grows.

Learn more, listen to the podcast. There is so much value there and you will learn more about QoE, Wi-Fi, and LTE-U. I just can’t cover it all in this blog post. Hardik educates us all on all of this. He is a wealth of knowledge and a good guy.

Remember that the QoE matters to the network operator because customer complaints mean 2 things, 1) losing customers and 2) headaches for the engineers! To have a package that will manage that for you is priceless!

I hope you learn something in this.

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Unlicensed LTE MulteFire Overview

February 1, 2016 Wade Leave a comment

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Could you have LTE-U deployed anywhere just like Wi-Fi? We all love Wi-Fi, right? I am a huge fan of Wi-Fi, mainly because it’s mostly free and available almost anywhere. We all love the bandwidth when it’s clean and has a good connection. We can install it at home with little effort. Did I mention I love that most of the time it’s free! Don’t we love the fact it saves on our mobile device bill? We love free bandwidth and free data. It sure beats paying the carriers for the extra data used in our homes.

What if we could get better bandwidth with LTE-U? What if LTE-U could be a standalone format? It appears that MulteFire will be the LTE version of Wi-Fi. It is a standalone LTE-U format that Qualcomm developed. Then Nokia backed and now Ericsson! They formed the MulteFire Alliance! It’s just like the Wireless Broadband Alliance, WBA, which is an alliance of Wi-Fi operators, OEMs, and vendors.

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Let’s start off with some basics. What is LTE-U? It’s simply LTE in the unlicensed band where Wi-Fi resides. It is a completely different format than Wi-Fi because it is LTE. The main advantage the carriers like about LTE-U is that the devices can jump from LTE to LTE much easier than LTE to Wi-Fi formats. If you are running VoLTE, it makes a difference. However, before MulteFire LTE-U had to be anchored to a carriers LTE spectrum in aggregation. I believe MulteFire could change that if I read it right.

LTE-U is something that the carriers want. For the carriers there are different ways to extend their coverage by doing aggregation with unlicensed frequencies, this can be Wi-Fi or LTE-U, I wrote about the ways they do this here. Here is a quick aggregation refresher. LWA = licensed LTE with Wi-Fi, LAA which is LTE licensed with LTE-U unlicensed. In this case the carrier’s licensed spectrum would be the anchor and the other spectrum would be used accordingly.

What makes MulteFire different? MulteFire would allow an unlicensed provider to provide LTE-U in the unlicensed band as a standalone. This is just like the way the Wi-Fi carriers work now, at least that is how I see it. While Qualcomm built this to sell their chips, I see it as a revolution moving forward by putting LTE everywhere! Way to go Qualcomm! The cable companies could really build a cool network with MulteFire. I would look at it as evolution for the unlicensed spectrum.

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The guys building out carrier class Wi-Fi don’t like to hear that because they have subscription models. Suddenly the carriers are appreciating these guys a lot more today because offload is a big deal in this digital data centric world we live in where apps and browsing rule the smartphone world we all live in. The carriers can’t keep up with all the data and they are looking to offload where they can. I am sure that T-Mobile’s Binge-On offer doesn’t help the loading issue, although they seem to be handling it very well. LTE appears to be very efficient and may really help the smartphone makers improve data upload and download in the unlicensed spectrum.

The Wi-Fi providers are concerned about interference from LTE-U. That may or may not be the issue. The test results appear to biased one way or the other so who knows. What I have seen in the real world is that if you have 5 Wi-Fi hotspots all lined up you see problems anyway. Maybe the same issue happens with LTE-U hotspots lined up with Wi-Fi but we will have to wait and see. LTE-U is still not in my world to play with, although I can’t wait until it is.

Will this spark small cell growth? Yes! We can put something like this in buildings it may really help with the extension of LTE coverage for all carriers. Verizon really likes this path. They are excited about the LTE-U spectrum. It may solve a lot of problems for them to deploy in many buildings where they would have had to put regular small cells. Now they plan add LTE-U small cells as a supplement to their coverage. If you do Verizon small cell work then get ready!

I think if this is deployed properly it could be an alternative to shared indoor DAS systems if the carriers can share the LTE-U hotspots. It may be a way to have a multicarrier coverage in a venue or building. I don’t see this at stadiums or arenas, but maybe in an office building where DAS or small cells don’t fit the budget. This is the space where Wi-Fi plays very well.

