LTE in Unlicensed Spectrum:

Trials, Deployments and Devices

July 2017

T his report is the second quarterly

report tracking the progress of the key
technologies for using LTE in unlicensed
LWA and LWIP products and networks from
the industry. The database also contains
information about spectrum bands and
spectrum: LTE-U, License Assisted Access bandwidth used, where available. Please
(LAA, or LTE-LAA) and its future enhancement contact info@gsacom.com if you have
eLAA, and related technologies such as additional information.
LWA. Future reports will cover the status of
GSA makes no guarantees that the
networks and ecosystems for CBRS (the US
information is complete, but reasonable
shared access spectrum) and LWIP.
efforts have been made to be comprehensive
GSA summarizes network trials as well as and accurate.
deployments, and the availability of chipsets,
The next update of this report will be at the
modules and devices. GSA welcomes
end of September 2017.
additions to its database of LAA/eLAA, LTE-U,

Copyright 2017 Global mobile Suppliers Association 1

Technology Context Development of the industry standard
has been led by the LTE-U Forum. In
The idea of using unlicensed spectrum to
February 2017, the USAs FCC authorized
offer LTE services and improve downlink
LTE-U devices for use in the 5 GHz
throughput has been around for some years,
unlicensed band. LTE-U has an upgrade
and there are alternative approaches:
path to LAA and eLAA.
LAA is a 3GPP standard finalized in
LWA (LTE Wireless-LAN Aggregation), a
Release 13, (Rel-13) and involves a
3GPP Rel-13 standardized technology,
licensed LTE band as the primary carrier
aggregates carriers at the PDCP layer, and
and Carrier Aggregation (CA) used to add
uses the Dual Connectivity feature from
a carrier in unlicensed 5 GHz spectrum for
3GPP Rel-12.
the downlink only. In Rel-14, eLAA will add
uplink support. LWA supports downlink aggregation only;
High-priority traffic can use the licensed eLWA (a work item for Rel-14) will add
band, while lower priority traffic can use uplink support. Separate nodes (a WLAN
the Wi-Fi channel. The decision on traffic access point and an LTE base station) are
allocation is made by the LAA enabled used, and these can be physically separate
base station/small cell, and there is no or collocated in a single unit. The eNodeB
impact on the core network infrastructure. makes the decision on activation of LWA
and the use of the bearers.
TDD and FDD modes are supported in
the standard. Fair coexistence in the 15 operators are trialling
unlicensed channel is provided by a or deploying LAA
region-specific listen-before-talk (LBT)
capability to ensure channels are clear 1 operator has
before transmission. LBT is mandatory in
commercially launched
the EU and Japan.
LTE-U and 7 more are
LTE-U is a pre-Release 13 technology trialling or deploying it
pioneered in the US (notably by Verizon
and T-Mobile), and also being trialled in
other countries including South Korea.
14 base stations and 7
smartphones support LAA,
It is similar to LAA with Carrier LTE-U or LWA
Aggregation; no core network changes;
decisions on spectrum use made by LBT is used to ensure fair coexistence in
base station/small cell - except that the unlicensed band. Both 2.4 GHz and
LTE-U uses Carrier-Sensing Adaptive 5 GHz unlicensed spectrum bands can
Transmission (CSAT) rather than LBT to be used.
determine when the 5 GHz unlicensed
LWIP (LTE WAN Integration with IPSec
Wi-Fi spectrum is in use to maintain fair
tunnel) is a Rel-13 feature similar to LWA
coexistence.
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 but performing aggregation and switching As far as we are aware, there are no
at the IP layer. It has been designed to commercial LAA or LWA networks, though
require no changes to existing WLAN several are close to such status, (see Tables
infrastructure, and in its Rel-13 version 1, 2 and 3).
can support uplink data transmission as
Significant among these are:
well as downlink.
MTNs trial of indoor LTE-LAA in Pretoria,
There are other approaches of interest. South Africa.
MulteFire leverages LAA for the downlink
Vodafone Turkeys LAA-ready network.
and eLAA for the uplink, with additional
enhancements to operate without a Chunghwa Telecoms LWA network that
licensed spectrum anchor. By removing the the company says will be launched for
requirement for licensed spectrum, MulteFire consumers in 2017 in the Taipei area.
allows more entities to deploy networks and
M1 Singapores LWA network scheduled
benefit from LTE technology.
for commercial launch during 2017.
CBRS (Citizens Broadband Radio Service) was
Operator Trials and Demonstrations
set up by the FCC in the USA in April 2016 to
use the 3.5 GHz band (3550-3700 MHz) as a Note that before March 2016 when 3GPP
space where a variety of users could share Rel-13 was finalised, announcements of
bandwidth. There have been a number of demos and trials of LAA or LWA would
releases of CBRS-compatible products in have referred to pre-standard versions of
recent months, including ip.accesss base these technologies.
station software Viper and Accelerrans Terms may not have been used consistently
small cell base station E1000. The CBRS in press releases and other statements, for
Alliance promotes the use of LTE-based CBRS instance, trials of pre-standard LAA in some
solutions. GSA will look at CBRS in more cases involve what has subsequently become
detail in future reports. known as LTE-U. Nokias cellular/Wi-Fi boost
Live Operator Networks technology was a pre-standards version of
LWA, for example.
There has been one live LTE-U network
deployment: T-Mobile USAs network Notes in Tables 1, 2 and 3 give appropriate
launched in June 2017 covering Bellevue, WA; information where possible.
Brooklyn, NY; Dearborn, MI; Las Vegas, NV;
Richardson, TX; and Simi Valley, CA.

