NETMANIAS

TECH-BLOG

Please visit www.netmanias.com to view more posts

Debates on LTE-Unlicensed and Wi-Fi

(KT, SK Telecom, Qualcomm, etc.)
November 27, 2014 | By Dr. Michelle M. Do (tech@netmanias.com)

1. What is "LTE-Unlicensed"? And what's the big deal about it?

2. Korean Operators' Position (KT, SK Telecom and LG U+)
3. Discussion on Regulatory Requirements
4. LTE Advocates vs. Wi-Fi Advocates

1. What is "LTE-Unlicensed"? And what's the big deal about it?

Now, people are talking about LTE-Unlicensed. It sure
sounds new and interesting. We all know what LTE and
Wi-Fi are and how they work. For LTE, all network
operators in the world do their business by paying their
local governments billions of dollars of license fees
for frequencies, and providing commercial LTE services
to their paid subscribers using the frequencies. On the
other hand, for Wi-Fi, nobody needs to pay to purchase
frequencies, and anyone can develop a market on their
own by taking advantage of the unlicensed frequencies.

Earlier in September, the 3GPP RAN plenary meeting

approved Licensed-Assisted Access using LTE (LAA) as a
Study Item (SI) of Release 13. This approval provoked
active discussion on how to use unlicensed band for LTE

WiFi access is based on carrier sensing, and

thus provides a connection-less service without
dedicated connection. So, it is like a one-lane
road. A user can be served only when no other
user is being served. On the contrary, LTE
access, based on scheduling, provides a
connection-oriented service with dedication
connection. So, like a multi-lane road, it allows
multiple users to be served at once.
Due to different efficiency of two types of access,
WiFi guys are worried that if unlicensed band is
shared by both WiFi and LTE concurrently, all
the transmission opportunities would be hogged
by LTE. So they insist Listen Before Talk (LBT)
regulation should be applied to make sure carrier
sensing is performed also for LTE in unlicensed
band, before data delivery.

LTE Network
Macro Cell

E
LT

Also from a user's perspective, the difference between

the two is clear - you pay for LTE service, but not for WiFi. So, Wi-Fi has been more attractive to users. As
network operators are becoming more interested in this
unlicensed frequency bands, the past two years have
witnessed some territorial disputes between the two. In
Korea, LG U+ demonstrated LTE-U last month, and
announced its plan to commercialize the service next
year. Having developed a sudden but keen interest in
this matter, Netmanias made a visit to "LTE-Unlicensed
and Wi-Fi Workshop" held by the Korean Institute of
Communications and Information Sciences (KICS) on
November 12, and would like to share what we learned
and heard from the operators, vendors, labs/research
centers, etc. with our readers.

Rude LTE vs. Polite WiFi

WiFi Network

Small Cell
E
LT

Wi-Fi AP

1
2.1
80

Licensed band

Unlicensed band

Ex) 1.8 GHz

5 GHz

Netmanias Tech-Blog: Debates on LTE-unlicensed and Wi-Fi (KT, SK Telecom, Qualcomm...)

service. The target band was 5 GHz. The SI work is to be completed by next June, and its standardization is to
be finalized by the end of 2017.
As discussion on LAA (or LTE-Unlicensed (LTE-U) as called in this post) gets heated, LTE advocates welcomed
the news, but Wi-Fi advocates expressed their concerns. LTE advocates seem delighted by the fact they can
have more frequencies available for FREE. Especially to those operators who have been under pressure of
lowering data plan rates despite the ever-soaring traffic, it certainly was a tempting idea although they, trying
to find out the intention of the government who actually manages radio resources, seem to try to look
nonchalant about the news.
On the other hand, Wi-Fi advocates are concerned about possible degradation of Wi-Fi communication which
may be caused when unlicensed band is shared by Wi-Fi and LTE services, and thus data transmission
opportunities are hogged by LTE. For LTE service, carrier sensing is not required. But Wi-Fi service requires
channel sensing to make sure no other user is using the same channel. This puts Wi-Fi at a big disadvantage at
the transmission opportunity battle.
The LTE advocates, aware of this issue, claimed that they can come up with a win-win solution that would
allow both LTE and Wi-Fi to coexist, and share unlicensed band harmoniously, and fairly. But, it does not
sound convincing enough to assure the other party.
In order for LTE and Wi-Fi to be able to coexist, issues relating to the governments' frequency management/
policy as well as technical issues should be addressed. This is because each country has different Wi-Fi
bands and radio regulatory requirements on 5 GHz unlicensed band. To make 5 GHz Wi-Fi band global, global
harmonization may be needed - Wi-Fi band allocations should be adjusted and technology standards should
be revised accordingly. We will have to wait and see whether this LTE-U can be a potential for LTE advocates
but a potential concern for Wi-Fi advocates, or it can be a win-win solution for both sides.
3GPP LAA (Licensed-Assisted Access using LTE)
Then, what is LAA that 3GPP approved in September? LAA is a new technology that combines a LTE licensed
band and an LTE unlicensed band using carrier aggregation (CA), while still anchoring off licensed band. So, UE
will always attach to a licensed band to access its network for services, and eNB will offload traffic in the
licensed band to the unlicensed band through CA of the two bands depending on the conditions at eNB.
During CA, the licensed band works as an anchor, serving as a Primary Cell (PCell) while the unlicensed band
serves just as a Secondary Cell (SCell). That is, the unlicensed band can only be activated through CA, and
cannot be involved in LTE communication independently.
The key issue with LAA is Wi-Fi-LTE coexistence in unlicensed band. Design targets and options for LAA
operation are to be defined considering the regulations on 5GHz band.
The figure below illustrates three CA types to be discussed here.
(a) Using existing licensed bands
(b) Involving inter-Radio Access Technologies (RAT)
(c) Using licensed and unlicensed bands as discussed in LAA

