Verizon, Ericsson, Qualcomm and Federated Wireless team up to showcase first end-to-end band 48 CBRS carrier aggregation demonstration

PLANO, Texas, Aug. 28, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- In yet another U.S. industry first, Verizon, Ericsson, Qualcomm Technologies,  Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) and Federated Wireless have announced the first ever use of CBRS (Citizens Broadband Radio Service) band 48 spectrum in an LTE Advanced carrier aggregation demonstration. The news follows other recent announcements of industry leadership from Qualcomm, Ericsson and Verizon including successfully reaching over 1 gigabit on LTE.

The CBRS band is made up of 150 MHz of 3.5 GHz shared spectrum which until now has been primarily used by the federal government for radar systems. The FCC has authorized shared use of the band with wireless small cells. Using the LTE Advanced feature of carrier aggregation, Verizon, Ericsson, Qualcomm Technologies and Federated Wireless were able to demonstrate LTE with carrier aggregation on this band and carry wireless traffic. Federated Wireless provided the Spectrum Access System to dynamically prioritize traffic within the FCC's spectrum sharing framework for this band. 

"The use of CBRS spectrum greatly advances our work in emerging spectrum bands. Verizon and our partners are leading the way in creating an ecosystem around the use of CBRS spectrum which will lead to greater capacity and speed for our customers," said Nicola Palmer, Wireless Chief Network Officer for Verizon. "As industry leaders we work tirelessly to provide the best mobile experience available - that includes always innovating through new technologies and software platforms to better serve our customers."

Nishant Batra, Vice President and Head of Product Area Network Infrastructure, Ericsson says, "Ericsson has been a leader in pioneering technologies; by leveraging CBRS spectrum enabling additional LTE carrier aggregation, we continue to lead the way to meet customers speed and capacity demands. We are proud to be working across the industry to develop new capabilities and advancements on LTE. We plan to introduce a full portfolio of Ericsson Radio System for CBRS band across macro, micro and in-building segments, starting with the Radio Dot, to serve our customers' needs holistically."

The demo, set in an Ericsson lab in Plano, TX included the end-to-end CBRS communication flow, using 2x20 MHz LTE carriers on the CBRS band 48, and employing a 256 QAM modulation in the downlink.  Ericsson provided the band 48 Radio Dot System and Domain Proxy for communication with Federated SAS. Qualcomm Technologies provided a Qualcomm^® Snapdragontm LTE modem test device, and Federated Wireless provided the spectrum management service with their Spectrum Controller.   

"We are excited to demonstrate the support for new types of spectrum in Snapdragon LTE modems," said Joe Glynn, Vice President, Business Development at Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. "The use of LTE Advanced with carrier aggregation will help enable the use of new CBRS shared spectrum to offer higher network capacity, and ultimately, higher speed to users than currently available."

"This end-to-end CBRS deployment is an exciting milestone," said Iyad Tarazi, CEO at Federated Wireless. "The CBRS ecosystem has truly reached full commercial viability, and Verizon will soon be able to enhance its customers' experience with this latest wireless network innovation."

A full, live demo will be available for viewing at the upcoming Mobile World Congress Americas in California in mid September.

Media Contacts:

Karen Schulz
Verizon                                                                                    
Mobile (864) 561-1527
[email protected] 
@VZWKarenS

Kathy Egan
Ericsson
Mobile (917) 362-1600
[email protected] 

Pete Lancia
Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.
Phone (858) 845-5959
[email protected]  

Derek James
Federated Wireless
Phone: (408) 727-0351
[email protected]  

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ), headquartered in New York City, has a diverse workforce of 163,400 and generated nearly $126 billion in 2016 revenues. Verizon operates America's most reliable wireless network and the nation's premier all-fiber network, and delivers integrated solutions to businesses worldwide. Its Oath subsidiary houses more than 50 media and technology brands that engage about 1 billion people around the world.

Ericsson is a world leader in communications technology and services with headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden. Our organization consists of more than 111,000 experts who provide customers in 180 countries with innovative solutions and services. Together we are building a more connected future where anyone and any industry is empowered to reach their full potential. Net sales in 2016 were SEK 222.6 billion (USD 24.5 billion). The Ericsson stock is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm and on NASDAQ in New York. Read more on www.ericsson.com.

Qualcomm's technologies powered the smartphone revolution and connected billions of people. We pioneered 3G and 4G ? and now we are leading the way to 5G and a new era of intelligent, connected devices. Our products are revolutionizing industries, including automotive, computing, IoT, healthcare and data center, and are allowing millions of devices to connect with each other in ways never before imagined. Qualcomm Incorporated includes our licensing business, QTL, and the vast majority of our patent portfolio. Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, operates, along with its subsidiaries, all of our engineering, research and development functions, and all of our products and services businesses, including, our QCT semiconductor business. For more information, visit Qualcomm's website, OnQ blog, Twitter and Facebook pages.

Federated Wireless is unlocking a spectrum of possibilities by breaking down barriers to wireless spectrum, giving greater access to operators by creating a shared economy model for what was previously individually licensed. Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, Federated Wireless is an influential first mover in the industry that has spent the last five years leading the creation of the shared spectrum market from the ground up, developing and nurturing the necessary standards, and working to ensure that customer deployments can be successful in all network environments. www.federatedwireless.com

* Qualcomm Snapdragon is a product of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. 
* Qualcomm and Snapdragon are trademarks of Qualcomm Incorporated, registered in the United States and other countries. 

SOURCE Verizon