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Carrier aggregation

Carrier aggregation (CA) is a wireless communications technology that enables a user equipment, such as a smartphone, to simultaneously utilize multiple component carriers—discrete blocks of spectrum assigned to the same user—for transmission and reception, thereby expanding the effective bandwidth and boosting peak data rates while maintaining backward compatibility with earlier network standards.^[1] It was initially introduced in 3GPP Release 8 for dual-carrier HSPA+ (DC-HSDPA) and further developed in Release 10 as a foundational element of LTE-Advanced, where CA aggregates up to five component carriers, each supporting bandwidths of 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15, or 20 MHz, for a maximum aggregated bandwidth of 100 MHz.^[1] It operates across frequency division duplexing (FDD) and time division duplexing (TDD) modes, with configurations including intra-band contiguous (adjacent carriers within the same band), intra-band non-contiguous (non-adjacent carriers in the same band), and inter-band (carriers from different bands).^[1] In subsequent releases, CA evolved significantly to meet growing demands for higher throughput and spectrum efficiency. LTE-Advanced Pro (starting from Release 13) extended support to up to 32 downlink and uplink component carriers, enabling aggregated bandwidths of up to 640 MHz, and introduced advanced features like TDD-FDD carrier aggregation for combining different duplex schemes.^[2] In 5G New Radio (NR) from Release 15, CA accommodates up to 16 component carriers per frequency range, supporting total bandwidths up to 6.4 GHz across sub-6 GHz (FR1) and millimeter-wave (FR2) bands, with enhancements for inter-band combinations involving up to three downlink bands and one uplink band in Release 16.^[2] NR-specific innovations, such as bandwidth parts (BWPs), allow dynamic sub-band activation to optimize resource allocation and reduce device power consumption.^[2] The primary benefits of CA include improved spectral utilization by leveraging fragmented spectrum holdings, enhanced network capacity through interference mitigation via carrier scheduling, and greater flexibility in deployment for operators.^[2] By designating a primary component carrier (PCC) for control signaling and non-access stratum (NAS) mobility alongside secondary component carriers (SCCs) for data, CA ensures robust connection management while scaling performance.^[1] Developments in Release 17 (completed 2022) and subsequent releases, including Release 18 (frozen 2024), continue to refine CA for applications like vehicle-to-everything (V2X) and industrial IoT, emphasizing multi-band interoperability and low-latency support.^[2]

Fundamentals

Definition and Purpose

Carrier aggregation (CA) is a wireless communication technology that enables a mobile device, or user equipment (UE), to simultaneously utilize multiple frequency bands or carriers to expand the effective bandwidth and enhance overall throughput. This technique combines several component carriers—each typically up to 20 MHz wide in LTE systems—into a single logical channel, allowing for greater data transmission capacity without requiring entirely new spectrum allocations.^[1]^[3] The primary purpose of carrier aggregation is to address the escalating demand for higher data speeds and improved network capacity in mobile broadband systems, particularly as single-carrier bandwidths in technologies like LTE are limited to 20 MHz, constraining peak rates to around 150 Mbps downlink. By aggregating multiple carriers, CA can achieve total bandwidths of up to 100 MHz or more, thereby boosting peak downlink speeds to 1 Gbps and uplink speeds to 500 Mbps in LTE-Advanced configurations, while also enhancing spectral efficiency to support more users and applications. This approach overcomes spectrum fragmentation issues and optimizes resource utilization in deployed networks.^[4]^[5] Carrier aggregation was first standardized by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) in Release 10 for LTE-Advanced, with the specification frozen in March 2011, marking a significant evolution from earlier multi-carrier concepts introduced in HSPA+ under 3GPP Release 8, such as dual-carrier HSDPA. These advancements were driven by the need to meet International Telecommunication Union (ITU) requirements for IMT-Advanced systems, focusing on higher throughput and efficiency to accommodate growing mobile data traffic.^[6]^[7]

