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What to expect from the next version of 5G
5G coverage may still be sparse, and the world is still trying to understand how it works or affects us, but the people that define networking standards won’t stop working on it. One of the many companies that contributes ideas and technologies that eventually get adopted into 5G protocols is Qualcomm, and it also published blog posts today about Rel-16. Of course, Qualcomm wants you to know all about its inventions that have been adopted and will be used by the telecomms industry, but this information does help us to understand how the upcoming changes will work.
A complete 5G standard is finally here
Last December, the 3GPP -- the international organization that oversees cellular standards -- approved a non-standalone 5G specification that still relied on existing 4G/LTE networks. That move got us closer to an actual, functional 5G network. But now we're even closer because the 3GPP just approved standalone 5G specifications. "Now, the whole industry is taking the final sprint towards 5G commercialization," the 3GPP said in a statement.
AT&T will launch real mobile 5G in 12 cities this year
Now that the industry has settled on a spec for 5G, carriers are racing to use it -- and AT&T hopes to be one of the first. It just unveiled plans to launch spec-based mobile 5G (not the fixed-in-place kind) to everyday consumers in 12 cities by late 2018. It's not specific about where those markets are or which devices will be the first to adopt the faster speeds, but the arrival of the 5G spec has kicked off the start of hardware development.
The first 5G spec has been approved
Carriers like AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile are pushing for the implementation of 5G by 2019. Yet, despite the flurry of 5G pilot announcements and spectrum purchases, none of them really know what they'll be working with. But, that's about to change, as the 3GPP (the organization that oversees cellular standards) has agreed on the specification for Non-Standalone 5G NR (New Radio) at a meeting in Lisbon, Portugal, reports Fierce Wireless.
Intel and Qualcomm are steadily gearing up for 5G
We're still years away from a finalized 5G standard, and it'll be even longer before we get compatible devices in our hands, but we're seeing plenty of companies readying themselves for speedier networks. In particular, Qualcomm and Intel are hoping to play essential roles in the 5G ecosystem, which is poised to be at least ten times faster than existing networks and offer features like near-instant latency. While 5G started to seem more real at last year's show, now the companies are focused on refining their new hardware to be ready for the rollout of new networks in a few years.
Samsung will broadcast public safety announcements over LTE this year
Samsung's got strong LTE (and LTE-A, and... whatever's next) bones and now it's looking to shift the commercial tech into the emergency services. Public safety announcements has been a project of the 3GPP for a while. What's that, you say? It's a ragtag gang of superheroes telecoms groups and organizations that hammers out the crucially important (but typically very dry) standards and technical specifications -- these have formed the basis for the likes of 3G and LTE in the past. Samsung's public safety LTE (PS-LTE) is apparently geared for first responders and use during "emergency situations". Importantly the option of a new kind of public safety announcement network will take the drag off existing networks, as well as offer the data heft of LTE network, hopefully ensuring communication remains possible in even the most dire situations.
Dish's AWS-4 wireless spectrum standards approved by 3GPP
Dish has edged one step closer to its distant goal of having a 4G LTE network to call its own, receiving approval for its AWS-4 (40MHz) wireless spectrum standards by the 3GPP group. Dish used the announcement to air a few issues, including sending a plea to the FCC to get a move on and officially green light the frequency for use. The would-be wireless provider also sounded off on Sprint, which is asking the FCC to crop some of Dish's spectrum and add it to the H Block, making it a more attractive acquisition when auctioned off. If the FCC were to grant Sprint's request, Dish wouldn't just lose airwaves, but the slow approval process would start anew with altered specifications. Unfortunately for the satellite TV outfit, Sprint is far from the only potential competitor trying to delay Dish's network -- in fact, none seem particularly willing to welcome the new guy without some serious hazing.
