The LTE connection

Launched by Alcatel-Lucent in April 2009, the NG Connect Program aims to bring together members of the digital media value chain including infrastructure, device, application, and content companies into an end-to-end ecosystem, powered by next generation broadband networks. There is no better manifestation of this effort than the Connected Car, which was showcased in Velizy on the outskirts of Paris. Comm. was there

The integration and seamless operation of devices and applications as new generations of mobile technology are developed and deployed has been one of the industry’s weakest areas, with issues arising from device availability and compatibility, through to a dearth of relevant content and applications blighting the introduction of higher-speed networks.

LTE is a significant play for Alcatel-Lucent, and such the vendor is taking no chances of the next generation technology not meeting expectations from its moment of commercialisation. Thus its NG Connect Program is a direct effort to manage the ecosystem that is set to come alive as a result of the deployment of LTE networks, taking no chances of there being a gap between expectations and actual delivery.

“The focus of the NG Connect Program is for the development of the  ecosystem for LTE and other high bandwidth products and applications,” says Laureen Cook, VP of 4G/LTE strategy for Alcatel-Lucent’s Emerging Technology & Media Global Solutions and Marketing. “It is an open ecosystem, which helps in the development of joint go-to-market strategies to the benefit of all parties.”

The NG Connect Program currently counts 36 partners, having launched with only six. As many as 78 are in the pipeline according to Cook, with the obvious benefit being the more ideas and experiences that can be exchanged, the stronger an ecosystem can be developed.

A new member to the program that is set to be confirmed at the Mobile World Congress in the middle of February is Nuance Communications, a speech recognition software maker.

The Connected Car offers the best example to date of the progress being made by the NG Connect Program, displaying how a number of various different application providers have been able to partner and utilise the in-vehicle environment to showcase and operate their respective products.

The Connected Car concept was developed under the auspices of the NG Connect Program and is a multi-industry collaboration among leading network, device, application automotive and content suppliers to develop reintegrated, tested examples of applications and services for 3G and LTE networks.

In the middle of January, Alcatel-Lucent conducted live demonstrations of a LTE network in France in the 2.6 GHz spectrum band, and was the European debut of the ‘LTE Connected Car’. NG Connect Program partners that contributed to the development of the LTE Connected Car concept include QNX Software Systems, Toyota Motor Sales (TMS ) US, Chumby, Kabillion and Atlantic Records.

The LTE Connected Car concept represents an exciting new potential revenue opportunity for network operators, automotive suppliers and application providers, and sets the stage to usher in a new era of richer and personalised in-car end-user experiences. This solution concept car offers a comprehensive menu of futuristic entertainment, infotainment, security and driving-related features that can be sampled in the vehicle.

“The car is a proof of concept,” says Cook. “And we are the only vendor operating such a program.”

LTE is of significant strategic importance to Alcatel-Lucent with the vendor stating it is actively engaged in the majority of LTE projects being pursued by tier one operators worldwide, including ongoing trials with 19 customers to date.

The vendor is also investing heavily in the development of solutions that help expedite the deployment of LTE networks and at the beginning of this month announced the introduction of a new radio module, based on software defined radio (SDR) technology, which gives mobile service providers the flexibility to support any mix of 2G GSM, 3G W-CDMA/HSPA+ and LTE services simultaneously. In addition to supporting new deployments now, this capability can be introduced in more than 700,000 Alcatel-Lucent base stations already deployed by service providers worldwide, offering a seamless, cost-effective way for operators to introduce the latest generation of technologies – at their own pace – while continuing to support their existing customers.

The new converged radio module, called the MC-TR X,is a key building block of Alcatel-Lucent’s Converged RAN (radio access network) portfolio, which is geared toward increasing the capacity and the coverage of all networks while minimising the overall total cost of ownership for operators. The converged radio module has the same form factor as the previous generations of TRX modules. This means that the new module can be implemented on all multi-standard base stations deployed by Alcatel-Lucent around the world since 1999, and is supported in all base stations sold today. In addition it supports any 3GPP specification and complies with all local regulatory requirements.

The new converged radio module offers very high GSM capacity, supporting up to 2.5x the transceiver capacity per cabinet to help operators address market densification requirements. The new converged radio module can be configured to maximise network coverage thus reducing the number of sites. It integrates advanced radio capabilities such as MIMO (multiple input/multiple output) to ensure the best performance when used in a W-CDMA/HSPA+ or LTE configuration. It also can address a range of spectrum configurations, supporting bandwidths of up to 20MHz, offering exceptional flexibility for deployments and maximum capacity to enable the introduction of LTE.

This new module is complemented by the company’s professional services capabilities, particularly in the areas of radio network design and deployment. Leveraging its experience managing mobile network upgrade efforts, Alcatel-Lucent can collaborate with and counsel mobile operators as they plan for and work through the re-farming process and manage the evolution of their networks to support next-generation services and applications.