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No cellular mobile communication technology attracts as much wireless industry attention these days as Long Term Evolution, better known as LTE. Considered by many to be the heir apparent to the mobile broadband throne, LTE holds a great deal of promise for wireless subscribers (with peak downlink speeds of up to 100 Mbps), wireless carriers (thanks to spectrum flexibility and efficiency), and, thus, wireless equipment and device manufacturers (for obvious reasons). With each passing day, the hype and anticipation surrounding LTE seems to grow.

So what's the current state of LTE technology? How big is LTE's upside, really? What hurdles — technical or otherwise — must LTE still overcome to seize the coveted 4G mantle? To determine the answers to these and other key LTE-related questions, RF Globalnet queried four industry experts with vested interest in LTE technology: Jan Whitacre of Agilent Technologies, Mike Barrick of Anritsu Company, Mike Press of RFMD, and Andreas Roessler of Rohde & Schwarz. Their responses provide a comprehensive picture of LTE's past, present, and future.

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RF Globalnet (RFG): What is the current timeline/schedule for LTE?

Jan Whitacre, Agilent Technologies: Work on LTE began in 2004. The first completed Release 8 specification was published in March 2009, and the specification is now considered sufficiently stable for commercial development. LTE standards development continues with 3GPP Release 9, with the specification freeze occurring in December 2009. The first (friendly) commercial network was deployed in Stockholm, Sweden, by TeliaSonera on December 15, 2009. However, trials continue, with further deployments of LTE such as Verizon's expected during 2010 and into 2011. Base station and user equipment design and testing are following close on the heels of specification development.

LTE is well on its way to becoming the first single global standard for cellular communications. It is being adopted by both GSM and CDMA operators alike, and it was selected by the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance (NGNM) as the first technology to successfully meet its requirements. LTE has been endorsed by 3G Americas, GSMA, UMTS Forum, and other industry organizations.

Mike Press, RFMD: We see LTE infrastructure starting in earnest later this year. The initial end-user device shipments will be mostly USB dongles and other data devices and will begin shipping at the end of this year. LTE-capable handsets will begin shipping in 2011, with volume production coming in 2012-2013.

Andreas Roessler, Rohde & Schwarz: At the moment, the LTE ecosystem is building up. In 2009, several LTE platforms were announced and demonstrated at various trade shows by leading chipset suppliers and handset manufacturers. Network operators around the globe are running field trials with their selected infrastructure and terminal providers. By mid-2010 we will see initial deployment in the United States and Japan, followed by a rapid deployment in several other regions and countries in 2011-2012. From that perspective, we can say LTE is not only knocking at the door, it is one step ahead.

Mike Barrick, Anritsu: TeliaSonera's deployment of Release 8 LTE included commercial USB dongles, enhanced Node Bs, and packet core equipment. We expect that both FDD (frequency division duplex) and TDD (time division duplex) versions of LTE will continue to be rolled out in 2010, with deployments throughout North America, Europe, and Asia, and with both UEs (user equipment) and data cards available. While initial FDD deployments in 2010 will likely be based on 2X2 MIMO (multiple-input, multiple-output) technology, with peak data rates of 173 Mbps, we expect to see deployments of 4X2 and 4X4 MIMO starting in 2011 and 2012, with peak data rates of 326 Mbps. Since a high proportion of carriers deploying LTE services will be former W-CDMA carriers, we also expect continued upgrades of these pre-existing networks to Release 7, 8, and 9 HSPA Evolution technologies, accommodating users moving out of the core LTE coverage areas with an acceptable service level close to that of LTE. Looking forward, we see the first trial deployments of Release 10 LTE Advanced in 2012 and 2013, based on current test bed activity announced by several OEMs.

Click here to read the rest of this roundtable Q&A article.