LTE Frequency Bands & Spectrum Allocations

There is a growing number of LTE frequency bands that are being designated as possibilities for use with LTE. Many of the LTE frequency bands are already in use for other cellular systems, whereas other LTE bands are new and being introduced as other users are re-allocated spectrum elsewhere.

FDD and TDD LTE frequency bands

FDD spectrum requires pair bands, one of the uplink and one for the downlink, and TDD requires a single band as uplink and downlink are on the same frequency but time separated. As a result, there are different LTE band allocations for TDD and FDD. In some cases these bands may overlap, and it is therefore feasible, although unlikely that both TDD and FDD transmissions could be present on a particular LTE frequency band.

The greater likelihood is that a single UE or mobile will need to detect whether a TDD or FDD transmission should be made on a given band. UEs that roam may encounter both types on the same band. They will therefore need to detect what type of transmission is being made on that particular LTE band in its current location.

The different LTE frequency allocations or LTE frequency bands are allocated numbers. Currently the LTE bands between 1 & 22 are for paired spectrum, i.e. FDD, and LTE bands between 33 & 41 are for unpaired spectrum, i.e. TDD.

FDD LTE frequency band allocations

There is a large number of allocations or radio spectrum that has been reserved for FDD, frequency division duplex, LTE use.

The FDDLTE frequency bands are paired to allow simultaneous transmission on two frequencies. The bands also have a sufficient separation to enable the transmitted signals not to unduly impair the receiver performance. If the signals are too close then the receiver may be “blocked” and the sensitivity impaired. The separation must be sufficient to enable the roll-off of the antenna filtering to give sufficient attenuation of the transmitted signal within the receive band.

LTE Band Number	Uplink (MHz)	Downlink (MHz)	Main Regions of Use
1	1920 – 1980	2110 – 2170	Asia, Europe
2	1850 – 1910	1930 – 1990	Americas, Asia
3	1710 – 1785	1805 -1880	Americas, Asia, Europe
4	1710 – 1755	2110 – 2155	Americas
5	824 – 849	869 – 894	Americas
6	830 – 840	875 – 885	Japan
7	2500 – 2570	2620 – 2690	Asia, Europe
8	880 – 915	925 – 960	Asia, Europe
9	1749.9 – 1784.9	1844.9 – 1879.9	Japan
10	1710 – 1770	2110 – 2170	Americas
11	1427.9 – 1452.9	1475.9 – 1500.9	Japan
12	698 – 716	728 – 746	USA
13	777 – 787	746 – 756	USA
14	788 – 798	758 – 768	USA
17	704 – 716	734 – 746	USA
18	815 – 830	860 – 875	Japan
19	830 – 845	875 – 890	Japan
20	832 – 862	791 – 821	Europe
21	1447.9 – 1462.9	1495.5 – 1510.9	Japan
22	3410 – 3500	3510 – 3600

Note: LTE bands 15 & 16 are reserved, but not yet defined.

TDD LTE frequency band allocations

With the interest in TDD LTE, there are several unpaired frequency allocations that are being prepared for LTR TDD use. The TDD LTE allocations are unpaired because the uplink and downlink share the same frequency, being time multiplexed.

LTE Band Number	Allocation (MHz)	Main Regions of Use
33	1900 – 1920	Asia (not Japan), Europe
34	2010 – 2025	Asia, Europe
35	1850 – 1910	Americas
36	1930 – 1990	Americas
37	1910 – 1930
38	2570 – 2620	Europe
39	1880 – 1920	China
40	2300 – 2400	Asia, Europe
41	2496 – 2690	USA

There are regular additions to the LTE frequency bands / LTE spectrum allocations as a result of negotiations at the ITU regulatory meetings. These LTE allocations are resulting in part from the digital dividend, and also from the pressure caused by the ever growing need for mobile communications. Many of the new LTE spectrum allocations are relatively small, often 10 – 20MHz in bandwidth, and this is a cause for concern. With LTE-Advanced needing bandwidths of 100 MHz, channel aggregation over a wide set of frequencies many be needed, and this has been recognised as a significant technological problem