Basic Principles

Carrier aggregation (CA) combines multiple component carriers (CCs) into a single logical channel, which is treated as one wideband carrier by the user equipment (UE).^[2] This core mechanism enables the base station and UE to process the aggregated signal as a unified transmission, enhancing overall system capacity without requiring entirely new spectrum allocations.^[1] In the frequency domain, the carriers involved in CA can operate within the same band or across different bands, allowing flexible spectrum utilization.^[2] Each component carrier is processed independently at the physical layer (Layer 1) in both the base station and the UE. The aggregation of scheduling and data across these carriers occurs at the MAC layer (Layer 2), allowing the UE to treat the aggregated carriers as a single wideband resource.^[1]^[8] To prevent interference, all aggregated carriers must be synchronized in time, which is managed through timing advance mechanisms that compensate for varying propagation delays across CCs.^[2] Starting from Release 11, support for multiple timing advances was introduced via Timing Advance Groups (TAGs), enabling aggregation of CCs with disparate delay profiles, such as those from co-located or remote radio heads.^[1] CA is designed with backward compatibility in mind, ensuring that legacy devices can continue to operate seamlessly on any individual CC without being affected by the aggregation.^[2] This principle maintains network stability and allows gradual deployment of advanced features. A conceptual illustration of CA depicts spectrum blocks being merged, for example, two 20 MHz carriers combined to form an effective 40 MHz bandwidth, visualized as adjacent or gapped frequency segments unified into a single wider channel.^[1]

Types

Intra-band Contiguous

Intra-band contiguous carrier aggregation involves combining multiple adjacent component carriers (CCs) within the same frequency band to form a wider effective bandwidth, such as aggregating two neighboring 20 MHz LTE carriers in the 1800 MHz band (Band 3) to achieve 40 MHz.^[1]^[9] This configuration treats the aggregated spectrum as a single continuous block, leveraging spectrum allocations that are already adjacent without gaps.^[1] The primary advantages of this approach include reduced implementation complexity in radio frequency (RF) design, as the proximity of carriers simplifies filtering requirements and synchronization processes compared to non-contiguous setups.^[10] It effectively behaves like a single wider carrier, easing RF chain management and lowering power consumption in user equipment.^[9] This simplicity made it a foundational technique for boosting downlink throughput in early LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) networks, where 2CC or 3CC configurations were commonly deployed to double or triple bandwidth from the standard 20 MHz limit.^[11]^[3] Standardization for intra-band contiguous carrier aggregation is outlined in 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 36.101, which defines operating bands and aggregation rules starting from Release 10.^[12] For instance, Band 3 (1800 MHz) supports configurations like CA_3C, allowing up to five contiguous CCs depending on available spectrum (e.g., 75 MHz downlink allocation enabling combinations of 5, 10, 15, or 20 MHz CCs).^[9]^[1] A key limitation is increased susceptibility to adjacent channel blocking and interference, as the wider aggregated bandwidth requires broader receive filters with minimal guard bands (e.g., limited to 0.05 times the channel bandwidth), potentially degrading performance in spectrally crowded environments.^[9]

Intra-band Non-contiguous

Intra-band non-contiguous carrier aggregation combines multiple component carriers within the same frequency band that are separated by gaps, enabling the effective use of non-adjacent spectrum portions. For example, in LTE Band 1 (downlink: 1920-1980 MHz), two 20 MHz carriers with a frequency gap between them can be aggregated to achieve a total bandwidth of 40 MHz while maintaining operations within the band's regulatory limits.^[1]^[13] This approach demands specific technical requirements, including wider bandwidth RF filters to encompass the full span of carriers and gaps, as well as enhanced interference management to address intermodulation distortions from the separated signals.^[14] High-rejection filters and multiplexers are essential to isolate harmonics and ensure low insertion loss, with isolation targets often exceeding 90 dB between transmit and receive paths.^[14]^[15] A key benefit lies in its ability to exploit fragmented spectrum allocations within a single band, allowing operators to pool narrow, separated blocks—such as 6 MHz segments—for greater overall efficiency in spectrum-constrained or regulated environments.^[16] This improves resource utilization without requiring contiguous holdings, supporting dynamic traffic allocation across available frequencies.^[2] In practice, intra-band non-contiguous aggregation is deployed in LTE-Advanced for bands like Band 7 (downlink: 2500-2570 MHz), where spectrum splits create natural gaps, as detailed in 3GPP technical reports. The 3GPP specifications, starting from Release 11, support configurations with up to five component carriers in such setups to maximize throughput.^[1] Unique challenges include elevated power consumption in user equipment (UE), stemming from the need for multiple tuned filters or high-linearity components to handle the wider effective bandwidth and peak-to-average power ratios of the aggregated signals.^[14] This contrasts with contiguous intra-band aggregation, which benefits from simpler, narrower-band RF chains.^[3]

