`
`Qualcomm, Inc.
`
`
`
`
`Strategies to win in LTE and evolve to
`LTE Advanced
`
`
`
`
`
`'
`
`,
`
`~ , , , . . :
`. \\ . ,'
`..
`,,, . . .
`• ____ ::::ti'/ .
`,,' . \
`,,,',' \ .. :---........
`.. .....
`......
`.
`.--
`
`..........
`
`\\
`
`,'
`
`September 2013
`
`1
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`IPR2019-00129
`Qualcomm 2019, p. 1
`
`
`
`Disclaimer
`
`QUALCOMM is a registered trademark of QUALCOMM Incorporated in the United States and may be
`registered in other countries. Other product and brand names may be trademarks or registered
`trademarks of their respective owners. This technical data may be subject to U.S. and international
`export, re-export or transfer ("export") laws. Diversion contrary to U.S. and international law is strictly
`prohibited.
`
`Qualcomm Incorporated
`
`5775 Morehouse Drive
`
`San Diego, CA 92121
`
`U.S.A.
`
`©2013 Qualcomm Incorporated.
`
`All Rights Reserved.
`
`2
`
`IPR2019-00129
`Qualcomm 2019, p. 2
`
`
`
`Table of Contents
`
`3
`
`1 Executive summary ..................................................................................................................... 4
`2 The success factors of LTE ......................................................................................................... 4
`2.1
`Providing ubiquitous, un-interrupted data and voice experience .......................................... 4
`2.2
`Ability to address LTE band fragmentation and all smartphone tiers .................................... 5
`2.3
`Tight interworking between FDD and TDD ........................................................................... 5
`LTE Advanced is here! ................................................................................................................ 5
`3.1 Carrier aggregation and its evolution ................................................................................... 6
`3.2
`Advanced antenna techniques for higher spectral efficiency ................................................ 7
`3.3 HetNets – bringing more out of small cells ........................................................................... 7
`LTE Advanced evolution – Rel. 12 and beyond ........................................................................... 8
`4
`5 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................. 9
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`3
`
`IPR2019-00129
`Qualcomm 2019, p. 3
`
`
`
`1 Executive summary
`With the critical milestones of 100 Million connections1 reached and more than 200 networks deployed2, LTE is
`on a strong growth path. Then consider that large regions such as China and India are just getting started on
`LTE; it is even more evident that the technology has much more potential.
`
`From the technology and standards perspective, being a common global standard resulting in a common
`ecosystem, LTE has had a unifying effect and is lining up the whole industry behind one common goal.
`
`While LTE is still proliferating rapidly, industry leaders have already gotten a head start in LTE’s next step—
`LTE Advanced. The first step of LTE Advanced—carrier aggregation—was launched in June 2013, powered
`by third-generation Qualcomm GobiTM modems integrated into Qualcomm SnapdragonTM 800 chipsets. LTE
`Advanced is shaping up to be a pervasive technology with solutions that not only meet the ever-increasing
`data demand of traditional mobile broadband services, but also open up opportunities to transform new
`industries. Direct device-to-device proximity based services, addressing unconventional spectrum, are some
`such examples. This paper analyzes the success factors of LTE and the many dimensions that LTE Advanced
`is poised to explore.
`
`Qualcomm, being an industry leader, is at the forefront of LTE evolution, not only envisioning the impossible,
`but also inventing, developing and commercializing technologies that bring our vision to fruition. Our quest to
`develop solutions to increase the data capacity of today’s networks by 1000-times (what we call the “1000x
`mobile data challenge”), and being first to commercialize LTE/3G multimode and now LTE Advanced (carrier
`aggregation) are vivid and recent proof-points of such thought leadership.
`
`2 The success factors of LTE
`The global success of LTE is the result of a well thought-out, methodical approach to a complex challenge.
`Although, most of the initial LTE deployments were in developed regions using paired spectrum (LTE FDD),
`the success factors and the valuable lessons are universal and can be applied to emerging regions such as
`China and others, as well as to unpaired spectrum deployments (LTE TDD). In this section we will explore
`some of the important success factors.
`
`2.1 Providing ubiquitous, un-interrupted data and voice experience
`As with any new technology and a new network, the initial LTE deployment focus is going to be in high-traffic
`areas such as urban centers, with suburban and rural areas coming later. But, mobile device users like to use
`their phones everywhere, and they expect the same and consistent experience all the time. To offer such
`seamless experiences, LTE/3G multimode devices that enable tighter interworking with 3G for data/voice and
`with 2G for voice are of paramount importance. Voice is gradually evolving to packet-switched VoLTE (Voice
`over LTE), but during the transition, LTE will still rely on 3G/2G voice through a feature called Circuit-Switched
`Fall Back (or through an option that requires dual-radios, one exclusively used for 3G/2G voice). With LTE
`brand fragmentation, 3G will also remain as the means for global roaming for LTE devices.
