Mumbai University > Electronics and Telecommunication > Sem 7 > Mobile Communication

Marks: 10 M

There is a growing number of LTE frequency bands that are being designated as possibilities for use with LTE. Many of the LTE frequency bands are already in use for other cellular systems, whereas other LTE bands are new and being introduced as other users are re-allocated spectrum elsewhere.

FDD and TDD LTE frequency bands

FDD spectrum requires pair bands, one of the uplink and one for the downlink, and TDD requires a single band as uplink and downlink are on the same frequency but time separated. As a result, there are different LTE band allocations for TDD and FDD. In some cases these bands may overlap, and it is therefore feasible, although unlikely that both TDD and FDD transmissions could be present on a particular LTE frequency band. . The greater likelihood is that a single UE or mobile will need to detect whether a TDD or FDD transmission should be made on a given band. UEs that roam may encounter both types on the same band. They will therefore need to detect what type of transmission is being made on that particular LTE band in its current location.

The different LTE frequency allocations or LTE frequency bands are allocated numbers. Currently the LTE bands between 1 & 22 are for paired spectrum, i.e. FDD, and LTE bands between 33 & 41 are for unpaired spectrum, i.e. TDD.

Description of each band is given below:

LTE Band 1: This is one of the paired bands that was defined for the 3G UTRA and 3GPP rel 99.

LTE Band 4: This LTE band was introduced as a new band for the Americas at the World (Administrative) Radio Conference, WRC-2000. This international conference is where international spectrum allocations are agreed. The downlink of band 4 overlaps with the downlink for Band 1. This facilitates roaming.

LTE Band 9: This band overlaps with Band 3 but has different band limits and it is also only intended for use in Japan. This enables roaming to be achieved more easily, and many terminals are defined such that that are dual band 3 + 9

LTE Band 10: This band is an extension to Band 4 and may not be available everywhere. It provides an increase from 45 MHz bandwidth (paired) to 60 MHz paired.

LTE Band 11: This "1500 MHz" band is identified by 3GPP as a Japanese band, but it is allocated globally to the mobile service on a "co-primary basis".

LTE Band 12: This band was previously used for broadcasting and has been released as a result of the "Digital Dividend."

LTE Band 13: This band was previously used for broadcasting and has been released as a result of the "Digital Dividend." The duplex configuration is reversed from the standard, having the uplink higher in frequency than the downlink.

LTE Band 14: This band was previously used for broadcasting and has been released as a result of the "Digital Dividend." The duplex configuration is reversed from the standard, having the uplink higher in frequency than the downlink.

LTE Band 15: This LTE band has been defined by ETSI for use in Europe, but this has not been adopted by 3GPP. This band combines two nominally TDD bands to provide one FDD band.

LTE Band 16: This LTE band has been defined by ETSI for use in Europe, but this has not been adopted by 3GPP. This band combines two nominally TDD bands to provide one FDD band.

LTE Band 17: This band was previously used for broadcasting and has been released as a result of the "Digital Dividend."

LTE Band 20: The duplex configuration is reversed from the standard, having the uplink higher in frequency than the downlink.

LTE Band 21: This "1500 MHz" band is identified by 3GPP as a Japanese band, but it is allocated globally to the mobile service on a "co-primary basis".

LTE Band 24: The duplex configuration is reversed from the standard, having the uplink higher in frequency than the downlink.

LTE Band 33: This was one of the bands defined for unpaired spectrum in Rel 99 of the 3GPP specifications.

LTE Band 34: This was one of the bands defined for unpaired spectrum in Rel 99 of the 3GPP specifications.

LTE Band 38: This band is in the centre band spacing between the uplink and downlink pairs of LTE band 7.