Netmanias Tech-Blog: Debates on LTE-unlicensed and Wi-Fi (KT, SK Telecom, Qualcomm...)

Licensed band

LTE Band 3 (1.8 GHz)

Unlicensed band

5 GHz

LTE Network
PCell

LTE

Macro Cell

WiFi Network

LTE Network
PCell

SCell

E
LT

LTE

LTE

Small Cell

1
2.1
80 5 GHz
Wi-Fi

Macro Cell

Wi-Fi AP

SCell

E
LT

SCell

LTE Network

E
LT

E
LT

L
LT TE
E

PCell

LTE Band 5 (850 MHz)

LTE
Macro Cell

E
LT 5 GHz

LTE
Small Cell

App-based (ABC) or
Network-based (IFOM or MPTCP)

(a) LTE-A CA: CA using

licensed LTE bands

(b) Multi-RAT CA
(Carrier aggregation between LTE and WiFi)

(c) LTE-U: CA using licensed

LTE and unlicensed LTE

Figure 1. Comparison of LTE-A CA, Multi-RAT CA and LTE-U

2. Korean Operators' Position

SK Telecom and KT, who both have just started LAA, are taking the same wait-and-see stance in general, but
slightly different stances depending on how strong their Wi-Fi/small cell infrastructures are. KT, with the most
powerful Wi-Fi infrastructure in the nation and also high Wi-Fi offloading rates, was more interested in
protection of Wi-Fi users. On the other hand, SK Telecom with the most LTE Femto cells apparently showed
more interest in the idea of taking advantage of new band that LTE-U may give.

KT
As the No. 1 wired and No. 2 mobile network operator in Korea, KT has been building a carrier Wi-Fi
infrastructure most extensively, and also making significant efforts for research and development of multi-RAT
CA solutions that combine LTE and Wi-Fi networks. As a result, Always Best Connected (ABC), an App-based
combining technology, has already been adopted in its Olleh TV Mobile App, and IP Flow Mobility (IFOM), a
network-based combining technology, was demonstrated late last year. Multi-Path TCP (MPTCP), another
network-based combining technology, is currently under review.
However, when it comes to LTE-U, KT does not have a clear plan yet because discussion about the
standardization of this new concept has just begun, each country has different regulations on 5 GHz band, and
their policies on LTE-U are yet to be determined.
Dr. Seongkwan Kim at Spectrum Strategy Department of Network Business Unit who spoke for the company at
the workshop noted "We believe our Multi-RAT CA solutions are more technically mature than LTE-U. But, we
expect the two to be complimentary, reflecting trends in the market and user preference in the near future."
According to the data released by KT, Wi-Fi users have already been quite dissatisfied despite the company's
extensive carrier Wi-Fi infrastructure. So, if LTE-U begins to use unlicensed band, the dissatisfaction will only
grow more. At the workshop the company, with the most Wi-Fi users among the big 3, strongly suggested, for
protection of these users, (i) to adopt Listen Before Talk (LBT) in the nation's unlicensed band, (ii) to
3

Netmanias Tech-Blog: Debates on LTE-unlicensed and Wi-Fi (KT, SK Telecom, Qualcomm...)

recommend use of pre-defined channels in 5 GHz band as in 2.4 GHz band, and (iii) to develop a technology
that can assure fairness between current Wi-Fi users and LTE-U users.
KT said it prefers multi-RAT CA for now. But once LTE-U is standardized and regulation issues are taken care of,
the company is expected to introduce LTE-U primarily in LTE Femto first, and then gradually switch its traffic
offloading base to LTE-U. With the commercialization of GiGA Internet in last October this year, KT has been
upgrading its Wi-Fi infrastructure to giga-class. So, it should be able to efficiently support traffic offloading
caused by LTE-U.
KT also predicted that, once introduced, LTE-U and multi-RAT CA would work in a way that is complementary,
reflecting specific market circumstances and user preference. LTE-U may be more efficient in terms of
frequency efficiency and mobile access reliability, but multi-RAT CA can still be preferred according to
availability of LTE-U mobile devices, favorable pricing policies, etc. As LTE-U alone cannot access unlicensed
band, it would still need to work with Wi-Fi.