Inter-band

Inter-band carrier aggregation refers to the technique of combining component carriers (CCs) from distinct frequency bands to expand the effective bandwidth and boost data throughput in wireless systems such as LTE-Advanced.^[1] For instance, a configuration might aggregate one CC operating in the low-frequency 800 MHz band for broad coverage with another in the higher-frequency 2600 MHz band for enhanced capacity, allowing a single user equipment (UE) to transmit and receive across these disparate spectra simultaneously.^[17] This approach differs from intra-band methods by exploiting spectrum fragmentation across bands, enabling operators to utilize non-adjacent allocations efficiently while maintaining backward compatibility with earlier LTE releases.^[1] A primary feature of inter-band aggregation is its ability to facilitate global roaming through the flexible use of regionally available frequency bands, while optimizing the trade-off between extensive coverage from lower bands and higher speeds from upper bands.^[9] It necessitates cross-band timing alignment to compensate for varying propagation delays, with 3GPP specifying timing advance errors limited to 260 ns in certain scenarios to ensure coherent signal reception at the UE.^[17] Common configurations include setups like CA_3A-7A, which pairs Band 3 (around 1.8 GHz) with Band 7 (around 2.6 GHz) for downlink aggregation, and 3GPP Release 15 standardizes over 100 such inter-band combinations to support diverse operator deployments.^[17] The advantages of inter-band carrier aggregation lie in its capacity to pair low-band CCs for reliable coverage in rural or indoor environments with high-band CCs for dense urban throughput, thereby improving overall spectrum utilization and user experience.^[1] It also accommodates asymmetric aggregation, permitting more downlink CCs (up to five) than uplink ones (typically one) to align with traffic patterns favoring downloads.^[17] However, challenges include elevated latency from inter-band switching and coordination overhead, as well as handover complications arising from mismatched coverage footprints between bands, which can disrupt seamless mobility.^[9]

Technical Implementation

Component Carriers

A component carrier (CC) is the basic unit in carrier aggregation, consisting of a standalone LTE or 5G carrier with its own bandwidth and physical layer structure. In LTE systems, each CC supports bandwidths of 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15, or 20 MHz, ensuring backward compatibility with earlier releases. For 5G New Radio, CC bandwidths range from 5 to 100 MHz in frequency range 1 (sub-6 GHz), accommodating wider spectrum allocations. Each CC functions as an independent serving cell, featuring dedicated physical channels such as the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) for scheduling and resource allocation, and the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) for user data delivery.^[1]^[2]^[16] While individual CCs maintain operational independence, including their own synchronization and transmission parameters, the network coordinates scheduling across all active CCs to optimize resource use. This collective scheduling allows efficient allocation of data across CCs, often via cross-carrier indicators in control messages. Each CC supports advanced techniques like Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) spatial multiplexing and higher-order modulation schemes (e.g., up to 64-QAM in LTE), which are configurable independently to adapt to channel conditions.^[1]^[18] Carrier aggregation designates one CC as the Primary Component Carrier (PCC), which handles essential control signaling, including Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection establishment, Non-Access Stratum (NAS) mobility management, and the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) for acknowledgments and requests. Additional CCs serve as Secondary Component Carriers (SCCs), which are dynamically activated or deactivated to boost data throughput by providing extra resources for PDSCH and Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmissions, without impacting the PCC's role.^[1]^[2] The total effective bandwidth from aggregation is the sum of the individual CC bandwidths, given by the equation

B_{\text{effective}} = \sum_{i=1}^{N} B_{\text{CC}_i},

where N is the number of aggregated CCs and B_{\text{CC}_i} is the bandwidth of the i-th CC. For example, combining three 20 MHz LTE CCs yields 60 MHz overall, enabling higher peak data rates while respecting spectrum limits.^[1] User equipment (UE) support for carrier aggregation is defined by categories that specify the maximum number of CCs and associated capabilities. In LTE, Category 6 UEs, introduced in Release 10, support up to two downlink CCs and one uplink CC, achieving peak downlink rates of 300 Mbps through 64-QAM modulation and 2x2 MIMO. Higher categories extend this to more CCs, with capabilities reported via signaling to ensure compatibility.^[19]

