Delivering extreme app coverage

Editor's Notes

• #2: Introduction Today, we are going to discuss Ericsson’s plans to deliver Extreme App Coverage for both operators and end users alike.
• #3: Trends – A Million Different User Needs with the Networked Society The Networked Society is creating new opportunities for learning, for business, and for cultural exchange. Within the Networked Society, mobile networks need to support a wide range of application types to meet a wide range of user needs. In meeting these needs, the network capacity, data speed and latency requirements vary widely between applications. The network requirements also vary across the coverage area and over time. In addition, new use cases are emerging, and new IoT applications are driving a number of unique network requirements. To meet the millions of different needs of the Networked Society, Mobile Broadband Networks need to be flexible and offer high performance.
• #4: What we are launching . . . New products within the Ericsson Radio System As mentioned, to increase the capacity and performance of the Ericsson mobile broadband network, we are introducing new products within the Ericsson Radio System that span our radio offering, our networks software, and our Multi-Gigabit backhaul. With these new products, we will enable, end to end, the delivery of 1 Gbps peak downlink data speeds of LTE Mobile Broadband to commercial operator networks in 2016 in addition to increasing the capacity and efficiency of our Radio offering and the capacity of our Microwave offering. We will now spend a few minutes looking at these new product areas in more detail.
• #5: What we are launching . . . The Evolution of Carrier Aggregation Carrier Aggregation is been a key technology that has been deployed globally and is used to increase data speeds, network performance and app coverage. Today, Ericsson supports over 35 commercial networks where Carrier Aggregation has been deployed. This includes the aggregation of FDD carriers, TDD carriers, and the aggregation of FDD and TDD using common baseband hardware. Our first commercial deployment of of Carrier Aggregation was in 2013, and in recent years, we achieved several world firsts which include the implementation within operator commercial networks the aggregation of of spectrum to support data speeds of 450 Mbps; in addition to aggregating 60 MHz of spectrum in combination with LTE 256 QAM encoding to support data speeds of 600 Mbps; in addition to the aggregation of FDD and TDD carriers using common baseband hardware. Then, on Nov. 9th, we were the first to demonstrate 1 Gbps of LTE on a commercial network – which was Telstra’s network. We are now pleased to announce the full commercial launch of 1 Gbps peak LTE downlink data speeds. One Gigabit per second LTE represents more than 100% increase in speed over and above the 450 Mbps peak data rate achievable with 60 MHz of spectrum when 256 QAM and 4x4 MIMO are not utilized.. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Supporting Notes (fyi, 3 Carrier Aggregation case - 2CC 4x4 MIMO 256 QAM + 1CC 2x2 MIMO 256 QAM) Commercial FDD / TDD deployment with Vodafone, Portugal with Qualcomm (June 23, 2015) using 15B software (2 carrier) Ericsson, Swisscom and Qualcomm achieve new LTE FDD/TDD first – 3C – (Aug. 20, 2015) - 335 Mbps speed, using two LTE TDD carriers, each with 20 MHz bandwidth in the 2.6 GHz frequency band (B41), and one LTE FDD carrier with 15 MHz in the 2.1 GHz band (B1) were used Technology leaders Ericsson and Swisscom demonstrate 256 QAM in a combined three-carrier aggregation LTE FDD/TDD live commercial network (Sept. 21, 2015) – speed 426 Mbps 600 Mbps Cat 11 Demo with Telstra (Feb. 26, 2015) Nov. 9, Ericsson and Telstra test LTE Advanced 1 Gbps speed capability via a World First 5 carrier aggregation end-to-end data session over a live network November 18, 2015, World's first live LTE Carrier Aggregation of licensed and unlicensed bands on commercial network with Vodafone, Ericsson and Qualcomm ____________________________________________________________________ 256 QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation)
• #6: What we are launching Enabling a Gigabit per second of mobile broadband data We will now take a more detailed look at our commercial implementation of Gigabit LTE. Gigabit LTE requires several capabilities, or enablers. These enablers include a combination of 3 component carrier aggregation to aggregate 60 MHz of spectrum, along with 4x4 MIMO, and 256 QAM encoding. Our implementation of Gigabit LTE is further enhanced with the Ericsson Lean Carrier design (launched in October, 2015). Ericsson Lean Carrier provides a reduction in inter-cell interference which extends the viability of the LTE 256 QAM encoding to outdoor environments. As shown in the diagram, one Gigabit of LTE is achieved by aggregating two 20 MHz LTE carriers which utilize 4x4 MIMO and 256 encoding with one 20 MHz LTE carrier which utilizes 2x2 MIMO and 256 encoding. In this case, the 20 MHz 4x4 MIMO carriers will support peak data rates of 400 Mbps each, while the 20 MHz 2x2 MIMO carrier will support a peak data rate of 200 Mbps. Together, these three carriers will support a peak data rate of 1 Gbps. Finally, it should be noted, that Gigabit LTE, with