Drawbacks do exist just like they do for Wi-Fi! Remember that in the unlicensed bands you are very limited in power which means very limited coverage. There is no license so you could install it in a wide open area only to come back and see 6 other hotspots, Wi-Fi and LTE-U, right beside you in a week.

Currently there are security risks with Wi-Fi, supposedly LTE has better security, but once it’s in the unlicensed bands that may all change. I have a wait and see attitude.

I see this being deployed as a small cell. It would be something that the large OEMs would deploy first. I know that Nokia and Ericsson are already working on a product for the carriers. This will be exciting for the deployment teams.

This is a great opportunity to offer the carriers a venue where we could give LTE coverage with the option of tying back into the carrier for coverage. I also hope that this can be tied into the 3.5GHz spectrum here in the USA. I can’t wait until the FCC frees up more spectrum in the 3.5GHz band for LTE build outs. It will really help the utilities and the venues offer an alternative to the carriers. This will great increase competition and make a difference in who can deploy.

http://www.wireless-mag.com/News/39941/multefire-alliance-formed-to-drive-lte-use-in-unlicensed-spectrum.aspx

https://blog.networks.nokia.com/partners-and-customers/2015/12/16/nokia-and-qualcomm-multefire-alliance-to-combine-lte-and-wifi/

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&ved=0ahUKEwiBlaz30rvKAhWMKyYKHQ5jBjUQFggnMAI&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnetworks.nokia.com%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2Fdocument%2Fnokia_multefire_executive_summary_0.pdf&usg=AFQjCNFillRLKwwRtzFNMxiHTgXkaHzYcA&sig2=Yy3SwPqK0ehiwyfVG7IyDg&bvm=bv.112064104,d.eWE

https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq/2015/06/11/introducing-multefire-lte-performance-wi-fi-simplicity

http://networks.nokia.com/portfolio/products/mobile-broadband/multefire

http://www.gadget.co.za/mutefire-targets-lte-cells/

https://www.abiresearch.com/blogs/multefire-vs-wi-fi-storm-tea-cup/

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Dedicated DAS Spectrum?

November 30, 2015 Wade Leave a comment

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I know what you’re thinking, DAS spectrum is not dedicated, but what if it were? Now that the carriers don’t want to pay for a shared DAS system in venues, we should come up with alternatives to getting them into large venues. DAS is needed in the industry for coverage. We can play favorites for coverage, but how do we provide coverage for all carriers? Let’s explore some options.

DAS is still booming, in fact, I found a really cool website, http://www.daspedia.com/ where you can find some DAS information. I really think its good stuff. DAS for LTE will continue to boom. Yet, the carriers no longer want to pay for a shared DAS system. What will we do? Will the work go away?

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NO! I don’t think so and I will tell you why. The coverage is still needed and while we all love Wi-Fi, the voice handoff from VoLTE to VoWi-Fi is still not as clean as anyone would like it to be, it may get better but this is why LTE-U is taking off. So this leads to my question, “will LTE-U become the new shared system for carriers?”

Well, Verizon is pushing things in that direction along with Qualcomm. It seems like all the OEMs are joining the party because they are providing solutions with carrier aggregation and LET-U, so it seems to be moving ahead.

I know that the debate between a safe coexistence between Wi-Fi and LTE-U is still up in the air. In fact ask anyone that is associated with the cable companies or Wi-Fi groups and they think that LTE-U is just one step down from the Antichrist, at least it feels that way. Cablelabs did some tests, http://www.cablelabs.com/fair-lte-u-coexistence-far-from-proven-in-cablelabs-qualcomm-testing/ where they have undeniable proof that LTE-U will devastate Wi-Fi. But then we can look at Qualcomm’s letter to the FCC, http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/comment/view?id=60001084962 and see that Wi-Fi and LTE-U can live happily together and thrive in this new world that is coming. Actually Qualcomm said LTE-U is less of a problem to Wi-Fi that Wi-Fi is to itself, which I believe, because I have been places where there are 5 hotspots and coverage is not so great. To be fair, RCR did a segment on it here, http://www.rcrwireless.com/20150701/test-and-measurement/lte-u-testing-5-studies-and-their-results-tag6 which does a good job at pointing out all arguments.

