DEPLOYMENT OF THE FIRST COMMERCIAL LWA SERVICE

Abstract

This column reports the deployment of the first commercial LWA service. The deployed LWA network reuses and is merged with the existing individual LTE and WLAN networks. Our experience indicates that this approach allows quick establishment of LWA service, which nicely resolves the coexistence problems arising from deploying the LTE system in unlicensed spectrums. Specifically, in the initial stage, selected LWA hotspots with the required service were built in two months. Through this deployment, we show how Chunghwa Telecom utilizes unlicensed spectrum to open up additional capacity to support LTE service. Specifically, the throughput of an LWA site can be more than twice of that for an LTE eNB. Also, through an LWA eNB, an LWA-capable user equipment can indirectly perform seamless handover between a Wi-Fi AP without mobility capability and a standard eNB. This indirect handover time is less than 400 ms plus the standard EAP-SIM authentication time for Wi-Fi.