Aggregation Configurations

Carrier aggregation configurations define how multiple component carriers (CCs) are combined to form the aggregated bandwidth, supporting both symmetric and asymmetric setups depending on the duplex mode and network requirements. In frequency division duplexing (FDD) systems, asymmetric configurations are permitted, where the number of downlink (DL) CCs can exceed the number of uplink (UL) CCs—for instance, a common setup might involve three DL CCs and one UL CC to prioritize download speeds while conserving uplink resources.^[1] In contrast, time division duplexing (TDD) configurations are typically symmetric, requiring equal numbers of DL and UL CCs or equivalent bandwidths to align with the shared frequency-time resources.^[1] These configurations can be intra-band, aggregating CCs within the same frequency band (either contiguous or non-contiguous), or inter-band, combining CCs from different bands to leverage available spectrum fragments.^[2] The supported aggregation levels vary by technology and 3GPP release, scaling from basic single-CC operation (no aggregation) to multi-CC combinations that expand effective bandwidth. In LTE-Advanced (Rel-10 and later), up to five CCs can be aggregated, each up to 20 MHz wide, yielding a maximum of 100 MHz—for example, a 2CC-40 MHz setup combines two 20 MHz carriers, while a 5CC-100 MHz configuration achieves the full bandwidth limit.^[1] In 5G New Radio (NR, Rel-15), this extends to up to 16 CCs for both DL and UL, supporting aggregated bandwidths up to 1.6 GHz in frequency range 1 (FR1) and up to 6.4 GHz in frequency range 2 (FR2), with examples including intra-band contiguous aggregation in sub-6 GHz bands or inter-band setups across low- and mid-band spectrum.^[2] These levels allow flexible scaling, where the primary CC anchors the connection, and secondary CCs are added dynamically based on UE capability and network conditions.^[2] Resource scheduling across aggregated CCs is managed at the medium access control (MAC) layer, which allocates resources independently per CC while coordinating overall traffic. The downlink control information (DCI) includes a carrier indicator field (CIF) of up to 3 bits to specify which CC(s) the scheduling grant applies to, enabling cross-carrier scheduling where control signaling on one CC (e.g., the primary) assigns resources on another.^[1] Self-scheduling, where each CC handles its own resources, is also supported for simplicity in intra-band contiguous cases. In 5G NR, this is enhanced with bandwidth parts (BWPs), allowing up to four configurable BWPs per CC, though only one is active at a time to optimize power and processing.^[2] The aggregate throughput in carrier aggregation approximates the sum of individual CC rates, expressed as:

\text{Throughput} \approx \sum_{i=1}^{N} R_i

where N is the number of CCs, and R_i is the data rate of the i-th CC, influenced by factors such as modulation scheme (e.g., 64QAM yielding up to 6 bits per symbol) and multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers (e.g., 4x4 configuration).^[1] This additive model assumes independent processing per CC, though practical limits arise from UE receiver capabilities and interference management. Evolution of configurations has been driven by 3GPP releases to accommodate denser deployments and higher speeds. Release 10 introduced intra- and inter-band options supporting up to five CCs and 100 MHz, while Release 12 expanded inter-band combinations, including UL aggregation across bands, enabling peak rates exceeding 300 Mbps in downlink with enhanced spectrum efficiency.^[1] Subsequent releases, such as Rel-13 for LTE and Rel-16 for NR, further diversified patterns, adding support for up to 32 CCs in LTE and new inter-band DL/UL asymmetries in 5G to meet IMT-Advanced requirements.^[2]

Applications in Mobile Networks

LTE-Advanced and HSPA+

Carrier aggregation was first implemented in HSPA+ through dual-carrier HSDPA (DC-HSDPA), introduced in 3GPP Release 8 in 2008, which aggregates two contiguous 5 MHz carriers in the downlink to achieve a peak data rate of 42 Mbps.^[20] This enhancement doubled the bandwidth compared to single-carrier HSPA, enabling higher throughput while maintaining compatibility with existing 3G infrastructure, and it primarily targeted downlink improvements for data-intensive applications.^[21] In LTE-Advanced, carrier aggregation emerged as a core feature in 3GPP Release 10, finalized in 2011, supporting up to five component carriers (5CC), with early configurations often using two (2CC) in intra-band contiguous setups to combine bandwidths such as two 20 MHz carriers for 40 MHz total.^[1] Release 12 introduced enhancements such as additional inter-band combinations while maintaining the up to 5CC capability, each up to 20 MHz, for a maximum total bandwidth of 100 MHz, facilitating peak downlink speeds exceeding 1 Gbps under ideal conditions.^[4] These configurations emphasized backward compatibility with Release 8/9 LTE, using types like intra-band contiguous for simplicity in spectrum deployment.^[1] Early commercial deployments highlighted the technology's impact, such as Verizon's 2014 launch of LTE-Advanced, which utilized 40 MHz carrier aggregation across Bands 2 and 13 to deliver up to 150 Mbps in select markets.^[9] By 2015, global adoption accelerated, with 64 commercial networks in 55 countries supporting carrier aggregation for typical peak speeds of 150-300 Mbps, driven by Category 6 devices and configurations like CA_2A-4A.^[22] In contrast to 5G New Radio, LTE-Advanced and HSPA+ were constrained to a 100 MHz aggregated limit with no support for ultra-wide component carriers beyond 20 MHz, restricting scalability in higher-frequency bands.^[23] To ensure interoperability, user equipment (UE) conformance testing for carrier aggregation scenarios is specified in 3GPP TS 36.521-1, covering radio transmission, reception, and performance under multi-carrier conditions in LTE-Advanced.^[24] This includes test cases for intra-band and inter-band aggregation to verify UE capabilities across Release 10 and later enhancements.^[24]

5G New Radio

Carrier aggregation (CA) in 5G New Radio (NR), introduced in 3GPP Release 15 finalized in June 2018, enables the combination of up to 16 downlink component carriers (CCs) and 16 uplink CCs across Frequency Range 1 (FR1, sub-6 GHz) and Frequency Range 2 (FR2, mmWave bands above 24 GHz), supporting wider bandwidths up to 400 MHz per component carrier in mmWave for enhanced throughput.^[25]^[26] This framework builds on LTE-Advanced principles but extends flexibility with support for mixed numerologies and intra- as well as inter-RAT configurations.^[27] Key enhancements in 5G NR CA include dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS) with LTE, allowing 5G NR and LTE to dynamically allocate resources within the same sub-6 GHz band based on traffic demands, facilitating smoother network transitions without dedicated 5G spectrum.^[28] Inter-band CA examples, such as aggregating n78 (3.3–3.8 GHz mid-band) with n258 (24.25–27.5 GHz mmWave), enable total bandwidths exceeding 400 MHz by combining sub-6 GHz coverage with mmWave capacity, as defined in 3GPP technical specifications for UE conformance. Additional features like supplementary uplink (SUL) integrate a low-frequency uplink carrier (e.g., below 1 GHz) with a primary higher-frequency carrier pair to boost uplink coverage and power-limited scenarios, while CA supports diverse use cases including enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) for high-data-rate applications and ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) for mission-critical reliability through redundant paths and resource pooling.^[29]^[30] In terms of performance, 5G NR CA enables peak downlink speeds approaching 10 Gbps in aggregated configurations, as demonstrated in early deployments; for instance, T-Mobile's 2020 nationwide 5G rollout utilizing mid-band spectrum aggregation achieved multi-Gbps user speeds in urban areas, marking a significant step in commercial 5G scalability.^[31] Release 17, completed in March 2022, further future-proofs CA by introducing Reduced Capability (RedCap) device support, which is limited to a single component carrier with reduced bandwidths (up to 20 MHz in FR1) for cost-sensitive IoT applications like wearables, without support for carrier aggregation or multi-CC configurations.^[32] In Release 18 (ongoing as of 2025), further enhancements to CA include expanded multi-band interoperability and support for advanced use cases like integrated sensing and communication (ISAC).^[33]