Can’t we all get along? Seriously? Should let them fight it out? It looks like LTE-U will be a new opportunity for deployment. It looks like the FCC will allow LTE-U and LTE in the 3.5GHz lightly licensed band, so that means we can deploy CRAN and small cells with carrier bands, Wi-Fi, LTE-U, and 3.5GHz! Let’s go and deploy. LTE-U is coming in one form or another, and it should allow the carriers to share the bands. That means the design, engineering, and deployment teams will get a new wave of work! That’s where I am interested, the next phase of DAS may not only include Wi-Fi and carriers, but LTE-U.

Just think if you have a new player that uses LTE in 3.5GHz for access to the devices? Or it could be used as backhaul. Is that cool or what? Who would do 3.5GHz as a carrier would? Well it has been done, http://www.gtigroup.org/35ghz/overview/2015-03-20/5820.html in Japan and China. Wouldn’t it be cool if the lightly licensed band here in the US would be a step up from Wi-Fi but a step down from the billion dollar carrier bands? I am just dreaming here but the band works, so why not see if we can deploy it here in North America?

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It’s funny you would ask, because 2 small companies you may have heard of, Google and Nokia, are already working towards a test, http://www.fiercewireless.com/tech/story/nokia-teaming-google-lte-u-35-ghz-spectrum/2015-09-14. This is big news, to me at least, because it will open up new venues for deployment. I see this as a great way for the carriers to pay a third-party to share in a DAS system that is cost-effective to deploy. All they need to do is roam onto this system. Easy peasey lemon squeezy, if the FCC adopts that band for testing with enough bandwidth! Oh, that’s right, they did, http://www.fiercewireless.com/tech/story/fcc-votes-adopt-new-35-ghz-spectrum-sharing-plan-innovation-band/2015-04-17 back in April! So what are we waiting for? The OEMs to make something, it takes a long time, then someone needs to deploy it and test it, like Google. Then the carriers need to do interoperability testing, IoT, into their networks. Then we will have 150MHz of bandwidth to play with, lightly licensed bandwidth for the small business to build and be deployed. Oh boy, it’s always exciting to see something like this happen, innovation! I would like to thank the DOD, department of defense, for freeing the bandwidth! Free with only the threat of radar interfering with it, and radar is high power so that may be a problem. All the more reason to put it indoors for DAS and small cells. Thank you FCC chairman Tom Wheeler!

I know that it would also be a great backhaul technology, which now that there is 150MHz. Having that much is a start so we could use it effectively. I see an opportunity here.

Something to think about!

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LTE-U vs. Wi-Fi! Carriers vs. Cable Companies! Free Spectrum!

September 14, 2015 Wade Leave a comment

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Michael Buffer says “Let’s get ready to rumble!”

Can you believe that companies are fighting over unlicensed spectrum? Seriously, who thought this could happen? The people who invested so heavily in Wi-Fi, like Comcast and Google , are angry at the carriers, specifically Verizon and T-Mobile, who want to make the most of the license free spectrum by deploying LTE-U. Who knew 5.8GHz would be so valuable? The unlicensed spectrum battleground!

Hey Comcast, if you want to take out an opponent, then buy T-Mobile so you have one less carrier to worry about. Just a suggestion.

Why would deployment teams care? All of you that work in deployment will care because if LTE-U takes off then it will mean a lot of work because it should be all new equipment deployed. I don’t know who will be the first to roll it out, but it will need to be engineered and built. If they don’t do it then it’s Wi-Fi as usual, with all of the updates and hopefully some new spectrum soon. Think of it! If the cable companies roll it out first and they are in the best position to do so, then they could command the spectrum, or try to. From what I have seen, it takes the carriers a long time to deploy anything. The cable companies are nimble, they could do it quickly if they wanted to spend a few more $$$$$$$$$. Money is the issue, read on to find out more.

Why do Wi-Fi groups care? These people spent a fortune building out Wi-Fi and they are counting on all the people with smartphones and tablets to subscribe to their service. They were also hoping to get the carriers offload traffic to make more money on the side. This may hurt their business and they are also worried, (in the US), that the LTE may tramp on the Wi-Fi signal. There is no listen before talk in the US, which is you ever worked in Wi-Fi you see daily on your spectrum analyzer. I think that most companies don’t bother with spectrum analysis for Wi-Fi anymore, what is the point? Seriously!