The operator plans to continue to roll the

network out through 2017 using carrier
aggregation, 4x4 MIMO and 256QAM in the
5 GHz unlicensed band. Verizons LTE-U
network in the USA is expected to go live
during 2017.

Copyright 2017 Global mobile Suppliers Association 3

Table 1: Trials, Demonstrations and Plans for LAA
Operator Country Status Notes
Trial of LAA in San Francisco (announced June 2017); previous
AT&T USA Trial/plan demo with Ericsson, Qualcomm (Feb 2017); announced plans to
deploy in 2H17
Trial of LAA using 80 MHz of aggregated spectrum in the 5 GHz
T-Mobile USA Trial
band (announced June 2017)
Trial with Huawei and Qualcomm in Pretoria (announced May
2017); deployment planned. Trial aggregated 15 MHz of 2.1 GHz
MTN South Africa Trial/deployment licensed spectrum with 40 MHz of unlicensed spectrum in the
5 GHz band. Peak down-link throughput of 400 Mbit/s achieved.
Planned nationwide deployment of Huawei Lampsite small cells
Planned and ongoing deployment of Huawei, NEC and
Vodafone Turkey Plan/deployment SpiderCloud Wireless small cells (announced February 2017); has
deployed LAA-ready devices
SK Telecom South Korea Demo With Ericsson (announced Feb 2017) involving LAA/LTE-U.
SmarTone Hong Kong Demo With Ericsson (announced Jan 2017) involving pre-standard LAA
Trials, planned or being With Ericsson (announced Mar 2016 and Jul 2016); deployment
Singtel Singapore
deployed planned for 1H 2017.
Trials, planned or being Trials with Baicells, Radisys (announced Feb, Mar 2016);
China Mobile China
deployed deployment was planned for 2016
MTS Russia Trials With Ericsson (announced Dec 2015 for 2016) of LTE-U/ LAA
XL Axiata Indonesia Trial With Ericsson (announced Nov 2015) involving LAA
Vodafone Netherlands Demo With Ericsson (Nov 2015)
Deutsche Telekom Germany Trials Trials with Qualcomm (announced March 2015)
Verizon USA Demo With Ericsson (announced Feb 2015) involving LAA/LTE-U
Trials with Ericsson and Nokia (announced Jan 2015) of pre-
T-Mobile USA Trials
standard LAA (and LTE-U)
(Pre-standard) trials with Huawei (announced 2014, 2015)
NTT DoCoMo Japan Trials
involving adaptive LBT

Table 2: Trials, Demonstrations and Plans for LTE-U - Note there is overlap with Table 1
Operator Country Status Notes
AT&T USA Trial Trials announced in March 2016 (LAA also being trialled).
T-Mobile has asked the FCC for permission to extend its testing
period for real-world testing of LTE-U equipment from June 28,
T-Mobile USA Plans
2017 to December 28, 2017. The tests would operate in the
AWS-1 licensed spectrum and 5 GHz unlicensed spectrum
Trials, planned/ Trials with Baicells, Radisys (announced Feb, Mar 2016);
China Mobile China
deployment deployment was planned for 2016
Trial using 5.8 GHz unlicensed spectrum band (announced May
LG U+ South Korea Trials
2015)
MTN South Africa Trials With Ericsson (announced April 2016)
MTS Russia Trials With Ericsson (announced Dec 2015 for 2016) of LTE-U/LAA
Telefonica Spain Demo With Ericsson (announced March 2016)
Samsung and Verizon trials started in 2015; Qualcomm and
Verizon USA Planned/deployment
SpiderCloud Wireless also involved in pilots in 2017

Table 3: Trials, Demonstrations and Plans for LWA

Operator Country Status Notes
Planned or being Commercial availability of services expected 2017 (announced
Chunghwa Telecom Taiwan
deployed February 2017); equipment from MediaTek, Sercomm and HTC
Trial announced August 2016 involving Nokias Flexi Zone
Trial, planned or being
M1 Singapore equipment; deployment and commercial services planned for
deployed
2017

