32 I ICT TODAY
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MULTEFIRE
The MulteFire Alliance is a member-driven
consortium that defines and promotes MulteFire,
an LTE-based technology operating solely in
unlicensed Wi-Fi spectrum. MulteFire offers end
users the capability to deploy wireless networks
with all the benefits of LTE and the simplicity of
Wi-Fi. Because MulteFire is based on LTE, it will
operate in bandwidths of up to 20 MHz, capable of
peak data rates up to 400 Mb/s (using 4X4 MIMO).
Additionally, the longer range of MulteFire when
compared to Wi-Fi means far fewer access points and
likely an overall lower cost than Wi-Fi. MulteFire
offers much promise for tomorrow’s wireless needs
inside buildings.
LTE AND LTE-U
Long Term Evolution (LTE) is the standard for wireless
communication specified by the 3rd Generation
Partnership Project (3GPP). LTE is the most current
high-speed technology deployed by carriers and is
somewhat synonymous with 4G. Networks that are
LTE-based, including MulteFire and CBRS, offer high
speed, very low-latency, and excellent security. The
current LTE specification provides downlink peak
rates of 300 Mb/s and uplink peak rates of 75 Mb/s,
which gives mobile users the ability to use a variety of
applications at high speeds.
LTE is inherently secure because it is encrypted.
While technologies, like Wi-Fi, are despite best efforts
subject to hacking and intrusion, LTE is built around
128-bit encryption that provides an extremely high
degree of assurance.
Long Term Evolution in Unlicensed spectrum
(LTE-U) is the new standard in the U.S. and other
countries that will allow carriers to go beyond their
licensed spectrum and use unlicensed 2.4/5.0 GHz
(Wi-Fi) spectrum to provide increased capacity and
extended coverage for users where needed. Enterprise
mobile users on LTE-U networks will be able to enjoy
high speed and high security on devices throughout
their building, enabled by readily available Wi-Fi
frequencies. The LTE-U network could ride on a
distributed antenna system (DAS) or it could be
enabled by small cell technologies.