T-Mobile to conduct LTE-Advanced trials this summer in preparation for 2013 deployment
Eager to get its LTE ducks in a row, T-Mobile announced today that it plans to begin trials of the next-gen network this summer. But here's the kicker: despite being tardy to the high-speed party, it plans on deploying true 4G in 2013, throttling ahead to the latest and greatest version known as 3GPP Release 10 -- also known as LTE-Advanced. Hitting this mark is crucial for T-Mobile, primarily because Sprint and AT&T have already announced their intentions to jump to the same speeds next year. T-Mobile also discussed its mysterious deployment of 1900MHz 3G service in San Francisco this week. According to Dave Mayo, SVP of technology, this is part of the carrier's 4G network evolution plan: to improve voice and data coverage and make its 4G network (we presume he's talking HSPA+ here) compatible with "a broader range of devices (including the iPhone)." He says what occurred at Moscone West this week is just the beginning -- in his words, "more of these speed sightings will occur as we work toward introducing 4G HSPA+ service in our 1900MHz spectrum in a large number of markets later this year." Overall, we'd say some great things are starting to happen in magentaland as it gets ready to hit the turbo boost button and shed the "faux-G" tag next year.
Dish warns the FCC its 4G LTE might come in earnest as late as 2016
Dish has been tranquil about facing a longer FCC review period for its planned LTE-based 4G network, and now we might have an idea as to why. The satellite TV giant is telling the FCC that it only expects coverage to reach up to 60 million potential customers "within four years," or about 2016 -- six years after MetroPCS and Verizon first flicked their respective 4G switches. This is also assuming that the 3GPP cellular standards group clears the AWS-4 frequency band for LTE use. There's speculation that Dish is giving the extra time so that it can sell the spectrum later, but we'd take the safe road and assume Dish is serious. After all, AT&T wouldn't be trying to set tough conditions for Dish's LTE if it didn't think there was possibly significant competition on the way.
Qualcomm gets on the Band 41 bandwagon, pledges support for Clearwire's upcoming LTE TDD network
Not exactly groundbreaking news here -- Clearwire's impending LTE TDD network is happening, regardless -- but it's always good to have the weight of a mainstay like Qualcomm behind you. Particularly when you're pushing uphill, into the wind, against far more established 4G networks from AT&T and Verizon Wireless. Qually has announced that it'll soon add support for the aforesaid waves, including Clearwire in its list of partners ready to ingest those multi-mode LTE chipsets that are so vital to our future enjoyment. The key here is support for 3GPP's Band 41 (B41) radio frequency, and we're told that the outfit plans to make chipsets supporting that band available "later this year." You're cool to wait, right?
Sprint will activate LTE on the 800MHz band in 2014
Sprint's Steve Elfman has said that the company's intending to activate an LTE service over its 800MHz spectrum by 2014. Big Yellow's already received 3GPP certification to turn Band 26 into super-fast mobile internet, the only remaining regulatory hurdle left to overcome is a thumbs-up from the FCC. The due date isn't set in stone, as it'll depend entirely on how quickly the company can force current iDEN users to migrate to its CDMA Direct Connect service. Meanwhile, LTE service in Atlanta, Baltimore, Houston, Dallas, Kansas City and San Antonio will activate across next year, with the company confident that it'll be able to keep pace with AT&T and Verizon's services by offloading traffic onto Clearwire's TD-LTE Network which should go live by June 2013. We can only guess that after that the announcement was done, Mr. Elfman looked at a picture of Philip Falcone and had to step outside for a little cry.
Panasonic, DoCoMo, NEC and Fujitsu create IP for multi-standard LSI chip; supports LTE, GSM, W-CDMA and HSPA+
Marvell was first to introduce a single-chip LTE world modem with support for multiple mobile standards late last year, and now Panasonic Mobile Communications, NTT DoCoMo, NEC and Fujitsu have developed intellectual property (hardware and software) for something similar of their own. Specifically, the quartet has gone further with the chip aspect. They've tested an "engineering sample" of a large-scale integration chip (pictured) for modems in mobile devices, and claim that it uses twenty percent less juice than larger two-chip designs. That consolidation, also makes it cheaper to produce. Past that, the chip has successfully provided "interconnectivity between the mobile networks of major vendors," getting it a step closer to production. The silicon lets modems play nice with FDD-LTE, TDD-LTE, GSM, W-CDMA and HSPA+, specifically, and LTE-Advanced support is in the cards for the future. Although Panasonic, DoCoMo, NEC and Fujitsu are the main partners, other "major players" are said to be on board for a "joint venture," with the goal of commercializing it in countries outside of (and including) Japan. The word's mum on when we can expect the chip to make it past the sampling phase, but in the meantime, hit up the press release after the break for more knowledge.
