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Vendor’s picocell taps unlicensed 5-GHz spectrum to improve indoor mobile performance.
Telefonica and Ericsson this week revealed they have conducted an LTE-Unlicensed (LTE-U) demonstration on the Spanish incumbent’s live network.
The companies used Ericsson’s RBS 6402, an indoor picocell that offers 10 frequency bands, carrier aggregation at throughputs of up to 300 Mbps, and supports LTE, WCDMA and WiFi.
The demonstration combined LTE signals in licensed bands with LTE signals in the unlicensed 5 GHz band, which is also used for WiFi, in order to boost the connection speed.
"This demonstration proves that multiple technologies will coexist for best use of all spectrum and to support all deployment scenarios," said Angel Blazquez, director of radio and core at Telefonica Spain, in a statement on Wednesday.
Ericsson said its LTE-U solution is commercially available as a software upgrade that enables operators to tap unlicensed 5-GHz spectrum.
The Swedish kit maker said it also offers a smooth transition path for operators migrating to the 3GPP’s LTE Release 13, which is all but completed and seeks to ensure fair coexistence between technologies like LTE-U and WiFi.
"Ericsson’s pioneering demonstration with Telefonica, combined with the enhancements to our industry-leading indoor radio portfolio, represent a milestone in the development of LTE-U," said Eric Parsons, head of mobile broadband and 4G/5G radio access at Ericsson.
"By enabling the use of unlicensed 5-GHz spectrum to boost peak data rates and capacity, LTE-U helps operators extract maximum value from their spectrum investments while bringing high-quality experiences to mobile broadband users everywhere," he said.