Benefits and Challenges

Advantages

Carrier aggregation significantly enhances network throughput by combining multiple component carriers (CCs) to aggregate bandwidth, enabling higher peak data rates for users. In LTE-Advanced, for instance, a single 20 MHz carrier typically supports downlink speeds of around 150 Mbps, but aggregating three such carriers can increase this to approximately 450 Mbps, allowing for more efficient handling of high-demand applications like video streaming and large file downloads.^[5] In 5G networks, this capability extends further, supporting multi-Gbps rates—such as up to 4.2 Gbps in downlink with eight CCs in mmWave bands—by leveraging wider channel bandwidths up to 100 MHz (or 400 MHz in FR2) per carrier, as in the aggregation of eight 100 MHz carriers.^[34] Beyond raw speed, carrier aggregation improves spectral efficiency by enabling operators to utilize fragmented spectrum holdings more effectively, reducing waste in licensed bands and maximizing the value of available resources. This aggregation allows for the pooling of narrow spectrum blocks—such as 6 MHz in lower bands like 700 MHz—into wider effective channels, thereby increasing bits per hertz and supporting more simultaneous users without proportional spectrum expansion.^[1]^[35] In 5G, inter-band combinations further boost efficiency, with trials demonstrating up to 50% higher population coverage in mid-bands like 3.5 GHz when aggregated with low bands, making spectrum investments more cost-effective for dense urban deployments.^[34] Coverage extension is another key advantage, achieved by combining low-frequency carriers for superior propagation and range with high-frequency carriers for capacity, thus balancing wide-area access with high-speed zones. For example, aggregating low-band FDD spectrum (e.g., 700 MHz) with mid-band TDD (e.g., 3.5 GHz) can extend mid-band coverage by a factor of eight, serving nearly double the users at cell edges, while mmWave aggregation with low bands yields up to 10 dB downlink gains, tripling effective area.^[23]^[36] This approach mitigates the inherent limitations of higher frequencies, ensuring consistent performance across varied terrains without extensive new infrastructure. Seamless mobility is facilitated through carrier aggregation's support for dynamic CC management during handovers, maintaining uninterrupted connections as devices move between cells or frequency bands. In 3GPP Release 11 and later, features like different timing advances per CC allow robust inter-band aggregation, enabling smooth transitions—such as from low-band primary cells to high-band secondary cells—while minimizing data interruption in high-mobility scenarios like vehicular travel.^[1]^[10] Economically, carrier aggregation lowers operational costs for operators by maximizing existing spectrum assets, avoiding the need for costly new acquisitions or dense site deployments, which has been pivotal for the commercial rollout of 4G and 5G since LTE-Advanced's introduction around 2011. By optimizing legacy carriers from Releases 8 and 9, it enhances return on investment, with 5G implementations reducing cell site requirements and supporting efficient scaling to meet exploding data demands, as evidenced by global spectrum auctions raising over $140 billion in 2021 for aggregated use.^[23]^[34]

Limitations

Carrier aggregation imposes significant device complexity, necessitating advanced radio frequency (RF) front-ends capable of handling multiple parallel transmit and receive paths simultaneously. For instance, aggregating multiple bands requires numerous filters for isolation, such as up to 18 isolations in a hexaplexer for three-band aggregation, which complicates hardware design and integration in compact user equipment (UE). This added complexity leads to increased power consumption, as the number of component carriers (CCs) directly correlates with higher battery drain due to the processing and transmission demands on additional RF chains.^[37]^[38] Interference risks are particularly pronounced in carrier aggregation setups, where non-contiguous intra-band configurations can suffer from cross-carrier interference due to insufficient isolation between closely spaced frequencies, such as bands B1 and B3. In inter-band aggregation, harmonic issues arise from nonlinear mixing in the receiver, generating unwanted signals like image frequencies that degrade signal quality and require high-rejection filters to mitigate. These challenges demand precise RF filtering to prevent performance degradation, especially in multi-band scenarios.^[39]^[40] Deployment of carrier aggregation faces hurdles from spectrum fragmentation, which restricts viable band combinations by creating uneven availability of contiguous or compatible spectrum blocks across regions. Regulatory barriers further complicate implementation, as varying national policies on spectrum usage and aggregation permissions hinder global standardization and cross-border device compatibility. These factors limit the flexibility of operators in selecting optimal aggregation schemes.^[41]^[10] Scalability constraints in carrier aggregation stem from the fact that not all frequency bands support high numbers of CCs, with UE capabilities varying by band— for example, some combinations are limited to two or three CCs due to hardware and spectrum constraints. Additionally, maintaining backward compatibility with legacy LTE devices introduces overhead, as each CC must carry redundant control signaling compatible with Release 8/9 standards, reducing overall efficiency in mixed networks.^[42]^[16] Cost factors represent another limitation, with carrier aggregation requiring more sophisticated base stations and UEs featuring additional hardware like multiplexers and filters, leading to elevated production and deployment expenses. Early LTE-Advanced devices supporting carrier aggregation incurred higher prices due to this complexity, contributing to slower initial adoption.^[9]^[37]

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Carrier Aggregation for LTE-Advanced: Design Challenges of ...
Aug 9, 2025 · In this paper, two interference mechanisms (image frequencies and harmonic mixing) are studied in a multiple carrier complex-IF receiver ...
[38]
[PDF] Carrier Aggregation: Implications for Mobile-Device RF Front-Ends
Feb 19, 2016 · Carrier aggregation supports different configurations of CCs. Intra-band contiguous CA uses multiple adjacent. CCs within a single band ...
[39]
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264595466_Carrier_Aggregation_for_LTE-Advanced_Design_Challenges_of_Terminals
[40]
UE Capability in Detail - 5G | ShareTechnote
A UE may claim support for carrier aggregation but fail to handle specific inter-band combinations due to hardware limitations. A device might report support ...