15 February 2016, Shenzhen, China – ZTE Corporation (0763.HK / 000063.SZ), a major international provider of telecommunications, enterprise and consumer technology solutions for the Mobile Internet, today launched its LTE on Power solution, an edge tool that uses power lines to transmit radio signals for comprehensive indoor coverage. This solution can eliminate indoor coverage blind spot and serve together with multi-frequency multi-mode Qcell technology to provide seamless wireless coverage in all directions. 

With low implementation costs, this solution stands as a strong choice for operators to conveniently provide 4G access, available in challenging environments such as elevators, garages, and other hard-to-reach areas, presenting users with a greater service experience thus increasing the operators’ brand value. 

The hardware consists of a baseband unit (BBU), a near-end coupler (CN) and far-end coupler (CF) of an LTE transmission power line. Functioning similarly to a remote radio unit (RRU), the CN exchanges IQ data with the BBU and performs DA/AD conversion, with the difference that the CN can transmit medium frequency signals lower than 100 MHz and couple them to a power line. The CF receives the medium frequency signals from the CN through the power line, converts them to 4G radio frequency (RF) signals, and sends them out through an antenna. In the opposite direction, it receives signals from user equipment (UE), converts these to medium frequency signals, and sends them to the CN through the power line. 

In this solution, one CN can be connected to multiple CFs to expand coverage, reduce deployment costs, facilitate installation and maintenance, and greatly lower operators’ operational expenditure (OPEX). The CF has a built-in plug-and-play antenna with a compact and lightweight design, making it more useful to users. 

In indoor areas such as a garage or an elevator, user data volume is not very high but usually relates to emergencies. Though operators are already aware of the necessity of signal coverage in these areas, traditional solutions are typically not able to solve this issue. ZTE’s LTE on Power solution can solve this problem by transmitting radio signals through the already laid power lines in order to greatly increase value at a lower cost. 

In the case of an elevator, the CF can transmit signals through the power lines that move up and down with the elevator itself to easily solve long-standing network coverage and planning headaches. In the case of a garage involving a large area and a small amount of user data, the LTE on Power solution is preferred. The CF-to-the-home solution, which is secure, cost-effective, and acceptable, has also become an ideal supplement to the Qcell solution in hotels and rooms.