Shared Carrier vs Assigned Carrier | Difference between Shared Carrier and Assigned Carrier
This page compares LTE Shared Carrier Vs Assigned Carrier and mentions difference between Shared Carrier and Assigned Carrier. Other LTE related links are also provided.
Shared carriers of one RAT (Radio Access Technology e.g. GSM) utilize same frequency spectrum used by the other RAT (say LTE). Assigned carriers are separate frequency carriers which are used by different RATs.

The figure-1 above depicts shared carrier concept. The comparison between shared carrier and assigned carrier is summarized in the table below.
Features | Shared Carrier | Assigned Carrier |
---|---|---|
Bandwidth efficiency | High, carriers of different RATs (e.g. GSM, LTE) utilize same bandwidth assigned to telecom operator | Low, carriers of different RATs utilize separate bandwidth |
network configuration | complex | simple |
inter frequency handover | complex, Refer Inter RAT Handover>>. | simple |
Call establishment | Fast, due to less signaling overhead | Slow |
hardware/software requirement | less, It does not require any additional equipments when moving from one RAT to the other RAT installation. | more |
Example Application:
These terminologies are used in LTE in VoLTE (Voice Over LTE) mode.
Here in "shared carrier mode", both the carriers one for VoLTE and
the other for data occupies same frequency space.
In "assigned carrier mode", two dedicated carriers are assigned for
these tasks.
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