Trends in small cell enhancements in LTE advanced

Author

Nakamura, T. ; Nagata, Satoshi ; Benjebbour, Anass ; Kishiyama, Yoshihisa ; Tang Hai ; Shen Xiaodong ; Yang Ning ; Li Nan

Author_Institution

NTT DOCOMO, Inc., Yokosuka, Japan

Volume

51

Issue

2

fYear

2013

fDate

Feb-13

Firstpage

98

Lastpage

105

Abstract

3GPP LTE, or Long Term Evolution, the fourth generation wireless access technology, is being rolled out by many operators worldwide. Since LTE Release 10, network densification using small cells has been an important evolution direction in 3GPP to provide the necessary means to accommodate the anticipated huge traffic growth, especially for hotspot areas. Recently, LTE Release 12 has been started with more focus on small cell enhancements. This article provides the design principles and introduces the ongoing discussions on small cell enhancements in LTE Release 12, and provides views from two active operators in this area, CMCC and NTT DOCOMO.

Keywords

3G mobile communication; Long Term Evolution; cellular radio; 3GPP LTE; CMCC; LTE advanced; Long Term Evolution; NTT DOCOMO; cell enhancements; fourth generation wireless access technology; Antennas; Computer architecture; Long Term Evolution; Macrocell networks; Microprocessors; Throughput;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Communications Magazine, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0163-6804

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/MCOM.2013.6461192

Filename

6461192