From LTE-advanced to the future

LTE and LTE-Advanced have undeniably provided a major step forward in mobile communication capability, enabling mobile service provisioning to approach for the first time that available from fixed-line connections. However, market demands typically do not evolve simply in discrete steps; therefore, the future evolution of LTE-Advanced will be a story of continuous enhancement, on one hand taking advantage of the advancing capabilities of technology, while on the other aiming to keep pace with the expectations and needs of the end users. In this article, the likely directions of this continuing enhancement are discussed, and some areas where further technical advancement will be required are identified. In particular, potential measures to enhance the efficiency of spectrum utilization by joint multicell optimization, dynamic adaptation of the network to traffic characteristics and load levels, and support for new applications are highlighted.