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Advancements in LTE Set the Foundation for 5G

4G Americas Report Details 3GPP Release 12 & 13 Standards

June 30, 2015 3:49 PM EDT

BELLEVUE, WA -- (Marketwired) -- 06/30/15 -- With more than 635 million LTE connections worldwide, and a global growth rate of 150 percent as of the first quarter of 2015, LTE mobile broadband technology will offer a lot of growth in the coming decade and set the stage for the forthcoming '5G' technology standards development. 4G Americas, a wireless industry trade association representing 3GPP mobile broadband technologies, today published a comprehensive report, Mobile Broadband Evolution Towards 5G: 3GPP Rel-12 & Rel-13 and Beyond, on the latest updates in 3GPP Release 12 (Rel-12) standards as well as the introduction of new features in Release 13 (Rel-13) that indicate the extent of technological developments that will accompany the phenomenal growth currently underway for the 425 commercial LTE networks in 145 countries worldwide.

"There is a tremendous future ahead for LTE mobile broadband technology as detailed in the 3GPP standards in Releases 12 and 13 and beyond," stated Jim Seymour, Principal Engineer at Cisco and co-leader of the working group that authored the 3GPP report. "Both HSPA+ and LTE will be the predominant technologies well beyond the next ten years as operators around the world continue their investments in building a strong foundation through to the next or 5th mobile broadband generation currently being considered as IMT-2020 by the ITU."

The white paper contains a full update on the Rel-12 standards which were finalized in December 2014 and the many features for both LTE-Advanced and HSPA+ that brings greater efficiency for networks and devices, as well as enables newer services.

"3GPP continues its outstanding work in preparing network architecture and features for the unceasing data demand," commented Teck Hu, Senior Standards Manager at Alcatel-Lucent and co-leader of the 4G Americas working group that produced the white paper. "Release 13 is in the unique position of being the Release prior to Release 14 where it is expected that the first set of features addressing IMT-2020 requirements towards 5G will be considered."

Standardization work on Rel-13 was initiated in June 2014 with some early approval of higher priority items. With work ongoing at this time, finalization is expected by early 2016. The report offers a comprehensive overview of the status of standardization in Rel-13 technology features such as:

LTE-Advanced:

  • Active Antenna Systems (AAS) and Self-Optimizing Networks (SON) for AAS
  • Elevation Beamforming (EBF) and Full Dimension (FD) Multi-Input Multi-Output (MIMO)
  • Enhanced signaling for Inter-eNB Coordinated Multi-Point (CoMP)
  • LTE physical layer for Machine Type Communication (MTC)
  • Indoor positioning
  • Licensed Assisted Access (LAA) using LTE
  • Downlink Multi-User Superposition Transmission (MUST)
  • LTE Device-To-Device (D2D) Proximity Service (ProSe) enhancements
  • Dual connectivity enhancements
  • LTE-Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) radio level integration and interworking
  • Radio Access Network (RAN) for extended Discontinuous Reception (DRX)

Network Services:

  • IP Flow Mobility (IFOM) support for S2a And S2b interfaces
  • User Plane Congestion Management (UPCON)
  • Public safety enhancements
  • MTC enhancements (Monitoring Enhancement (MONTE), Dedicated Core Network (DECOR), etc.)
  • Enhancements to Web Real-Time Communication (WebRTC) Interoperability (eWebRTCi)
  • Support of Enhanced Voice Services (EVS) in 3G circuit switched networks
  • Enhanced Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH)
  • Application Specific Congestion Control for Data Communication (ACDC)

Mobile Broadband Evolution Towards 5G: 3GPP Rel-12 & Rel-13 and Beyond, was written collaboratively by members of 4G Americas and is available for free download at: www.4gamericas.org. The white paper offers a primer on the 3GPP standardization work in addition to commercial milestones of HSPA+, LTE and LTE-Advanced.

About 4G Americas: Unifying the Americas through Mobile Broadband Technology

4G Americas is an industry trade organization composed of leading telecommunications service providers and manufacturers. The organization's mission is to advocate for and foster the advancement and full capabilities of the 3GPP family of mobile broadband technologies, including LTE-Advanced and beyond to 5G, throughout the ecosystem's networks, services, applications and wirelessly connected devices in the Americas. 4G Americas contributes to the success of 3GPP technologies and their No. 1 place in the region. 4G Americas is headquartered in Bellevue, Wash. More information is available at www.4gamericas.org or www.twitter.com/4gamericas and www.facebook.com/4gamericas.

4G Americas' Board of Governors members include: Alcatel-Lucent, América Móvil, AT&T, Cable & Wireless, Cisco, CommScope, Entel, Ericsson, HP, Intel, Mavenir, Nokia, Qualcomm, Sprint, T-Mobile US, Inc. and Telefónica.

   Contact: Vicki Livingston 4G Americas  +1 239 732 [email protected]

Source: 4G Americas



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