Huawei launches eLTE carrier aggregation solution

Huawei has commercially launched its eLTE-DSA (Discrete Spectrum Aggregation) trunked radio solution that leverages carrier aggregation to help power companies develop private wireless broadband networks for power grids.

As the energy industry looks to adopt IoT solutions for a wide range and growing numbers of terminals and devices, wireless private networks are the best means of providing sufficient connectivity. But the traditional VHF (30~300MHz) / UHF (300~3000MHz) narrowband discrete spectrum bands currently used by the energy industry cannot support IoT development because existing trunked radio technology isn’t designed to support the necessary latency, bandwidth, and power consumption requirements.

Huawei’s new solution – which is based on eLTE (enhanced LTE), the company’s proprietary version of standard LTE designed for trunked radio applications – applies the carrier aggregation model of LTE to discrete narrowband spectrum bands. The solution aggregates the bands to enable a minimum latency of 20 ms (with a maximum of 4,000 users per cell), and boost data transmission rates from kbps to Mbps levels. The minimum static power consumption of the module is 0.15W.

Huawei also says the solution has strong anti-interference capabilities, as it can run stably in a complex radio environment where data transmission stations coexist.

The solution will be put into commercial use on a large scale in China and will initially carry mission-critical services such as precise load control, power distribution automation, and collection of power consumption information. Consequently, the eLTE-DSA solution will initially support the 230-MHz band, which is the band assigned for trunked radio networks in China.

“Huawei and the State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC) are jointly innovating in standards, products, R&D equipment, and service tests based on the 230-MHz eLTE-DSA solution,” said Sun Zhentao, president of Huawei’s enterprise wireless product line. “Meanwhile, together we [will] actively promote the globalization of eLTE-DSA standards.”