Some background. I believe you all know what spectrum Wi-Fi runs on and that Wi-Fi is the only thing there. I think most of you know what LTE-U is, but for those of you that don’t know, here is my take. LTE-U is where Qualcomm (and Ericsson) worked together to create unlicensed LTE format in the 5.8GHz band where Wi-Fi currently runs. They are doing this to make the carriers systems and smart phones run more efficiently and because, (so they say), they can push more bandwidth through the same band. The carriers will be happy because it adds a great deal of efficiency to how they manage spectrum. Of course they say is will be a win for the consumer because they can access more data in the “free” bands. Hey, if Qualcomm says it then it must be true, right?

Technical report on LTE-U found here.

3GPP LTE information.

Linksys explains 2.4GHz and 5.8GHz.

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So the FCC has to determine if Wi-Fi and LTE-U (and/or LAA), can coexist. Can they, of course, but the issue here is probably not technology, it has more to do with business and politics, in my opinion. You would be given the option to buy a Wi-Fi or LTE access point for your house, wouldn’t that be cool? You know you would get LTE just because it is the latest and greatest. You would try to get it before anyone else did just to say you had it first. I wouldn’t because I am cheap and I would wait for the price to drop. But hey, that’s just me. I just gave up my iPhone 4s a few weeks ago because it worked and it was reliable.

So what is the big deal? The FCC has to approve LTE to be run in this spectrum. No big deal, right? Wrong!!!! Apparently some Wi-Fi groups see this as a threat! It could be the end of Wi-Fi as we know it. They think that the Wi-Fi civilization would end. Would it, who knows? I remember when most Wi-Fi units were in the 2.4GHz range, and many may still be there. By the way, did you know that your microwave heats up the food using the 2.4GHz band? It just uses a massive amount of power. Just something to think about next time you have a 2.4GHz Wi-Fi unit sitting next to your body. Don’t worry, the power difference is huge! Microwaves put out massive power and then bounce it around to make sure your Ramon noodles are hot. Sorry, back to the point.

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The FCC has to make a big decision. On one hand they have the carriers who pump a lot of money into the economy and who finally found a way to make real money in this band. Then you have all the Wi-Fi advocates that sell a lot of hardware to people like me who love Wi-Fi access at home. I really do. To be honest, I think I would put in a LTE box at home if it worked the same and had more bandwidth. I don’t care, I just want great speed to upload blogs like this and to watch stupid videos on YouTube and to download my music! Isn’t that what a free society is all about, great internet access? Do most people care about the pipe? The only part of the pipe they care about is the monthly price, right?

So who is in favor of LTE-U? So far, Verizon and T-Mobile! They love the idea and they let the FCC know that it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread, (that is before we had to have sliced whole wheat bread because white bread is bad for us). I understand Verizon’s position because they want people on LTE because that is their bread and butter, they want the best performing system and they know that when people roam to Wi-Fi performance drops dramatically, making the system look bad when in reality it’s the Wi-Fi coverage. I think that T-Mobile is realizing that as well when they release Wi-Fi calling. I think that they see that Wi-Fi calling in a home with one Wi-Fi hotspot works very well but in a public place, like a train station or hotel lobby, it really sucks because of coverage and interference. I believe that with LTE-U they may be able to clean that up, but this is only speculation on my part.

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Who is against LTE-U? Comcast and Google who already deployed tons of Wi-Fi hotspots. I also see that Republic Wireless and Cablevision are against it and for good reason because they just invested tons of money in Wi-Fi hoping to make money in offloading to the carriers, but if the carriers go LTE-U, then they may build out their own systems and not use any of these people. They would have to share the band with LTE and no longer get to have Wi-Fi hotspots along with all the other Wi-Fi providers out there. Google already wrote a letter to the FCC explaining how the carriers would look at the Wi-Fi providers like the cable companies as competitors. I don’t know about that argument because in a capitalist society competition is considered good. So is Google saying that the carriers should partner with the cable companies? Not a bad idea, but if the FCC would not let AT&T take over T-Mobile, would they allow Verizon and Comcast become solid partners or merge? Maybe, who knows, but I don’t ever see that happening. Rumor has it that Comcast is looking into buying T-Mobile, making them a competitor or the other carriers anyway.

