INTRODUCTION The thirst for greater data rates exhibited by users of mobile wireless services has been on an exponential trajectory. Long Term Evolution (LTE)-Advanced seeks to improve voice quality and expand broadband data services, to deliver high-definition video and audio and other on-demand and real-time contentin an " anything-anywhere-anytime " manner. In addition, LTE-Advanced continues to advance means to lower latency and round-trip delays, reduce intercell interference, and support coexistence between the various flavors of cells — macrocells, micocells, femtocells, and so on. Relays are being designed to provide greater coverage, while using in-band backhaul via the existing radio interface. In this article, operators representing a cross-section of the globe have come together to provide a perspective on expectations for LTE-Advanced from the operator point of view. Obviously, LTE-Advanced, as with all leading edge topics, has a multitude of aspects we would like to have covered; however, the following key topics are dealt with herein: • Carrier aggregation — Pingping Zong and Jin Yang, Verizon (United States) • Advanced DL MIMO techniques — Satoshi Nagata, NTT DOCOMO (Japan) • Advanced UL MIMO techniques — Aspects touched on but not limited to include: motivations for LTE-Advanced, primary use cases, scenarios, expectations, competitive pressures, device and infrastructure challenges, and deployment and operational costs. CARRIER AGGREGATION MOTIVATION Wireless customers are increasingly using mobile devices as their main tool to surf the Internet, play games, stay connected with friends and family , and watch real-time news, favorite TV programs , or the latest blockbuster movie. Offering high-speed data over wireless networks to meet and encourage such ever-increasing service demands is of significant interest to the wireless operators around the world. The wireless industry has evolved from using second-generation (2G) technologies to today's Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) LTE Release 8, with increasing spectrum efficiency more than 100 times. With the limitation of available contiguous spectrum being allocated and licensed to the wireless operators, carrier aggregation is needed to meet the International Telecommunication Union — Radiocommunication Sector's (ITU-R's) 1 Gb/s peak rate requirement for IMT-ABSTRACT LTE-Advanced extends the capabilities originally developed in LTE within the 3GPP. Carrier aggregationis the most significant, albeit complex, improvement provided by LTE-Advanced. Band-widths from various portions of the spectrum are logically concatenated resulting in a virtual block of a much larger band, enabling increased data throughput. Additionally, enhancements to MIMO antenna techniques in the uplink and downlink further increase the …