Idea for LTE Operators
Funny thing about LTE, it’s really polarizing in the blogosphere. Most people are extremely impressed by the performance but there are a few that claim they are rarely if ever on 4G. 
Made me think, why don’t the operators…
From the monthly archives: "April 2011"
Silly Engadget:Verizon’s LTE network takes the night off, leaves a bunch of Thunderbolt users bewildered
I have been pretty busy lately and needed a chuckle. Here is today’s (Thanks to Vlad @ Engadet.com):
Verizon’s LTE network takes the night off, leaves a bunch of Thunderbolt users bewildered
By Vlad Savov 
posted Apr 27th 2011 7:19AM
posted Apr 27th 2011 7:19AM
Is your fancy new phone lacking that certain extra G that makes it special? Worry not, it’s not just your device, Verizon’s entire LTE network seems to be having problems as outages have been reported from across the US. We tested our own Thunderbolt in San Francisco this morning and it was indeed making do with only 3G connectivity. It’s important to note that Verizon’s 3G network seems to be ticking along quite alright, it’s just 4G service that’s down at the moment. Some folks have reported losing both 3G and 4G connectivity, but that’s owing to a documented issue with 3G provisioning on the Thunderbolt — we’ve noted the way to overcome that problem in a previous post. For now, just enjoy your regular-speed mobile internet until the super-fast stuff is fixed and back up.
Update: The Verizon Wireless Twitter account has confirmed the issue, and that the company’s network engineers are “working to resolve quickly.”
UMTS Pico Army Strong!
Looks like BTS (name of firm) and Harris have come up with the KnightHawk. This is a hardened UMTS pico that operates in the UMTS (AWS in US) 2100MHz band, provides 10W of output, supporting 60 simultaneous voice calls and 14 HSPA (Data) sessions. Don’t forget, Harris has teamed with Nokia Siemens for LTE equipment and is pitching itself as a master systems integrator for public safety agency LTE700MHz deployments. I guess the pico adds a little legitimacy to their claims of being a soup to nuts SI. Now my question is, why do they need this? They advertise it for the warfighter, but the issues like spectrum, interoperability with local systems, the range of a 10W pico make it seem like a lot of trouble. I wonder if they support emergency calls? Anyway some additional details after the break.
Links: army3g.com, Harris
Network Sharing is Contagious
I’ve been beating this drum for a while, but once more won’t hurt. There are very compelling economic reasons communications networks should be built and shared. Regarding the sharing, in the US there has been WiMAX via Clear and Sprint, but now there’s LightSquared and Sprint and, LightSquared itself, and many others all over the world have gone down this path. Also note, there are working models for shared resources in other industries. ITP.net has a post about network sharing in the Middle East that shows the thinking that’s taking place in this area. This also seems like a plausible method to make a ‘National’ LTE based PS network happen too. To me this is a natural evolutionary step…Stories after the jump…
Update: Looks like Cellular South will not be sharing their LTE network, but wholesaling for a national roaming footprint, with LightSquared. I would say LightSquared’s wholesale only model is a form of network sharing (a hosted LTE network) but more simplistic than what I referring to, since the participants ALSO have their terrestrial networks. On the other hand the Sprint deal extends to a (terrestrial-satellite) bilateral networking sharing model that I think is the future.
Links: ITP.net, Our Earlier Post, WSJ.com
Motorola Solutions Demonstrates LTE @ 700MHz for Public Safety in Philadelphia, PA
Motorola Solutions is doing a good job making the rounds, promoting their LTE solution with public safety agencies. Looks like they demonstrated over the air prioritization and, their hand off to Verizon Wireless for off net. Slick Verizon, very slick… See the video after the break. Also note in the video, the video in the cockpit…Without VoLTE they won’t be texting on the PC but just maybe the access to video could be a challenge to good driving. Just sayin’… 
Link: Business Wire
5G Development? Researchers improve teleportation speeds!
Couldn’t resist this…Researchers in Tokyo from both University of New South Wales Canberra and The University of Tokyo were able to dramatically improve the quantum teleportation process. An impressive feat of research but unlikely to be practical to us for a few years. Read and enjoy!
Link: UNSW
Intriguing PR from NetLogic Microsystems…OP6100 supports up to 65MHZ OBW
There is an interesting release from NetLogic Microsystems that their OP6100 supports 65MHz Occupied Band Width (OBW) with 145MHz of total bandwidth. This part seems like a great part to think about for LTE Advanced systems, and multigenerational basestations that need to support multiple carriers and formats simultaneously. On the other hand, not sure if there are any interference countermeasures (or efficiencies to implementation) in the various spectral interference hotspots and I haven’t been able to discover any additional information on their site. So a potentially game changing part but not 100% of any specifics. Good for the industry overall I suppose.
Link: NetLogic Microsystems
APCO Global Alliance Approves LTE Standard for Public Safety Use
PR from the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials today announcing that LTE was an approved standard for public safety agency (PSA) use. I think it would be cool if countries could lend first responders to a disaster site and the gear was automagically functional. One more level of productivity could be achieved. Conspiracy theorists may howl that it’s a step closer to that end all be all universal government (ala UN) of the future. Oh well, it’s a positive step nonetheless. Now they just need to figure out the spectrum situation. In the US is’s almost, but not quite, the recently FCC approved upper 700MHz as the standard spectrum for use with LTE but there are still some twists and turns possible ahead…
Also some gloom and doom…wouldn’t it be sad if we couldn’t actually help people as well as we should be able to if the GPS is going haywire due to LightSquared? Nah, surely we’ll figure that out…
Link: APCO
Interesting Commentary: MIMO – LTE game changer or a show stopper?
OK it’s a game changer, no question. But let’s see how Spirent’s Nigel Wright for EETimes puzzles through it.
Link: EETimes Life
Future SON Tech: MIT Test Wireless Network Performance Optimization Using Sensor Hints
Here is clear case of Extra Sensory Perception (ESP.) Researchers Lenin Ravindranath, Calvin Newport, Hari Balakrishnan and Samuel Madden at MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory recently put together some prototype network improvements to the test over WiFi. The concept was to integrate local information, such as from sensors, to improve network performance. They used the GPS, motion and position sensors to create ‘hints’ for their improvement algorithms and hints are communicated using a specific protocol they developed for the testing. There were 4 algorithms including (a) Hint aided Rate Adaption (LTE has adaptive modulation so this is easy to add) (b) Optimization of WiFI Access Point (AP) Association (c) Mobile Topology Maintenance and (d) Path Selection in Vehicular mesh networks. The result of the testing was a roughly 50% net throughput increase in most situations and some handover reductions in others. To me this is very usable research and easily implemented, with good fit, into future implementations of 3GPP LTE SON. Check it out…
Link: MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, MIT News
4G – Google News- 4G to debut in Shanghai next month - Tech2 - Tech2
- The Optus 4G TD-LTE Trial: Everything You Need To Know - Lifehacker Australia
- 4G service 'part of push to be market leader' - The Nation
- Amtrak improves its notoriously-sluggish onboard Wi-Fi with 4G connectivity - The Verge
- Verizon's 4G LTE service now available in Durango - The Durango Herald