Who is neutral? Apparently both AT&T and Sprint. AT&T has a conundrum because they deployed tons of Wi-Fi, signed Wi-Fi roaming agreements with Sprint and T-Mobile, and yet they see the benefits in LTE-U, they really do. Sprint I think has too many other things to worry about, For instance Marcelo Claure is working to create a profitable company by following Softbank’s plan, so I understand why this is not a top priority. If I were him I would let T-Mobile worry about this issue.

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How will the FCC make this decision? I think they will look at the arguments, and trust me the carriers are very powerful on capital hill with the help of PCIA and CTIA, so they have a strong edge in that department. They will look the Wi-Fi advocates and possibly listen to Comcast, who has lobbyists but they are not always popular with the Feds. Google, who is also against LTU-U has many friends in capitol hill, and they may use them if they decide to pick a fight, I really don’t know why they are fighting this but I know if they want to fight they will convince us that they are doing it for the greater good in society, that seems to be a common argument with them and I usually fall for it. Then the FCC will weigh in to see what effect this will have on future auctions, will LTE-U actually make the carriers utilize more free bands and lessen the need for licensed bands? This is the economics of the FCC . I don’t think they have anything to worry about since they just soaked the carrier for billions, which you and I will see as a slight increase in our mobile phone bills. I know they sold off assets to pay for it up front, but these carriers are smart, they will make the money back quickly after they deploy. It really feeds the economy with the deployment services (billions of dollars for RF, tower, and engineering workers) and then all of the commercials of who has better coverage, (millions for advertising companies), and plans will be on TV and on YouTube, I’m just saying.

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Something to think about, if the carriers do win and LTE-U or LAA is deployed, then the deployment teams will see income from a brand new deployment, a new market, new hardware on the scene. This will really stimulate work for the teams that previously deployed Wi-Fi or LTE. They could be called into action to engineer and install equipment for carriers. The OEMs of Wi-Fi would have a new product to build and sell. I see the economic stimulus for the field works.

Who really wins? Probably the OEMs that make Wi-Fi gear. They will sell more product. Ubiquity will make a cheap product that most people will deploy and Ruckus will make carrier grade product. Then you have all the other in between. The cable companies will probably deploy their own gear or they already have contractors doing it. The carriers will go through the lab testing phase, then through the field testing phase then finally deploy. The carriers will probably put it out to bid, lowest qualified bidder, so make sure you understand your Scope when you deploy!

So what do you think? Is this really a big issue for you, the end-user? Or is this just a political issue? Are the carriers really trying to take over the world and starting with Wi-Fi or are they trying to help out the consumer by lowering device costs? Do you see Comcast and Google trying to save Wi-Fi as we know it or are they holding on to an old technology by refusing to change or give up their investments? What will the FCC do? Will they weigh their decision only on technology or will they follow the political road and let the lobbyists fight it out on Capitol Hill? I guess we will see.

Stay informed!

This is something you may want to read, a letter that is signed by Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, Qualcomm, T-Mobile, and Verizon. Competitors working together for the common cause of supporting LTE-U! http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/comment/view?id=60001098662

More stories if you’re interested!

http://www.rcrwireless.com/20150827/carriers/lte-u-fight-plus-4-more-things-to-know-today-tag4

http://www.law360.com/articles/668282/google-at-t-out-of-tune-on-lte-u-repercussions

http://www.wsj.com/articles/cell-carriers-battle-for-wi-fi-airwaves-1440543853

http://www.eweek.com/mobile/regulatory-fight-brewing-at-fcc-over-lte-u-access-to-wifi-spectrum.html

http://www.networkworld.com/article/2941873/wireless/lte-u-is-coming-to-take-your-wi-fi-away-consumer-advocates-warn.html

http://fortune.com/2015/08/26/wifi-battle-brewing-cell-phones/

http://www.infoworld.com/article/2976474/wireless-local-area-network/carriers-want-your-wifi-lte-u.html

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LWA, LAA, LTE-U and Wi-Fi

September 8, 2015 Wade Leave a comment

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Smartphones love bandwidth! Any argument? Smartphones want more bandwidth, actually, the users love the bandwidth, the phone just want to keep up and avoid having the user throw it on the floor. Am I right? Did you ever sit there a scream at your phone because it did not perform well? Hey, don’t get mad, try to be understanding that the networks will get better. Maybe they can tap off the free spectrum until they get better.

Fist off the carrier wants to keep the customer on their system. licensed carrier, as long as they can to eat up the data the customer pays for every month. But the customer complaints and the loading is getting crazy so now they see they need to get a solution that includes Wi-Fi.

