DL - 4G Americas

9 CONCLUSIONS
Wireless data usage continues to grow at an unprecedented pace, thanks mainly to the introduction of
newer devices such as the iPhone/iPad, Android, Nokia N900 and BlackBerry, which have introduced
user interfaces that have made end-users want to utilize more applications over their devices. The HSPA
technologies defined in Rel-5 (HSDPA) and Rel-6 (HSUPA) have supported these quickly growing data
capacity demands. Networks with a large majority of smartphone users are experiencing strain and
operators continue to further evolutions such as HSPA+. The 3GPP standards anticipated the needed
evolution to Rel-7, and the introduction of LTE in Rel-8, which will be critical for supporting future data
growth. Beyond Rel-8, the standards deliver further enhancements in Rel-9 and later in Rel-10 towards
LTE-Advanced.
Rel-9 was completed in March 2010 and added feature functionality and performance enhancements to
both HSPA and LTE. For HSPA, Rel-9 enhancements included the ability to support non-contiguous DC-
HSDPA, MIMO + DC-HSDPA, contiguous DC-HSUPA and extensions to transmit diversity to support
non-MIMO devices. The focus for LTE included: additional features and enhancements to support IMS
Emergency Services, Commercial Mobile Alert Systems, location services, CS domain services (i.e.
voice), broadcast services (enhancements for MBMS), SON enhancements, Downlink BF (dual layer)
enhancements, vocoder rate adaptation for LTE, enhancements to support Home NodeB/eNodeB (i.e.
femtocells) and the evolution of the IMS architecture.
Rel-10 work has been the focus of 3GPP since the completion of Rel-9. Rel-10 is targeted to be
complete in March 2011 and will define enhancements required to meet IMT-Advanced requirements
through a work item called LTE-Advanced. LTE-Advanced has focused on introducing carrier aggregation
schemes, enhanced SU-MIMO and MU-MIMO techniques, support for relays, enhancements for MBMS,
SON enhancements, support for Heterogenous Networks, and Home NB/Home eNB enhancements.
LTE-Advanced was recently certified by the ITU as meeting all of the IMT-Advanced requirements and
will be published as IMT-Advanced compliant in the latter part of Q1 2011.
3GPP has already begun initial planning and discussions for Rel-11. Some of the key Rel-11 LTE
features are expected to be the addition of CoMP as well as enhancements to Carrier Aggregation and
ICIC. Some of the key Rel-11 HSPA+ features are expected to be downlink enhancements to support 8carrier
HSDPA and multi-point transmission, and uplink enhancements to support dual antenna
beamforming and MIMO. Rel-11 will also focus on enhancements to support Machine-Type
Communications.
Clearly the continued evolution of 3GPP is exceptionally strong, providing significant new capabilities and
enhancements to HSPA+ and LTE-Advanced through Rel-10, Rel-11 and beyond to provide operators
with the solutions for meeting the fast growing wireless data usage demands of consumers and the
enterprise.
www.4gamericas.org February 2011 Page 95