Sprint, Clearwire among companies asking for TD-LTE standard in WiMAX spectrum
Clearwire has made it crystal clear that it isn't taking a "WiMAX or die" approach to 4G -- and frankly, it couldn't afford to, considering that the infrastructure suppliers and hardware manufacturers could easily continue their trend toward shunning the next-gen underdog. What's interesting, though, is that the company now appears to be taking a very active role in developing an LTE-based standard that could supplant WiMAX in its 2.6GHz spectrum should the need arise. Along with Motorola, Huawei, ZTE, Cisco, Nokia Siemens, Alcatel-Lucent, and -- surprise, surprise -- Clearwire partner Sprint, the company is asking the 3GPP to define a standard for running TD-LTE in the 2.6GHz slot. Unlike the more commonly-used FD-LTE -- the standard Verizon is using, among others -- TD-LTE operates unpaired, meaning it can operate in slimmer chunks of spectrum than its counterpart. Asking for a standard is clearly a far cry from actually building out a network, but it's interesting to note that Clearwire and Sprint alike both have their eyes firmly fixed on an LTE-based technology if the WiMAX industry packs it in.
LG to demo LTE USB modem and phones, show much love to video-streaming addicts
It's not the first time that LG's shown its commitment to bringing LTE to us mere mortals -- after all, it does hold the title for the world's first LTE chip back in December 2008. This time round they're demoing an LTE USB modem and a few handsets at CES, gunning for the theoretical maximum speeds (100Mbps down and 50Mbps up) and promising to let us "download an entire movie to your mobile phone in only one minute." That said, until we've seen the real stats or even the products in the shops, we'll just hang tight to see what the other party's got to offer.
Samsung and TeliaSonera bringing LTE to vikings in 2010
Scandinavian folks tend to be a pretty cheerful bunch during the summer, and now Swedes and Norwegians will have reason to smile through the cold dark winters as well, with Samsung announcing an agreement to provide TeliaSonera with "mobile broadband devices for commercial service next year." This agreement relates to Sammy's Kalmia 4G USB modem and adds to the Swedish operator's LTE push, which already counts Ericsson and Huawei among the contracted hardware providers. So that's 100Mbps mobile broadband, coming to a snow-covered nation near you within the next dozen months or so. All we would ask of our viking friends now is that they remember their world-conquering ways of the past and start spreading that goodness globally. Come on, it's our right! Full press release after the break.
Samsung boasts of first commercial LTE modem for cellphones
We can't say that we're absolutely certain that Samsung's not fibbing a little with its latest claim, particularly since NXP rolled out a multi-mode LTE / HSPA / etc. cellular modem way back in June of last year. Whatever the case, we're just stoked to see yet another big player drinking the LTE Kool-Aid, with Sammy developing what it calls the "first LTE modem that complies with the latest standards of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP)." The modem, which is being labeled the Kalmia for now, supports download rates of up to 100Mbps and upload speeds around 50Mbps within the 20MHz frequency band. In other words, if your future handset is equipped with this chipset, you could theoretically stream four HD movies with no buffering. Now, if only Samsung would announce a new mobile to go along with this, we'd really have reason to carouse.
T-Mobile steps forward with LTE voice standard, faces uphill battle
It's still a shockingly open question exactly how the world's carriers plan on transporting voice over LTE -- which is something everyone who loves 4G should be freaking out about, considering that it threatens launch schedules and interoperability among unlocked handsets. A vibrant array of possible solutions are currently on the table, including everything from SIP-based IMS (which is already approved by the 3GPP, helpfully) to the controversial thought of leaving legacy GSM and UMTS networks live for the sole purpose of running voice. T-Mobile International is putting its bets on VoLGA -- Voice Over LTE via Generic Access -- by participating in the VoLGA Forum, which has just published the second version of its specifications and aims for 3GPP consideration later this year. The technology routes circuit-switched (that is, old-school) voice over data packets, but the problem is that there are a bunch of companies proposing the same thing in slightly different ways; Nokia Siemens Networks, for example, is working on its own proprietary standard that'll go head-to-head with VoLGA. Currently, T-Mobile's the only major network actively participating in VoLGA's development, though it apparently has the support of every major infrastructure vendor except Nokia Siemens. Whether it's VoLGA or something else, let's hope everyone gets on the same page on the double before everyone gets too entrenched in incompatible technologies that make roaming difficult and handset variety lame.