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So the OEMs had to figure out a way to get LTE and Wi-Fi to play nice together. Really it was Qualcomm and Ericsson who came up with the plan, and they have several different ways to do it. Qualcomm figured out that if you could put LTE in a license free environment then it would play nice with LTE. The OEMs like the thought of carrier aggregation where they can can make multiple carriers look like one, more or less, in the UE device. This makes the sharing much more efficient in this day of bandwidth constraints. Whether you think it’s good or bad, let’s look over the different options.

By the way, most of these will likely be used in a small cell environment, usually inside a building or a stadium where the heaviest data usage happens. I would expect this to be used out on the street unless it’s like a city street with outside seating. Solving the bandwidth crisis can be done in more ways than just adding spectrum. It’s just that some carrier don’t think densifying, (densification), the network is worth the money but it may be a great way to solve the spectrum crisis. It seems like the larger carriers get it and they already added Macro, oDAS, and small cells to make this happen. So when you read that a carrier is going to run out of spectrum, look at the system end to end, open up your eyes!

For the sake of this article, I am going to talk about LTE on the carrier. I think that 3G will go away within the next 3 years in the USA if certain carriers can get off their bums and start building LTE in time for 5G to be released!

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Wi-Fi boost – this is there the Wi-Fi provides the bulk of the downlink and the LTE carrier provides the bulk of the upload while providing little download to clean up the spectrum. Pros are if the Wi-Fi is clean you can use all the bandwidth to carry data, for instance if you are in your home with no interference and the kids aren’t streaming music. The con is if you are competing for bandwidth or the backhaul stinks or if there is interference on the Wi-Fi, then there are issues. This works with your existing Wi-Fi, it’s just an upgrade the carrier has to do on their system and a software upgrade in your Smartphone. Actually, this is very similar to what they do today with the Wi-Fi handoff. There have been many issues with handing off from Wi-Fi to the carrier and back again, but it is getting better than ever with everything except voice. I am sure someday that will be solved as well.

LWA – LTE Wi-Fi Aggregation – so here is where it is the same as above but the LTE adds a carrier for download, hence the aggregation. This will need the carrier to upgrade the small cell but the bandwidth is increased even more to the device. This may require an upgrade to the Wi-Fi AP. LWA likes to have the Wi-Fi and LTE together, at this time, for synchronization purposes. This will change as evolution happens. I believe this would need to be a new device for the end-user but maybe a firmware upgrade will do it, I am not clear on this right now. An overview here.

LTE-U – this is literally running the LTE format in the Wi-Fi spectrum. Why is this great when we already have Wi-Fi? It makes the handoff to the LTE carrier much more efficient for the RAN. This is what the carriers like because it ties into the carrier aggregation plans that they already have and the UE will see it, in theory, as another LTE carrier, not as a different technology. It is much simpler to do in the UE device.

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LAA – Licenses Assisted Access works with LTE-U, LTE Unlicensed. This is not your father’s Wi-Fi, it is something new altogether that must learn to coexist with Wi-Fi, and so it is not Wi-Fi at all. It is literally LTE transmitted in a license free band, could be in sub 6GHz in the USA. In theory, it could have 2 to 5 times the throughput of Wi-Fi along with better coverage. This is all new equipment. Truly a Greenfield deployment. This would be a new user device, (new chipset). A good explanation here.

MuLTEfire – which is Qualcomm’s new offering where LTE could be completely unlicensed, let’s say something like 3.5GHz, but could also work with the licensed band. Qualcomm is always thinking about how to make better wireless chips. They know they need to build in the WOW factor. I have to admit, I said wow! I see great possibilities with new bands that are lightly licensed because they could open up new markets for backhaul and other last mile services. Remember that 5G is moving ahead and will be here in 5 years or less, Probably arriving around 2020.

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Wi-Fi, LTE, LTE-U, and Aggregation

August 10, 2015 Wade Leave a comment

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That’s right, everyone was thinking that LTE and Wi-Fi would compete against each other for center stage in deployments. I know that the carriers favor licensed bands but the customer want bandwidth, they don’t care how they get it. They don’t want to pay too much for the connection either. So here is there the love story begins. They have a common bond, bandwidth for the user. This is something that anyone with a Smartphone loves, bandwidth!

