Signals Ahead
Signals Ahead is our premiere research product covering all aspects of the wireless industry, including such recurring topics as “The Mother of All Benchmarking Reports,” “The 5G Circus,” and “Chips and Salsa.” Full downloads are available via subscription or by individual purchase. Free previews of all issues are available to registered users.
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Signals Ahead
Chips & Salsa
Mother of All Benchmarking
5G: THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH!December 14, 2020SRG just completed its fifteenth 5G benchmark study, this time with a focus on mmWave Fixed Wireless Access (FWA), based on testing we did with a high-power CPE in Verizon's networks in Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota. Highlights of the Report...
5G: THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH!December 1, 2020SRG just completed its fourteenth 5G benchmark study, this time with a focus on Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS), based on Verizon's networks in Minneapolis (CRS-RM) and Oklahoma City (MBSFN), as well as AT&T's network in Plano, Texas (CRS-RM). Highlights of the...
5G: The Greatest Show on Earth!June 11, 2020SRG just completed its eleventh 5G benchmark study, this time with a focus on the Verizon Wireless 5G NR millimeter wave (Band n257) network. Verizon currently uses a single 100 MHz channel for uplink data transmissions while downlink transmissions continue...
RAN#87e STANDARDIZATION UPDATEMarch 26, 2020SRG just finished participating in RAN 87e from the comforts of our home office. As it stands now, all 3GPP activities through at least June, including the next plenaries, will be done electronically. instead of face-to-face. Highlights of the Report include...
RAN#86 STANDARDIZATION UPDATEDecember 20, 2019SRG just returned from Sitges, Spain where we attended the RAN#86 Plenary. During the four-day event the plenary "finalized" the study items and work items for Release 17, plus it discussed other important topics which impact the cellular industry. Highlights of...
LET'S GO TO THE VIDEOTAPE...March 14, 2019SRG conducted its second independent benchmark study of LTE-Broadcast and how it compares with unicast delivery mechanisms. For this study, we focused primarily on the video MOS (Mean Opinion Score), which provides an objective quantification of the video quality. Highlights of...
RAN#82 5G Standardization UpdateJanuary 8, 2019Last December, we attended the RAN#82 Plenary in Sorrento, Italy. In this Signals Ahead report we provide our final thoughts based on recent RAN Plenary activities and key decisions impacting the functionality and timeline of the 5G standard. Ongoing Release 15...
5G: The Greatest Show on Earth!October 22, 2018SRG conducted the first independent benchmark study of the Verizon Wireless 5GTF commercial fixed wireless service. For this study, we tested in Houston,Texas, where the operator has deployed a 600 MHz radio channel (six,100 MHz channels) in the 28 GHz...
Standing on our 5G SoapboxMay 21, 2018Since 2010, SRG has been analyzing technology leadership during the standardization process, based on how frequently a company submits technical documents to the 3GPP standards body. Combined with our participation in 3GPP meetings since the start of the 5G standardization...
5G: The Greatest Show on Earth!February 21, 2018SRG conducted what it believes is the first independent benchmark study of an operator's 5G network. For these tests, we used the Verizon Wireless 5GTF network in Houston, Texas where Samsung is the infrastructure supplier. Although the 5GTF specifications are...
SRG Travels: It's a Small Cell World After All!January 24, 2018SRG conducted its third benchmark study of small cells. For this round, we turned our attention to LAA (Licensed Assisted Access) and the AT&T network in Indianapolis, Indiana where Ericsson is the infrastructure supplier. This trip marked the third time...
SRG Travels: It's a Small Cell World After All!October 26, 2017In this Signals Ahead report we provide results from our independent and in-depth analysis of LTE small cells, specifically LTE-FDD small cells that have been deployed as part of AT&T's 5G Evolution in Indianapolis, Indiana. We also include an overall...
SRG Travels: It's a Small Cell World After AllAugust 14, 2017In this Signals Ahead report we provide results from our independent and in-depth analysis of LTE small cells, specifically mini-macro cell sites and the Sprint "Magic Box," which is essentially a repeater-like solution that leverages a B41 radio channel for...
