Clearwire TDD-LTE Network to Serve 4G "Hot Zones" in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle and More

[S4GRU]

It is possible to use the WiFi antenna to run 2500/2600 LTE if the chipset/radio are designed for it in the device. Of course, you wouldn't be able to run WiFi at the same time. But who needs that?

 

The new iPhone will be 95% ready to support LTE 2500. Will Apple want to take it that last little bit further to support Clearwire's upcoming TD-LTE network? We will see.

 

Robert - Posted from my E4GT with ICS using Forum Runner

[bigsnake49]

You can definitely use the WiFi antenna for Clearwire frequencies. Is it optimal? No, but then very few things are. PCS antennas in handsets are tuned to the middle of the PCS band and not for each block (A-G). Simple antenna design for cellular systems is full of compromises. Try sticking 4-way MIMO antennas in a 700MHz handset! According to the formulas for a 750MHz center frequency each of them would have an optimal length of 40 centimeters (15.75") and there would be 4 of them. Try and fit that into a 4.7" handset!

[irev210]

I'm not a radio antenna engineer. I'm just telling you what I've read.

 

http://www.pcmag.com...,2400875,00.asp

 

That's actually pretty cool.

 

If an existing LTE carrier signs up with Clearwire, its phones will be able to do soft handoffs, flipping between the two LTE networks without breaking a call or dropping a connection, Saw said.

 

That's very awesome to hear they can soft hand-off between FD-LTE and TD-LTE. I think 4ringsnbr was saying that couldn't be done due to different gateways, etc.

[4GHoward]

Wow thanks man. So I take it that the green dots mean that those towers will pretty much be get LTE and the red dots won't get any LTE love? Or does the red dots mean Clearwire plans to add LTE to them if costs permit? I am not too keen on what the green, red and yellow zones mean.

 

That is correct. Clearwire is focusing more in the green areas for LTE right now. The red areas may change in the future to support LTE also.

[Sgt. Slaughter]

 

I'm not a radio antenna engineer. I'm just telling you what I've read.

 

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2400875,00.asp

 

Now that's intriguing there!

 

Share the WiFi antennae to use clears 2.5GHz network.....well that answers some of the hardware antennae possible issues with needing to frame more in the phone...

 

My question would be that, would the phone need to disconnect from LTE to search for WiFi connections since you couldn't connect to both at same time, or no?...

 

Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk 2

[S4GRU]

 

Now that's intriguing there!

 

Share the WiFi antennae to use clears 2.5GHz network.....well that answers some of the hardware antennae possible issues with needing to frame more in the phone...

 

My question would be that' date=' would the phone need to disconnect from LTE to search for WiFi connections since you couldn't connect to both at same time, or no?...

 

Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk 2[/quote']

 

Probably. It would likely have to do one or the other. However, if I try to turn on my WiMax on my E4GT now, it tells me I have to turn off my WiFi. So not much difference really.

 

Robert via NOVO7PALADIN Tablet using Forum Runner

[MacinJosh]

Then that makes sense. What other frequencies can share antennas to lower the number of antennas in a phone?

[bigsnake49]

I think there's probably just one antenna for 800MHz (SMR spectrum) and 850MHz (Verizon/ATT cellular frequencies). I thought I had read somewhere that Qualcomm was going to support just three sets of frequncies (antennas/preamps).

[Sandman]

Now that's intriguing there!

 

Share the WiFi antennae to use clears 2.5GHz network.....well that answers some of the hardware antennae possible issues with needing to frame more in the phone...

 

 

If that is the case, then wouldn't the new EVO 4G LTE be able to use the Clear's LTE since the S4 does TD-LTE?

[Sgt. Slaughter]

 

If that is the case, then wouldn't the new EVO 4G LTE be able to use the Clear's LTE since the S4 does TD-LTE?

 

Not unless it passes back through the FCC again.....

 

Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk 2

[Sandman]

Wouldn't that be a trivial thing to do or would there be a lot of red tape to overcome?

[S4GRU]

If that is the case, then wouldn't the new EVO 4G LTE be able to use the Clear's LTE since the S4 does TD-LTE?

 

If we take the comments from Clearwire's CEO at face value and extremely literally, then we could conclude that any LTE device that has a WiFi antenna and a chipset and modem that support TD-LTE could be modified to run on Clearwire's TD-LTE network. I would love to hear more info on it though. Because as of today, the only place I've seen anyone say that is the quote referenced in this thread.

 

On another note, we have seen lots of things from Sprint and Clearwire relating to TD-LTE, but I have yet to see anything that confirms the concept of going back and getting existing LTE devices an update to run on the 2500 TD-LTE network. But I am intrigued at the thought.

 

Wouldn't that be a trivial thing to do or would there be a lot of red tape to overcome?

 

I don't think it is a big deal to resubmit it to the FCC for testing of the new frequencies. But in the case of the EVO LTE, if there was a way to modify the device with an OTA to make it run Clearwire TD-LTE, then they would have to get it tested through the FCC before pushing that OTA.

 

Robert

[ericdabbs]

Probably. It would likely have to do one or the other. However, if I try to turn on my WiMax on my E4GT now, it tells me I have to turn off my WiFi. So not much difference really.

 

Robert via NOVO7PALADIN Tablet using Forum Runner

 

That totally makes sense to me. If Clearwire can take advantage of using the wifi antenna that would be awesome since the phones have limited space. You can't run wifi and 4G anyways so it makes sense you that you use one or the other.

[Sandman]

Could this be the reason why Sprint said the LTE phones wouldn't support WiMax (LTE+WiFi sharing). Just a thought...

[S4GRU]

Could this be the reason why Sprint said the LTE phones wouldn't support WiMax (LTE+WiFi sharing). Just a thought...

 

I'm not sure I follow you. However, a WiMax device cannot have it's WiFi antenna and software be modified to run LTE. It takes a LTE device to be able to modify it that way. But I am probably completely misunderstanding what you are trying to say.

 

Robert

[Sandman]

Sorry, what I was trying to get at, was that there is probably some limitation to sharing the same antenna, like either WiFi+Wimax or WiFi+LTE but not WiFi+Wimax+LTE. Yea I know a Wimax phone couldn't support LTE, sorry for the confusion.

[S4GRU]

Sorry, what I was trying to get at, was that there is probably some limitation to sharing the same antenna, like either WiFi+Wimax or WiFi+LTE but not WiFi+Wimax+LTE. Yea I know a Wimax phone couldn't support LTE, sorry for the confusion.

 

The antenna can be shared with several technologies in many instances. Like 1x and EVDO can share an antenna. Apparently, the Clearwire CEO thinks that WiFi and LTE antennas can be shared. They just would not be able to operate at the same time.

 

Robert

[joestay]

Here is an overview of the Clearwire 4G Hot Zones for the Los Angeles Market.

 

 

Source: Undisclosed

 

Is garden grove in the red or green area?

[4GHoward]

Is garden grove in the red or green area?

 

Garden Grove is likely a high capacity area and should be part of the hot zones.

[irev210]

I thought this was interesting:

 

For carriers, carrier aggregation technology holds potentially large benefits. By bonding non-contiguous spectrum into a single, wider channel, carriers can address the asymmetry of data flows between downlink and uplink channels. The data traffic that is growing the fastest is video, and it is asymmetrical traffic. As such, carrier aggregation helps operators efficiently manage these downlink flows.