Oct 14, 2015
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February 2013
Whitepaper onSpectrum
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Contents
Introduction ....................................................................... 1
Executive summary ............................................................. 2
List of abbreviations ........................................................... 3
1. Background .................................................................... 5
1.1 Economic benets of IMT .....................................................................................................5
1.2 Importance of coordinating framework ...........................................................................5
2. The need for spectrum ................................................... 6
2.1 Spectrum requirement ...........................................................................................................6
2.2 Service development prediction ..........................................................................................7
2.3 Spectrum prediction and gap............................................................................................... 9
2.3.1 Administrators ................................................................................................................. 9
2.3.2 Operators ......................................................................................................................... 9
2.4 Conclusion ...............................................................................................................................11
3. Spectrum map .............................................................. 12
3.1 Existing spectrum............................................................................................................12
3.2 Future outlook..................................................................................................................14
3.2.1 Analysis on additional frequency bands...............................................................14
3.2.2 Views on additional frequency bands...................................................................16
3.2.3 Detailed band-by-band analysis and position......................................................16
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4. Spectrum utilization & harmonization ........................... 24
4.1 Global spectrum for small cell.................................................................................... 24
4.2 SDL (supplemental downlink)..................................................................................... 25
4.3 LTE carrier aggregation................................................................................................ 26
4.3.1 CA with same mode................................................................................................26
4.3.2 CA with mixed mode............................................................................................... 28
4.3.3 Conclusion for CA....................................................................................................29
4.4 LTE roaming ...............................................................................................30
5. TDD spectrum application ............................................ 325.1 TDD spectrum.................................................................................................................. 32
5.2 TDD synchronization..................................................................................................... 34
6. Annex ........................................................................... 36
6.1 Coordinating framework.............................................................................................. 36
7. References .................................................................... 40
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1
Why Spectrum Matters
Society benets from connecting devices over the air at radio frequency spectrum. The
mobile industry is increasing rapidly, and this is having a direct benet on peoples lives
and on economic development. Spectrum is a scarce non-renewable resource that is
the basis of a mobile communication network. With the arrival of the mobile internet,
the requirement for spectrum is increasing exponentially. How to manage spectrum
responsibly, how to allocate spectrum efciently and rationally and how to improvespectrum utilization are critical questions for government, regulator, operators and
manufacturers.
About this Whitepaper
Governments need to raise broadband to the top of the development agenda, so that
rollout is accelerated and the benefts are brought to as many people as possible
----ITU Secretary General, Hamadoun Toure
This Whitepaper contains the considerations of Huawei on the spectrum for mobilecommunication. Capacity demands on mobile wireless networks are increasing at an
explosive rate, which has led to the demand for spectrum increasing rapidly as well. A
prediction of the necessary spectrum in 2020 based on these requirements, as well as
the suggested spectrum for WRC-15, is provided in the rst part of this paper.
In the following part, the existing operating bands being studied by 3GPP, and
spectrum for IMT that could possibly be allocated in the future, are summarized
and analyzed to give a full picture of the spectrum available, or that could be made
available, for the mobile wireless industry. Specific spectrum suggested for WRC-
15 includes parts of 470-694 MHz, 694-790 MHz, parts of L band, the band around
2GHz, parts of 3600-4200MHz and 4400-4990MHz.
Besides acquiring new spectrum for IMT, the efficient use of existing spectrum
is another way to promote the development of the wireless industry. Small cell
deployments and the allocation of appropriate high-frequency spectrum for hotspot
applications, supplementary downlink spectrum, carrier aggregation and LTE roaming
bands as methods to utilize spectrum better are analysed in Section 3.
The nal subject we emphasize in the Whitepaper is TDD spectrum. Flexible utilization
of fragmented spectrum is one advantage of using TDD. Synchronization among
different operators is a key issue for TDD systems that is also analysed in the paper.
Introduction
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Identify at least 500MHz (in the 400MHz 6GHz range) at WRC-15
Targeting global harmonization to the benet of economies of scale
Targeting assignments of at least 100MHcontiguous bandwidth for IMT
Driven by the well recognized socio-economic value of the mobile broadband
application
Administrations need to take efforts in reducing the time that is currently
separating the ITU-R identication from the actual spectrum assignments atnational level
3.5GHz(3400-3600) as one of the important bands of global spectrum for
small cell enhancement
Spectrum efciently utilized:
based on CA solution, and mixed TDD+FDD CA as one of future trends
Candidate bands combination for LTE FDD terminal roaming at least include
1800MHz, E850MHz, APT700MHz and US 700MHz
Inter-operators network synchronization based on over-the-air solution
proposed for TDD networks
Executive Summary
Possible candidate band for IMT under WRC-15 Agenda Item 1.1
Description SpectrumIncumbent
userWRC-15 target
Low candidatebands (
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List of abbreviations
Abbreviations Full spelling
3GPP 3rd Generation Partnership Project
APT Asia Pacic Telecommunity
ARNS Aeronautical Radio Navigation Service
ASMG Arab Spectrum Management Group
ATU African Telecommunications Union
BSS Base Station Subsystem
BWA Broadband Wireless Access
CA Carrier Aggregation
CEPTEuropean Conference of Postal and TelecommunicationsAdministrations
CITEL Inter-American Telecommunications Commission
CJK China Japan Korea
CR Cognitive Radio
D2D Device-to-Device
DAB Digital Audio Broadcasting
DAS Distributed Antenna System
DCS Digital Cellular System
eMBMS enhanced Multimedia Broadcast/Multicast Service
EVM Error Vector Magnitude
FCC Federal Communications Commission
FDD Frequency Division Duplexing
FSS Fixed Satellite Service
GPS Global Positioning System
GSM Global System for Mobile communications
IMT International Mobile Telecommunications
ITU International Telecommunication Union
ITU-RInternational Telecommunication UnionRadiocommunication Sector
LTE Long Term Evolution
LTE-Hi LTE Hotspot & Indoor Enhancement
M2M Machine-to-Machine
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Abbreviations Full spelling
MCS Mobile Communication ServiceMFCN Mobile/Fixed Communications Networks
MIITMinistry of Industry and Information Technology ofChina
MSS Mobile-Satellite Service
PCS Personal Communications Service
PMSE Programme Making and Special Events
RCC Regional Commonwealth in the eld of Communications
RSGB Radio Society of Great Britain
SDL Supplemental DownLink
TDD Time Division Duplexing
UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunications System
WCS Wireless Communications Service
WLAN Wireless Local Area Networks
WRC World Radiocommunication Conference
WP5D Working Party 5D
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1.1 Economic benets ofIMT1
Mobile broadband systems, especially IMT, contribute to global economic and
social development by providing a wide range of multimedia applications, such as
mobile telemedicine, teleworking, distance learning and other applications. IMT is
the root name, encompassing both IMT-2000 and IMT-Advanced. IMT systems are
intended to provide telecommunication services on a worldwide scale, regardless
of location, network or terminal used. IMT systems have been the main methodof delivering wide area mobile broadband applications. In all countries where IMT
systems are deployed there is a continuing signicant growth in the number of
users of IMT systems and in the quantity and rate of data carried, the latter being
driven to a large extent by audiovisual content.
This economic success is built on IMT-2000, but future economic welfare will
depend upon the growth of new technologies, such as IMT-Advanced and so on.
Any regulatory changes or uncertainty that jeopardizes those needs should be
considered very carefully. As the European Commission Communication on radio
spectrum policy2notes, The EUs timely provision of harmonized frequencies
triggered the development of new pan-European digital cellular system (GSM).
1.2 Importance ofcoordinating frameworkAdequate and timely availability of spectrum and supporting regulatory provisions
is essential to support future growth of IMT systems. Many countries have not yet
made available spectrum already identied in the Radio Regulations for IMT, for
various reasons, including the use of this spectrum by other systems and services.
The coordinating framework of the international use of the radio spectrum
showed in Annex of this whitepaper is functioning effectively to ensure the
rational, equitable, efcient and economical use of the radio-frequency spectrum
in each country of the world. For example, frequency-related matters for IMT in
certain frequency bands below 6 GHz were studied in preparation for WRC-07,
and WRC-07 decided upon technical conditions and regulatory procedures in
some of these bands.
1 Background
1 From "Optimising spectrum for future mobile service needs"(GSMA, 2006) and "Studies on frequency-related matters on International Mobile Telecommunications and other terrestrial mobile
broadband applications" (RESOLUTION 233-WRC-12, 2012)
2 Brussels, 6.2005 COM(2005) 411 nal
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2.1 Spectrum requirement
It takes a number of years for spectrum to be allocated and identied at ITU level
and then assigned at national level until it is nally deployed in the network, so
we have to start planning the spectrum for IMT in the year 2020 now. Following
the practice laid down at WRC-07, spectrum requirement estimation should be
done as first step to provide the motivation for the IMT industry to argue for
more spectrum allocation to mobile services and more spectrum identication to
IMT services in particular. Figure 1 shows the comparison between the estimated
required, ITU identied and regionally available spectrum.
2 The need for spectrum
Figure 1 Comparison of the amount of the estimated required, global identied and regional
available spectrum(source: ITU-R M.2078 &UMTS Jan. 2012)
There is a fairly long lead time between the identication of frequency bands by
world radiocommunication conferences and the deployment of systems in those
bands, and timely availability of spectrum is therefore important to support thedevelopment of IMT systems. The coordinating framework will continue to assure
the timely availability of spectrum for IMT in the world.
Estimated spectrumrequirement by year in MHz Current available spectrum by region in MHz
1720
1300
840
Global identifed IMTspectrum in MHz
1172
630
370
590478
360
510
2020
2015
2010
identif
edAPT
ASM
GATU
CEPT
CITE
L(NA)
CITE
L(LA)
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3 http://www.itu.int/ITU-R/index.asp?category=study-groups&rlink=rwp5d&lang=en
4 Draft Liaison statement to Joint Task Group 4 5-6-7 - Initial information on spectrum requirements studies for WRC-15 Agenda item 1.1, http://www.itu.int/md/R12-JTG4567-C-0047/en
5 ITU-R M.2243(00/2011), http://www.itu.int/dms_pub/itu-r/opb/rep/R-REP-M.2243-2011-PDF-E.pdf
6
CJK WhitePaper on Forecast of mobile broadband development in the Asia-Pacic Region, http://www.tta.or.kr/English/new/external_relations/meetingDocumentView.jsp?boardIdx=IMT&num=109
Because of difficulties experienced by each nation in allocating spectrum, only
around half of the already identified spectrum is available. As user demand
outpaces advances in technology and deployment, the operators will have tocontrol the trafc increase by their pricing plans.
During the preparation for WRC-15, spectrum requirement estimation is ongoing
in ITU Working Party 5D3. The estimated requirement is in total around 1800MHz4
(using the higher requirements setting). Compared with the 1172MHz already
identied, it is clear that more than 500MHz of additional spectrum is needed.
2.2 Service development prediction
With the fast advance of the mobile Internet, mobile data trafc has dramaticallyincreased. According to the mobile global data trafc estimates summarize in ITU
M.24435, overall mobile data trafc averagely grow 8 times in 2015 over 2011.
Visioning the future year 2020, the trafc is 500-1000 times todays trafc, driven
by the demand for mobile broadband for anything, anytime from anywhere.
Figure 2 from the CJK WhitePaper6summarized the major driving forces for the
trafc explosion.
Figure 2 Drivers of mobile date trafc increase
Dramatic growthof mobile data
trafc
Smartphones, tables,
laptops and netbooks
Increased demand for
mobile video services
Flat rate
Mobile: the main / soleway to visit Internet formany people
Convergence of mobile communication
and other industries
Improved user experience:user friendly interfaces,
lager screen size andlonger battery life
New mobile app. supporting
social live and production;Online stores of mobile-Apps
New type
of device
Userexperience
New mobileapp
Convergence
Mobile
video
Pricedecrease
Connectionto Internet
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The explosively increasing mobile trafc is not distributed evenly over the whole
network and more than 80% of the trafc comes from hotspots or indoor areas,
based on the analysis from Informa Telecoms & Media7. It is also forecasted thatmobile video will be the dominant service in the near future and it is shown that
about 70% of mobile services will be video in 2016 based on the prediction of
mobile trafc share from Cisco8.
To meet the explosive trafc demands and higher performance expectation, the
heterogeneous network or HetNet is becoming the network topology of the
future, as shown in Figure 3. The service of the small cells is compatible with a
good xed network (ber ). If the data speed of the xed network is too slow,
or if there is not xed network, the trafc will be captured by large cells. Public
fixed networks provide, more and more, the TV services (Broadcast TV, TV on
demand). The future evolutions of the mobile network will be probably similar,
and, the impact of this evolution will be to create the trafc asymmetry (more
downlink trafc than the uplink trafc).
One way to map the spectrum frequency to the deployment scenario is as below:
Wideband for the capacity. It is easier to find wideband in high spectrum1.
(above 1GHz or 3GHz).
The propagation and the coverage is better at low frequency (below 3GHz2.
and especially below 1GHz)
Below 400MHz, there are some technical difculties to design the mobile3.
terminal
As mobile trafc increases and mobile connection speeds increase for anything,
anytime from anywhere, more spectrum in the low and low-to-mid bands is
needed to provide the coverage and capacity. The mid-to-high band is much more
important than ever before, to provide high performance, and also to provide
capacity boosting for the urban environment, especially hotspot and indoor areas.
Figure 3 Heterogeneous Network
7 Mobile broadband access at home: Informa Telecoms & Media
8
Cisco, Cisco Visual Networking Index: Global Mobile Data Trafc Forecast Update, 2011-2016, http://www.cisco.com/en/US/solutions/collateral/ns341/ns525/ns537/ns705/ns827/white_paper_c11-520862.html
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2.3 Spectrum prediction and gap
2.3.1 AdministratorsAll administrators are facing the prospect of a spectrum shortage, some examples
are shown in Table 1.
As we can see, the amount of global identified spectrum is twice the amount
of regionally available spectrum, because each nation has its own limitations
on spectrum arrangements and the difculty of establishing global harmonized
spectrum.
2.3.2 Operators
From the business perspective, there is never sufcient spectrum, and operators
will have to ease the trafc increase by pricing. In the case of AT&T, iPhone users
were to be provided unlimited trafc contracts, but the trafc explosion quickly
congested the network and AT&T had to gradually move unlimited data plans to
Table 1 Spectrum requirements forecast by administrators.
AdministratorInformation
SourceTrafc increase
forecast
Baselinebandwidth for
IMT
AdditionalSpectrum
Requirement
Europe
EuropeanUnion
Radio Spectrum
Policy Programme
(RSPP)
Y2015:1200MHz
USAFCC National
Broadband Plan
35 times increase
in trafc from 2009
to 2014
Y2009 allocated:
547MHz
Y2014: 300MHz for
mobile broadband
Y2020: 500MHz for
mobile and xed
broadband
CanadaGlobal Mobile
Broadband
Forum 2012
Y2014 allocated:
553MHz
Y2015:300-
500MHz
Y2022:400-
600MHz
Australia
ACMA paper
Towards 2020
Future spectrumrequirements
for mobile
broadband
30 times increase
in trafc from 2007to 2014
Y2012 allocated
and planned:840MHz
Y2015: 150MHzY2020: 300MHz
Japan
AWG workshop
for future IMT
(AWG-13/INP-
136)
Growth rate of
trafc is increasing
to more than 100%
per year.
Y2012 allocated:
500MHz
Y2015: over
300MHz
Year 2020: total
over 1000MHz
ChinaITU-R WP5D#15
(document
5D/256)
Around 600times
increase in trafc
from 2010 to 2020
690MHzY2020:800-
1100MHz
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Table 2 Spectrum held by licensed spectrum operators in Japan10
700MHz
bands
800MHz
bands
900MHz
bands
1.5GHz
bands
1.7GHz
bands
2GHz
bands
2.5GHz
bandsToTal
DoCoMo 20MHz 30MHz -
30MHz
[Partially
limited]
40MHz
[Only in some
areas]
40MHz - 160MHz
AU 20MHz 30MHz - 20MHz - 40MHz - 110MHz
Softbank - - 30MHz 20MHz - 40MHz - 90MHz
E-Access 20MHz - - - 30MHz - - 50MHz
UQ - - - - 30MHz 30MHz
Wireless
City
Planning
- - - - - - 30MHz 30MHz
WILLCOM - - - - -
31.2MHz[Partially
share withcodelessphone]
- 31.2MHz
tiered mobile data packages to ease the trafc increase and to keep the network
balanced. In this sense, we could say that even facing todays trafc explosion,
the spectrum is not enough, let alone for the year 2020.
AT&T, for example, has stated9 that growth rate and data demand outpaces
the capabilities of these advanced radio interface technologies and network
topographies. Future new spectrum allocation to IMT is required as user demand
outpaces the technology and deployment advances.What AT&T has faced is not
unique among operators in the United States or elsewhere in the world.
