NSN White paper December 2013

TDD and FDD co-existence in LTE: synergies and enhancements

CONTENTS
1. Executive summary 2. Spectrum scarcity and the drive for TDD 3. Advantages of TD as a complementary technology 4. TD-LTE and FDD-LTE interworking scenarios 5. Managing demand using TDD-FDD traffic offloading and load balancing 6. From single-cell to multi-cell optimization 7. How does it work? 8.Conclusion Abbreviations 2 3 4 4 5 5 6 7 7

1. Executive summary
There are two variants of LTE technology for 4G mobile communications frequency division duplexing (FDD-LTE) and time division duplexing (TD-LTE). Operators across the world are looking to exploit the available spectrum for both technologies in order to meet the growing demand for network capacity. While the earliest LTE roll-outs favored FDD, TDD is becoming increasingly popular, both as a 4G technology of choice, and as a way of providing extra capacity in tandem with existing FDD deployments. TD-LTE is an equally viable and mature technology today as FDD-LTE. TDD spectrum can provide substantial additional bandwidth per operator in almost all countries. Even so, it will be critical for operators to use the available spectrum and other network resources as efficiently as possible if they hope to keep pace with demand and provide an excellent high-speed mobile broadband service for customers. Traffic steering is an important strategy for delivering that efficiency, balancing the load more evenly across the FDD and TDD networks and shifting it between them dynamically to meet constantly changing demand. Nokia Solutions and Networks (NSN) has introduced a special algorithm that enables networks to offload and balance traffic dynamically across and between multiple cells in FDD and TDD deployments. It increases the effective performance of existing network assets, with the resulting boost in capacity especially apparent at the cell edges. New features, such as eICIC/FeICIC and DL/UL CoMP, in Release 10, 11, and 12, of the 3GPP specifications for LTE user equipment and networks, promise to make the benefits of deploying the algorithm even greater in the future.
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2. Spectrum scarcity and the drive for TDD

The earliest LTE roll-outs typically relied on frequency division duplexing (FDD-LTE), but pressure on the available spectrum means there has been growing interest in deploying the time division duplex variant of LTE (TD-LTE). 3GPP has defined 10 frequency bands for TD-LTE and 23 for FDD-LTE. The TD-LTE frequency bands currently attracting the most interest are 2.6 GHz and 2.3 GHz, while the recently ratified 3.4-3.8 GHz bands are also likely to play an important role by making 400 MHz of fresh spectrum bandwidth available in many countries. In fact, TDD spectrum can provide substantial additional bandwidth per operator in almost all countries. There are more than 200 TDD-capable user devices today and growing strongly, with 71% of terminals supporting TD-LTE at 2.6 GHz, for example, and 66% supporting 2.3 GHz. Emerging countries in particular have been pushing for TD-LTE, especially China, but also India, Australia, Japan, Russia, the Middle East and Latin America. Most recently, a US operator has also been pushing forward with TD-LTE in 2013. There is a high level of interest in TD-LTE from most mobile operators, with spectrum available for 60% of the world population and 50% of the land mass. Nevertheless, the FDD-LTE ecosystem is currently more extensive, and still dominates in commercial networks. TD-LTE offers an attractive option for operators looking to launch primary 4G networks, and also offers advantages for operators looking for a technology to complement existing networks based on FDD. TDLTE is proven to offer performance as good as FDD-LTE. For example, NSN successfully used the technology for a live TV transmission in China recently. It helps that the 3GPP standards behind the two technologies are 95% the same. Whats more, one of the biggest differences is that FDD uses paired spectrum while TD uses unpaired spectrum, which actually makes TDD more flexible than FDD when allocating spectrum to the downlink and uplink. It also helps that NSN can deliver both technologies in a single, multi-RAN base station format, thus minimizing any potential issues with hardware compatibility.

The benefits of LTE

Low latency: <15 ms end-to-end latency High data rates: ~40 Mbps per user Low cost per bit compared to legacy technologies Enhanced provisioning: many services at low cost and with high user experience Improved capacity: 2.5-4x compared to legacy technologies Flexible use of existing and new frequency bands Simplified IP-based flat architecture, open interfaces Reasonable terminal power consumption

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3. Advantages of TD as a complementary technology

For some operators, TD-LTE is their mobile broadband technology of choice. But for many others, it will augment their existing FDD deployments to increase network capacity or improve the experience of end users. For instance, where FDD uses paired spectrum (with one or more blocks for the uplink and other blocks for the downlink), TDD uses unpaired spectrum. It can therefore provide flexible asymmetric uplink and downlink spectrum allocation to suit the market, where the most popular applications and thus the relative uplink/downlink loads can vary. Smart antenna technology for TDD also suits deployments that aim to provide ultra-high data rates and a superior user experience. For operators looking to exploit both TDD and FDD spectrums, the optimal approach is to use load balancing between the two technologies, as well as between cells of the same type. This makes the best use of the available spectrum and other resources.