all of its complexities and feature inter-working dependencies can be supported on a single Ericsson Radio System baseband unit. As discussed on a previous slide, Gigabit LTE delivers Extreme App Coverage, providing many benefits to the mobile broadband end user. ____________________________________________________________________ 256 QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation) In 2016, Gigabit LTE Performance, as provided by Ericsson, will soon be providing great value for operators and end users. For starters, Gigabit LTE Performance will deliver exceptionally high quality App Coverage, I like to call it Extreme App Coverage. Users will have extremely fast time to their favorite content, and enterprise users will have immediate access to applications critical to their business (a user will be able to download a full season of a favorite TV program in approximately 5 seconds). In addition, a Gigabit of bandwidth will enable the support of personal hotspots for use at vacation homes and small offices. Gigabit Performance will also ensure there is good app coverage even in those difficult coverage areas like the cell edge. And as we move further down the road to 5G, we also expect to see the downloading of high resolution 4K video, and new applications that utilize Augmented Reality and Shared Virtual Reality technology.
• #7: What we are launching . . . Ericsson Lean Carrier Enhancements We will now take a look at our drive test results of Ericsson Lean Carrier . . . The diagram shown illustrates the utilization of the LTE encoders as measured with Ericsson Lean Carrier both turned “on” and “off” during Ericsson drive testing. These results reveal, that by reducing inter-cell interference, Ericsson Lean Carrier enables the 64 QAM and the new 256 QAM higher order modulation to be utilized a greater percentage of the time, and over a broader area, extending their high data speed advantage and spectral efficiency both indoors and within the outdoor macro environment. During testing, the utilization of the 256 QAM (dark green bar in graph) increased from 10% (Lean Carrier off) to 38% (Lean Carrier on), representing a 4x increase. In addition, the number of samples receiving either the higher 64 QAM and/or 256 QAM encoding (light and dark green bars in graph) increased in total by approximately 20%. In addition, the data throughput for any given LTE modulation scheme, 16 QAM, 64 QAM, and 256 QAM, increased. Therefore, we can conclude that Ericsson Lean Carrier increases spectral efficiency by enabling a greater utilization of the higher LTE modulations in addition to increasing the data throughput for any given encoding mechanism. ____________________________________________________________________ 256 QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation)
• #8: Elastic RAN – provides optimal coordination across entire network introducing virtually centralized architecture within Ericsson Cloud RAN Baseband coordination is a key element in achieving high network performance, and the industry approach to achieve optimal coordination is normally to do centralized baseband deployments, often referred to as C-RAN. However, C-RAN deployments put high requirements on the fronthaul and the coordination gain is limited to a pre-defined area. By introducing Elastic RAN (E-RAN), we now enable optimal coordination across the entire network, agnostic on baseband deployment scenarios. It can be used in deployments, which are centralized, distributed or a mix of both. Elastic RAN will cover coordination functionalities, such as CoMP and Carrier Aggregation, with full performance. There are no limits to the coordination area, and it is fully dynamic (elastic) throughout the network. In Elastic RAN, the baseband units are interconnected through Ethernet switching. The switched inter-connect is much more efficient than the dedicated, point-to-point fiber required for CPRI links in typical C-RAN deployments.With Elastic RAN, , the end-user will always benefit from Carrier Aggregation and CoMP, even when covered by different cell sites (different baseband units) throughout the network. Outside the most dense urban areas where operators don’t want to deploy Elastic RAN, coordination can still be done over the X2 interface. Tight coordination over X2 can still provide good gains, but the coordination performance is dependent on the transport network latency.
• #9: What we are launching . . . Introducing Ericsson Networks Software 16B Ericsson Networks Software 16B delivers a number of new LTE enhancements that enable Extreme App Coverage. In summary . . . The key capabilities include the support of Gigabit LTE downlink peak data speeds as enabled by a combination of three component Carrier Aggregation, 4x4 MIMO, 256 QAM and Ericsson Lean Carrier. In addition, to enhance the data rates of small cells, we are introducing inter-eNodeB Carrier Aggregation to enable combining the data speeds of small cells and macro cells when they use separate eNodeBs, or separate baseband hardware. Then, we are introducing enhancements to our industry unique Ericsson Lean Carrier capability which reduces inter-cell interference extending the applicability of the LTE 256 QAM encoder to outdoor environments to further improve network performance.
