The Low-band 600 MHz spectrum is ideal for covering wide areas and providing bandwidth in hard-to-reach places. The bidding for this spectrum set to take place soon. Nokia believes that winning bidders of the 600 MHz auction will utilize this spectrum to extend LTE footprints, augment capacity and improve data speeds.
In light of this, Nokia has completed the first pre-standard testing in the 600 MHz band using commercially-available hardware, creating a test bed for terminal ecosystem development and availability. The company is working on pre-standard products and solutions within its 4.5G Pro and 4.9G portfolio to better serve those customers who want to deploy radio electronics in 2017.
The early launch of services in this band is expected to first come to rural areas due to the large cell size enabled by the low band. In addition, the 600 MHz band could be used to enhance consumer experience in metropolitan areas by increasing capacity and improving indoor coverage.
Nokia implemented the 600 MHz solution on its commercial LTE eNodeB, demonstrating:
- A complete end-to-end LTE call using a test device
- 20MHz frequency block on the 600MHz band
- Maximum throughput of 387Mbps
- 4 way uplink receive diversity
- 4X4 MIMO technology
- 256 QAM
The 9926 eNodeB consists of a high-capacity baseband unit (BBU) with new LTE digital platform (bCEM2/bCAM2) and compact, wideband radio frequency (RF) units. It is designed to cut cell site congestion and dramatically increase capacity so that operators can meet growing demand while offering a smooth evolution path to vRAN and 5G.
The new Baseband Unit (BBU) will almost triple the capacity of previous generation solutions, supporting up to 24 fully loaded cells and 16,000 users in one compact d2U chassis with 50% less power consumed. It supports both TDD/FDD modes and can be mixed with existing BBUs, allowing operators to preserve their investment while enhancing their networks. The digital BBU fully supports LTE/LTE-A and is ready for vRAN/5G.
