The MulteFire Alliance has completed the Release 1.1 specification for MulteFire Technology. Multefire is a technology that allows simple deployment of LTE in the unlicensed or shared spectrum. The new specifications, according to the international consortium, are optimized for IoT. Adding support for eMTC-U and NB-IoT-U, as well as support for additional spectrum bands, the Release 1.1 specification delivers more robust wireless network capabilities for Industrial IoT and Enterprises to meet their specific requirements for performance, latency, security and mobility.
According to Asimakis Kokkos, Head of the Technical Specification Group of the Alliance, MulteFire 1.0 is a novel technology that was designed to create new wireless networks by operating LTE-based technology standalone in unlicensed or shared spectrum bands. MulteFire 1.1 takes the potential of this technology even further by improving on the performance of MulteFire 1.0 for the global 5 GHz unlicensed band, and by adding new capabilities and support for additional spectrum bands.
The MulteFire Release 1.1 specification includes the following features:
Added Additional Spectrum Bands Focusing on IoT and Expanded IoT Services with Low Power Wide Area Support:
- Adds eMTC-U support for moderate data rate applications in the global 2.4 GHz unlicensed band
- Adds NB-IoT-U support for narrowband applications in the regional 800/900 MHz unlicensed bands
- Adds MulteFire 1.9 GHz support (for the unlicensed part in 3GPP defined Band 39), also known as sXGP in Japan, which is ready for commercial deployment in Japan with support from the XGP Forum and an ecosystem of TD-LTE devices in place that support Band 39 today
Enhanced MulteFire 1.0 Broadband Services in the Global 5 GHz Unlicensed Band:
- Delivers more robust mobility in up to 50 km/h speeds with the addition of Autonomous UE Mobility (AUM) which performs autonomous handover without explicit network command
- Allows for faster uplink data transmissions with Grant-less Uplink (GUL), whereby the UE can start transmitting immediately
- Supports improved downlink coverage with Wideband Coverage Enhancements (WCE)
- Adds Self-Organizing Networks (SON) capabilities
The Release 1.1 specification will be published to MulteFire Alliance members in January 2019 and will be made available for download by anyone with an interest in MulteFire technology by mid-year.
Visit the MulteFire Alliance to learn more about this technology.