• #10: What we are launching . . . . Introduce 4x4 MIMO to get more capacity and to enable Gigabit LTE Another way of increasing the capacity for Mobile Broadband traffic, of course, is to increase the amount of receive and transmit branches in the radio. With 4-way receive diversity, the operator gets a base station configuration that can better receive signals from mobile devices in the network, increasing uplink performance. With 4-way transmit, operators can now introduce the 4x4 MIMO technology on the downlink that increases the downlink performance. 4x4 MIMO doubles the number of unique data streams being transmitted which doubles capacity and data throughput These improvements help operators increase spectrum efficiency, add more network capacity and obtain higher end-user throughput – like Gigabit LTE. To achieve these attractive improvements in a cost effective way, operators are looking for compact and powerful radio solutions to enable 4x4 MIMO in their networks. Ideally, one radio unit should support 4 transmit and 4 receive branches. So, to better enable Gigabit LTE, we are introducing the Ericsson Radio System Radio 4415 with 4x40W output power to introduce 4x4 MIMO
• #11: What we are launching . . . . Launching three new powerful Radios Today, to better support the delivery of Extreme App Coverage, in summary, Ericsson is launching three new powerful Radios as new product additions to the Ericsson Radio System. These products support three network enhancements (re-farming, 4x4 MIMO and Supplemental Downlink). The Radio 2212, with 2x80W output power to re-farm spectrum, the Radio 4415 with 4x40W output power to introduce 4x4 MIMO and the Radio 2012 for the 1.4 GHz Supplemental Downlink band. Three very powerful and efficient additions to the Ericsson Radio System . . . All that can be easily added on Ericsson’s Rail System with one-bolt installation.
• #12: What we are launching . . . . Microwave backhaul support on the road to 5G Up until now, our focus has primarily been on capabilities to deliver Extreme performance and large volumes of mobile broadband traffic to the end user. To support the introduction and evolution of Gigabit LTE Performance, we will now shift our focus to our backhaul capabilities and the MINI-LINK launches of new capabilities to support Multi-gigabit Capacities and a Multi-band Booster. As we know, Microwave networks are a vital ingredient for operators to provide the best possible performance, and microwave will continue to be the dominant backhaul technology in the future. MINI-LINK is the world’s mostly deployed microwave radio link and it provides the best solution for each part of the network. It fulfills all network requirements in terms of capacity and functionality in a cost-efficient way. To support the introduction and evolution of Gigabit LTE Performance, MINI-LINK is now launching new additional capabilities to support Multi-gigabit Capacities and a Multi-band Booster. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Supporting text: Network demands and maturity vary around the world. Regardless of the situation, operators want to achieve the same goal – to provide the best possible performance and quality of experience in the most cost-efficient way. Microwave networks are a vital ingredient for operators to meet this goal, and will continue to be the dominant backhaul technology in the future.     MINI-LINK is the world’s mostly deployed radio link. MINI-LINK as a network node provides the right solution for each part of the network, enabling sound investments according to the current demand in terms of site requirements and capacities. To support the introduction and evolution of Gigabit LTE Performance, MINI-LINK launches additional capabilities to support Multi-gigabit Capacities and Multi-band Booster in backhaul.
