"No-Edge Networks" and Multi-Stream Aggregation (MSA)

The following is from Huawei press release:


The LTE-Advanced Multi-Stream Aggregation (MSA) technology standard is capable of increasing data rates at the cell's edge. A key component of Huawei's "No-Edge Networks" concept, MSA technology coordinates macro cells to improve user data rates at the cell's edge and also between heterogeneous networking scenarios to improve peak rates and simplify mobile management to ensure a consistent user experience.

With the development of mobile broadband, operators are mostly concerned about user experience. With mobile coverage, should able to enjoy the same quality of services no matter where they are. However, with mobile communication systems, the most challenging issue is system performance at the cell's edge.

The concept behind Huawei's MSA technology is that the user is always able to receive downlink data and aggregate downlink data streams from a cell or cell group with the best signal quality. A similar method applies to uplink data, where the user always transmits uplink data to a cell or cell group with the best signal quality. The uplink data streams are aggregated on the network side.

Huawei's MSA technology reduces the number of handovers, lowering device power transmission and increasing device standby time. These advantages are in accordance with the concept of delivering a "borderless network" and "green" wireless communications. It's expected that MSA technology will improve system performance at the cell's edge by almost 30%.

MSA technology is especially suitable for macro-micro HetNets. In hotspot area, macro cells provide basic LTE coverage while the micro cells provides capacity enhancement. The use of MSA technology allows users to receive controlled signaling from macro cells and services from best quality HetNet cell. Users at any location within the network can then enjoy fast and stable data services with ultra broadband, zero waiting and ubiquitous connectivity. MSA technology brings users high speeds and high quality as well as a simple service experience.

The advanced MSA technology proposed by Huawei is set to become a key feature of the evolution to 3GPP LTE-Advanced standards. Huawei has contributed 293 core standards to the 3GPP LTE/LTE-Advanced standardization process, 20% of the global total and the most of any other company.

I wasnt able to find much information but there is this couple of slides that were submitted in Rel-12 workshop that is embedded below:

Views on Rel-12 and onwards for LTE and UMTS from Zahid Ghadialy

What do you think of this feature?

Tech Quotes we should know about - #TechQuotes

“My God, it's full of stars!” - David Bowman 2001: A Space Odyssey



Clarke's Three Laws:

Arthur C. Clarke formulated the following three "laws" of prediction:

• When a distinguished but  elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost  certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is  probably wrong.
• The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.
• Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

“Every revolutionary idea seems to evoke three stages of reaction. They may be summed up by the phrases:
1. It's completely impossible.
2. It's possible, but it's not worth doing.
3. I said it was a good idea all along.”
Arthur C Clarke

“Anyone who has lost track of time when using a computer knows the propensity to dream, the urge to make dreams come true and the tendency to miss lunch.” -  Tim Berners-Lee

“The future is already here.”

“It’s just not evenly distributed.”

William Gibson

“Computers make excellent and efficient servants, but I have no wish to serve under them.” - Spock, Star Trek

Technological progress is like an axe in the hands of a pathological criminal. - Albert Einstein 

If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it? - Albert Einstein 

"Nothing is withheld from us what we have conceived to do." - Russell Kirsch, inventor of the first internally programmable computer and process for displaying images digitally 

The best way to predict the future is to invent it.  -- Alan Kay

"Man is the lowest-cost, 150-pound, nonlinear, all-purpose computer system which can be mass-produced by unskilled labor." - NASA in 1965


“New technology is common, new thinking is rare.” - Sir Peter Blake



“The interface between man and machine … is more important than the power of the man or the power of the machine in determining overall capability.” — Shyam Sankar

Further Reading:

• Tech Laws we should all know about - 3G4G
• What are some of the best quotes on Technology? - Quora
• Finest Technology Quotes
• Quotes about Technology - TED
• 10 Educational Technology Quotes - TeachBytes

Please feel free to add more quotes sites via comments.