The licensed spectrums the Japans operators hold are shown in Table 2.
Considering the low band and low-to-mid band, it seems the main operators hold
sufficient amount of resource, although the amount of efficient spectrum held
is far less than the total amount held by operators as shown in Table3. Japans
3.5G work is ongoing, which is supposed to provide large capacity and high
performance. Wi-Fi has been used for ofoading trafc to alleviate the operators
pressure on network capacity; while IMT small cell technology in higher band is
targeted to carry and control the trafc on licensed spectrum when the spectrum
becomes available, which DOCOMO is also actively research and promoting.
9 Addressing spectrum efciency, information on current and planned use, and technical and operational characteristics in frequency bands for IMT under WRC-15 Agenda item 1.1, AT&T,
http://www.itu.int/md/R12-WP5D-C-0179/en
10 Frequency Management Policy on Mobile Communications in Japan, Japan, http://www.apt.int/sites/default/les/2012/09/AWG-13-INP-136_Japan_MIC_presentation_in_AWG_Workshop.pdf
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Table 3 bands from global harmonization perspective held by Japanese operators
700M 800M 900M 1.5G 1.7G 2GHz 2.5GHz Total
DoCoMo 20MHz 40MHz 60MHz
AU 20MHz 40MHz 60MHz
Softbank 30MHz 40MHz 70MHz
E-Access 20MHz 20MHz
UQ 30MHz 30MHz
2.4 ConclusionAs is being discussed in ITU-R WP5D, more than 500MHz of additional spectrum
is needed for the year 2020, distributed in three band ranges low band (
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3 Spectrum map
3.1 Existing spectrum
The map below shows a summary of the worldwide frequency allocation in the
bands from 300MHz to 30GHz.
The following map shows the main IMT bands allocated in each ITU region.
Figure 4 Summary frequency allocation from 300MHz to 30GHz
Figure 5 IMT global spectrum distribution (existing situation)
IMT Spectrum Map
Region 1
FDDBand 1 (2100M)
Band 3 (1800M)
Band 7 (2.6G)
Band 8 (900M)
Band 20 (DD800)Band 22 (3.5G)
TDDBand 33
Band 38 (2.6G)
Band 42 (3.5G)
Band 43 (3.6G)
Region 2
FDDBand 2 (1900M)
Band 4 (AWS)
Band 5 (850M)
Band 10
Band 12 (700M L)Band 13 (700M U)
Band 14 (700M)
Band 17 (700M)
Band 23 (MSS)
Band 24 (L-band)
Band 25 (E1900)
Band 26 (E850 U)
Band 27 (E850 L)
Band 28 (APT700)
Band 29 (DL 700)
TDDBand 41 (2.6G)
FDDBand 1 (2100M)
Band 3 (1800M)
Band 5 (850M)
Band 8 (900M)
Band 28 (APT700)
TDDBand 34/a
Band 39/f
Band 40 (3.5G)
Band 28 (3.6G)
Band 44 (APT700)
Region 3
FDDBand 1 (2100M)
Band 6 (850M)
Band 9 (1800M)
Band 11
Region 3(Japan Specic)
Band 18 (850M)
Band 19 (850M)
Band 21 (1.5G)
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3GPP already dened the band number for different regional allocation.
Table 4 Existing spectrum for IMT in 3GPP
MSR/E
UTRA Band
number
UTRA Band
number
GSM/
EDGE Band
designation
Uplink (UL) BS receive UE
transmit
Downlink (DL) BS transmit UE
receive Dup
ModeFUL_low FUL_high FDL_low FDL_high
1 I - 1920 MHz 1980 MHz 2110 MHz 2170 MHz FDD
2 II PCS 1900 1850 MHz 1910 MHz 1930 MHz 1990 MHz FDD
3 III DCS 1800 1710 MHz 1785 MHz 1805 MHz 1880 MHz FDD
4 IV - 1710 MHz 1755 MHz 2110 MHz 2155 MHz FDD
5 V GSM 850 824 MHz 849 MHz 869 MHz 894MHz FDD
6(1)
VI - 830 MHz 840 MHz 875 MHz 885 MHz FDD
7 VII - 2500 MHz 2570 MHz 2620 MHz 2690 MHz FDD
8 VIII E-GSM 880 MHz 915 MHz 925 MHz 960 MHz FDD
9 IX - 1749.9 MHz 1784.9 MHz 1844.9 MHz 1879.9 MHz FDD
10 X - 1710 MHz 1770 MHz 2110 MHz 2170 MHz FDD
11 XI - 1427.9 MHz 1447.9 MHz 1475.9 MHz 1495.9 MHz FDD
12 XII - 699 MHz 716 MHz 729 MHz 746 MHz FDD
13 XIII - 777 MHz 787 MHz 746 MHz 756 MHz FDD
14 XIV - 788 MHz 798 MHz 758 MHz 768 MHz FDD
15 XV - Reserved Reserved
16 XVI - Reserved Reserved
17 - - 704 MHz 716 MHz 734 MHz 746 MHz FDD
18 - - 815 MHz 830 MHz 860 MHz 875 MHz FDD
19 XIX - 830 MHz 845 MHz 875 MHz 890 MHz FDD
20 XX - 832 MHz 862 MHz 791 MHz 821 MHz FDD
21 XXI - 1447.9 MHz 1462.9 MHz 1495.9 MHz 1510.9 MHz FDD
22 XXII - 3410 MHz 3490 MHz 3510 MHz 3590 MHz FDD
23 - - 2000 MHz 2020 MHz 2180 MHz 2200 MHz FDD
24 - - 1626.5 MHz 1660.5 MHz 1525 MHz 1559 MHz FDD
25 XXV - 1850 MHz 1915 MHz 1930 MHz 1995 MHz FDD
26 XXVI - 814 MHz 849 MHz 859 MHz 894 MHz FDD
27 - - 807 MHz 824 MHz 852 MHz 869 MHz FDD
28 - - 703 MHz 748 MHz 758 MHz 803 MHz FDD
29 - - 717 MHz 728 MHz FDD
33 a) 1900 MHz 1920 MHz 1900 MHz 1920 MHz TDD34 a) 2010 MHz 2025 MHz 2010 MHz 2025 MHz TDD
35 b) 1850 MHz 1910 MHz 1850 MHz 1910 MHz TDD
36 b) 1930 MHz 1990 MHz 1930 MHz 1990 MHz TDD
37 c) 1910 MHz 1930 MHz 1910 MHz 1930 MHz TDD
38 d) 2570 MHz 2620 MHz 2570 MHz 2620 MHz TDD
39 f) 1880 MHz 1920 MHz 1880 MHz 1920 MHz TDD
40 e) 2300 MHz 2400 MHz 2300 MHz 2400 MHz TDD
41 - 2496 MHz 2690 MHz 2496 MHz 2690 MHz TDD
42 - 3400 MHz 3600 MHz 3400 MHz 3600 MHz TDD
43 - 3600 MHz 3800 MHz 3600 MHz 3800 MHz TDD
44 - 703 MHz 803 MHz 703 MHz 803 MHz TDD
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The agenda items of WRC-15 dealing with spectrum matters for IMT are:
3.2 Future outlook
The International Telecommunication Union Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R)is responsible for coordinating the international use of the radio spectrum and
holds World Radiocommunication Conferences (WRC) every three to four years
to review and revise the Radio Regulations, the international treaty governing the
use of radio-frequency spectrum, geostationary-satellite and non-geostationary-
satellite orbits. The activities related to spectrum for IMT at WRC are as follows.
3.2.1 Analysis on additional frequency bands
Taking into account specific characteristics of different bands and the logical
mapping from the three types of frequency band mentioned above to suitable
frequency ranges of IMT, there are some specic requirements and considerations
on the different frequency ranges and possible bandwidths, when additional
frequency bands for IMT are under discussion, which will happen under Agenda
Items 1.1 and 1.2 of WRC-15.
