Verizon (NYSE: VZ) and Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) presented a technical briefing on LTE Unlicensed (LTE-U) to the IEEE 802.19 group at the IEEE 802 Plenary Session last week, the purpose of which was to provide detailed technical information to 802.19 about LTE-U and to assist 802.19 in its work to advance coexistence among wireless technologies.
Their July 14 presentation follows extensive communications among numerous wireless industry stakeholders on LTE Unlicensed, according to a Qualcomm filing with the FCC. There have been bilateral meetings, multi-lateral meetings and briefings to associations, such as the Wi-Fi Alliance. The IEEE 802.19 group is the IEEE 802 Wireless Coexistence Working Group.
The FCC earlier this year opened a formal comment period on LTE-U and Licensed Assisted Access (LAA) technologies after hearing concerns that introducing LTE in unlicensed spectrum bands could cause problems for other users of the unlicensed spectrum, most notably Wi-Fi.
According to Qualcomm, rumors and innuendos about a lack of collaboration between the LTE and Wi-Fi communities on LTE-U and Wi-Fi coexistence are just plain false. "There has been, and continues to be, ongoing collaboration within the wireless industry on the LTE-U/Wi-Fi coexistence," wrote Dean Brenner, senior vice president of government affairs at Qualcomm, in a filing with the FCC. "Any assertion to the contrary is not accurate."
Brenner relayed a similar message when he talked with FierceWirelessTech last month. The company will continue to reach out to interested parties and conduct tests for as long as it's necessary, he said.
On May 28, members of the LTE-U Forum, including Qualcomm and Verizon, hosted an all-day technical workshop in San Diego, where they conducted detailed technical briefings, live lab demonstrations and live field tests. AT&T, T-Mobile, the Wi-Fi Alliance and IEEE 802 had representatives there, as well as other industry stakeholders like Wi-Fi equipment vendors.
IEEE 802 LAN/MAN Standards Committee Chairman Paul Nikolich, who chaired an IEEE plenary session meeting in Hawaii last week, told FierceWirelessTech via email that "802 LMSC is actively engaged in discussions with 3GPP and LTE-U."
The chairman of 3GPP RAN, Dino Flore, said there have been two rounds of 3GPP presentations to IEEE and the Wi-Fi Alliance on LAA, one in January on the general direction of the LAA project and one more recently with the initial results of a coexistence analysis. He noted in an email to FierceWirelessTech that there has been a significant exchange of Liaison Statements (LSs) between 3GPP and IEEE. The LS is the formal mechanism by which they communicate between the two groups.
In some cases, 3GPP has changed some of the simulation assumptions to accommodate the input from IEEE. More recently, he said, an LAA study was concluded with the selection of the listen before talk (LBT) Category 4 scheme for LAA downlink operation in line with a key recommendation from IEEE.
Due to widespread interest, the 3GPP RAN said it decided to hold an open industry workshop on LAA in Beijing on Aug. 29. Qualcomm also has pointed to that 3GPP meeting in Beijing as a key one, with invitees from the IEEE, the Wi-Fi Alliance, Wireless Broadband Association (WBA), ETSI, ETSI BRAN, GSMA, CCSA, the FCC and OFCOM. Of course, many of the same companies are members of 3GPP, IEEE and the Wi-Fi Alliance.
For more:
- see this Qualcomm filing
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