Singtel and Ericsson have successfully conducted a live trial of pre-standard License Assisted Access (LAA) on Singtel’s network earlier this month. The trial was completed after a two-week period of extensive testing using multiple Ericsson's RBS 6402 indoor small cells, Wi-Fi access points, prototype LAA devices, and Wi-Fi devices.
Singtel provided the licensed spectrum of 1800 MHz (20 MHz) for the LTE anchor carrier, augmented with 5 GHz unlicensed spectrum (20 MHz) in its live network deployed in an office building at Serangoon North. With the successful trial of LAA, this service will be progressively deployed in Singapore over the next two years, beginning in the first half of 2017, enabling Singtel to extend its current in-building coverage capacity and provide a better 4G experience to its mobile customers.
New handset models supporting LAA are expected to be available by early 2017. In the future, customers with LAA-capable handsets will be able to enjoy peak download throughput up to 450 Mbps, said both companies in a statement.
LAA is part of LTE-Unlicensed (LTE-U), which is a mobile technology innovation that unlocks unlicensed spectrum for LTE to boost data speeds. LAA in specific comes with added functionality known as listen-before-talk (LBT) to ensure coexistence with other Wi-Fi devices on the same unlicensed spectrum.
During the trial, extensive tests cases were conducted to demonstrate extended coverage and increased network capacity as well as seamless mobility with opportunistic aggregation of unlicensed spectrum. These include:
Demonstration of opportunistic carrier aggregation of unlicensed spectrum to deliver higher throughput and greater capacity. A stationary live test at the office building demonstrated an LAA throughput of 275 Mbps, which is the highest throughput supported by prototype devices today.
Showcase of LAA ability to co-exist with Wi-Fi signals without affecting user experience in Wi-Fi. The trial showed that Wi-Fi users are better off with LAA as a neighbour and maintained consistent downlink throughput with and without LAA introduction.
Coverage testing to demonstrate LAA's ability to have better link performance, medium access control, mobility management, and excellent coverage as compared to Wi-Fi Access points, and also to consistently provide higher user throughput speeds through seamless handover between multiple small cells and across various radio conditions.
Tay Yeow Lian, Managing Director of Networks, Consumer Singapore, Singtel
To provide our customers with a superior mobile experience when they are indoors, we are continuing to invest in new technologies that will increase indoor 4G speeds.
Martin Wiktorin, Country Manager of Ericsson Singapore and Brunei
5G standards do not yet exist but 5G is expected to be an evolution of today's LTE networks along with new radio technologies and use cases.
