Small cells and Wireless Capacity Growth

Self explanatory slide showing the impact of Small cells on the capacity growth. This is probably the best way to further increase the capacity.

Courtesy: Moray Rumney, Agilent technologies in LTE World Summit

LTE/EPS Security Starting point

Recently a colleague wanted to know from where should he start reading about LTE/SAE security. The obvious answer was 3GPP TS 33.401 which is the specification and provides complete details. It seems that some people get scared when they start looking at the specs and in that case it is preferable to have a book chapter or something similar that could provide useful information.

Agilent, the T&M manufacturers released a book last year on LTE and the chapter on the Security is freely available on the web which I have also stored on the 3G4G website. It is a good starting point and provides basic details that technically minded people may find useful.

You can have a look at the Security chapter here.

Industry's first LTE Comformance test submitted for approval

Anite has submitted the first LTE test case 8.1.2.1 based on the conformance test specification 36.523-1. The test case was debugged using the LG Electronics LE03 UE.

This is in a way good news as the industry is moving forward at an amazing speed. The Release-8 of LTE was finalised in reality in March 09 (or Dec. 08 for some specs).

Anite has partnered with Agilent for the conformance testing and this release of TC's is a good way forward towards proving industry leadership.

Looking at the latest test cases that have been submitted, it seems another couple of tests 7.1.1.1 and 8.1.1.1 have been submitted as well.

People who are interested in technical details can look at the logs submitted and get the details of the messages that I have specified in the message flow earlier here.

====== Edited after post =====

Here is their press release which seems to have come after my blog :)

Anite, a global leader in testing technology for the wireless industry, and LG Electronics (LG), a global leader and technology innovator in mobile communications, today announced the successful verification of the industry’s first LTE protocol conformance test cases. Anite and LG Electronics have made the results from their groundbreaking work available to the members of the 3GPP standards body, so that the entire mobile industry may benefit from this milestone achievement.

Conformance testing is fundamental in leading-edge technologies, such as LTE, because it ensures that new handsets and data cards deliver both the applications and services anticipated by the end user and the ability to work seamlessly with existing users and networks. LG uses Anite’s LTE solution – which provides a suite of development tools for UE designers – to develop their devices in advance of LTE networks being available, ensuring these meet the industry’s rigorous certification requirements during the earliest stages of their development cycle.

The new tests build upon Anite’s comprehensive portfolio for all leading 3GPP protocol technologies from GSM through EDGE and WCDMA to the latest HSPA+ standards. Anite’s unique blend of software-only host and target test solutions for 2G, 3G and LTE technologies allows developers to adopt a total end-to-end test philosophy for all of their wireless testing needs, reducing both their time and cost to market.

"LTE device certification is essential in ensuring that next generation LTE wireless devices meet customer expectations. Working with LG is speeding the availability of the first LTE test cases to LTE developers, enabling the wireless industry to deploy the technology successfully and more quickly," said Paul Beaver, 3GPP Director, Anite. “Our customers can be confident that investing in Anite’s products will meet their conformance testing needs, maximising their test system utilisation and return on investment.”

Agilent in a three-pronged attack over LTE

Agilent have decided to launch an all-out attack with the view of proving themselves leaders of LTE technology.

Firstly, they released an LTE book just yesterday. The book will now be competing with four other very popular books on LTE already in the market. I managed to get an early preview of the book and I wasn't very impressed. There are nevertheless some sections which are very well written, containing unique information.

Secondly, Agilent are running some MIMO workshops and have released some very good presentations on MIMO on the web. You can download the material from the workshop here.

Finally, Agilent Technologies are to present three technical sessions at 2009 Informa LTE World Summit. Here is an extract from the press release:

Agilent Technologies has announced it will present three technical sessions and exhibit its LTE test application solutions at the fifth Informa LTE World Summit, Berlin, Germany, May 18-20. Agilent will exhibit its design-automation tools and flexible instrumentation for early LTE R&D design in components, base-station equipment and mobile devices.

The technical sessions are:
* MIMO Mia! -- What the Standards Didn't Tell You about MIMO;
* Honey, Who Shrunk My Mega Bits -- Practical Tips on Measuring Application Throughput in the Real World; and
* Doing Less with Moore - Challenges and Opportunities for Future Standards.

Agilent will exhibit its design-automation tools and flexible instrumentation for early LTE R&D design in components, base-station equipment and mobile devices.

The landscape is changing rapidly in mobile communications, combined with the challenges in global economies, yet LTE clearly is gaining momentum, said Benoit Neel, vice president and general manager of Agilent's Europe, Middle East and Africa field operations. Agilent remains fully committed to providing test solutions for the entire LTE development lifecycle -- from early RF and protocol development to conformance test and comprehensive, real-time network optimization and diagnostics.

Session highlights of Doing Less with Moore - Challenges and Opportunities for Future Standards, an LTE Summit workshop track on standardization presented by Moray Rumney, include:
* Examining trends in standardization
* Growing fragmentation and complexity, diminishing returns
* The growing gap between conformance testing and real life operation
* Opportunities for standards in an uncertain world
* Integration of macrocell and small cell technology
* Can femtocells do it all or do we need Wi-Fi

I am going to be there and am hoping to give youll detailed information on the event.