First LTE self-organising network tests are complete

T-MOBILE AND HUAWEI have successfully completed the first test for a long term evolution (LTE) self-organising network (SON).

The Chinese telecoms manufacturer teamed up the mobile operator in Innsbruck, Austria to carry out the test, which lets the system configure, optimise and recover automatically to better adapt to environmental and load changes.

The tests used Huawei's SON system with T-Mobile's existing Enodebs to verify what the pair call automatic neighbour relation (ANR) functionality. This basically means that each base station works in tandem with its neighbours to alter the network topology in real time to help ensure fast handovers and optimal network-wide performance.

"As a pioneer in the development of next-generation mobile network, T-Mobile marked the next step in testing future technology with our test network in Innsbruck. We are delighted to see that key innovations like network automation are already part of this project," said Rüdiger Köster, technology director of T-Mobile Austria.

According to Köster, the success of these tests should help encourage those operators looking at deploying LTE networks as the SON helps reduce network planning, deployment and optimisation costs.

With mobile data networks heading for potential overload in the coming years, these kinds of self-adapting systems are crucial to the continued success of mobile data services as demand continues to soar. µ