Delivering content with LTE Broadcast

The data volume in mobile networks is booming – mostly due to the success of smartphones and tablets. LTE Broadcast is one way of providing new and existing services in areas that can at times be device dense, such as stadiums and crowded city centers. Built on LTE technology, LTE Broadcast extends the LTE/EPC with an efficient point-to-multipoint distribution feature that can serve many devices with the same content at the same time.

LTE Broadcast can be used to boost capacity for live and on-demand content so that well-liked websites, breaking news or popular on-demand video clips can be broadcast – off-loading the network and providing users with a superior experience.

Although it is possible to deliver broadcasts within a single cell, the concept of LTE Broadcast becomes truly interesting with single-frequency networks. Tightly synchronized, identical transmissions are sent from multiple cells, using the same set of subframes and modulation and coding schemes, appearing to devices as a transmission from a single large cell over a time-dispersive channel, improving both received signal quality and spectral efficiency.