SK Telecom
Dr. Tak-ki Yu at Network Technology R&D Center of SK Telecom said "We are also getting ready for LTE-U,
but at R&D level for now". The company, Korea's No. 1 mobile network operator, has much more mobile
traffic and subscribers than its competitors, and thus has been struggling with the frequency shortage issue.
For such reason, it has been wanting to offload LTE traffic more than anyone else.
It seemed he wanted to put it as R&D-level preparation for now because the official LTE-U policies are not
announced by the government yet. Apparently to the company, the chance of obtaining new frequency band
is definitely a good news, and it is expected to take full advantage of the new band.
In July this year, SK Telecom demonstrated multi-RAT CA that combines LTE and giga Wi-Fi by using MPTCP
although multi-RAT CA does not seem to be the companys preferred approach.
While KT has focused on traffic offloading through Wi-Fi by expanding/reinforcing its carrier Wi-Fi, SK Telecom
has done the same through building Femto cells. At MWC 2014, SK Telecom presented LTE-A Femto cells
featuring 2-band CA technology, which it aims to commercialize next year. Earlier in October, it also launched
the giga Internet service, joining KT. And this will help to improve performance of the Femto cell
infrastructure.
SK Telecom is expected to perform CA using licensed band by mostly using LTE-A Femto cells until LTE-U
standardization is completed, and then adopt LTE-U once the LTE-U standards are finalized.

LG U+
Unfortunately LG U+ did not participate in the workshop and so we could not hear from them directly. It was
LG U+ who conducted LTE-U demonstration earlier in October and announced the plan for LTE-U
commercialization in 2015, provoking controversy on LTE-U. During the demonstration, it realized a speed of
300 Mbps through CA of a total 40 MHz (20 MHz in licensed 2. 6 GHz band and another 20 MHz in unlicensed
5.8 GHz band). Many people at the workshop were eager to hear from LG U+ about its position on this hot
topic, LTE-U. Probably the company was not ready to answer all the questions expected at the workshop, or
did not want the new technology to be disclosed yet.

Netmanias Tech-Blog: Debates on LTE-unlicensed and Wi-Fi (KT, SK Telecom, Qualcomm...)

At 5G Global Summit held in Busan last month, we personally asked a question to one of the LG U+ personnel
there about the companys plan for LTE-U commercialization in 2015. He neither confirmed nor denied the
plan. It looks like the company plans to begin the service in a restricted area, even before finalization of LTE-U
standards, by implementing LTE-U as a proprietary technology to be applied to LTE-U standards, and then to
upgrade it by applying the standardized technology once standards are finalized.

3. Discussion on Regulatory Requirements

In order for LTE-U to work, not only the foregoing technical issues, but also issues arising from different
frequency management/policies for different countries should be taken care of first. Each country has
different Wi-Fi frequency band allocations in 5 GHz and different technology standards to follow. Koreas
technology standards are as follows:
Table 1. Current 5 GHz Wi-Fi Technology Standards in Korea (as of 2014)
Frequency (MHz)

Modulation type

Comments

5725 ~ 5825

DSSS, CSS, OFDM, Non-SS, AM, Analog Modulation

OFDMA is not allowed

5150 ~ 5250

Digital Modulation

5250 ~ 5350

Digital Modulation, DFS

DFS is required

5470 ~ 5650

Digital Modulation, DFS

DFS is required

(source: Materials presented at LTE-Unlicensed and Wi-Fi workshop by Dr. Seung-Keun Park from ETRI
Currently Korea has 24 Wi-Fi channels (20 MHz each) in 5 GHz band, and 19 of them are non-overlapping
channels. According to Dr. Seung-Keun Park at ETRI, with the current channel configuration, LTE-U can be
enabled only in four channels (5.15 ~ 5.25 GHz bands), and not in any other bands - there is no commercial
chip that supports DFS in either 5.25 ~ 5.35 GHz band or 5.47 ~ 5.65 GHz band, and OFDMA is not allowed in
5.725 ~ 5.825 GHz band. So, to use LTE-U in 5.725 ~ 5.825 GHz band, technology standards must be amended
first to allow OFDMA for communication.
The five most representative regulatory requirements applied in 5 GHz band are: (i) Listen Before Talk (LBT), (ii)
Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS), (iii) Channel Selection (CS), (iv) Transmit Power Control (TPC), and(v)
Discontinuous Transmission (DTX).
LBT is defined in Europe and Japan, but not in Korea, USA, Chin, etc., and its outdoor deployment is allowed
only in some countries and bands.