4. TD-LTE and FDD-LTE interworking scenarios

There are four possible co-deployment scenarios for FDD and TDD using different frequency bands. Co-located cells may use different frequency bands over the same footprint. Both networks offer full coverage of the same area. This can be an economical option, since both technologies occupy the same real estate, use the same backhaul and potentially the same core network. Alternatively, co-located sites may not have the same cell footprint. This might be the natural result of using two very different frequencies, with different pathloss characteristics resulting in concentric rings around each base station that are best served by the different frequency bands. Some operators may opt to deploy TDD to cover hotspots, enabling traffic to be offloaded from the wider FDD network. Finally, the TDD network could be entirely independent, with separate sites and its own cell layout that overlaps the existing FDD network. Whatever type of deployment is preferred, effective load balancing can optimize the use of the resulting assets.

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5. Managing demand using TDD-FDD traffic offloading and load balancing
The demand for mobile Internet capacity is doubling each year. Whats more, that demand is highly lumpy. In other words it is uneven and unpredictable. This was starkly demonstrated in September 2013 when Apple released its iOS 7 operating system. Within a few hours, 130 million people had updated their devices, doubling the data demand on some ISPs around the world (http://www.theguardian. com/technology/2013/sep/19/ios-7-update-traffic-100-million). And who knows what effects trends such as HD & 3D video, video integrated everywhere and connected objects will have. It may seem that the obvious solution is to over-provision the network to cope with peak demand, but resources such as spectrum and capital investment are scarce, making this impractical. Operators are therefore looking for other solutions based on traffic offloading and load balancing. NSNs base station algorithm software optimizes radio resources system-wide across multiple cells, in contrast to conventional radio networks that have static cell boundaries. The algorithm software tears down traditional boundaries between neighboring cells and dynamically adjusts them based on the flow of the load among the cells. Not only can the algorithm achieve load balancing across cells of the same type, it also detects differences in load and offloads traffic from one network to another, such as from FDD-LTE to a TD-LTE network and vice versa.

Benefits of multi-cell optimization at a glance

Superior user experience Increased capacity through better use of existing network resources High cell edge performance Cost savings for operators through improved flexibility, scalability and efficiency 65% increase in cell edge performance by combining NSNs algorithm with its Flexi Base Stations, with 3GPP Release8/Release 9 standards With Release 10, the addition of the enhanced inter-cell interference coordination (eICIC) feature provides gains in cell edge performance of up to 50%.

6. From single-cell to multi-cell optimization

Conventional networks include schedulers in each base station to manage the allocation of radio resources within each cell. NSNs advanced algorithm determines system-wide resource allocation based on a multi-cell version of the same optimization problem. In other words, it provides liquid resource allocation and liquid traffic management to optimize the overall user experience.

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Paradigm Shift
Static cell boundaries

Cell boundaries between each pair of neighbors determined based on load

Optimizes radio resource management across multi-cells

TDD-FDD traffic offloading and load balancing

7. How does it work?

The algorithm software is in two parts. One exchanges information between LTE base stations about their load indicated by a load metric and the handover threshold, which is adjusted depending on the system-wide metrics. This signalling is standards compliant. The second part is NSNs advanced algorithm. Consider two cells, one of which is experiencing a high traffic load. The algorithm creates a bias in the handover threshold between the two neighbors, effectively expanding the lightly loaded cell slightly as the heavily loaded cell shrinks. Note that this is different from the established practice of cell breathing, which is achieved by adjusting the power of each base station to alter the coverage area of the surrounding cell. The algorithm achieves system-wide, multi-cell optimization, without the need for a centralized controller to distribute the load.

From vision to reality

NSN showed the worlds first TDD-FDD offloading and load balancing solution at Mobile World Congress 2013. The demo showed user equipment throughput at the cell edge more than four times higher using the special algorithm. The successful demo was followed by huge operator interest. NSN has since won a five-year TD-FDD LTE deal with a leading operator, for example.

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8.Conclusion
FDD-LTE and TD-LTE roll-outs are gaining momentum and will co-exist around the world as operators look to make the most of their LTE spectrum allocations. The ecosystem of user devices that support both LTE variants is strong and growing. Traffic offloading and balancing across and between these networks is an important strategy for making the most of the available spectrum and other network assets in order to deliver the best possible mobile broadband experience of end users. NSN has demonstrated an advanced algorithm for traffic offloading and balancing across TD-LTE and FDD-LTE networks, enabling operators to make substantial increases in the effective capacity of their networks, especially at the cell edges. Furthermore, new features, such as eICIC/FeICIC and DL/UL CoMP, emerging in progressive releases of the 3GPP standards look set to increase the advantages even further in future.

Abbreviations
3GPP CoMP DL/UL CoMP eICIC FDD GHz IP LTE Mbps TDD 3rd Generation Partnership Project Coordinated Multipoint Downlink/Uplink Coordinated Multipoint enhanced Inter-cell interference coordination Frequency Division Duplexing Giga Hertz Internet Protocol Long Term Evolution Megabit per second Time Division Duplexing

ms milliseconds

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Nokia Solutions and Networks P.O. Box 1 FI-02022 Finland Visiting address: Karaportti 3, ESPOO, Finland Switchboard +358 71 400 4000 Product code C401-00910-WP-201312-1-EN
2013 Nokia Solutions and Networks. All rights reserved. Public NSN is a trademark of Nokia Solutions and Networks. Nokia is a registered trademark of Nokia Corporation. Other product names mentioned in this document may be trademarks of their respective owners, and they are mentioned for identification purposes only.

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