The next, semi-annual release Ericsson Networks Software (version 15B) enables a software-only upgrade of installed base LTE baseband hardware to support simultaneous LTE time division duplex (TDD) and frequency division duplex (FDD) operation – an industry first. It also delivers many new capabilities in the areas of radio access, cloud & virtualization, as well as in the network management & control domain. Ericsson said it is committed to cloud and network functions virtualization (NFV) transformation, and so has will held drive the Open Platform for NFV (OPNFV) project.
Some highlights of Ericsson Networks Software 15B:
- LTE TDD-FDD operation. Concurrent TDD and FDD operation on the same software and hardware reduces capital and operational expenditures. Common hardware and software also efficiently enables TDD-FDD carrier aggregation, which improves the TDD application coverage area by up to 200 percent.
- Improved throughput and availability in the Cloud Execution Environment. This is needed to meet the high requirements telecom applications have on infrastructure.
- Personalized Wi-Fi calling and dynamic control of LTE handover via the Service Aware Policy Controller (SAPC).
- A new Ericsson Virtual Router that provides a carrier-grade IP routing system. It offers redundancy and scaling that is 20 times higher than its nearest competitor.
- Simplified network management across LTE and Evolved Packet Core (EPC). Automated handling of up to 60,000 LTE cells is shortening the time-to-market significantly for LTE roll-out.
- LTE Psi is introduced to support the next wave of LTE coverage expansion more cost-effectively. LTE Psi is an Ericsson innovation delivering full cell coverage by sharing a single radio across three antennas. This improves the energy efficiency of a full coverage LTE cell site by 40%.
- App coverage enhancements for mobile device users. These include WCDMA Uplink Coordinated Multipoint, which improves capacity by up to 20%, and Enhanced Uplink Low Latency Pre-Scheduling, which increases initial throughput by up to 40%.
- To accommodate the growth of machine-to-machine devices on GSM networks, the number of GSM device connections that can be supported has been doubled. Automated Neighbor Relations capabilities have also been added to optimize communications between cells while reducing operating costs.
- Smart authentication with User Data Consolidation (UDC) enables better security for any connected device, including SIM and non-SIM based devices.