`
`
`1LTE/3G connections reached 100 Million in May 2013, source – Wireless Intelligence; 2 as of Aug, 2013, source www.gsacom.com
`
`4
`
`IPR2019-00129
`Qualcomm 2019, p. 4
`
`
`
`Qualcomm was the first in the world to introduce LTE/3G multimode modems back in 2010, and the first to
`implement CSFB and to test VoLTE with SRVCC (Single Radio Voice Call Continuity, required for handoff from
`VoLTE to 3G/2G).
`
`2.2 Ability to address LTE band fragmentation and all smartphone tiers
`As evident, global LTE deployments are spread across many bands, including paired and unpaired spectrum,
`in additional to many bands that 3G/2G technologies are deployed. All of this amounts to a situation where
`there may be a requirement to support 40 more bands. This indeed is a formidable hurdle for device makers
`hoping to leverage their devices across global LTE networks.
`
`Envisioning this challenge early on, Qualcomm has been diligently working on the solution. In April 2013, we
`introduced a unique solution that we call Qualcomm RF360TM, which realizes the dream of a single SKU LTE
`world phone. Qualcomm RF360 will enable vendors to bring their devices to the global market quickly and
`cost-effectively.
`
`Undoubtedly, smartphones define the present and the foreseeable future of mobile broadband networks. It
`would not be an overstatement to say that having an extensive smartphone deployment plan is as important as
`the LTE deployment itself. The faster the operators and vendors can bring their smartphones, tablets and other
`mobile computing devices to more users, the closer they are to success. This, in turn, means the ability to offer
`a range of devices in all the product segments—extremely high-end, to high-volume tiers—while still providing
`an excellent user experience across the board is key. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon family of chipsets with
`integrated Qualcomm’s Gobi LTE/3G modems is designed to do exactly that—from Qualcomm Snapdragon
`800 in the premium-tier to Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 in the high-volume tier.
`
`2.3 Tight interworking between FDD and TDD
`LTE is a common global standard with a common global ecosystem. It has two modes—FDD and TDD—
`addressing paired and unpaired spectrum bands respectively. The initial decision between the two is purely
`based on spectrum availability. However, in the future we believe that most of the operators will have both the
`networks to leverage all the spectrum resources they have.
`
`A common LTE standard also means there is inherent FDD/TDD interworking support. Since there are already
`operators with both FDD and TDD networks, interworking is more of a requirement than an option. LTE
`FDD/TDD interworking is going to expand and become even tighter as carrier aggregation evolves.
`
`Another important aspect is the ability to utilize the same devices for both FDD and TDD networks.
`Qualcomm’s Gobi modems support both FDD and TDD on the same chip and fully support seamless
`interworking from the first generation itself.
`
`3 LTE Advanced is here!
`LTE Advanced is the next milestone in the evolution of LTE, starting from 3GPP Rel. 10, as shown in
`Fig. 3.1
`
`
`
`5
`
`IPR2019-00129
`Qualcomm 2019, p. 5
`
`
`
`t-Ut.:· and I Ut.:·
`~upp:,r1
`
`Ret-8
`
`En ~31lcr.<I •J()C£o l'II IXl•~k
`{CSFB}. V::LTE LTE Broadcaot
`(ti\.lRU~)
`
`Corricr At;,g1c;;m1ion. rolo;,~.
`Ht1IN11b: :dCIC,+IC:, /\ :J•1
`Mlr.tO
`
`P.e311ze:: fl.Ill ::enell!t. or
`H1:1New ielCIC/IC)
`
`Ll t. U fP.<:I, Hel~ lS
`cnhon::cmcnts. Mu16fbw. WiF
`i111.t!f'A'Utti11y
`
`LTE
`
`LTE Advanced
`
`ReMO
`
`Rel-12 & Beyond
`
`1
`
`2
`
`Peak rates for 10 MHz or 20 MHz FDD using 2x2 MIMO, standard supports 4x4 MIMO enabling peak rates of 300 Mbps.;
`and 100MHz of spectrum. Similarly, the uplink can reach 1.5Gbps with 4x4 MIMO.
`
`
`Fig. 3.1: Strong LTE evolution
`
`
`
`Peak data rate can exceed 1 Gbps using 4x4 MIMO and at least 80 MHz of spectrum (carrier aggregation), or 3GBps with 8x8 MIMO
`
`
`
`True to its name, LTE Advanced incorporates multiple dimensions of enhancements which can be grouped
`into three major categories:
`
`1) Carrier aggregation to leverage more spectrum
`2) Advanced antenna techniques to increase spectral efficiency
`3) HetNets to bring most benefit out of small cells
`
`
`
`Although, each of these enhancements has its role to play to increase capacity and improve the user
`experience, the most gain comes from optimizing HetNets.