3GPP publishes world's first femtocell standard
With femtocells slowly but surely making their way out to the major US operators, we'd say it's about time we got a handle on what exactly these things are comprised of. This week, the world's first femtocell standard has been published by the 3GPP, which will supposedly "pave the way for standardized femtocells to be produced in large volumes and enable interoperability between different vendors' access points and femto gateways." The new protocol covers a foursome of areas: network architecture; radio & interference aspects; femtocell management / provisioning and security. For those unaware, a femtocell is a small box that essentially acts as a mini cell tower within the home, piping cellphone signals through the internet and providing great signal in areas where it was previously a struggle to nab a single bar. Now, if only we could get a few of these things in carrier-agnostic form, we'd be set.[Via PCWorld]
An iPhone on Verizon in 2010? With LTE, it could happen
Now, I understand this may be a very niche subject for our dear readership, but as many of you may remember, I'm a Verizon customer. That's why this morning's news about Verizon testing its Long-Term Evolution 3GPP (LTE) service in various parts of the U.S. has me excited. Yes, while it's amazing that Verizon is getting 60Mbps downloads using LTE in Columbus, Minneapolis, and northern New Jersey, what's exciting to me is the fact that LTE plays nicely with GSM. If you could use a GSM phone on the Verizon network -- I think you can see where I'm going with this -- you might be able to use an iPhone with Verizon service. While it's true that Apple and AT&T have an exclusivity agreement with each other, Verizon and Apple have previously used two completely separate kinds of technology (CDMA versus GSM, respectively) -- preventing any kind of interoperability. With Verizon at least speaking the same language as iPhone handsets, the possibility of keeping my carrier and having my dream handset comes closer. In theory, at least; it isn't as easy as flipping as switch. If it works anything like, say, the procedure for using your iPhone with T-Mobile here in the U.S., it requires unlocking the phone with QuickPwn or yellowsn0w. Apple has recently suggested that it considers jailbreaking iPhones to be a violation of DMCA. Interpreted broadly, that may include unlocking software, too. Add to that some SIM cards that don't work with unlocking software, like some from T-Mobile. There's nothing suggesting that Verizon's new LTE SIM cards will work right out of the box. Even if they are, advanced features like Visual Voicemail won't be available, but that's something I can live without. For me personally, I wouldn't mind either an iPhone or a Palm Pre. Maybe it's just a waiting game to see whose exclusivity agreement expires first, rather than trying to hack something together. Then again, maybe I shouldn't get my hopes up. We've still got another year to wait before Verizon rolls out LTE service to most of the country. [Via Electronista.] Update: Commenters Andrew and Shane made a good point that I failed to grasp when I wrote this: Verizon's LTE implementation will not necessarily mean that GSM phones will work on Verizon's LTE network. LTE works like this: If you have an LTE chipset in your phone, awesome. If you don't, your phone will fall back to the network's prior 3G technology. In Verizon's case, that's still CDMA, which the iPhone doesn't support. Now, if Apple were to build in LTE support into their next round of iPhones (in anticipation of AT&T's adoption of the standard in 2011) there might be a chance this will still work, but that's a lot of ifs. Thanks, guys!
LTE gets ratified
We think the most exciting thing for us here at Engadget Mobile is not the fact that LTE's finally a standard, but the fact that it finally has a frickin' logo. Seriously, guys, why didn't you hire a couple nice kids with Illustrator experience about three years ago for this? Anyhow, yeah, LTE -- the standard most of the world is counting on to deliver 4G in the next few years -- has officially been rolled into 3GPP Release 8, which means manufacturers and carriers no longer have a moving target for creating compliant infrastructure and devices. Hey, WiMAX, we see those beads of sweat rolling down your forehead all the way from over here. Yeah. Not a good look for you.
