Nokia Siemens Networks has completed a field trial in Germany demonstrating the ability of Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology, in conjunction with Multiple Input/Multiple Output (MIMO) antenna technology, to offer mobile data rates of up to 173Mb/s.
To obtain data about LTE performance in an actual urban deployment environment, Nokia Siemens installed an LTE base station supporting LTE with a 2 x 2 MIMO antenna system having 120-degree sectors at the top of the Heinrich Hertz Institut building in the center of Berlin. Cars with LTE test terminals were driven up to 1km (a little more than 1/2in) away from the base station to measure the LTE cell’s coverage and throughput. Data was transmitted through the new 2.6GHz spectrum, which Nokia chose for the trial to assess if LTE performance requirements could be met using 3GPP standardized technologies.
The trial realized data rates of more than 100Mb/s over distances of several hundred meters, while maintaining “excellent throughput” at the edge of typical urban mobile radio cells. In addition, it demonstrated that LTE makes optimum use of the orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) and adaptive multi-antenna technologies, as well as the intelligent algorithms used to schedule user traffic to radio resources in multi-user environments.
Matthias Reiss, head of LTE Radio at Nokia Siemens Networks, said the trial also provided “evidence that future LTE networks can run on existing base station sites and mobile operators can build LTE networks without requiring new antenna sites.”
The adoption of LTE by mobile operators and carriers could pave the way for the introduction of mass-market multimedia services, including mobile television, to consumers. Its fast data rates, as well as its ability to enable optimization of network capacity, would make it easier for operators to handle the large amounts of data typically needing to be processed for such services.
In addition to offering its building for the LTE base station site, the Heinrich Hertz Institut provided expertise in intelligent adaptive MIMO technology and algorithms for the trial.
The base station, developed by Nokia Siemens, will support continuous testing activities in Germany over the next year. It transmits with 20MHz of bandwidth in the 2.6GHz band. The spectrum in this band will be awarded to mobile operators in the next few years.
For more information, visit www.nokiasiemensnetworks.com.