`
`The first step of LTE Advanced—carrier aggregation—was commercially launched in June 2013. It was
`powered by third-generation Qualcomm Gobi modems, integrated into Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 solutions.
`
`3.1 Carrier aggregation and its evolution
`Carrier aggregation, as the name suggests, combines multiple carriers (a.k.a. channels) at the device to
`provide a bigger data pipe to the user. A bigger data pipe means higher data rates, both peak data rates (as
`high as over 1 Gbps) and, more importantly, higher user date rates across the cell coverage area. The higher
`data rates can be traded off to get increased capacity for bursty applications such as browsing, social media
`apps, smartphone usage and more.
`
`•r Carrier 1
`
`',-······•·-.
`• L Carrier2
`• f Carrier3
`
`As a first step, the commercial launch supported aggregation of two 10
`MHz carriers, enabling a 150 Mbps peak data rate (Cat 4 terminals).
`This also doubles the user data rates across the cell, whether the user
`is close to the cell or at the cell edge. As mentioned before, this higher
`data rate can also be traded off to provide twice (or more) the capacity
`for bursty apps, under typical loading conditions.
`
`AGGREGATED
`OATA PIPI:
`
`•
`
`( Can-icr4
`
`.
`
`•
`
`Carrier aggregation continues to evolve to utilize all spectrum resources
`that operators have access to. There could be aggregation across more
`carriers (up to five defined in LTE Advanced) and more band combinations
`(more than 45 being defined in 3GPP). There will be many different types
`
`
`
`i Carriers
`'-·---------
`
`Fig. 3.2: LTE Advanced supports carrier aggregation of
`up to 5 carriers (100 MHz)
`
`6
`
`IPR2019-00129
`Qualcomm 2019, p. 6
`
`
`
`of aggregation: SDL - aggregating paired and unpaired spectrum; MultiFlow – aggregation across cells on the
`same carrier; aggregation across LTE FDD and TDD; uplink aggregation and many more. It is safe to say that
`the current aggregation across two 10 MHz carriers is only the beginning.
`
`3.2 Advanced antenna techniques for higher spectral efficiency
`A popular axiom is “the more antennas, the better it is.” But the challenge is to fit all of those antennas for all
`the technologies, in a small device form factor. We believe that the natural next step from today’s commercial
`2x2 MIMO configuration is to go to four antennas, specifically, four-way receive diversity, and probably 4x4
`MIMO thereafter. Four-way receive diversity provides most of the gains that can be achieved with four
`antennas. What makes four-way receive diversity worthwhile is that it’s a device-only feature that does not
`require any standard change or change in network infrastructure. This makes it much easier for operators to
`deploy and reap the benefits. Of course, the capacity gains scale with the penetration of such devices in the
`system.
`Another interesting technique called CoMP (Coordinated MultiPoint) is also available for fiber installations with
`a centralized processing and scheduling facility. What CoMP essentially does is to coordinate the scheduling
`and transmission of resources between various cells (or Remote Radio Heads) so that the interference is
`minimized, thereby increasing capacity and improving the user experience. Since all the processing and
`scheduling is centralized, it indeed needs low-latency fiber connections between the processing/scheduling
`facility and the cells
`
`3.3 HetNets – bringing more out of small cells
`As mentioned before, optimizing HetNets is the most important component of LTE Advanced. It is becoming
`increasingly more evident to most of the industry; small cells are the future—all different kinds, shapes, and
`technologies—deployed everywhere, wherever people and machines use broadband. Small cells are simply a
`convenient way to add capacity wherever and whenever needed.
`
`Adding small cells to the network seems like a simple thing to do. But each cell added has a profound effect on
`the overall network, both with the increased capacity it brings as well as the interference it generates. This
`effect is even larger when you consider the hyper-dense small networks being envisaged for the future.
`
`LTE Advanced brings a robust suit of interference management tools to address the interference; resulting in
`what we call “Range Expansion.” Range Expansion is essentially a way to extend the reach of small cells so
`that they cover more and more users in their vicinity. It is critical for two equally important reasons: 1) you can
`offload more users from macro network; 2) users who can be better served by small cells (than the macro) are
`being connected to them.
`
`Consequently, both of these actions increase the data rates that users can get, thereby improving their
`experience as well as increasing overall network capacity. Range Expansion can double the capacity of
`HetNets without any additional spectrum or infrastructure.
`
`
`
`7
`
`IPR2019-00129
`Qualcomm 2019, p. 7
`
`
`
`------ ....... _
`---
`......