1990 2000 2010 2020
Identied spectrum forIMT-2000 Identied additional
spectrum for IMT-2000Identied spectrum for
IMT (including IMT-2000and IMT-Advanced)
To consider the need andidentication for additional
spectrum for IMT
Figure 6 activities related to spectrum for IMT at WRC
Figure 7 Agenda items of WRC-15 dealing with spectrum matters for IMT
WRC-15AI 1.1
to consider additional spectrum allocations to the mobile service on a primarybasis and identication of additional frequency bands for International MobileTelecommunications (IMT) and related regulatory provisions, to facilitate thedevelopment of terrestrial mobile broadband applications, in accordance withResolution 233 (WRC-12);
WRC-15AI 1.2
to examine the results of ITU-R studies, in accordance with Resolution 232(WRC-12), on the use of the frequency band 694-790 MHz by the mobile, except
aeronautical mobile service in Region 1 and take the appropriate measures;
WARC-92(1992)
WRC-2000(2000)
WRC-07(2007)
WRC-15(2015)
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Firstly,where cost considerations require the installation of fewer base stations,
not only in rural and/or sparsely populated areas but also in urban and/or
suburban areas, bands with good coverage to facilitate such deployment aregenerally suitable for implementing mobile systems, including IMT. Especially
in many developing countries and countries with large areas of low population
density, there is a need for cost-effective implementation of IMT. In fact, lower
frequency bands(< 1 GHz) are most suitable for providing coverage with low cost
based on the propagation characteristics.
Firstly bis, to grow the current IMT frequency bands.
Secondly, Report ITU-R M.2074 identifies the preferred frequency ranges for
the future development of IMT-2000 and IMT-Advanced, including both the
new mobile access and new nomadic/local area wireless access as they are
presented in Recommendation ITU-R M.1645. It suggests that new spectrum that
can fulll the full range of requirements of the ITU for IMT-Advanced, should be
found below 6 GHz for a number of technical reasons, such as allowing sufcient
mobility, an acceptable trade-off between cost and full area coverage, availability
of the required RF hardware components and mobile terminal complexity and
power consumption. Concretely, the frequency bands from 1GHz to 6GHz,
including Low-to-mid bands (1-3GHz) and Mid-to-high bands (3-6GHz), are most
suitable to provide capacity and performance.
Thirdly, further studies are needed to resolve the availability issues for IMT inhigh bands (>6GHz) because of the different characteristics of spectrum above
and below 6GHz. These studies should focus on technical, propagation and
implementation aspects of high bands (>6GHz) for IMT. Therefore, it would be
better that the frequency bands above 6GHz are considered at WRC-19 rather
than WRC-15).
Fourthly,as higher and higher bitrates will be demanded for the future
development of IMT systems, larger channel bandwidths (continuous or
composite by carrier aggregation) will be needed. Report ITU-R M.2074 includes
detailed analysis of some of the technical issues surrounding the spectrum
range preferences for the future development of IMT-2000 and IMT-Advanced.
The Report states that a new radio access system, covering the full range of
capabilities of IMT-Advanced is envisaged to support a wide range of data rates
according to economic and service demands in multi-user environments. There
will be target peak data rates of up to approximately 100 Mbit/s for high mobility
and up to approximately 1 Gbit/s for low mobility. It may be possible to reach
considerably higher overall spectrum efficiency than today's technologies, but
even under the most optimistic assumptions discussed today and in favorable
radio reception conditions, the 1 Gbit/s transmission rate may require bandwidth
in the order of 100 MHz or more.
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3.2.2 Views on additional frequency bands
We support the identication of additional frequency bands for IMT to facilitatethe development of terrestrial mobile broadband applications at WRC-15. At
WRC-15, we support making at least 500 MHz of spectrum newly available for
IMT by 2020, with up to 1GHz being provided if possible.
Based on the above analysis, it is our view that it is not only the amount of
spectrum that is important but also the aspects affecting frequency range
preferences. These are primarily based on the requirements and target
characteristics for the envisioned system of IMT These will have to be considered
for frequency ranges to study in relation to WRC-15 Agenda items 1.1 and 1.2.
With respect to the preferred frequency ranges for the future development ofIMT-2000 and IMT-Advanced, we propose that the new spectrum for IMT should
be identied mainly below 6 GHz at WRC-15 due to technical reasons identied
in Report ITU-R M.2074.
Low bands (< 1GHz) mainly used for macro network to provide coverage
Low-to-mid bands (1-3GHz) mainly used for macro and micro network to
provide coverage/capacity
Mid-to-high bands (3-6GHz) mainly use for micro/pico/hotspots network and
Wireless Sensor Networks to provide high capacity and performance.
Meanwhile we think that high bands (>6GHz) should be considered at the
next WRC(WRC-19), rather the upcoming WRC-15, because of larger different
frequency characteristics.
Larger bandwidths for the future development of IMT will be needed, such as
100 MHz or more (preferred continuous bands).
3.2.3 Detailed band-by-band analysis and
positionFor WRC-07, a set of candidate bands for IMT were proposed, with the support
of Administrations and those proposals should be taken into account as IMT
candidate in WRC-15. Candidate frequency ranges available for identifying
spectrum for the terrestrial component of future development of IMT-2000 and
IMT-Advanced in the Report ITU-R M.2024 and M.2079 include 410-430 MHz,
470-790 MHz, 2 700-2 900 MHz, 3 600-4 200 MHz, 4 400-4 990 MHz.
Furthermore we support to consider, TV UHF band (470-694MHz), L band (a part
of 1300-1900 MHz), C Band(3.4-3.8-4.2GHz) as possible candidate bands for IMT
under WRC-15 AI1.1 based on our studies.
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Finally our band-by-band analysis and position of some possible candidate bands
for IMT are as follows.
[1] 470-694 MHz
WHY THE BAND
This band 470-694/698MHz provides great propagation characteristics for
coverage and indoor penetration. This band is also adjacent to the bands on
which IMT systems are deployed i.e. 450-470MHz and 698/694-960MHz, which
reuse of the existing RF components is possible. For the time being, the band
is widely usually used for broadcasting service, but parts of this band are alsoconsidered for mobile broadband under national broadband plans globally.
Along with the progress of broadcasting analogue-to-digital switch over, and the
nalization of band clearing of 700MHz and 800MHz, this band 470-694/698 is
to be considered as potential candidate bands for IMT, which is now discussed
in ITU-R. Part of this band is now discussed in the United States in the content of
incentive auction.
SPECTRUM DEVELOPMENT PATH
Given its contiguity with the existing IMT bands, i.e. 450-470MHz and 698/694-
960MHz, the frequency arrangement and development path should closely
Table 5 Possible candidate band for IMT under WRC-15 Agenda Item 1.1
Description SpectrumIncumbent
userWRC-15 target
Low candidatebands (
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follow the decisions that have been previously taken in such bands, where
exclusive individual usage rights are being assigned. Global harmonization should
be addressed from the very beginning. Synergies with the adjacent bands shallbe exploited: base station and user device RF components (e.g. amplifiers and
antennas may be reused to a large extent). .
CONCLUSIONS
Its proposed to identify 470-694/698MHz or part of this band for IMT at WRC-15
to provide cellular coverage network.
[2] 694-790 MHz
WHY THE BAND
Band 694-790MHz is also of high value due to its excellent propagation
characteristics. The band is currently widely used for broadcasting service and
also ARNS (Aeronautical Radio Navigation Systems). The advent of the digital TV
technology and consequent switch off of the less spectrally efcient analog TV
technology has led to a Digital Dividend which is allowing to make the band
available for IMT applications.
SPECTRUM DEVELOPMENT PATH
In Region 1, the band 700MHz is decided to allocate by WRC-15. Now some
preparation works are planned to be done. The target is to allocate the frequency
band 694-790 MHz in Region 1 to the mobile for IMT; then the allocation is
effective immediately after WRC 15.
In Region 2, the band is identied for IMT, spectrum has been assigned as FDD as
shown in the diagram below.
A4 MS Tx
698 716 728 763 776 793746
un-paired BS Tx BS Tx MS Tx
MHz 690 700 710 770720 780730 790740 800750 810760
M.1036-03-A4
Figure 8 P694-790 MHz frequency arrangement of Region 2 11
11 From ITU-R M.1036-4
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In region 3, at the meeting of the APT Wireless Forum (AWF-9) at Sep.,2010,
agreement was reached on two harmonized frequency arrangements for IMT in
698-806MHz frequency band. It was decided that spectrum should be allocatedas follows:
For FDD:
a lower guard-band of 5 MHz should be allocated between 698-703 MHz;
an upper guard-band of 3 MHz should be allocated between 803-806 MHz.
For TDD:
Whole Bands from 698MHz to 806MHz for TDD
The band plan is not compatible with FDD band Plan. Actually, South America is
gradually following the APT band plan (FDD).
CONCLUSIONS
Band 700MHz brings a signicant amount of high quality spectrum for mobile
broadband. Commercial networks have already been launched in US, in Region3 the band had been identied as IMT utilization, in Region 1 the issue will be
decided at WRC-15.
