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The long-term evolution (LTE) has spread around the globe for deploying 4G cellular networks for com-mercial use. These days, it is gaining interest for new applica-tions where mobile broadband services can be of benefit to so-ciety. Whereas the basic concepts of LTE are well understood, its long-term evolution has just started. New areas of R&D look into operation in unlicensed and shared bands, where new ver-sions of LTE need to coexist with other communication systems and radars. Virginia Tech has developed an LTE testbed with unique features to spur LTE research and education. This pa-per introduces Virginia Tech’s LTE testbed, its main features and components, access and configuration mechanisms, and some of the research thrusts that it enables. It is unique in sev-eral aspects, including the extensive use of software-defined radio technology, the combination of industry-grade hardware and software-based systems, and the remote access feature for user-defined configurations of experiments and radio frequency paths.