Development and Demonstration of CA Technology Utilizing LTE+WiFi Bands with Qualcomm
The LTE 2.6GHz band and the 5GHz band for WiFi are combined using the LTE method.

A technology has been developed that combines LTE frequencies (licensed band) and WiFi frequencies (unlicensed band) using the LTE method to transmit simultaneously over the uplink and downlink.

SK Telecom announced that it has completed the development of 'Enhanced Licensed Assisted Access' (eLAA) technology in collaboration with Qualcomm, the world's largest telecommunications semiconductor manufacturer, and demonstrated it at its R&D center in Bundang.

eLAA is a technology that transmits LTE signals by utilizing Carrier Aggregation technology to combine LTE frequencies for mobile communication and Wi-Fi frequencies. In this demonstration, the 2.6 GHz band of LTE frequencies and the 5 GHz band of Wi-Fi frequencies were utilized.

The two companies applied a technology that transmits LTE signals, which are more efficient than WiFi signals, over the unlicensed band, while always checking whether devices such as WiFi are using the channel before transmission. It is evaluated that this has led LTE-A Pro technology by achieving up to twice the transmission speed compared to using WiFi alone in the unlicensed band without causing speed degradation for existing WiFi users.

Prior to this, SK Telecom launched a Band LTE WiFi service last June that can provide download speeds of up to 1.17 Gbps based on MPTCP (Multi-Path Transmission Control Protocol) technology, which combines individually transmitted LTE and WiFi signals. This time, through the eLAA demonstration, the company has secured two key technologies for combining unlicensed bands with existing LTE mobile networks.

Meanwhile, SK Telecom explained that it is also focusing on developing LTE-A Pro technologies, such as multi-antenna technology based on new frequency bands, to compensate for the drawback that MPTCP and eLAA, which use frequency bands currently used by WiFi, are only available in areas with WiFi coverage.

“This demonstration showed that eLAA and WiFi can coexist harmoniously in unlicensed bands,” said Eduardo Estevez, Vice President of Product Management at Qualcomm. “In particular, both companies clearly demonstrated their leadership in securing the latest technologies to improve the user experience.”

Park Jin-hyo, Head of Network Technology at SK Telecom, stated, “Flexible interoperability between licensed and unlicensed bands is essential to support high-capacity, high-quality 5G services in the future,” adding, “We will accelerate network innovation through LTE-A Pro and 5G evolution, including licensed/unlicensed interoperability technologies such as eLAA and MPTCP.”