Radar in-Band Interference Effects on Macrocell LTE Uplink Deployments in the U.S. 3.5 GHz Band

TL;DR

This paper analyzes how shipborne radar interference affects LTE uplink performance in the 3.5 GHz band, revealing that LTE can operate with narrower exclusion zones than WiMAX, enabling more efficient coastal deployments.

Contribution

It provides a detailed system-level analysis of radar interference on LTE, showing that LTE can tolerate closer proximity to radars than previously assumed for WiMAX.

Findings

Radar interference impacts LTE performance but is manageable.

LTE can be deployed with narrower exclusion zones than WiMAX.

Results support coastal LTE deployment within existing radar exclusion zones.

Abstract

National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has proposed vast exclusions zones between radar and Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) systems which are also being considered as geographic separations between radars and 3.5 GHz Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems without investigating any changes induced by the distinct nature of LTE as opposed to WiMAX. This paper performs a detailed system-level analysis of the interference effects from shipborne radar systems into LTE systems. Even though the results reveal impacts of radar interference on LTE systems performance, they provide clear indications of conspicuously narrower exclusion zones for LTE vis-\`a-vis those of WiMAX and pave the way toward deploying LTE at 3.5 GHz within the coastline populous areas.