We propose the harmonization or compatibility usage of the band between
Region 1 and Region 3 for economies of scale and effective utilization of the
band.
12 From ITU-R M.1036-4
Figure 9 694-790 MHz frequency arrangement of Region 312
5 MHz
694MHz
698MHz
806MHz
45 MHzDTTV PPDR/LMR
PPDR/LMR
10 MHz centre gap
DTTV
45 MHz
3 MHz
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Figure 10 1427.9-1462.9/1475.9-1510.9 MHz bands in Japan14
[3] L-band (1350-1525 MHz)
WHY THE BAND
The L-band13 may provide good coverage and may complement below 1 GHz
bands which may not be sufcient to address the wider capacity needs. Currently
allocated by the ITU Radio Regulations (WRC-12 revision) on a primary and/
or secondary basis to the Mobile Service, Fixed Service, Broadcasting Satellite
Service, the band has clear potential for Global/Regional harmonization, with
specic reference to the 1427-1525 MHz and/or 1525-1660MHz ranges (excluding
the 1400-1427MHz portion).
SPECTRUM DEVELOPMENT PATH
1427.9-1462.9/1475.9-1510.9 MHz bands in Japan have been allocated to LTE in
2011, and the total bandwidth is limited at 2*15MHz or 2*20MHz or 2*34MHz;
the harmonization work at European level is ongoing for the Mobile/Fixed
Communication Networks (MFCN) supplemental downlink in the 1452-1492 MHz
range. Future IMT identication should include the ranges from 1350-1400, 1427-
1525 MHz and possibly from 1525 to 1660 MHz as dened in 3GPP.
13 L-Band terminology refers to the 1 to 2 GHz frequency range, as dened by the Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB),
14 From Japanese MIC
1420 1430 1440 1450 1460 1470 1480 1490 1500 1510 1520 1530 [MHz]
RA
Softbank
Softbank
3GSoftbank
SoftbankMCAMCA MCAMCA MSS
3GStage 1
1420 1430 1440 1450 1460 1470 1480 1490 1500 1510 1520 1530 [MHz]
RA MCA MCAMCA MCA MSS3G 3GStage 2
1420 1430 1440 1450 1460 1470 1480 1490 1500 1510 1520 1530 [MHz]
RA MCA MCA MSS3G 3GStage 3
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Table 6 1427-1525 & 1525-1660 MHz dened in 3GPP15
E UTRA
Operating
Band
Uplink (UL) operating band
BS receive UE transmit
Downlink (DL) operating band
BS transmit UE receive DuplexMode
FUL_low FUL_high FDL_low FDL_high
111427.9
MHz 1447.9 MHz
1475.9
MHz 1495.9 MHz FDD
211447.9
MHz 1462.9 MHz
1495.9
MHz 1510.9 MHz FDD
241626.5
MHz 1660.5 MHz 1525 MHz 1559 MHz FDD
Although the bands (1350-1525 MHz) are considered as key candidate band for
IMT, many efforts are necessary because the band is also the important band for
other services and supplications, including GPS and DAB applications. That will be
the high priority item in WRC-15.
CONCLUSIONS
We propose the global harmonized allocation for IMT in parts of this band
at WRC-15. The future use for IMT in this band will contribute to the need of
coverage and capacity for the future development of IMT.
[4] Bands around 2GHz(1980-2010 MHz paired with
2170-2200 MHz, 1900-1920/2090-2110 MHz and
2010-2025 /2200-2215 MHz
WHY THE BAND
The frequency bands 1980-2010 MHz and 2170-2200MHz have already been
allocated to IMT-2000 in WARC-92. The bands were assigned for Mobile-Satellite
Service (MSS) in EU, Korea, Japan and some other countries with little degree
of actual utilization. This band is adjacent to 3GPP Band 1/I. There are some
proposals to GSMA and ITU-R that combining the MSS Band, existing 3GPP Band
1/I, TDD Bands 33/34 and the bands 2090-2110 MHz / 2170-2200 MHz can
create a contiguous frequency band in some countries, which can help promote
the wider availability of mobile broadband. Furthermore they think that 2090-
2110 and 2200-2215 MHz may be paired with existing IMT TDD bands (3GPP
TDD Band 33/34) to create new FDD bands in some countries. It may violate the
prots of TDD operators.
15 From 3GPP
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At the same time, we have also taken note that TDD Bands 33/34 are still important
TDD band in some other countries who tend to leave the bands as they are.
CONCLUSIONS
We propose the global harmonized allocation for IMT terrestrial components in
the band 1980-2010 MHz and 2170-2200MHz at WRC-15.
Furthermore there may be two separate side-by-side ways to deal with existing
IMT TDD bands (3GPP TDD Band 33/34) in the world.
The rst way is that the allocation of the bands 1900-1920(3GPP TDD Band
33) and 2090-2110MHz, 2010-2025(3GPP TDD Band 34) and 2200-2215
MHz as paired bands for IMT create new FDD bands in one Region or some
countries for effective utilization of the band because the bands have been
allocated for IMT TDD in those counties, but never used for a long time.
The second one is still to keep TDD Bands 33/34 as it is now in some other
countries because the bands have been allocated and used for IMT TDD in
those counties.
[5] 3600-4200 MHz
WHY THE BAND
In International Telecommunication Union (ITU-R), World Radiocommunication
Conference in 2007 (WRC-07) have raised an issue by a number of countries (in
particular from Africa) regarding protection of FSS earth stations/VSATs which
led to a WRC-15 agenda item about 3400-4200MHz. The band 3400-3800MHz
decided for Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) is already widely available for
licensing in Europe and have earlier been allocated to the Fixed service on a
primary basis in Region 1. The band 3600-4200MHz is to be considered as a key
candidate band for IMT for WRC-15 identication.
Figure 11 A possible combination of bands around 2GHz
Band 33
1900MHz
1900MHz
2090MHz
2090MHz
Band 1 UL
1920MHz 2110MHz
Band 1 DLMSS
1980MHz 2170MHz2025MHz
2025MHz
2215MHz
2215MHz
MSSBand 34
2010 2200
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SPECTRUM DEVELOPMENT PATH
In EU, CEPT administrations already designated the frequency bands 3400-3800
MHz on a non-exclusive basis to mobile/xed communications networks (MFCN),
without prejudice to the protection and continued operation of other existing
users in this band, according to the TDD band plan arrangement.
The 600MHz in the 3600-4200 MHz range offer an important opportunity to
fulfill the increasing throughput requirement. Located in a higher frequency
range, while still below the 6GHz boundary, this range is especially suitable small
coverage allowing focused capacity with a higher degree of frequency reuse.
However the band is currently heavily used for the FSS service, in larger countries
especially where satellite communications offer a cost effective communication
mean. Thus, although the band is potentially global harmonized, it is difcult to
clear the band in order for IMT utilization in many countries in the next few years.
CONCLUSIONS
Its proposed to identify 3600-3800MHz for IMT to provide cellular network with
capacity to fulll increasing trafc requirement, especially for small coverage with denser
cellular. Regarding the bands 3800-4200MHz, the spectrum sharing between IMT and
FSS should be advocated with low power IMT network (E.g. LTE-Hi).
[6] 4 400-4 990 MHz
WHY THE BAND
The band 4400-4990 MHz has propagation characteristics that are suitable for
use in dense urban areas where the deployment of mobile networks is typically
capacity limited. At the same time, the band can also provide large contiguous
bandwidths that can be used for microcell and picocell network to provide
increased capacity and performance.
SPECTRUM DEVELOPMENT PATH
The band 4400-4990 MHz could support mobile broadband applications with
minimal hardware modifications allowing for economies of scale to be met
in deployment of new systems and networks. Whats more, RF components,
antennas and amplifiers, as well as design solutions, already exist for certain
frequencies in 5-6 GHz and are already embedded in user equipment which could
be used for IMT implementation.
However they have an analogy with the situation on the band 3600-4200MHz.
The traditional utilizaion is FSS/ VSATs. The band is currently heavily used for the FSS
service, in larger countries especially where satellite communications offer a cost
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4 Spectrum utilization & harmonization
Since WRC-92, there are many bands allocated to IMT. How to better use the
band is the point of the chapter.
4.1 Global spectrum for small cell
It is stated that herein high frequency means the band range from 3GHz to 6GHz.
Main usage models for high frequency are listed as following.
Small cell deployed,
Relay to connect with VIP customer.
Mobile Relay.
3.5GHz is one of the most important bands of global spectrum for small cell.
