Storstilet test af LTE-systemer

Det såkaldte LTE SAE Trial Initiative (LSTI) står bag program for interoperatibilitetstest af LTE/SAE systemer og infrastrukturer (in english).

This vendor co-operation and interoperability testing will enhance the LTE ecosystem, leading to economies of scale and more diverse deployment options for LTE operators. LSTI's Interoperability Development Testing (IODT) will be performed by various pairs of LSTI members.

Each pair will consist of a network infrastructure vendor and a user equipment or chipset vendor. The pairs will perform interoperability testing based on a common set of features and established 3GPP LTE/SAE Release 8 Standards (March 09). Testing results will be consolidated by LSTI to validate the maturity of the standards and ensure the commercial capabilities of end-to-end LTE networks. A selection of consolidated results will be made public for the benefit and use of the entire LTE industry.

- Interoperability testing based on an industry-wide set of common features is important because it will give LTE operators a wider choice of equipment from different vendors as they plan their network deployments, says Jani Maenpaa, IODT Group Chairman, LSTI. - LSTI's work on interoperability supports the development of a robust global ecosystem for LTE/SAE. Cross-vendor collaboration at this point in the development of LTE/SAE will help to ensure that that all the pieces of the LTE puzzle - infrastructure, chipsets, devices, and applications - fit together to support commercial deployments of LTE/SAE.

In March, 3GPP officially froze the LTE/SAE Release 8 standards. The 3GPP standard provides a baseline for the functions and capabilities provided in LTE/SAE products and how they should interoperate. Commercial LTE/SAE devices and networks are being created based on the standard.

LSTI has aligned the interoperability phase of its LTE/SAE testing to this official standards baseline. For interoperability testing, LSTI has identified core LTE/SAE features, such as data transfer and mobility, related to user equipment and network interfaces. LTE/SAE test specifications that align with the 3GPP standard have also been developed.

LSTI's IODT work will show the progress of cross-vendor interoperability for these LTE/SAE features and further strengthen the maturity of the standards baseline. LSTI's IODT phase builds upon the Proof of Concept testing which was completed earlier this year. In addition to Proof of Concept testing on the FDD variant of LTE, LSTI has now successfully completed a first phase of testing on the TDD variant, also called 'TD-LTE'.

Single user TD-LTE equipment in the lab is functioning as expected and meets the industry's performance targets for latency, peak data rates (uplink and downlink), and MIMO functionality. Initial results are also now available on more mature aspects such as end-end performance and handover. The group is on target to consolidate all aspects of TDD performance and functionality in June.

The LSTI Proof of Concept activity tests how real LTE implementations measure up against theoretical expectations. Julius Robson, Chairman of the Proof of Concept group, presented these results at the LTE World Summit in Berlin on Tuesday 19th May.

LSTI's efforts to accelerate development of the LTE technology and ecosystem have recently been enhanced by the addition of further new members to the trial initiative.

The latest companies to join LSTI are Bouygues Telecom, EMOBILE, EB (Elektrobit Corporation), setcom wireless products, Cisco, DATANG Mobile, and Turkcell. About LSTI The LTE/SAE Trial Initiative (LSTI) is a global, collaborative technology trial initiative focused on accelerating the availability of commercial and interoperable next generation LTE mobile broadband systems.