Copyright 2017 Global mobile Suppliers Association 4

Chipsets and Modules In addition there are modems and mobile
processors which, as we noted in our last
The silicon required to deliver LTE-U, LAA,
report, we do not believe are yet commercial:
LWA and other related network features
comes in a number of forms. Key are the Intels XMM7560 modem, announced
modems and mobile processors that can in February 2017, is at pre-commercial
handle aggregation of carriers in both stage. It will support LAA.
licensed and unlicensed spectrum, and the
Qualcomms X20 modem, announced
bandwidth enabled by such aggregation.
in February 2017, is at pre-commercial
Baseband SoCs (System on Chip) also need
stage. It will support LAA and LTE-U.
to be capable of supporting the relevant
technologies on the base station. MediaTeks Helio P10 mobile processor
is used in HTCs U Play smartphone;
We do not know of any currently
Chunghwa Telecom states this device is
commercially available modules supporting
LWA-capable (possibly after a firmware
LWA, LTE-U or LAA, but we understand that
upgrade), but we have not been able to
the next generation of Sierra Wirelesss
confirm the details.
EM and MC pattern modules will include
Qualcomms X16 modem and that LTE-U/ We expect MediaTeks Helio X35 mobile
LAA will be supported. The modules will be processor, currently pre-commercial
available as samples this year, but a shipping (announced November 2016) will support
date has not been announced. Table 4 relevant technologies, but details have not
summarizes known commercial devices in a been released.
number of different categories: base station
SoC, mobile processor and modem.

Table 4: Silicon Supporting LAA, LTE-U and LWA

Technology status
Vendor Product type Name LAA LTE-U LWA Notes
Intel Base station SoC Transcede T3K Shipping Shipping Available since 3Q 2014
Qualcomm Base station SoC FSM9955 Shipping Shipping Available since February 2016
KeyStone II
TI Base station SoC Shipping Available since 2015
TCI6630K2L
KeyStone II
TI Base station SoC Shipping Available since 2015
TCI6630K2H
Includes WorldMode modem; used in Vernee
Mediatek Mobile processor Helio X30 Shipping Shipping
Apollo 2 smartphone
Qualcomm Mobile processor Snapdragon 820 Shipping Shipping Announced September 2015
Qualcomm Mobile processor Snapdragon 821 Shipping Shipping Available since July 2016
Available in Samsung S8 & S8+, Xiaomi Mi 6,
Qualcomm Mobile processor Snapdragon 835 Shipping Shipping Sony Xperia XZ Premium, HTC U11, OnePlus 5,
ZTE Nubia Z17
May be used in Samsung Galaxy S8/S8+ out-
Samsung Mobile processor Exynos 8895 Shipping
side US
Mediatek Modem WorldMode Shipping Shipping Announced March 2017
Qualcomm Modem Snapdragon X16 Shipping Shipping Announced February 2016
Supports LTE-U with WTR3950 transceiver, and
Qualcomm Modem Snapdragon X12 Shipping Shipping
LWA with QCA6174A chipset

Copyright 2017 Global mobile Suppliers Association 5

Devices vendor and network operators. T-Mobile USA
said in April 2017 that it would announce its
Table 5 summarizes known commercial
first LTE-U handsets soon.
devices now available (or with a confirmed
shipping date in 2Q 2017) in a number of In addition to those devices listed in the
different categories: base station software, table, Cisco resells SpiderClouds entire
indoor small cells, outdoor small cells and portfolio of small cell products. Cisco is not
smartphones. Other categories will be added separately marked as a vendor of those
to the database as devices become available. products in our database.

The most significant developments since Ericsson confirmed that its Radio Dot System
our last report are the smartphones now is being developed for LAA (but not LTE-U);
shipping with Qualcomms LAA- and LTE-U that the Radio 2205 outdoor small cell will be
capable Snapdragon 835 mobile processors. available from 3Q2017 with LAA capability
(it can also be deployed indoors), and that
This does not mean that the feature is
the Vault Radio concept will also have similar
enabled in the smartphone, as this is a
capabilities to the Radio 2205.
decision to be made by the smartphone