Video Killed the Radio Star...and then in Release 9, 3GPP Created eMBMSFebruary 16, 2017In this Signals Ahead report we provide results from the industry's first and only independent benchmark study of unicast and eMBMS, including both video performance and the impact on the network. For this study we used the Telstra commercial LTE...
How Fast is that Kangaroo in the Window?May 2, 2016In this Signals Ahead report we provide the results of the industry's first truly independent benchmark study of how an LTE-Advanced (Rel 12) network with 256 QAM performs. This study was conducted using Telstra's 600 Mbps LTE network in Melbourne,...
Potato, Potahto, Tomato, Tomahto, Let's Call the Whole Thing 5G-NRApril 5, 2016Earlier this month we attended the RAN#71 Plenary, held in Gothenburg, Sweden. As part of our series of reports on the 5G standardization process, we provide an update on the recent activities pertaining to both the new air interface as...
Chips and Salsa XX - When Iconic Meets Anechoic, Part IIOctober 30, 2015In our 20th Chips and Salsa, we collaborated closely with Spirent Communications, PCTEST, and EMT Labs, to conduct arguably the industry's most extensive independent OTA MIMO performance testing of leading smartphones - from the Apple iPhone to the ZTE Nubia. All...
Behind the VoLTE Curtain, Pt. 4August 10, 2015We conducted an independent performance analysis of T-Mobile's VoWi-Fi service. Spirent Communications provided us with its Nomad User Experience Analytics System to conduct the call quality tests. We used Accuver Americas XCAL-M drive test solution and XCAP post processing software...
Everything Under the SONApril 25, 2013Like most industry buzzwords, Self-optimizing Networks (SON) means different things to different people. Regardless of what technically classifies as SON, we firmly believe that SON will play an extremely critical role in the future evolution of wireless networks. In fact,...
LTE Band 7 versus LTE Band 4 - GAME ON!December 5, 2012In order for a dual-band strategy to be successful it needs to meet several criteria. In addition to providing a massive amount of capacity and delivering the maximum throughput that LTE supports, the higher frequency needs to provide at least...
Chips and Salsa XV: Disparately Seeking SatellitesSeptember 13, 2012In order to pull off this highly-differentiated study we collaborated with Spirent Communications to get access to their widely-regarded 8100 Location Technology platform and engineering support in order to obtain highly objective results. In total, we include results for five...
Chips and Salsa XIII: Now Seasoned with Soy SauceApril 26, 2011This special edition Chips and Salsa report marks the fifth time that we have collaborated with Spirent Communications to conduct independent performance benchmark analysis of 3G chipsets. Thanks to our long-standing effort and reputation for doing these tests, not to...
Signals way out Ahead: looking well beyond tomorrow and out into the distant futureFebruary 14, 2011In this issue we discuss likely technology and market trends that we see developing over the next year and throughout the remainder of the decade. Topics discussed include LTE data roaming, VoLTE, network optimization strategies, LTE-Advanced, 802.16m, HSPA+ market adoption,...
A Perspective from LTE Americas and the GSMA Mobile Asia CongressDecember 3, 2010In this issue of Signals Ahead we provide and discuss various data points which stem from our participation and attendance at the LTE Americas event in Dallas, Texas and the GSMA Mobile Asia Congress (MAC) in Hong Kong. LTE...
2 x 20MHz of LTE and the Heisenberg Uncertainty PrincipleOctober 7, 2010In early September we took to the streets of Stockholm and Gothenburg to conduct our second exhaustive independent performance analysis of an LTE network(s). Thanks to four dongles and 2x20MHz of LTE spectrum we transferred approximately 600GB of data in...
Mobile WiMAX Chipset PerformanceJune 7, 2010In our twelfth Chips and Salsa edition we provide results from the industry's first independent benchmark of leading Mobile WiMAX chipsets. In collaboration with Agilent Technologies, who provided its Agilent E6651A Mobile WiMAX Test Set and the Agilent PXB Channel...
Service Assurance - ensuring next-generation networksDecember 15, 2009The role that service assurance has in an operator's network has evolved over the last decade and there are a number of new trends and participants that will continue to evolve service assurance into the next decade. The Players....