3.5GHz
With current traffic requirement trend, operators are increasingly looking at
solutions from three aspects including band expansion, denser network, air-
interface efciency. Thus, heterogeneous networks where the wide area coverage
layers are integrated with additional layers of small cells are necessary to provide
additional capacity, with wider spectrum bandwidth deployed and enhancing
spectrum efciency. Huawei LTE-Hi (LTE Hotspot & Indoor Enhancement) solution
is being developed targeting three aspects:
effective communication mean. Thus, it is difcult to clear the band in order for IMT
utilization in many countries in the next few years.
CONCLUSIONS
Its proposed to identify 4400-4500MHz and 4800-4990MHz for IMT to provide
cellular network with capacity to fulfill increasing traffic requirement, especially
for small coverage with denser cellular. Regarding the bands 4500-4800MHz, the
spectrum sharing between IMT and FSS should be advocated with low power IMT
network (E.g. LTE-Hi: LTE Hotspot & Indoor Enhancement).
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To meet the capacity requirement in hotspot, to seek the wider spectrum for IMT
is needed. The 3400-3600 MHz band is ideal for providing such kind of focused
coverage with its large amount of contiguous spectrum available.
This band also helps in the interference management associated with denser
cellular because of its reduced coverage capability which helps. This band has
great potential to become a globally harmonized band with at least 50MHz
allocated.
3.5GHz is potential to become a global harmonized spectrum band. In the future,
if other services such as FSS quit from this band to the other band or can share
the frequency bands with IMT, it is potentially 800MHz spectrum band from 3.4
to 4.2GHz, and additionally 600MHz from 4.4 to 5GHz, for IMT. This is very good
for the future development of the wireless market and the interest of the global
industry chain.
3.5GHz has many band characteristics adapt to the dense small cells for
ofoading trafc.
High bandwidth: to fulll the requirement of increasing capacity
High propagation loss: more t for small coverage
Reduced coverage capability: to help in interference management associated
with denser cellular
LTE-Hi is the promising small cell technology being developed in R12. Its
working frequency includes 3.5GHz.
4.2 SDL (SUPPLEMENTAL DOWNLINK)
Following is some content discussed in ITU-R WP 5D is excerpted as below16:
Some developments of IMT technologies
Among the developments are new technical and operational aspects of IMT
systems and arrangements, which may include other characterizations of the use
of spectrum, such as:
Asymmetric FDD uplink (traditionally in lower bands) and downlink blocks (with one
or more separate downlinks which could also be in different bands).
FDD or TDD uplink and downlink for very high peak data rates in confined and
densely populated indoor areas as well as in conned areas of moving vehicles.
FDD and TDD backhauling from, e.g. trains, buses and other vehicles or from
body area networks to the host IMT network
In-band or out-of-band backhauling of small cells.
For the unpaired spectrum used as SDL, it should be noted that the spectrum in
some regions can also be used for TDD under demands of regulatory bodies.
16 Revision 2 to Document 5D/TEMP/55-E, ITU-R WP5D meeting, 11 October 2012
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17 3GPP Band number see table 4 in section 3.1 of this WhitePaper.
698 728 758 788704 734 763
PublicSafety
PublicSafety
793710 740716 746 776 806722
A B DC E A CB C D C D
Digital and analog
Broadcasters
Downlink
Uplink
DL only spectrum
700MHz Spectrum in US
SDL concept was also discussed in CEPT in the context of the L-Band and in ITU.
4.3 LTE carrier aggregation
4.3.1 CA with same mode
CA (carrier aggregation) means coordination transmission and coordination
reception at two or more carriers in the same band or different bands. Signals atthese aggregated carriers are dealt with together at the same baseband unit.
CA is classied with intra-band CA and inter-band CA.
Intra-band CA
3GPP RAN4 studies intra-band carrier aggregation for following bands according
to operators actual requirement, including intra-band continuous CA and non-
continuous CA.
Intra-band continuous CA17
TDD band: Band 38 (2.6GHz), Band 41;
FDD band: Band 7 (2.6GHz), Band 1;
Intra-band non-continuous CA:
FDD band: Band 3, Band 4, Band 25.
CA impact on BS RF requirement is small, and main impact is on UE requirement.
For those continuous scenarios still being studied, the key focus is on UE back-off power.
Non-continuous CA may have big impact on UE, so we should keep an eye on it.
The 716~728 MHz was initially planned to be used for mobile TV services in the
USA, later is proposed to be only used for DL for LTE, and dened as Band 29
with duplex mode with FDD in 3GPP.
Figure 12 700MHz frequency arrangement of USA
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Inter-band CA
The topic studies RF requirement at scenario of inter-band CA. The requirement
comes from operators owning the band. In Rel-11 the scenarios are independently
studied in different WI.
Inter-band CA WIs in 3GPP RAN418 Region CA Class
LTE Advanced Carrier Aggregation of Band 3 and Band 7 EU Class A3
LTE Advanced Carrier Aggregation of Band 4 and Band 13 USA Class A1
LTE Advanced Carrier Aggregation of Band 4 and Band 17 USA Class A2
LTE Advanced Carrier Aggregation of Band 2 and Band 17 USA Class A1
LTE Advanced Carrier Aggregation of Band 4 and Band 12 USA Class A2
LTE Advanced Carrier Aggregation of Band 4 and Band 5 USA Class A1
LTE Advanced Carrier Aggregation of Band 5 and Band 12 USA Class A3
LTE Advanced Carrier Aggregation of Band 5 and Band 17 USA Class A3
LTE Advanced Carrier Aggregation of Band 7 and Band 20 EU Class A1
LTE Advanced Carrier Aggregation of Band 1 and Band 7 China Class A3
LTE Advanced Carrier Aggregation of Band 1 and Band 7 EU Class A3
LTE Advanced Carrier Aggregation of Band 3 and Band 20 EU Class A1
LTE Advanced Carrier Aggregation of Band 3 and Band 5 Korea Class A1
LTE Advanced Carrier Aggregation of Band 4 and Band 7 USA Class A3
LTE Advanced Carrier Aggregation of Band 8 and Band 20 EU Class A4
LTE Advanced Carrier Aggregation of Band 1 and Band 18 Japan Class A1
LTE Advanced Carrier Aggregation of Band 1 and Band 19 Japan Class A1
LTE Advanced Carrier Aggregation of Band 1 and Band 21 Japan Class A5
LTE Advanced Carrier Aggregation of Band 11 and Band 18 Japan Class A5
LTE Advanced Carrier Aggregation of Band 3 and Band 5, 2UL Korea Class A1
LTE Advanced Carrier Aggregation of Band 3 and Band 8 Asia, EU Class A2
LTE Advanced Carrier Aggregation of Band 2 and Band 4 USA
LTE Advanced Carrier Aggregation of Band 23 and Band 29 USA
LTE Advanced Carrier Aggregation of Band 3 and Band 28 Japan
LTE Advanced Carrier Aggregation of Band 1 and Band 8 Asia, EU
LTE Advanced Carrier Aggregation of Band 3 and Band 19 Japan
LTE Advanced Carrier Aggregation of Band 3 and Band 26 Korea
LTE-Advanced Carrier Aggregation of Band 38 and Band 39 China
LTE Advanced Carrier Aggregation of Band 2 and Band 12 USA
LTE-Advanced Carrier Aggregation of Band 39 and 41 China
LTE Advanced Carrier Aggregation of Band 1 and Band 26 Korea
18 3GPP Band number see table 4 in section 3.1 of this WhitePaper.
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All inter-band CA combinations only nish the scenario of one-carrier UL in Rel-
11. The work on two UL carriers simultaneously transmitting is postponed to Rel-
12. In Rel-12, 5 WIs on CA are created according to the type of CA combination.
The main discussion focusing on inter-band CA is lter insertion loss of terminal,
because insertion loss will influence power back-off and desensitization, thus
coverage about DL and UL will be inuenced.
4.3.2 CA with mixed mode
Except for CA combination between bands with same mode (e.g. TDD vs. TDD,
FDD vs. FDD), hot trend is CA combination based on TDD band + FDD band.
There are two possible scenarios:
Inter-site FDD + TDD CA, i.e. Macro site with FDD, small cell with TDD
Co-site FDD + TDD CA
It is estimated that FDD+TDD CA is future trend and may be standardized.
In different regions, FDD bands and TDD/unpaired spectrum are different, thus
the possible combinations are different.
Region 1
Many FDD operators hold TDD spectrum of 1.8/1.9/2.0GHz,
In EU countries, 2.6GHz was already auctioned or is on the agenda of auction.