I am hoping to get this out at a time when T-Mobile is making the push for VoWiFi along with the VoLTE. They really seem to moving ahead at full steam with this and I am impressed. Kudos to the OEMs working with them which I think is Ericsson, Nokia, and Cisco. I am sure there are more involved but the way this is rolling out in the urban areas is really impressive! Verizon Wireless has the capability to do VoLTE and it works well. I think the end game is to sunset the 3G network. Not many people are willing to pay more for VoLTE. Sure, it may sound better, but would you pay to sound better? I don’t think that most people would. I think that the real goal is to shut down the 3G system and save all that money. That is my opinion.

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I congratulate T-Mobile for pushing the envelope with Voice over Wi-Fi, (VoWiFi). They are realizing how hard it is but they did it and it works! Who knew LTE would push the unification of Wi-Fi bands and the licensed bands even closer. That VoWiFi would be the rage after VoLTE. Actually, in Wade’s World, I see the cable companies pushing VoWiFi because they have it deployed everywhere. What a concept! I can’t wait until we see Wi-Fi only smart phones. We actually have Wi-Fi only tablets that can use apps, like Skype, to make calls over Wi-Fi. This was going to be a solution early on for the carriers with LTE, to have an app make the call, but there were too many issues, especially if there is an emergency, but I don’t know much more about why it didn’t succeed.

This was very hard to research, at least for me, it just gets so confusing and I have yet to find one document that can really explain all of this without crossing lines and adding confusion. Even the Mobile Broadband Evolutions document found here didn’t add much clarity for me. I read this and I think to myself that I used to be an engineer, now I can’t even spell E-N-G-I-N-E-E-R without getting a headache.

If you’re wondering why this is going to happen, then you might not realize that the data demands of the public are crazy! Everyone is using more and more data on their devices. Why shouldn’t they? I mean there was a day when we had to “plug-in” to do anything. There was a day when the only reason to get on a computer was to work. Now, look at all the online communities and all the apps and Facebook. It’s a crazy world full of data demands that will only get worse as people want to watch more and more streaming video on their devices. It’s already happening! Remember when we thought gaming would sink the network, well, let’s look at video. It’s very demanding but only the tip of the iceberg!

So the OEMs had to figure out a way to get LTE and Wi-Fi to play nice together. Really it was Qualcomm who came up with the plan, (with some help from Ericsson), and they have several different ways to do it. Whether you think it’s good or bad, let’s look over the different options.

By the way, most of these will likely be used in a small cell environment, usually inside a building or a stadium where the heaviest data usage happens. I would expect this to be used out on the street unless it’s like a city street with outside seating. This really covers the licensed band sharing the load with the unlicensed band. They will be working together. Now remember that the backhaul is still an issue, so if the Wi-Fi and the carrier share the backhaul then there is a new bottleneck that could constrain data. Just keep that in the back of your mind when reading this.

Wi-Fi offloading – this is how it is currently being done, basically you offload the data to the Wi-Fi if you have coverage. If you make a call or if there is no readily available Wi-Fi, then you use the carrier’s bands.

Wireless Unified Networks or Wi-Fi Integration – Think of Wi-Fi as it is now just working with LTE as a partner. Alcatel-Lucent calls this Wi-Fi boost and Cellular boost. Wi-Fi could provide the bulk of the downlink and the LTE carrier provides the bulk of the upload while providing little download to clean up the spectrum. This would require no change to Wi-Fi as we know it today. Pros are if the Wi-Fi is clean you can use all the bandwidth to carry data, for instance if you are in your home with no interference and the kids aren’t streaming video. The con is if you are competing for bandwidth or the backhaul stinks or if there is interference on the Wi-Fi, then there are issues. This works with your existing Wi-Fi, it’s just an upgrade the carrier has to do on their system and a software upgrade in your Smartphone. This would be up to the carrier to make the changes on their network, the way I understand it.

LWA – LTE & Wi-Fi Aggregation – so here is where it is the similar to the above but the LTE adds a carrier for download, hence the aggregation. This will need the carrier to upgrade the small cell but the bandwidth is increased even more to the device. This may require an upgrade to the Wi-Fi AP. LWA likes to have the Wi-Fi and LTE together, at this time, for synchronization purposes. This will change as evolution happens. I believe this would need to be a new or upgraded device for the end-user, (maybe a firmware upgrade will do it), I am not clear on this right now. Pros are that the speeds should be great and that the Wi-Fi can remain the same. Cons are that the UE needs to be upgraded or changed out. This is being trialed as we speak by carriers and OEMs.

