Orange, Ericsson and Qualcomm have demonstrated the use of L-band frequencies (1452-1492 MHz) as a supplemental downlink technology on a mobile network.
The European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administration has decided to harmonize use of the L-band, reserving it specifically for supplemental downlink technology.
The demonstration was carried out on Orange's network in Toulouse, France, on 21 February 2013. The trial system, which uses L-band frequencies for testing, was authorized by the French telecoms regulator, Arcep, in June 2012. The system combines L-band frequencies in the downlink mode with traditional 2.1 GHz frequencies owned by Orange to boost downlink capacity. The trial network uses radio base stations supplied by Ericsson and devices equipped with Qualcomm chipsets.
Ericsson said supplemental downlink technology represents a significant step forward in traditional spectrum aggregation systems that are already used for HSPA+ and LTE networks by the 3GPP standardization group.