FDD bands: DD800, 1.8GHz, 2.6GHz FDD part;
TDD bands: 1.9/2.0GHz, 2.6GHz TDD part;
Future TDD bands: 3.7GHz, 3.5GHz (if TDD is chosen)
Possible combinations:
DD800 FDD + 1.9/2.0GHz TDD
1.8GHz FDD + 1.9/2.0GHz TDD
DD800 FDD + 2.6GHz TDD
1.8GHz FDD + 2.6GHz TDD
2.6GHz FDD + 2.6GHz TDD
FDD band + 3.7GHz/3.5GHz
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Region 2
In US, TDD or unpaired spectrum for IMT is mainly located at 2.6GHz, future
possible 3.5GHz.
2.6GHz TDD spectrum is held by the TDD only operators who have no FDD
spectrum. So it is impossible to have FDD+TDD CA combination.
Future possible 3.5GHz band: whether to have FDD+TDD CA combination is
dependent on whether FDD operators will own the band.
Possible combination:
700MHz FDD + 3.5GHz
Region 3
There are different situations in each country.
In China, concept of FDD + TDD CA is difficult to be approved unless TDD
operator i.e. CMCC will be permitted to operate FDD LTE network. In Japan, it is
very highly possible to deploy FDD+TDD CA network.
FDD bands: currently 2.1GHz, 1.5GHz, 1.7GHz and 850MHz; future possible band
900MHz, 800MHz.
TDD bands: 2.6GHz and possible band 3.5GHz
Possible combinations:
FDD: 2.1GHz, 1.5GHz, 1.7GHz, 900MHz, 800MHz + TDD: 3.5GHz
FDD: 1.5GHz, 900MHz + TDD: 2.6GHz
In other countries, possible combination is 1.8GHz FDD + 2.6GHz TDD.
4.3.3 Conclusion for CA
There are over 30 work items on intra-band and inter-band CA in 3GPP RAN4
which shows strong interests of operators to better utilize their existing spectrum.
CA as a feature introduced in Rel-10 provides one feasible solution to meet this
spectrum utilization requirement.
It is also expected that mixed TDD + FDD inter-band CA is future trend.
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4.4 LTE roaming
Compared to GSM and UMTS, the main issue for LTE spectrum is the fragmentedavailability: many bands but none of them suitable for global roaming band.
Currently, FDD frequency bands for commercial or trial LTE networks include:
Europe: 800M (Band 20), 1800M (Band 3 GSM refarming), 2600M (Band7),
US & Canada: 700M (Band 13, Band 17), AWS (Band 4, Band10)
Japan: 850M (Band 18), 1500M (Band 21), 2100M (Band 1),
Korea: 850M (Band 5)
Latin America: 700M, AWS (Band 4, Band10), 1800M (Band 3 GSM
refarming), 2100M (Band 1), 2600M (Band 7)
TDD frequency bands for commercial or trial LTE networks include:
US: 2600M (Band 41)
China: 2300M (Band 40 Trial network for indoor application), 2600M (Band
38 Trial network), 1900M (Band 39 Trial network)
From the bands to be available for LTE application recently, we can group the
bands with the consideration on covered ITU regions.
The bands which can cover 3 ITU regions include:
FDD:APT 700M (Asia, Europe (if compatibility with APT band plan is adopted),
Latin America), 3500MHz
TDD:
2300MHz, 2600MHz, 3500MHz
The bands which can cover 2 ITU regions include:
850MHz, 1800MHz
Note: The 850MHz spectrum here is a set of frequency bands rather than a single band.
Regarding the complicated bands situation for LTE, it is not possible to find a single
global roaming band. More reasonable way is to use several frequency bands which can
cover at least two ITU regions to comprise the roaming spectrum.
For FDD application, candidate bands for roaming band combination include:
1800MHz, E850MHz, APT 700MHz, US 700MHz
For TDD application, candidate bands for roaming band combination include:
2.3GHz, 2.6GHz, 3.5GHz
Note that except for the candidate bands, roaming via FDD is also a possible
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700MHz Bands:
2600MHz Bands:
Figure 13 Global frequency arrangements of 700MHz, 850MHz and 2600MHz
B12
698
698
704
728
734
746 777
758
703
703 758748 803
791
788
716
716
746
746
756 787
768
803
798
B17
B13
B14
Band 44
Band 28
CEPT
CHINA
2500 MHz
TDD
2690 MHz
BRS1
BRS2
A1
2495 MHz
1 6 64 45.5*12 5.5*126*7
2572 2614 2690
B2
C3
A3
C1
A2
B3
D1
D2
D3
J KB1
C2
A4
C4
F4
B4
G4
D4
E4
E2
F2
E1
F1
E3
F3
H1
H2
H3
G1
G2
G3The US
2500 MHz
Mobile Communication Service BSS
2635 2660 2690Some Asia-
Pacic
countries
Mobile Comm.Service
2500 MHz
FDD Uplink Blocks FDD Downlink Blocks
2570 2620 2690
Europe TDD or FDDDownlink(External)
Region 2
Region 3
Region 1
850MHz Bands:
875 860890845
830 815
894859849 814851824 806
869
Lower E850Upper E850Band 5Band 18Band 19
Source: 3GPP TR 37.806
Region 2
Region 3
Region 1
Region 2
Region 3
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5 TDD spectrum application
5.1 TDD spectrum
Spectrum is the king for operators competency. Many mobile carriers put
increasing emphasis on TDD spectrum and its usage.
Currently core bands for TDD are 1.9GHz, 2.0GHz, 2.3GHz and 2.6GHz. There is
totally about 440MHz bandwidth spectrum. In future, new candidate bands e.g.
3.5GHz and 3.7GHz may bring additional 400MHz bandwidth spectrum for TDD.
Analysis
Different TDD band has different band characteristics adapted to the different
application and scenario.
Band 1.9GHz/2.0GHz: region 1 and region 3; smal l bandwidth
(15MHz~20MHz), low propagation loss and penetration loss
Band 2.3GHz: ongoing discussion in region 1, WCS (FDD application)
in region 2, IMT in region 3; large bandwidth (100MHz), relatively low
propagation loss and penetration loss
Band 2.6GHz: small bandwidth(50MHz) in EU large bandwidth (190MHz) in
US and China, relatively high propagation loss and penetration loss
Band 3.5GHz/3.7GHz: ongoing in different regions; very large bandwidth
(200MHz), high propagation loss and penetration loss
Thus, band 2.3GHz/2.6GHz can be used to increase capacity and 3.5GHz/3.7GHz
is more adaptable for small cell application to offload traffic. These spectrum
distribution among different regions are briey summarized as below:
From the technology point, in band 1.9GHz/2.0GHz 3G TDD (TD-SCDMA) wasdeployed only in China. In other bands LTE TDD is the only choice.
If there are several operators in same band, need a guard band (around 10MHz)
between each adjacent operator or to synchronize the TDD networks.
Dedicated band
1.9GHz/2.0GHz
In region 1, 1900-1920MHz (Band 33) and 2010-2025MHz (Band 34) are
currently allocated to UMTS networks but remain unused throughout the EU. The
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European Commission has already issued a Mandate to CEPT to study suitable
alternative applications and develop appropriate technical conditions and sharing
arrangements.
Spectrum of 1880-1920MHz is allocated as Band 39 for LTE TDD in China.
However, 1900-1920MHz within this band is currently occupied by PHS in China.
Up to Oct. 2012, there are still over 13 million subscribers in the PHS network.
Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China (MIIT) has conrmed
that the spectrum shall be cleaned up for deployment of LTE TDD and announced
in Sep. 2012 that the LTE TDD license will be issued in about one year. This band
will play an important role for LTE TDD development in China. In the rst half year
of 2012, CMCC has nished network test of LTE TDD trial. 11 cities have set up
the trial network until the end of 2012 and a LTE FDD/TDD mixed commercial
network has been launched in Hongkong by CMCC.
2.3GHz
For 2.3GHz, non-mobile service is operated at the band in most countries and
only in small number of countries, mobile service is operated.
In EU, current usage is complex. LSA (licensed shared access) is hot issue in the
discussion in possible usage ways, but and maybe, could be static (without
consequence on the 3GPP standard). According to ECC WG FM questionnaire,
there are 12 countries which have no plan in addition to current non MBB use
and 5 countries that might support an EC/ECC harmonization.
In US, the band was assigned to WCS service in 1997. Now part of the band is
planned to be used as FDD systems.
In China, because of earlier military application, the band is only used in indoor
scenario before. MIIT in China formally announced that 2.3GHz can be used for
outdoor scenario after permission in Sep. 2012.
