Carrier aggregation in LTE-Advanced [articol]

Abstract

LTE-Advanced extends the capabilities originally defined in LTE within the 3GPP and Carrier Aggregation (CA) is the most significant, although complex, improvement provided by LTE-Advanced. Bandwidths from various portion of spectrum are logically concatenated or “aggregated” resulting in a virtual block of a much larger band, enabling increased data throughput. The aim of this paper is to present an introduction of CA in LTE-Advanced system, including current 3GPP status on CA technology, configuration and deployment scenarios and Physical, MAC and RRC (Radio Resource Control) Layers aspects of Carrier Aggregation.