LTE is growing faster than any previous wireless network technology and is likely to cover a much wider range of user devices. LTE coverage is also likely to be greater than previous generations, reaching all continents and both metro and rural environments. The rapid growth of LTE is being enabled by the development of highly integrated system-on-chip (SoC) devices for LTE base stations and handsets that can support the many LTE bands and legacy networks being used around the world.
The latest report from the Global Mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) shows almost 300 operators across 93 countries committed to LTE, with more than 100 launching commercial services during 2012. Most commercial services already launched support up to 100Mbit/s connections with subscribers typically achieving 10Mbit/s downloads. Over the next three to five years, these services will develop to support 1Gbit/s or more using LTE-Advanced.
First-generation LTE base stations have been developed using separate DSP and multicore processor devices for baseband and control/packet processing. Several vendors are introducing integrated solutions for LTE base stations that scale from micro base stations, supporting a few subscribers, to macro base stations supporting several thousand subscribers. These new devices will support 2G/3G and LTE with channel bandwidths up to 60MHz for LTE-Advanced.
The GSA recently reported that 560 LTE user devices have been announced by 83 suppliers. These devices use one or more of the many LTE-enabled baseband and application processors developed by a range of semiconductor suppliers. The latest devices integrate application processor and baseband for several LTE bands and legacy 2G/3G networks.
Heavy Reading's new report, LTE Base Station & Handset Components: A Heavy Reading Competitive Analysis, identifies and analyzes the full spectrum of vendors developing LTE components for both base stations and user devices. The report includes not only granular information on the components themselves but also insights into how the overall market and ecosystem is developing.
— Simon Stanley, Analyst, Heavy Reading
For more information about Heavy Reading's LTE Base Station & Handset Components: A Heavy Reading Competitive Analysis, please contact:
