A software update to Vodafone’s mobile network will enable simultaneous operation of FDD-LTE and TDD-LTE, starting in Portugal. Vodafone said it is the first mobile operator to implement FDD-LTE/TDD-LTE carrier aggregation in a commercial network. Carrier aggregation is the combination of different spectrum bands to increase throughput.
Vodafone is using Ericsson’s commercial software release 15B, and anticipates a wider rollout before the end of the year. Ericsson and Qualcomm were the first to achieve FDD-LTE/TDD-LTE carrier aggregation on commercial hardware and software. Carrier aggregation across FDD-LTE and TDD-LTE is supported by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 810 processor with X10 LTE and Ericsson’s Networks Software 15B release.
TDD refers to time division duplex, and is an LTE standard developed by Qualcomm and Ericsson along with several Chinese partners, including China Mobile and Huawei. Chinese carriers are rolling out TDD-LTE, while U.S. carriers have focused on FDD-LTE, except for Sprint, which has been using TDD-LTE for its 2.5 GHz spectrum holdings.
FDD refers to frequency division duplex, and uses separate frequencies for the uplink and the downlink. TDD uses a single frequency, and so the uplink and the downlink need to occur at different times. In general, TDD operates in higher frequencies than FDD, meaning that more spectrum is available for TDD.
“With global availability of TDD spectrum, we regard FDD/TDD carrier aggregation as a key technology to further improve user experience for customers worldwide,” said Per Narvinger, Ericsson’s head of LTE. “Combining TDD with low-band FDD spectrum will improve the high-band TDD coverage area, and the TDD spectrum will significantly improve the overall downlink throughput.”
Vodafone’s current deployment for the trial in its commercial network in Portugal uses 15 megahertz of band 3 (FDD 1800) and 20 megahertz of band 38 (TDD 2600).
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