LTE-U – LTE Unlicensed – This is going to work on its own or with LAA, so I thought I would give a brief overview. This works in the 5.8GHz unlicensed band. You know, where Wi-Fi resides. To be clear, it ain’t Wi-Fi but the LTE protocol that must learn to coexist with Wi-Fi. It is literally LTE transmitted in a license free band, probably in the 5.8GHz band in the USA. In theory, it could have 2 to 5 times the throughput of Wi-Fi along with better coverage. The Wi-Fi advocates are worried about interference, which I think is funny because Wi-Fi coverage and interference causing quality issues, so seriously, this is the argument? I know it has listen before talk, but anyone who worked on Wi-Fi and sees about 8 other hotspots in the same area has to realize that interference is there whether you admit it or not. Did you ever try to connect in a train station or airport? Look at all the hotspots on your smart phone and just think that they are all trying to coexist in that one area. To me the one company that I know of that made a great inroad in the problem is Ruckus with their smart antenna technology, pretty cool that they control the signal based on interference. Ruckus has more information here.

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LAA – Licensed Assisted Access works with LTE-U, LTE Unlicensed. This is all new equipment, so the investment is in hardware as well as software. Truly a Greenfield deployment, the way I see it anyway. The Wi-Fi access point would be replaced with the LTE-U access point, therefore no Wi-Fi, just LTE in unlicensed bands. This would require a new user device, (new chipset). There are also many issues with how it would co-exist with Wi-Fi. Ericsson has an entire presentation here. The theory is that with carrier aggregation the uplinks and downlinks would all work together in sharing the load. This way you appear to have an awesome pipe, so much data passing through multiple bands that all appear to be one pipe. WOW!

MuLTEfire – which is Qualcomm’s new offering where LTE could be completely unlicensed, but could also work with the licensed band, I really don’t know. It’s very new. Qualcomm is always thinking about how to make better wireless chips. They know they need to build in the WOW factor. I have to admit, I said wow! I see great possibilities with new bands that are lightly licensed because they could open up new markets for backhaul and other last mile services. Remember that 5G is moving ahead and will be here in 5 years or less, Probably arriving around 2020 in time for 5G.

At some point Qualcomm is going to have to pick one or two, but it appears they have all their bases covered, I mean how many more options will they create? Will they promote all of these? I have no idea but Dr Paul Jacobs at Qualcomm probably has a pretty good plan.

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I am no expert and this is something that takes some more research. I am learning so much about bringing it all together. The one thing that is really going to help is carrier aggregation. The carriers are trying to make the spectrum they have become more efficient. That is also the theory around densification, it has to add so much value and when spectrum costs billions, yes billions, then you need to figure out how to get the biggest bang for each Mega hertz.

So as you can imagine there are Wi-Fi groups who are not happy about this, I mean after all, Wi-Fi has been around forever and they are constantly updating the Wi-Fi protocol to make it faster and more efficient. I am impressed with how they constantly improve what they have. They have done all they could to make it better for the carriers. They probably worry that LTE-U may replace it. I would think that there is so much Wi-Fi out there that this probably won’t happen. The way I see it, if Verizon Wireless has their way they will be using LTE-U all over so they can improve the customer experience without buying any more bandwidth than they need to.

I hope that helps you figure out what is going on out there. This is moving ahead very quickly but the carriers will test it before releasing it. That doesn’t mean there won’t be bugs but they will make sure it doesn’t affect their systems. To gain more information go to http://blog.3g4g.co.uk/2014/07/la-lte-and-laa.html for great input on this subject. Nokia has more information. You can download Nokia’s presentation here. Another good link, http://www.fiercewireless.com/tech/story/4-standards-cooking-lte-unlicensed-fcc-tech-chief-asks-more-details-verizon/2015-08-05?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal.

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I am putting a small cell handbook together, it should be out soon. It will be geared towards deployment but a good reference overall. It will have most of what I post but also some extra notes is it. If your interested, feel free to sign up for my newsletter below.

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I am putting a small cell handbook together, it should be out soon. It will be geared towards deployment but a good reference overall. It will have most of what I post but also some extra notes is it. If your interested, feel free to sign up for my newsletter below.

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