HSPA, LTE and beyond The online multimedia world made possible by mobile broadband has changed people s perceptions of data speeds and network service quality. Regardless of where they are, consumers no longer accept slow speeds as they send and receive email, music or video clips on their laptops and mobile devices. From the network operator and service provider perspective, speed isn t the only issue more network capacity is needed to handle the growth in mobile traffic from both business and private users. To address these issues, Ericsson has led the development of High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), a standardized evolution of Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), a world leading mobile standard. Ericsson is also at the forefront of Long Term Evolution (LTE), which delivers even higher broadband speeds. With current commercial download speeds up to 42Mbps and upload speeds of 5.8Mbps, HSPA offers users fixed broadband speeds from their notebooks, smartphones and other devices anywhere there is coverage. People can experience a rich combination of voice, text, audio, photo and video content wherever they go. The coming years will see these data rates increase substantially and operators will be able to double their system capacity while reducing latency delays for interactive services. LTE, the next generation of mobile communication technology, enables the high-speed transfer of huge amounts of data in an efficient and cost-effective way, optimizing the use of the radio spectrum. With increased speed and decreased latency, consumers can enjoy the latest online services such as real-time-web, on-line gaming, social media collaboration and video conferencing on the go. For example, LTE was used mobile TV teams in June 2010 during live TV coverage of the Royal wedding in Sweden. LTE will meet the demands of new and enhanced Internet applications of the future. Just as LTE is the next step in the evolution of mobile networks, Evolved Packet Core (EPC) is the parallel evolution of packet core networks. One of the key highlights of EPC is its ability to handle multiple access technologies. Thus, it provides a smoother migration for the operators and selected sites can use LTE access while the rest of the network remains on 2G/3G access. Combined with HSPA and LTE access networks, Evolved Packet Core provides users with true broadband access, to a wide variety of applications while significantly reducing the cost of ownership for operators. Mobile Broadband brings people closer together and gives them more flexibility and control over their daily working and private lives. Mobile applications in areas such as healthcare, public safety, travel and transport, utilities and manufacturing, are of increasing importance. HSPA going strong HSPA is a huge success. There are currently more than 380 commercially deployed HSPA networks, serving subscribers in over 155 countries worldwide (January 2011). What s more, a burgeoning ecosystem of mobile broadband devices and services has emerged around the technology. For example, there are about 2800 HSPA-enabled devices launched on the market including feature phones, smartphones, notebooks, PC modems, touch pads and wireless routers.
Ericsson predicts that out of the estimated 3.8 billion people who will have broadband access by 2015, more than 80% will be mobile broadband subscribers. According to the Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA), as of November 2010 more than 99 percent of the world s WCDMA operators had deployed HSPA on their networks. Migration to HSPA Evolution was a major trend during 2010, with more than one in five HSPA operators commercially launching HSPA Evolution networks. Experience from several countries has shown that adoption rates soar as soon as mobile broadband is available below a US$30 price point for unlimited monthly usage. Ericsson supplies Radio Access Network equipment to close to half of all operators, which have commercially launched HSPA to date. Consistent with Ericsson s tradition of supplying future-proof products based on cutting-edge technology, Ericsson s upgrade to HSPA was done with only a software upgrade of its existing WCDMA radio base stations (RBSs). HSPA provides mobile broadband capacity and coverage using the same resources in the base stations that are also used for voice and other services. This enables operators to provide simultaneous voice, video and data services and shared channel high-speed data services (multi-services) over the same carrier thanks to two- to three-fold increase in system data capacity. The next phase of the HSPA Evolution will bring end-user data rates up to 168Mbps and higher in the downlink. This is made possible through the transmission of multiple parallel data streams to a single terminal using a technique called Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO), combined with higher-order modulation and multi carrier techniques. 2x2 MIMO doubles the potential downlink data rate using multiple transmit and receive channels and antennas to improve performance and throughput. Separately, using multi-carrier technology, data rates of up to 168Mbps and even higher can be achieved on the HSPA downlink by combining WCDMA frequency carriers. Multi-carrier technology enables consumers to receive data simultaneously on two, three or more frequency channels. This increases the user data rate in the coverage area of an HSPA network and also on the cell edge, where consumers normally experience lower data rates. Furthermore, on the HSPA uplink, the introduction of 16QAM modulation, MIMO and multi carrier technology can provide data rates of up to 24Mbps and even higher.
