The first end-to-end live trial of CBRS with carrier aggregation using 3.5 GHz LTE equipment

This paper presents the first end-to-end field trial of the U.S. three-tier Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) with carrier aggregation using commercial 3.5 GHz network elements in a live LTE-A test network. The trial features an assignment of a shared spectrum to an operational LTE base station and demonstrates how it boosts the end user mobile data rate due to extended bandwidth availability. The field trial is important as it shows that a spectrum access system can be implemented utilizing existing network systems and latest technologies. The field trial allows studying the operation of a real system and comparing the performance to the relevant FCC requirements and particularly those related to different response times between the LTE-A network and CBRS.