Table 5: Devices Supporting LAA, LTE-U and LWA

Technology status
Vendor Product type Name LAA LTE-U LWA Notes
Available since May 2016;
Base station CellEngine
Radisys Upgradeable Commercial Upgradeable design based on Intel
software TOTALeNodeB+
Transcede T3K chipset
Base station CellEngine 5G RAN
Radisys Commercial Available since February 2017
software v1.0
Enterprise small Flexi Zone Indoor Available since September
Nokia Commercial Commercial Commercial
cell Multi-band 2016
SpiderCloud Enterprise small
SCRN-320 Upgradeable Commercial Available since May 2017
Wireless cell
Small cell base
Airspan AirVelocity Commercial Announced February 2016
station
Announced March 2016; uses
Small cell base
Baicells Light4G solution Upgradeable Commercial Intel TranscedeT3K chipset and
station
Radisys software
Small cell base
Ericsson RBS6402 Upgradeable Commercial Confirmed March 2017
station
Small cell base
Ericsson Radio Dot System In development Confirmed March 2017
station
Ericsson Outdoor small cell Radio 2205 In development Confirmed March 2017
Ericsson Outdoor small cell Vault Radio In development Confirmed March 2017
Small cell base Support for LAA features
Huawei AtomCell Commercial
station announced November 2015
Small cell base
Huawei Lampsite 2.0 / 3.0 Commercial Commercial Announced November 2016
station
Small cell base Available since September
Nokia Flexi Zone Multi-band Commercial
station 2016
Small cell base Uses Qualcomm FSM9955
Samsung LTE-U eFemto Upgradeable Commercial
station chipset

Table continued on next page

Copyright 2017 Global mobile Suppliers Association 6

Table 5 (continued): Devices Supporting LAA, LTE-U and LWA
Technology status
Vendor Product type Name LAA LTE-U LWA Notes
Small cell base
Sercomm SCB107Ev2 Commercial Available since February 2017
station
Small cell base
ZTE Qcell Plus Commercial Commercial Available since February 2016
station
HTC Smartphone U Play Commercial Available since February 2017
Released March 2017; uses
LG Smartphone G6 Commercial Commercial Qualcomm Snapdragon 821
mobile processor
Available April 2017; uses
Samsung Smartphone Galaxy S8/S8+ Commercial Commercial Qualcomms Snapdragon X16
modem (in US)
Released May 2017; uses
Sony Smartphone Xperia XZ Premium Commercial Commercial Qualcomm Snapdragon 835
mobile processor
Released May 2017; uses
HTC Smartphone U11 Commercial Commercial Qualcomm Snapdragon 835
mobile processor
Released May 2017; uses
ZTE Smartphone Nubia z17 Commercial Commercial Qualcomm Snapdragon 835
mobile processor
Released June 2017; uses
OnePlus Smartphone 5 Commercial Commercial Qualcomm Snapdragon 835
mobile processor

We understand that Nokias Femtocell (though details of this mobile processor are
Multi-band SoHo uses a Qualcomm chipset not available from Qualcomm).
(FSM99xx) that can be enabled for LAA/LTE-U,
Note that we understand that the Samsung
but Nokia has not confirmed that the product
Galaxy S8/S8+ uses Samsungs Exynos 8895
supports those features. It has confirmed
mobile processor in markets outside the US.
that it is developing LWA capability for its
AirScale Wi-Fi base station (announced March Finally, Ericsson confirms that its Network
2017). Software 16a supports LAA and LTE-U.

Node-H said in February 2017 that it was

working on LAA for its small cell base Conclusion
station software stack and would be using
Qualcomm FSM SoCs. Global ecosystems for a number of
technologies supporting the use of
Vernees Apollo 2 smartphone was expected unlicensed spectrum for LTE services are
to ship in May 2017 with the MediaTek building, and commercial services using
WorldMode modem that supports LTE-U and these technologies are now being launched.
LWA, but it is not clear if these features will The GSA is committed to tracking this
be enabled out-of-the-box in the Apollo 2. We important market; the next in this series
cannot confirm the product is yet available. of reports will be published at the end of
Vernee suggests that its forthcoming Apollo September 2017.
2 Pro will use Qualcomms Snapdragon 830

Copyright 2017 Global mobile Suppliers Association 7

GAMBoD Database
The GSA Analyser for Mobile Broadband Devices - to be renamed GSA Analyser for Mobile
Broadband Database - will continue to track 3GPP standards based devices and during
2017 will expand to include commercially
announced operator networks, technologies
(including LAA/LTE-U etc.), spectrum, network
speeds, will be fully searchable by different
categories and will output charts or lists as
required.

GAMBoD is a GSA resource available to all

GSA Member companies, Operators and GSA
Associates. For more information on
accessing GAMBoD please contact GSA at
info@gsacom.com

About GSA
GSA (the Global mobile Suppliers Association) is a not-for-profit industry organisation
representing companies across the worldwide mobile ecosystem engaged in the supply of
infrastructure, semiconductors, test equipment, devices, applications and mobile
support services.

GSA actively promotes the 3GPP technology road-map 3G; 4G; 5G and is a single source
of information resource for industry reports and market intelligence. GSA Members drive the
GSA agenda and define the communications and development strategy for the Association.

Contact
Email: info@gsacom.com

Tel: +44 330 113 1572

GSA website: www.gsacom.com

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