NEXT GENERATION WIRELESS

The objective of WBA in its Next Generation Wireless program is to develop and increase service opportunities across existing and new ecosystems towards 5G.

PROGRAM BREAKDOWN

 5G

5G intends to enable a seamlessly connected society in 2020 and beyond that brings together people along with things, data, applications, transport systems and cities in a smart networked communications environment.

WBA’s vision is to focus on the 5G use cases being discussed and how Wi-Fi and other unlicensed technologies can play a key role in enabling these use cases, and to avoid duplication of efforts at a standardization level

Unlicensed LTE

As the technologies for LTE in unlicensed bands approach readiness for operational deployment, the use cases and real- world deployment considerations is becoming more clear and targeted by vendors and operators.

Nevertheless, the business opportunity of unlicensed LTE still needs to be further validated. This, in turn, will also provide more clarity about how the technology will impact the wireless market, and also impact incumbent technologies (especially Wi-Fi) in nearby deployments.

Taking previous work forward, the WBA will review in this project the anticipated deployment of unlicensed LTE on its LTE – Wi-Fi RAN interworking variations (.e.g LWA, LWIP, MulteFire), and discussing these impacts on Wi-Fi deployments.

Multi-x or Multi Connectivity Trial

It has become very challenging for mobile operators to provide a high QoE to their subscribers amidst the limited spectrum resources available.

In this direction, there is a very strong need for a technology concept which allows a very easy and highly effective way to realize multi-network interworking with least coupling between the networks.

Creating this project, the WBA will enable the industry to test multi-connectivity services and operators immediate needs that need to be harmonized to ensure that the solution works without impacting existing network deployments.