[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 89 (Friday, May 8, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26561-26563]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-11211]
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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
[ET Docket No. 15-105; DA 15-516]
Office of Engineering and Technology and Wireless
Telecommunications Bureau Seeks Information on Current Trends in LTE-U
and LAA Technology
AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: In this document, the Office of Engineering and Technology
(OET) and Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB) seek information on
technologies and techniques they will implement to share spectrum with
existing unlicensed operations and technologies such as Wi-Fi that are
widely used by the public. Parties within the wireless industry are
developing a version of commercial wireless LTE technology called LTE-
Unlicensed (LTE-U) that is intended for operations in certain
unlicensed frequency bands. LTE-U could operate in conjunction with
licensed commercial wireless services using a technique called Licensed
Assisted Access (LAA) whereby a channel in an operator's licensed
spectrum is used as the primary channel for devices operating on an
unlicensed basis.
DATES: Comments must be filed on or before June 11, 2015 and reply
comments must be filed on or before June 26, 2015.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by ET Docket No. 15-105,
by any of the following methods:
Federal Communications Commission's Web site: http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs2/. Follow the instructions for submitting
comments.
Mail: Ira Keltz, Office of Engineering and Technology,
Room 7-C250, Federal Communications Commission, 445 12th Street SW.,
Washington, DC 20554 and Chris Helzer, Wireless Telecommunications
Bureau, Room 6-6415, Federal Communications Commission, 445 12th Street
SW., Washington, DC 20554.
People with Disabilities: Contact the FCC to request
reasonable accommodations (accessible format documents, sign language
interpreters, CART, etc.) by email: [email protected] or phone: 202-418-
0530 or TTY: 202-418-0432.
For detailed instructions for submitting comments and additional
information on the process, see the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section
of this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ira Keltz, Office of Engineering and
Technology, (202) 418-0616, email [email protected], and Chris Helzer,
(202) 418-2791, email [email protected] and TTY (202) 418-2989.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Commission's
document, ET Docket No. 15-105, DA 15-516, released May 5, 2015. The
full text of this document is available for inspection and copying
during normal business hours in the FCC Reference Center (Room CY-
A257), 445 12th Street SW., Washington, DC 20554. The complete text of
this document also may be purchased from the Commission's copy
contractor, Best Copy and Printing, Inc., 445 12th Street SW., Room,
CY-B402, Washington, DC 20554. The full text may also be downloaded at:
www.fcc.gov.
Pursuant to Sec. Sec. 1.415 and 1.419 of the Commission's rules,
47 CFR 1.415, 1.419, interested parties may file comments on or before
the date indicated on the first page of this document. Comments may be
filed using the Commission's Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS).
See Electronic Filing of Documents in Rulemaking Proceedings, 63 FR
24121 (1998).
Electronic Filers: Comments may be filed electronically
using the Internet by accessing the ECFS: http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs2/.
Paper Filers: Parties who choose to file by paper must
file an original and one copy of each filing. If more than one docket
or rulemaking number appears in the caption of this proceeding, filers
must submit two additional copies for each additional docket or
rulemaking number.
Filings can be sent by hand or messenger delivery, by
commercial overnight courier, or by first-class or overnight U.S.
Postal Service mail. All filings must be addressed to the Commission's
Secretary, Office of the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission.
[[Page 26562]]
All hand-delivered or messenger-delivered paper filings
for the Commission's Secretary must be delivered to FCC Headquarters at
445 12th St. SW., Room TW-A325, Washington, DC 20554. The filing hours
are 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. All hand deliveries must be held together
with rubber bands or fasteners. Any envelopes and boxes must be
disposed of before entering the building.
Commercial overnight mail (other than U.S. Postal Service
Express Mail and Priority Mail) must be sent to 9300 East Hampton
Drive, Capitol Heights, MD 20743.
U.S. Postal Service first-class, Express, and Priority
mail must be addressed to 445 12th Street SW., Washington, DC 20554.
People with Disabilities: To request materials in accessible
formats for people with disabilities (braille, large print, electronic
files, audio format), send an email to [email protected] or call the
Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau at 202-418-0530 (voice), 202-
418-0432 (tty).
Comments and reply comments will be available for public inspection
during regular business hours in the FCC Reference Center, Federal
Communications Commission, 445 12th Street SW., CY-A257, Washington, DC
20554. These documents will also be available via ECFS.
Synopsis of Public Notice
1. Parties within the wireless industry are developing a version of
commercial wireless LTE technology called LTE-Unlicensed (LTE-U) that
is intended for operations in certain unlicensed frequency bands. LTE-U
could operate in conjunction with licensed commercial wireless services
using a technique called Licensed Assisted Access (LAA) whereby a
channel in an operator's licensed spectrum is used as the primary
channel for devices operating on an unlicensed basis. By this public
notice, the Office of Engineering and Technology and the Wireless
Telecommunications Bureau seek information on these technologies and
the techniques they will implement to share spectrum with existing
unlicensed operations and technologies such as Wi-Fi that are widely
used by the public.
