Transmission Mode 8 Drive Test Results and Analysis

DUBLIN, Oct. 6, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/n7p84m/signals_research) has announced the addition of the "Signals Research - Eight is Enough" report to their offering.

This industry conducted an independent drive test of the Sprint LTE network, supporting both Band 41 (2.5 GHz) and Band 25 (1.9 GHz). The testing took place in early April in the Chicago area where Samsung is the infrastructure supplier. As we have done numerous times in the past we used Accuver's suite of drive test tools to capture (XCAL-M) and analyze (XCAP) the network performance information.

Using two Galaxy Note Edge smartphones with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor and with Sprint engineering support we were able to configure the phones and the network according to our test plan. We tested multiple scenarios, including: Transmission Mode 8 ( TM8) versus non-TM8 performance, Band 41 and Band 25 coverage/performance, 8-branch transmit/receive (8T8R) versus 2T2R coverage/performance, and stand-alone carrier aggregation (CA). Otherwise, Sprint had no direct involvement in our test methodology, the analysis of the data, or in the publishing of this report.

Smart antenna technologies, including beamforming, are full of promise, but they don't always live up to their expectations. Fortunately, the prospects of LTE TDD and t he overall use of higher frequency bands looks very encouraging given the results that we obtained. Thanks to TM8 and 8T8R, we observed meaningful increases in coverage and spectral efficiency, not to mention overall device throughput compared with a more basic transmission mode (TM3 - spatial multiplexing) and 2T2R. We quantify these performance gains across a range of network conditions as well as in aggregate, and provide a wealth of supporting documentation and analysis in the main body of this report.

Key Topics Covered:

1. Executive Summary

2. Key Observations

3. LTE TDD Carrier Aggregation Results - single device testing

4. Transmission Mode 8 Drive Test Results and Analysis

5. Eight Branch Transmit and Receive Antenna Performance Analysis

6. Test Methodology

7. Final Thoughts

8. Appendix

For more information visit

http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/n7p84m/signals_research

Media Contact:

Laura Wood, +353-1-481-1716, press@researchandmarkets.net

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SOURCE Research and Markets