• #13: What we are launching . . . . To meet these future needs these new MINI-LINK offerings provides microwave links with capacities of several Gbps: :  The MINI-LINK 6651 is a compact end-node for split mount deployment (indoor unit connected to an outdoor radio) in traditional bands. It is part of the MINI-LINK 66 hundred series and despite it´s small form factor it is capable of a link capacity of 1.9 Gbps, using 4096 QAM and a 112 MHz channel. We’re also launching a high performing ultra compact flat antenna to MINI-LINK 6363, the world’s smallest high power radio. The MINI-LINK 6354 is a two carrier all outdoor solution in traditional frequency bands that provides a capacity of 2.8 Gbps. It has an integrated switch and the capacity can be enhanced by using the unique Multi-band Booster concept. We will go through that in more detail in the coming slides To achieve 10 Gbps capacity over a hop in the E-Band frequency band, that is, the 70 and 80 GHz band, we have added Radio Link Bonding to the MINI-LINK 6352. The bonding technology is a type of carrier aggregation but in the microwave domain. It also supports the Multi-band Booster concept, and it will also have a new high performing compact antenna to give better performance and to allow shorter hop-lengths for urban deployments. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Supporting info: Split mount deployment: indoor unit with modem and traffic interfaces connected to an outdoor radio. All outdoor: Modem and traffic interfaces are part of the radio in an all outdoor concept. Traditional frequency bands : 6-42 GHz bands. Spectrum in different frequency ranges is used to support backhaul in all locations, from very sparse rural areas to ultra-dense urban environments. There are large regional and national variations in the relative use of different frequency bands. This is due to local parameters such as climate, inter-site distances, performance requirements, national spectrum regulations. E-band: The new 70/80 GHz band is now rapidly increasing in use due to its very wide spectrum and channels that can enable capacities in the 10 gigabit range. MINI-LINK 6363 (world´s smallest high power radio for split deployments) and MINI-LINK 6352 (all outdoor E-band) were launched at MWC 2015. Radio Link Bonding: is a type of carrier aggregation but in the microwave domain. By bonding 2 or more separate radio links, a virtual pipe is created enabling 100% utilization of the total capacity. Ericsson was first with this technology. Multi-band Booster: Use the Radio Link bonding feature to bond two very different carriers in terms of channel width and frequency bands. The combination can then use the best of two worlds, adding a wider high frequency channel to a narrow low frequency channel. By this you can achieve very high capacities over longer hops while maintain a good performance.
• #14: What we are launching . . . . Multi-band booster is an innovative tool to add flexibility and cater for the backhaul requirements on the road to 5G. Multi-band booster, combines the best characteristics of different frequency bands to boost capacities and hop lengths. This is an example of using Multi-band Booster with a E-band microwave radio, (that is in the 70 and 80 GHz frequency band), together with a microwave radio using a channel in the 23 GHz band. This combination enables 10 times more capacity than what would be achievable by only using a single radio in a 23GHz. Multi-band booster uses a low band radio to provide a high availability connection and combines it with a higher band that provides a significant increase in capacity but with a slightly lower availability. Let’s take an example that shows the 10x capacity - A single microwave radio in the 23 GHz-band is capable of up to 500 Mbps with five 9s availability over long hop-length. By adding an E-band microwave radio link with 750 MHz channels and by bonding it with the 23GHz link, - it is possible to boost capacity to 5 Gbps – giving us up to 10 times the capacity! Then we can use Quality of Service mechanisms for prioritization to make sure that critical traffic always makes it through. Here is another way to look at this: we are extending the use of E-band spectrum that normally is limited to shorter hop-lengths.  By using the reach of 23 GHz microwave radio, we can extend the hop-length by 3 times compared with a single E-band hop. This lets us use the E-band not just in urban areas, but also to boost capacity in suburban areas over longer distances. Using the multi-band booster means we can extend the E-band range and still preserve excellent network performance. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 10X capacities with Multi-band Booster   This is an example of using Multi-band Booster with a E-band (70/80 GHz) microwave radio together with a microwave radio using a 23 GHz band. This combination enable 10x the capacity than only using a single radio in the tradition frequency band.   A radio link installation using traditional frequency bands of 23 GHz is capable of up to 500 Mbps with high availability (99.999 percent). In urban/sub-urban areas the hop length is often less than 1–4 km. By adding an E-band microwave radio link with 750 MHz channels and combining it with the traditional radio link, while using QoS mechanisms for prioritization, it is possible to boost capacity to 5 Gbps. Having done this, it is possible to achieve 99.8–99.99 percent availability while still securing 99.999 percent availability for high priority traffic. The annual average of available traffic capacity will reach very close to the maximum for the bonded links, typically around 96–98 percent of the theoretical maximum peak capacity.   A another way to look at this, is that you also extend the use of E-band spectrum that might be limited to its shorter hop-length.  By using the reach of the traditional microwave radio, you extend the hop-length by 3 times compared with a E-band hop. This enable a use of E-band not only in Urban areas, but also to boost capacities in Sub-urban areas over longer distances.
• #15: Summary In summary, Ericsson is focusing on enabling Extreme App Coverage for the Networked Society. And today, as discussed, we are announcing new powerful products to be added to the Ericsson Radio System to enable Extreme App Coverage for the benefit of both operators and end users. And we will be the first to deliver Gigabit LTE commercial network, and are targeting availability of the solution in 2Q 2016. In closing, thank you for your time and attention.
• #16: The End