Ricerc@Sapienza

LTE-Advanced networks are spreading widely across the world and they are continuing to evolve as new device features such MIMO 4×4, Carrier Aggregation are being released to move towards the peak data rates introduced by 3GPP Release 12 and 13. Mobile network Operators are looking for technologies that guarantee higher spectral efficiency and wider spectrum usage but they have to deal with limitations due to commercial devices' RF components. This paper analyzes several scenarios, compares them and suggests deployment strategies.

The continuous growth of worldwide mobile subscriptions and the progress of mobile devices and telecommunications in the last few years has led to a tremendous increase of demand for high data rates. The scarcity of licensed spectrum and the high costs of this resource have encouraged mobile operators to move towards the unlicensed spectrum. LTE Licensed-Assisted Access is the proposed technology, that allows to work on the 5 GHz unlicensed band. To operate on these frequencies already occupied by Wi-Fi and radar systems, LTE must fairly coexist with the above.

Internet of Things offers a wide spectrum of opportunities for innovative applications designed to improve our life quality. In the energy sector, the developing of smart metering networks allows operators and companies to improve the production efficiency and to offer an enhanced service to customers. 3GPP introduced in Release 13 Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) as a new cellular technology for providing wide-area coverage for Internet of Things (IoT) and Machine Type Communication (MTC). In this paper, we propose a deployment analysis of a NB-IoT system for smart metering.