Long Term Evolution and beyond The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standard initiative, LTE, improves the user experience even more. It offers the performance needed for the latest Internet applications on the go such as real-time-web, on-line-gaming, social media collaboration, video conferencing. LTE will meet the demands of new and enhanced Internet applications of the future. The specification work on LTE was completed in March 2009 as the SAE (System Architecture Evolution) specifications were included. Implementation based on the March 2009 baseline will guarantee backwards compatibility. LTE provides a clear evolution path to meet future demands for a system that supports different spectrum allocations. It provides smooth migration for GSM and WCDMA based as well as CDMA based technologies and other radio spectrum (including TV bands) for use in future mobile communication networks. The standard is specified for data rates of at least 100Mbps (for terminals that are class 3 on a 20 MHz bandwidth) in the downlink and latency below 10ms. During 2008, Ericsson demonstrated LTE at data rates of 160Mbps. Commercial roll-outs of LTE started globally during 2009. Operators gain deployment flexibility and simplicity from LTE. It offers a choice of carrier bandwidths from 1.4MHz to 20MHz and supports both Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) and Time Division Duplex (TDD) access. All of the commercial LTE deployments so far (Jan 2011) have been FDD based. During 2011, we will see also commercial deployments of TDD based LTE networks. The same LTE technology is used for both FDD and TDD meaning global economies of scale are possible from a device and infrastructure perspective. A large number of paired and unpaired spectrum bands have been identified by 3GPP for LTE and there are more to come. This means that an operator may introduce LTE in new bands where it is most suitable to deploy 10MHz or 20MHz carriers, and eventually deploy LTE in all bands. LTE radio network products will have a number of features that simplify the roll-out and management of next-generation networks known as Self-Organizing networks. For example, features like self-configuration and self-optimization will simplify and reduce the cost of network roll-out and management. The LTE radio access network will be deployed in parallel with IP-based core and transport networks that are easy to build, maintain and introduce services on. In addition to mobile phones, many computer and consumer electronic devices, such as notebooks, touch pads, ultra-portables, routers, gaming devices and cameras, will incorporate LTE embedded modules. Since LTE supports hand-over and roaming to existing mobile networks, all these devices can have ubiquitous mobile broadband coverage from day one. In summary, operators can introduce LTE with the flexibility to match their existing network, spectrum and business objectives for mobile broadband and multimedia services. Looking beyond LTE, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) defines IMT- Advanced as network technology with throughput of 100Mbps for wide area/mobile use and 1Gbps for hotspot. Ericsson has been demonstrating the next step of LTE at the MWC 2010 with speeds up to 1.2Gbps.
End 2010, ITU announced that the next step of LTE (according to 3GPP Release 10) also known as LTE-Advanced should be accorded the official designation of IMT-Advanced. Ericsson continues to pioneer wireless technology and is leading the development of LTE. Together with NTT DoCoMo, Ericsson initiated LTE standardization at the international standardization body 3GPP in 2004, and has made the largest amount of approved contributions to the group. Ericsson also expects to hold 25 percent of all essential patents for LTE, making it the largest patent holder in the industry. Evolved Packet Core for Multi Access Evolved Packet Core is a flat and efficient, IP-based core network architecture that supports all types of network access and provides device and service mobility across all networks. In the simplified, flat architecture there are only two node types in the traffic plane base stations and packet gateways. This makes it inherently more efficient, bringing higher throughput and reducing delays. This architecture is designed to optimize network performance, improve cost efficiency and facilitate the uptake of mass-market, IP-based services. Ericsson offers a complete EPC portfolio with all the features needed by operators that plan to implement LTE access based on the 3GPP R8/9 specifications. The same EPC nodes can be used also for GSM, WCDMA, CDMA and wireline. This streamlines the operations and enables a smooth migration, introducing LTE on selected sites and relying on GSM/WCDMA or CDMA for nationwide coverage during a transitional period. All with a minimum of traffic disturbances. OPEX reduction has been a key consideration for the design and development of the EPC. The result is fast and easy installation, hassle-free integration and deployment with a minimum of preparation and manual interaction. A common EPC network also enables the consolidation of centralized functions such as authentication, security, traffic inspection and policy control and charging. Ericsson has pioneered the introduction of all packet core technology and has a solid leadership position in the packet core arena with a market share exceeding 40%. We have an unparalleled experience from the deployment and operations of commercial LTE/EPC networks. Today, 6 commercial live networks rely on our EPC solutions to generate revenue from new and compelling multimedia services.
Ericsson is the world s leading provider of technology and services to telecom operators. Ericsson is the leader in 2G, 3G and 4G mobile technologies, and provides support for networks with over 2 billion subscribers and has the leading position in managed services. The company s portfolio comprises mobile and fixed network infrastructure, telecom services, software, broadband and multimedia solutions for operators, enterprises and the media industry. The Sony Ericsson and ST-Ericsson joint ventures provide consumers with featurerich personal mobile devices. Ericsson is advancing its vision of being the prime driver in an all-communicating world through innovation, technology, and sustainable business solutions. Working in 175 countries, more than 90,000 employees generated revenue of SEK 203.3 billion (USD 28.2 billion) in 2010. Founded in 1876 with the headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden, Ericsson is listed on NASDAQ OMX, Stockholm and NASDAQ New York. www.ericsson.com www.twitter.com/ericssonpress www.facebook.com/technologyforgood www.youtube.com/ericssonpress FOR FURTHER, PLEASE CONTACT Ericsson Corporate Public & Media Relations Phone: +46 10 719 69 92 E-mail: media.relations@ericsson.com Ericsson Investor Relations Phone: +46 10 719 00 00 E-mail: investor.relations@ericsson.com