Tuesday 5 March 2013

Understanding What Is LTE Technology

By Harry Noris


A great many consumers are wondering what is LTE. This expanding technology is formally called 3GPP Long Term Evolution for Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (3GPP UMT LTE). The wifi broadband technology is structured to permit roaming internet access for handheld devices, such as mobile phones, tablets and laptops. It has been devised with many advantages over the previous cell communication standards. The forum responsible for its evolvement and uniformity is the Third Generation (3G) Partnership Project.

The 3GPP was founded during December of 1998. Its participants belong to internationally based telecommunications associations which are known as the Organisational Partners. The initial remit of the 3GPP was to evolve 3G mobile phone systems which were universally relevant. Since its launch, the scope of its duties have grown.

At the moment, the 3GPP is responsible for maintaining and developing three main technological areas. Between them are the GSM (Global Systems for Mobile Communications), which includes the evolution of radio access technologies. It is also responsible for the evolved 3G and beyond mobile networks which are based upon the 3GPP core systems. The group also looks after evolved IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystems) which are access-independent.

The LTE technology can be put to use easily and can supply fast data rates with low latencies across very long distances. Known as 4G (fourth generation), it is better than 3G systems. For instance, preliminary results show the 4G network can easily reach data download speeds of up to 16 Mbps, compared to just over 1 Mbps for 3G connections. The mean upload speed for the 4G system is about 1.5 Mbps, compared with 0.7 Mbps for the 3G.

LTE networks are much simpler to deploy than its predecessors. Its network architecture is much simpler because it is merely a network that is packet switched. The system does not have the ability to handle text messages and voice calls natively. Those kinds of services are usually controlled by networks which are circuit-switched, such as CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) and GSM.

The Simplified Architecture Evolution (SAE) of the LTE is essentially an easier version of the architecture which is currently utilised by the Universal Mobile Telecommunications Systems (UMTS). The UMTS dictates a comprehensive network system which includes the Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), as well as the core Mobile Application Part (MAP) network. It also certifies users through their Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards.

The new 4G system is dependent upon two forms of radio links. The downlink travels from the tower to the device, and the uplink travels from the device to the tower. Since two separate types of interfaces are used, wireless communications in both directions are optimised.

The downlink technology is much more advanced than both the CDMA and the TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access), that have been used since 1990. The newly developed radio interface is known as the Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA). It orders that multiple in-multiple out (MIMO) technology is used. This means a device has multiple connections to each cell, which enhances the stability of each connection and lessens its latency tremendously.

For the uplinks, a scheme known as DFTS-OFDMA (Discrete Fourier Transform Spread, Orthogonal Frequency Division, Multiple Access) is used. It generates a superior Single Carrier Frequency (SC-FDMA) signal. Among other elements, it has a greater power ratio for uplinking.

There are two subcategories within the LTE technology: the TDD (Time Division), and the FDD (Frequency Division. The more common kind is the FDD. It relies on separate frequencies for uplinks and downlinks in the form of band pairs. As a consequence, each band supported by a phone comprises of two separate frequency ranges. The TDD variation depends upon a single frequency range inside a band. This band is divided into pieces in order to assist both the reception and transmission of signals within its single frequency range.

Wimax is an existing technology that relies on underlying wireless (wi-fi) networks. In contrast, in the UK, LTE is based on the same type of technology which is currently used by the country's 3G network. For this reason, the UK plans to use the 4G LTE technology instead of Wimax.

Understanding what is LTE can assist consumers make informed purchasing choices. Choosing new devices which support 4G networks are educated choices. This technology is anticipated to command worldwide telecommunications for many years.




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