Clearwire Corp. has announced plans to conduct 4G Long-Term Evolution (LTE) technology trials that may yield real-world download speeds ranging from 20 to 70 Mbits, surpassing the 5- to 12-Mbit/s speeds anticipated by other LTE deployments. The company also will test multiple coexistence scenarios between LTE and WiMAX radio technologies.

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The company expects the technical trials to demonstrate that its 4G network can deliver significantly higher performance using LTE technologies than any other operator. It plans to conduct the tests in collaboration with Huawei Technologies, which deployed the world’s first commercial LTE network in Europe, using the same spectrum band and flexible basestation platform that Clearwire uses in the U.S.

Clearwire also will test LTE on the Samsung Electronics common basestation platform, which it currently uses for its mobile WiMAX deployments. During the trials, Clearwire will collaborate with Beceem and other partners to determine the best methods for enabling end-user devices to take advantage of a potential multi-mode WiMAX/LTE network as well.

Other participating vendors for the technical trials will be named later. Due to the global dominance of the 2.5- to 2.6-GHz spectrum band, Clearwire expects a number of large wireless operators to participate in these tests. Further details about those companies will be disclosed later. Clearwire will conduct tests in three key areas in the fall and throughout early 2010 in Phoenix, Ariz.

First, Clearwire will conduct FDD LTE (frequency division duplex) tests using 40 MHz of spectrum, paired in 20-MHz contiguous channels, of its 2.5-GHz spectrum. The company expects to confirm the capability to produce real-world download speeds of 20 to 70 Mbits/s, exceeding the 5- to 12-Mbit/s speeds of other expected U.S. LTE deployments, which will rely on smaller pairs of 10-MHz channels or less.

Second, Clearwire will concurrently test TDD LTE (time division duplex) in a 20-MHz configuration, which is twice the channel size now used in its 4G WiMAX deployments. And, the company will test WiMAX coexistence with both FDD LTE and TDD LTE to confirm the flexibility of its network and spectrum strength to simultaneously support a wide range of devices across its all-IP (Internet protocol) network.

Furthermore, Clearwire restated its commitment to use WiMAX technology for its current 4G build plan. Since the company expects a significant number of LTE devices to become available in the future, it is conducting technical trials to determine how it could potentially add LTE technology to coexist with WiMAX.

Clearwire