10 Billion out of 50 Billion - The Connected World

Remember the mantra of 50 Billion connected devices (blogged here and here) but 202x, apparently 10Billion are already here. The above slide is from a latest presentation by Chetan Sharma Consulting (embedded below). There are already 7 Billion mobile devices (phones + dongles) and 3 Billion others. The number of others will increase with M2M being the main focus and is touted as the next big thing, especially with LTE. 3GPP is focussing very heavily on standardising the MTC and is working on new features in upcoming releases.

Coming back to the topic of connected world, the presentation is embedded below and is a good read.

M-health and LTE

The last presentation from FWIC on m-Health was quite popular so I decided to add this new presentation from the LTE World Summit:

Robert istepanian kingston-university-masterclass_wed_zone-2 from ceobroadband

UK: Spectrum, Operators, Vendors and LTE

So LTE (or '4G') is about to be launched in the UK as announced yesterday. Its going to be branded as 4GEE.

Here is a summary of the Spectrum in the UK that will be used for LTE and would be auctioned by Ofcom.

Here is the current allocation of Spectrum in the UK

The above pics are from a presentation by Ofcom in LTE World Summit 2012 in Barcelona, available here.

The last table is from an Ofcom document here. Its very interesting read. For example I didnt know that The L-band was the first major part of Ofcom spectrum awards programme relevant to mobile services. It consists of 40MHz between 1452MHz and 1492MHz. The auction took place in May 2008, in which Qualcomm won the entirety of the available spectrum.

Here is the summary of the operators working on LTE:


Everything Everywhere (EE = Orange + T-Mobile) - They are calling their '4G' service as EE, covering up to 70% of the UK by the end of 2013. Network kit provided by Huawei.

Three - Samsung will provide the Radio Access Network, and the core infrastructure, for Three's LTE (4G) network. That includes the base stations, and radio core. 3 UK has agreed to purchase 2 x 15 MHz of 1800 MHz spectrum from Everything everywhere, and plans commercial launch of LTE service in 2013.

Telefonica (O2) trial network - Equipment supplied by Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) for both the Radio and Core network elements. Backhaul for the 4G trial network has been provided using Microwave Radio Equipment from Cambridge Broadband Networks Limited, NEC and Nokia Siemens Networks.

Updated 13/09/12 - 11:25

UK Broadband rolled out the first commercial TD-LTE network in London back in February (available to customers since May 2012). The equipment is provided by Huawei. They have 40MHz in Band 42 (3.5GHz) and 84MHz in band 43 (3.6GHz).

Vodafone - No news.


Anything else I missed?

New Carrier-Aggregation Proposed Bands

Carrier Aggregation (CA) the promised feature of LTE-A that will make it compatible to IMT-A is not fully exploited in Rel-10. There are only 2 bands supported for CA in Rel-10 and the same for Rel-11. The following are the bands for Rel-10

And the following for Rel-11

Unfortunately these are not enough for all the operators launching LTE/LTE-A. As a result there is currently a study on lots of other bands ongoing within 3GPP. Here is my understanding of the bands that would be needed and the region where they would be needed. Interested in knowing if there are other operators/regions where other bands need to be included.
 

Supporting M2M Services over LTE: Challenges & Solutions

A presentation from the LTE World Summit in 2012.

Spectral Efficiency Comparison

From the 4G Americas presentation

Qualcomm's 1000x Challenge

Qualcomm has been promoting the '1000x' challenge and has recently held a webinar to make everyone aware of how 1000 times efficiency may be achieved. I think there is always a scope of achieving a better efficiency but putting a figure may not necessarily give the desired results. Anyway, here are the slides.

The 1000x Mobile Data Challenge from Qualcomm Wireless Evolution

You can listen to the webinar here. The promotional video is available here.

A writeup on this topic by Steven Crowley is available here.

Data Consumed by Different Streaming Applications

Interesting table from the 4G Americas presentation about data consumption by different streaming apps. With LTE getting deployed and tablets becoming popular, I wont be surprised to see 1GB allowance consumed in couple of days. In a blog post on Verizon Wireless website earlier they had mentioned that 4GB data bucket will be minimum that is needed. In the end I think we may all stick with the trusted and reliable WiFi for thats fast and free!