HiSilicon has successfully verified 3GPP Release 10 protocols in its LTE-A chipset. The company says its Balong720 chipset is the world’s first LTE category 6 platform supporting 20 MHz + 20 MHz carrier aggregation. Category 6 has the potential to double the data rates of current category 4 LTE-A carrier aggregation solutions. The HiSilicon solution supports aggregation of up 20 MHz from each of two carriers, and promises data rates of up to 300 Mbps.
Carrier aggregation technology can benefit smaller carriers who want to combine spectrum assets, and it can help larger carriers who have spectrum holdings in different band classes. Sprint, for example has spectrum in the 800MHz, 1.9GHz, 2.5GHz band classes. China Mobile, the world’s largest carrier, also has disparate spectrum holdings.
LTE-A chipsets are designed for small cells, portable routers and mobile hotspots. They will also make their way into consumer devices. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 800 supports LTE-A carrier aggregation and the solution is implemented in Samsung’s Galaxy S4.
Anite and Rohde & Schwarz have worked with HiSilicon in testing the Balong720. Anite’s conformance toolset was used to verify the 3GPP RAN5 LTE-A CA protocol and the Rohde & Schwarz CMW500 wideband radio communication tester was used in callbox mode and as a protocol tester.
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