4. LTE Advocates vs. Wi-Fi Advocates

Who are LTE advocates then? Mostly network operators and vendors. At the workshop, vendors like LG
Electronics, Samsung Electronics and Qualcomm shared their views on the issue. The key benefits of LTE-U
they pointed out can be summarized as follows:
1. Frequency efficiency: Unlike Wi-Fi which allows only one user to communicate at once through carrier
sensing, LTE-U can give higher frequency efficiency as it allows multiple users to communicate at once,
and it is highly interference-resistant
2. Economic feasibility: It can take advantage of free frequency and the current LTE network
3. User experience: Quality of user experience to be enhanced by LTE QoS technology

Netmanias Tech-Blog: Debates on LTE-unlicensed and Wi-Fi (KT, SK Telecom, Qualcomm...)

Qualcomm proposed an algorithm called Carrier Sensing Adaptive Transmission (CSAT) for fair coexistence
with Wi-Fi in co-channel. CSAT has LTE-U on/off feature LTE-U is used if LTE-U is on, and Wi-Fi is used if it is
off. The company presented a test result showing that when LTE-U is on, LTE-U performs two times better
than Wi-Fi, and when LTE-U is off, Wi-Fi performance is not affected.

Figure 2. Carrier Sensing Adaptive Transmission (CSAT) proposed by Qualcomm

(source: Materials presented at LTE-Unlicensed and Wi-Fi workshop by Mr. Sung-Eun Park from Qualcomm)
Lots of interests as well as concerns, and even objections, were expressed regarding this proposal. Professor
Sunghyun Choi at Seoul National University pointed out the on/off feature may provide the same Wi-Fi
performance in terms of throughput, but Wi-Fi performance would drop drastically while LTE-U is on. As a
result, the quality of delay-sensitive service like VoIP would be affected inevitably.
Wi-Fi guys have something to say too. They want certain etiquette to be observed in unlicensed band, and LBT
to be included in LTE-U standards. They demand, in unlicensed band, LTE-U also perform carrier sensing for
opportunistic delivery.
Noting that, in a country with no LBT regulation, LTE-U service can be launched even before LTE-U standards
finalization, Qualcomm expressed a strong expectation that Korea, an early adopter, should be able to
commercialize LTE-U soon. However, that does not sound easy. First the Korean government must decide on
how to use 5 GHz frequency, and the reasonable concerns raised by Wi-Fi advocates must be eliminated as
well.
What matters most in speed/quality competition among mobile network operators is how much frequency
each can obtain. Given the circumstance, a chance of taking advantage of unlicensed band is expected to bring
a new change in operators policies or LTE/Wi-Fi user communication environment. Besides, country-specific 5
GHz Wi-Fi band allocations and regulations are making the circumstance even more interesting and
unpredictable. Now lets wait and see how this LTE-U issue can be handled eventually.

Netmanias Research and Consulting Scope

99

00

01

02

03

04

05

06

07

08

09

10

11

12

13

eMBMS/Mobile IPTV
CDN/Mobile CDN
Transparent Caching
BSS/OSS

Services

Cable TPS
Voice/Video Quality
IMS
Policy Control/PCRF
IPTV/TPS
LTE

Mobile
Network

Mobile WiMAX
Carrier WiFi
LTE Backaul
Data Center Migration
Carrier Ethernet
FTTH

Wireline
Network

Data Center
Metro Ethernet
MPLS
IP Routing

CDN
Transparent
Caching

Analysis

Networks

eMBMS

LTE
IMS
Infrastructure Services

Analyze trends, technologies and market

Report
Technical documents
Blog
One-Shot gallery

Concept Design
DRM

POC

Training

Wi-Fi

We design the future

protocols

IP/MPLS

We design the future

Carrier Ethernet

We design the future

Consulting

Visit http://www.netmanias.com to view and download more technical documents.

Future

About NMC Consulting Group (www.netmanias.com)

NMC Consulting Group is an advanced and professional network consulting company, specializing in IP network areas (e.g., FTTH, Metro Ethernet and IP/MPLS), service
areas (e.g., IPTV, IMS and CDN), and wireless network areas (e.g., Mobile WiMAX, LTE and Wi-Fi) since 2002.
Copyright 2002-2014 NMC Consulting Group. All rights reserved.