Lucia Tudose

Field trial of Licensed Shared Access (LSA) with enhanced LTE resource optimization and incumbent protection

We present an end-to-end ecosystem trial of the Licensed Shared Access (LSA) concept using a live LTE network sharing the 2.3 GHz band with incumbent wireless cameras. The entire LSA concept is implemented introducing LTE network as an additional licensed user in the band with the aid of an LSA Repository for spectrum availability information from wireless cameras and an LSA Controller for managing the LTE network. The trial goes beyond previous LSA demos by presenting enhanced LSA resource optimization with LSA Controller that is integrated into a real network management system to coordinate a heterogeneous network of macro and small cells. Enhanced incumbent protection is provided with algorithms for tracking a moving incumbent and considering aggregate interference from the LTE network to incumbent. Trial gives a unique opportunity to see live how a commercial LTE network adapts transmissions on the fly according to the location of the incumbent. Small cells are shown to improve the LSA resource use as the enhanced incumbent protection algorithm can allow small cells to continue operations in situation where macro cells need to close down.

Sharing under licensed shared access in a live LTE network in the 2.3–2.4 GHz band end-to-end architecture and compliance results

This paper presents the worlds first technical and regulatory pilot on Licensed Shared Access (LSA) in the 3GPP Band 40, i.e. 2.3–2.4 GHz band, enacted in Italy to delve deeper on the role that spectrum sharing has for efficient use of spectrum. The Italian Administration, in collaboration with the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission and the support of a consortium of industrial partners, has been the first in the world to promote and organize a LSA pilot on a large scale to verify both the technical feasibility and regulatory compliance of this technique applied to a real, live LTE network. The paper firstly introduces the pilot architecture and configuration and describes the sharing framework in the Italian scenario, then key measurements results are presented. The pilot implements a distributed control architecture in compliance with CEPT and ETSI provisions. Measurement results show the sharing based on LSA is feasible to provide mobile broadband services in the 2300–2400 MHz band without detriment to incumbent services.

Regulatory Pilot on Licensed Shared Access in a Live LTE-TDD Network in IMT Band 40

This paper presents the Italian pilot on licensed shared access (LSA) in the IMT Band 40 to explore the potential and logistics of spectrum sharing from a regulatory perspective. Organized on a small cell/micro cell scale, it verified both the technical feasibility and regulatory compliance of LSA in a real, LTE-TDD network, constrained by the national spectrum use in Band 40. The LSA system was implemented in compliance with the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations, ETSI, and 3GPP specifications. We present an innovative distributed architecture implemented across three countries, enabling certain features of 5G networks. We describe the sharing framework and sharing conditions in the Italian scenario for the use cases representing actual incumbents. These were verified through in-field measurements, key results of which are presented. Measurement results show that sharing based on LSA is feasible to provide additional capacity for mobile broadband services in the 2300–2400 MHz band without detriment to incumbent services. Use of commercial off-the-shelf equipment to create new mobile broadband service in an urban indoor/outdoor environment pilot enabled us to assess the spectrum sharing opportunities through LSA technology for general deployment today and toward future policy for 5G spectrum in Italy.