HSPA+ Evolution to Release 12: Performance and Optimization

16 HSPA Evolution Outlook

Antti Toskala and Karri Ranta-aho

16.1 Introduction

This chapter presents the outlook of HSPA evolution to Release 12 and beyond. First the topics discussed in 3GPP regarding the HSPA-LTE interworking and regarding the 3GPP radio level interworking with WLAN are covered. Then, on-going studies for dealing with bandwidths smaller than 5 MHz are presented, followed by work on improving the Release 99 based dedicated channel operation. This chapter is concluded with a presentation of the work being done on uplink enhancements as well as addressing briefly the heterogeneous network aspects also being progressed in another ongoing Release 12 study item. It's worth noting that several items in this chapter represent work in progress and many of the issues mentioned may not be necessarily finalized on time, or included in the actual work items targeting finalization by the end of 2014. Thus, some of the items may end up being postponed for Release 13, with finalization scheduled to take place in March 2016. Typically 18 to 21 months is needed for a Release based on experience with recent 3GPP Releases.

16.2 HSPA-LTE and WLAN Interworking

The basic support for interworking between HSPA and LTE was introduced together with the first LTE Release, Release 8. This included the support for PS handover as well as necessary reselection for idle mode operation. Support for Single Radio Voice Call Continuity (SRVCC) was also included, which enabled Voice over LTE ...