`
`--
`
`·-. ·-·--... ____ _
`-. . . • . . . . . •
`
`Range Expansion is enabled by two key features—
`eICIC (enhanced Inter Cell Interference
`Coordination)3 from the network side, and IC
`(Interference Cancellation) from the device side. The
`former is, essentially, cells coordinating resources
`among them to minimize interference and the latter
`is devices with advanced receivers cancelling
`overhead/signaling channels to minimize
`interference. Together these two make sure that
`every added cell brings in more capacity, while
`minimizing interference. In essence, LTE Advanced
`ensures that the overall network capacity scales with
`the densification of small cells, as shown in Fig. 3.3
`
`Qualcomm has an established leadership in the HetNets space. We envisioned the key role that HetNets will
`play in the future of wireless and have been steadfastly developing, prototyping and demonstrating innovative
`technologies since 2011, the time when the industry was still buzzing around the promise of 1 Gbps peak rates
`that LTE Advanced imparts. We have used our state-of-art over-the-air LTE Advanced small cell network in our
`San Diego campus to show the benefits of HetNets at many global events through live demonstrations.
`Qualcomm is also a main contributor to the LTE Advanced standards and, of course, as evidenced many
`times, is usually the first to bring these technologies to commercial reality
`
`, ,
`
`, , , , , , , , ,
`
`-37X
`
`+4
`Small
`c.,.11.
`
`+8
`Small
`r.-llft
`
`+16
`Small
`r.-u.
`
`+32
`Small
`('".-11.
`
`+2 Spectrum
`
`Fig. 3.3: LTE Advanced ensures capacity that scales with small cell densification
`
`4 LTE Advanced evolution – Rel. 12 and beyond
`LTE Advanced is continuing to evolve. From a standards perspective, LTE Advanced starts from 3GPP Rel. 10
`and extends beyond. Rel. 12. The first phase of Rel. 12 is already complete and the second phase is in full
`swing and expected to be completed by end of 2013. The evolution includes on many organic, evolutionary
`components as well as revolutionary approaches that transform industries that LTE hasn’t touched yet.
`
`The focus is on further improving the performance of HetNets, enhancements to address the burgeoning
`machine-to-machine market, as well as seamless interworking between 3G/4G and Wi-Fi.
`
`Above all, LTE technology is poised to extend its influence into many new horizons beyond mobile broadband,
`be it new industries, new applications/services or new, unexplored spectrum bands. LTE technology is
`versatile and robust enough to morph itself to suit the needs of these areas, while still maintaining its basic
`tenets of high efficiency and excellent user experience. Early indicative examples of such upcoming
`transformations are LTE Direct, a new proximity-based device-to-device technology, and LTE Broadcast
`enhancements for more efficient mass media distribution.
`
`
`
`8
`
`IPR2019-00129
`Qualcomm 2019, p. 8
`
`
`
`So, LTE Advanced is not a mere collection of 3GPP releases, but a well-planned technology evolution that will
`continue to play a pivotal role in the future of wireless for years to come.
`
`5 Conclusion
`LTE’s successful run and its growth continue unabated. There are clear trends emerging on what it takes to be
`successful in LTE, based on the deployments so far—interworking with 3G/2G for seamless user experience;
`ability to address the LTE brand fragmentation; developing a robust smartphone strategy to reaching all
`segments—seem to be some of the most important ones. Although the initial LTE deployments are in the
`developed regions using paired spectrum (FDD), the learnings seem to be universal and applicable to
`emerging regions and unpaired (TDD) deployments as well.
`
`On the heels of a successful LTE launch, LTE Advanced is making its foray. Its first step—carrier
`aggregation—was launched in Jun 2013 using Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets, integrated with third-
`generation Qualcomm Gobi LTE modems. Apart from carrier aggregation, which helps to leverage wider
`bandwidths, LTE Advanced brings multiple dimensions of improvements, including advanced techniques, and
`HetNet optimizations that bring the most out of small cells. LTE Advanced continues to evolve, ensuring that it
`is a preferred wireless technology for years to come.
`
`Qualcomm is the leader in LTE and LTE Advanced on multiple fronts. Right from the beginning with the
`Qualcomm Gobi world-first LTE/3G multimode modems to the most recent carrier aggregation support. The
`Qualcomm RF360 solution enables vendors to address LTE band fragmentation and makes a single-SKU
`global-LTE phone possible. Qualcomm is a main contributor to LTE Advanced standards and has developed,
`prototyped and demonstrated many HetNet optimizations at global events. To sum it up, building on our
`heritage, Qualcomm is in the forefront of LTE development, with a clear vision, robust roadmap and a proven
`track record.
`
`To get most updated information about LTE Advanced, please visit www.qualcomm.com/lte_advanced
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`9
`
`IPR2019-00129
`Qualcomm 2019, p. 9
`
`