2. A number of organizations have approached the Commission about
the development of LTE-U and LAA in the context of the 3.5 GHz and 5
GHz proceedings, which would make spectrum available for general access
and unlicensed use, respectively.\1\ Some have expressed concern that
LTE-U and LAA operations may have a detrimental impact on existing and
future use of unlicensed or shared spectrum. Others have asserted that
LTE-U and LAA are more efficient than other currently available
unlicensed technologies, that LTE-U and LAA include features to share
the spectrum fairly with no detrimental impact on existing users of the
spectrum, and that consumers will ultimately benefit from increased
access to spectrum. We observe that the impact of LTE-U and LAA on
unlicensed operations and technologies such as Wi-Fi would be quite
different in each bands--the 3.5 GHz band is generally newly available
spectrum while the 5 GHz bands are already heavily used by Wi-Fi and
other unlicensed devices.
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\1\ See Amendment of the Commission's Rules with Regard to
Commercial Operations in the 3550-3650 MHz Band, GN Docket No. 12-
354, Report and Order and Second Further Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking, adopted April 17, 2015, FCC 15-47. See also Revision of
Part 15 of the Commission's Rules to Permit Unlicensed National
Information Infrastructure (U-NII) Devices in the 5 GHz Band, ET
Docket No. 13-49, First Report and Order, released April 1, 2014,
see 29 FCC Rcd 4127 (2014).
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3. The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), which develops
standards for commercial wireless technologies, is developing the LTE-U
and LAA standards. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers Working Group 802.11 (IEEE 802.11) develops standards for
wireless local area networks such as Wi-Fi and other unlicensed
technologies. Although many parties participate in both standards
bodies, the organizations have a limited historical working
relationship given their different backgrounds and scopes. We are aware
that some companies have formed the LTE-U Forum,\2\ which is
considering deployment of LTE-U/LAA using a ``pre-standard'' version of
LTE-U/LAA.
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\2\ The LTE-U Forum, which was formed in 2014, includes Verizon,
Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, Qualcomm Technologies, and Samsung. The
Forum is developing technical specifications for LTE-U to
demonstrate coexistence with Wi-Fi devices in the 5 GHz bands.
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4. The Commission has historically adopted rules that are
technologically neutral and remains committed to this policy. With this
principle in mind, we are opening this docket to provide an opportunity
for interested parties to enable a fully participatory and transparent
discussion about LTE-U and LAA technologies and how they will coexist
with other technologies, including Wi-Fi. We specifically seek
information on the following topics:
What different variations of LTE in unlicensed spectrum
(e.g., LTE-U, LAA) are under active development or on a roadmap for
future development? How do they relate to one another in terms of
technology, potential use, and timing of availability?
What is the current state of development of the LTE-U and
LAA standards and what is the anticipated schedule for completion of
the LTE-U and LAA standards?
What is the status of coordination between 3GPP and the
IEEE 802.11 on LTE-U and LAA, and what is the process for coming to
agreement on appropriate sharing characteristics to ensure co-existence
with the IEEE 802.11 family of standards?
What are the anticipated technical characteristics (e.g.
bandwidth(s), listen-before-talk, transmission durations, etc.) of LTE-
U and LAA?
What tests or analyses have been performed to understand
the impact of LTE-U and LAA on the existing commercial wireless and
unlicensed ecosystems?
Precisely how will LAA integrate licensed and unlicensed
carriers, particularly with regard to controlling access to spectrum?
To what extent is a standalone form of LTE-U being
developed, that is, a form that can operate without a licensed primary
channel?
Are existing devices capable of software upgrades to
implement LTE-U and LAA?
What frequency bands are envisioned for deployment of LTE-
U and LAA?
What plans do carriers and manufacturers have for pre-
standard deployment of LTE-U and LAA equipment including possible
upgrades to 3GPP-based LTE-U or LAA and how would the above questions
(particularly with respect to coexistence issues) be addressed relative
to pre-standard versions of LTE-U and LAA?
5. In addition to information in response to these questions, we
encourage parties to submit whatever additional information they feel
is relevant to this matter.
6. This public notice is being issued pursuant to Sec. Sec. 0.31
and 0.131 of the Commission's rules by the Office of Engineering and
Technology and the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau.\3\
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\3\ 47 CFR 0.31, 0.131.
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7. For further information contact Ira Keltz in the Office of
Engineering and Technology, [email protected], 202-418-0616 or Chris
Helzer, in the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau,
[email protected], 202-418-2791.
8. For more news and information about the Federal Communications
Commission, please visit: www.fcc.gov.
[[Page 26563]]
Federal Communications Commission.
Julius P. Knapp,
Chief, Office of Engineering and Technology.
[FR Doc. 2015-11211 Filed 5-7-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P