Qualcomm Technologies today announced that it is integrating technology to extend LTE to the unlicensed spectrum (LTE-U) into its latest small cell solutions and mobile transceivers.
The technology will be included in the FSM99xx family of small cell system-on-chips, as well as the FTR8950 and WTR3950 mobile transceivers.
LTE-U allows operators to increase their capacity and coverage by using channels in the less crowded 5 GHz unlicensed bands.
The technology has been tested at Qualcomm‘s headquarters in San Diego, California.
"As the Internet enters a new phase of growth, in which more devices are connected and share richer data, there is a need to cost effectively address the challenges of a 1000x increase in mobile data traffic," said Matt Grob, executive vice president and chief technology officer of Qualcomm Technologies.
He added: "To do this, we need a combination of more spectrum, more efficient use of existing spectrum, and more small cells.
"Our job is to help the industry make the best use of all available spectrum, using both LTE and Wi-Fi technologies, to increase capacity.
The new solutions will be showcased at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next week.