2.6GHz
Earlier allocation for this band is WiMAX. Many operators hold the spectrum more
than 20MHz. In recent years, the band already is allocated to LTE application in
Europe, US, China, etc. Although the band is intended for global harmonization,
actually there are two streams for allocation.
Option1: sandwich allocation, mainly in EU (Region1)
2570 2620 26902500 MHz
FDD UE Tx TDD FDD BS Tx
Figure 14 Sandwich frequency arrangement of 2600MHz
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In case of coexistence between TDD BS and FDD BS with the same class, guard band
is necessary to avoid interference. Guard band is from 5MHz to 10MHz depending on
the scenarios.
Option2: all band for TDD, or there is no FDD allocation in the band, mainly in
US, China.
Currently, CMCC holds the band 2570-2520MHz for LTE-TDD trial network. It can be
estimated that existing status will be maintain in future and another operator may
also come in and hold some of the band. At least two operators may share this band
including CMCC and China telecommunications with high possibility.
Summary
With more and more spectrum available for TDD and the development of Hetnet,
complicated network with multiple operators and multiple layers becomes a trend.
It will bring co-existence problem especially for TDD because of the challenge for
synchronization between BSs. Synchronization becomes an imperative issue to be
solved for TDD.
5.2 TDD synchronizationWhen multiple operators deploy TDD system in the same band and in the same
geographic areas, severe interferences may happen if the networks are uncoordinated.
For example, if some base stations (BSs) are transmitting while others are receiving,
the transmitter may desensitize or block the neighbor receiver due to imperfect
emission on the transmitter side and adjacent channel selectivity on the receiver side.
Figure 15 Interferences between uncoordinated TDDsystems in the same band and areas
Operator B uplinkOperator A downlink(UE
to UE interference)
Operator A downlinkOperator B uplink(BS to
BS interference)
Un-synchronization between operator A and B
Operator A
Operator B
D DD DU UU US S
D DD DU UU US S
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There are several possible techniques for improving coexistence between TDD
networks like:
SynchronizationSub-band ltering
Site coordination
Restricted blocks
The use of sub-band ltering and restricted blocks methods are obviously methods
which lead to spectrum wastage. Sub-band filtering method also increases
the number of base station types even within the same band and destroy the
economies of scale. Site coordination method will bring very complicate site plan
and site construction.
Therefore, a better way to avoid interferences is to synchronize neighbor BSs in
order to make them transmit and receive at the same time. Some supervisors also
make the synchronization between operators as mandatory rules to guarantee
the co-existence. It can be explained to two points as below:
Synchronizing the beginning of the frame
Conguring compatible frame structures
There are several methods for synchronization of the start of frame: GNSS
(like GPS), synchronization over backhaul network (like IEEE 1588 v2), and
synchronization through the radio-interface (like network listening). For outdoor
base stations like macro/micro cells, it is easy to get synchronization by GPS. But
with the development of heterogeneous network, more and more base stations
are planning to deployed indoor to improved the hotspot throughput. GPS andIEEE 1588 are not always available or suitable for small cells. In this case, over-
the-air synchronization approach can be used. This approach can be used for the
BSs not only within a single operator but also between different operators with
multiple layers sharing the same band. The following gure shows a feasible way
to implement synchronization across different operators.
Figure 16 A feasible way to implement synchronization across different operators
Declaring
Channel
Initial
Synchronization
Synchronization
Recalibration
Synchronization
Tracking
Introduce "DeclaringChannel" to make itpossible to save GB
BS A BS B BS CN
N Common Notifcation Channel
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6.1 Coordinating framework
There are 3 levels for the coordinating framework of the international use of the
radio spectrum.
The rst level: ITU-R for Global regulations (Coordinating the international use
of the radio spectrum in the world)
The second level: Regional Organizations for Regional regulations (Preparation
of common coordinated proposals in the region)
The third level: Administrations for national regulations (Governmental
department for the national frequency arrangement and management)
6 Annex
The procedure includes:
Declaring Channel: Each operator broadcasts/monitor the spectrum usage
information.
Initial Synchronization: keep synchronization with the deployed BS (target BS)
Synchronization Tracking: keep synchronization periodically.
Synchronization recalibration.
3GPP will still further enhance the current synchronization mechanisms for the
scenario of multi-carriers and multi-layers in the later releases.
Figure 17 Coordinating framework of the international use of the radio spectrum
Administrations
ITU Regional Org.
External Org.
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ITU-R1.
The ITU Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) specializes in facilitating international
collaboration to ensure the rational, equitable, efcient and economical use of
the radio-frequency spectrum and satellite orbits, by:
Holding World and Regional Radiocommunication Conferences (WRC and
RRC) 1 to expand and adopt Radio Regulations (RR) and Regional Agreements
covering the use of the radio-frequency spectrum;
Establishing ITU-R Recommendations, developed by ITU-R Study Groups
(SG) in the framework set by Radiocommunication Assemblies (RA), on the
technical characteristics and operational procedures for radiocommunication
services and systems;
Coordinating endeavors to eliminate harmful interference between radio
stations of different countries;
Maintaining the Master International Frequency Register (MIFR), Based on
inputs from administrations;
Offering tools, information and seminars to assist national radio-frequency
spectrum management.
ITU-R is responsible for coordinating the international use of the radio spectrum.
The conferences and important outcome of ITU-R are as follows19.
19 From ITU-R website
CPM: Conference Preparatory Meeting
Rec:ITU-R Recommendation
RofP:Rules of Procedure
RR:Radio Regulations (treaty status)
RAG:Radiocommunication Advisory Group
RRB:Radio Regulations Board
SGs & SC: Radiocommunication Study Groups and Special Committee
WRC: World Radiocommunication Conference
ITU MemberStates (193)
Technicalbases
RA CPM
WRCRec
Final Acts
SGs & SC
Director
RAG
RR
RRB
Revisions to RR, Resolutions& Recommendations
Radiocommunication BureauRofP
Figure 18 Importance conferences and outputs of ITU-R
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The World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) is the most important
conference in ITU-R, normally held one month long every four to ve years.
The WRC is the forum where countries decide on the shared use of the
frequency spectrum to allow the deployment or growth of all types of
radiocommunication services that have global implications
WRC decisions are contained in Final Acts which include amendments to the
Radio Regulations (RR, treaty status)
The Radio Regulations provide for the allocation of radio frequency
spectrum to various radio services (e.g. broadcasting, satell ite
communications, radiolocation and mobile).
The Radio Regulations also provide the technical provisions for sharing
radio frequency spectrum among radio services and the regulatory
provisions for bringing into use new radio based systems.
Adopts Resolutions covering technologies and future work of the ITU-R.
Regional Organizations and Administrations2.
For the allocation of frequencies the world has been divided into three Regions
as shown on the following map20. The detail information about the area which is
included in each Region can be found in Radio Regulations.
20 From Radio Regulations published by ITU-R
Figure 19 Three Regions in the world
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There are six main regional organizations in the world.
Inter-American Telecommunications Commission (CITEL)
European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT)
Asia Pacic Telecommunity (APT)
African Telecommunications Union (ATU)
Arab Spectrum Management Group (ASMG)
Regional Commonwealth in the eld of Communications (RCC)
Each of the Regional Spectrum organizations has a WRC preparatory function.
Administrations in each Region will submit draft proposals to the RegionalSpectrum organizations.
The regional organization will adopt common proposals before the WRC in
accordance with their own procedures.
The regional proposals are submitted to the WRC on behalf of all of their Members.
Figure 20 Six main regional organizations in the world
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3GPP 37.104 v11.2.11.
Report ITU-R M.2024(2000), Summary of spectrum usage survey results2.
Report ITU-R M.2072(2006), World mobile telecommunication market3.
forecast
Report ITU R M.2074(2006), Radio aspects for the terrestrial component of4.
IMT-2000 and systems beyond IMT-2000
Report ITU-R M.2078(2006), Estimated spectrum bandwidth requirements5.for the future development of IMT-2000 and IMT-Advanced
Report ITU-R M.2079(2006), Technical and operational information for6.
identifying Spectrum for the terrestrial component of future development of
IMT-2000 and IMT-Advanced
Recommendation ITU-R M.1036-4(03.12), Frequency arrangements7.
for implementation of the terrestrial component of International Mobile
Telecommunications (IMT) in the bands identified for IMT in the Radio
Regulations (RR)
Radio Regulations (Edition of 2008)8.
Provisional nal acts (WRC-12)9.
7 References
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