Multi-carrier enhancements: inter-band CA for FR2, improved NR-DC

Carrier Aggregation Evolution in 5G-Advanced

Rel-19 significantly enhances carrier aggregation capabilities in NR. Inter-band CA for FR2 (mmWave) allows aggregation of multiple mmWave bands — for example, combining n257 (28 GHz) and n258 (26 GHz) carriers for peak rates exceeding 20 Gbps. This was previously limited to intra-band CA within a single mmWave band. The specification also increases the maximum number of component carriers from 16 to 32 in certain configurations, with up to 8 carriers active simultaneously. FR1+FR2 CA combinations are expanded, enabling mid-band coverage carriers to supplement mmWave capacity carriers within…