Friday, March 10, 2023

Carrier Aggregation Keeps Getting Better

Carrier aggregation--the ability to bond multiple mobile radio channels--is simply a way to create bigger pipes, and hence greater capacity and hence higher speeds on a mobile network. The perhaps-obvious analogy is the ability to use multiple  lanes on a highway instead of just one. 


source: T-Mobile 


It is not a new practice, as 4G networks have been using carrier aggregation as well to boost capacity. 

source: 3GPP 


 And while it is helpful to aggregate carriers and channels within any specific spectrum band, there is more value when aggregation is possible across bands of spectrum.


source: CableFree


Over a period of time, the ability to aggregate channels and carriers across bands might be increasingly important, as low-band spectrum is more limited in terms of capacity than mid-band, and both of those spectrum bands are inferior (in terms of capacity) to millimeter and higher spectrum ranges. 


The lower and mid-band ranges will always be better for coverage, but capacity increases will be driven increasingly by use of high-band spectrum.


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