LTE (Long Term Evolution) is a next generation mobile communications technology, widely tipped to become the successor to our current 3G technology in the UK.
Why use LTE ?
Mobile broadband subscriptions are predicted to reach over a billion by the year 2012, placing high demands on the mobile networks of the future. LTE provides a scalable solution to these increases, offering data speeds of up to 80x 3G , reduced operator costs and more flexibility in radio spectrum usage. Over 26 operators have commited to deploying 3GPP LTE systems, alongside companies such as Nokia and Ericsson.
Increased Bandwidth and Capacity
By squeezing more data into the same amount of data of radio spectrum used by 3G and HSDPA networks, LTE offers more capacity and increased data speeds. LTE can theoretically offer peak downlink speeds of 100Mbit/s and up to 50Mbit/s uplink rates. Real world figures are likely to be much lower than this, due to contention issues and physical network effects.
Video Explanation Of LTE
Efficient Use Of Radio Spectrum
Today’s 3G and HSPA networks occupy fixed 5Mhz channels in the radio spectrum. LTE uses scalable bandwidths, from 1.25 to 20Mhz allowing operators to tailor their network, using a small amount of spectrum and adding services as and when necessary.
Simple Network Design
LTE is designed as a flat network architecture. This simply means that every device on the network can communicate with every other device without going through intermediary equipment such as a router or bridge. This has several benefits for the mobile networks and consumers.
- Reduced latency: latency is the delay in a signal between sending and receiving the data. With less equipment in the mobile network to pass through, LTE is expected to reduce latency, which can reach 200ms in a 3G network, down to 5-10 ms. This is very important for voice communications and video streaming.
- Optimized for IP traffic: unlike the complex systems in 2G and 3G networks, which feature a separate, circuit-switched voice network, LTE is designed specifically for data traffic.
- Easy upgrade from 3G and HSPA : LTE is designed as an evolutionary upgrade from legacy mobile radio systems. It can utilize much of the 3G network infrastructure and can work alongside existing 3GPP networks, allowing for easy handovers.
When will LTE be available in the UK?
It’s unlikely that the UK consumers will see LTE before 2011, say John Cunliffe of Ericsson. Several operators in the UK have considerable investment in 3.5G and HSPA services and will want to fully exploit the current technology which has a ‘roadmap’ of up to 42Mbit/s. Japan’s NTT DoCoMo have announced the world’s first commercial LTE network for consumers in 2010, with Verizon in the US also spearheading the global LTE rollout.
Summary of LTE specification from the 3GPP
* Increased peak data rates: 100Mbit/s downlink and 50Mbit/s uplink
* Support for interworking with existing 3G systems and non-3GPP specified systems.
* Reduction of Radio Access Network (RAN) latency to 10ms
* Improved spectrum efficiency (2 to 4 times compared with HSPA Release 6)
* Cost-effective migration from Release 6 Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA)
radio interface and architecture
* Improved broadcasting
* IP-optimized (focus on services in the packet-switched domain)
* Scalable bandwidth of 20MHz, 15MHz, 10MHz, 5MHz and <5MHz
* Support for both paired and unpaired spectrum
(Courtesy Ericsson 284 23-3124 Uen)
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