LTE Technology Advantages
The acronym LTE stands for Long Term Evolution technology that is vastly mistaken as 4G technology, while it is actually an advancement of the 3G technology. This upgraded version of the UMTS cellular technology would enable remarkably higher data access speeds, gained along with a considerably lower packet latency.
The currently deployed upgrades of the 3G are; HSPA+ and HSPA. The latter has a couple of branches, namely HSDPA and HSUPA. The significance of the upcoming 3.99G LTE technology is that while the HSPA+, which is the most advanced by far, can offer the broadband speeds around 14Mbps, the former can effectuate download speeds of up to 60Mbps, apart from offering upload speeds of around 20Mbps.
A large number of ISPs are yet to upgrade even their basic 3G networks. However, many of them consider LTE as the next logical step, and are keenly waiting to leapfrog straight from the basic 3G to the LTE technology the moment it is launched.
For some history, 3GPP, the precursor of LTE was first researched in 2004 at a workshop held in Toronto. The workshop had then fixed a number of high-end requirements for the new technology. The most significant of the lot were; cost reduction per bit, usage flexibility of new, as well as existing frequency bands, open interfaces and simplified architecture, increased services at low rates effectuating better user experience and optimal terminal power consumption allowance.
LTE though is an upgrade of the UMTS or 3GPP 3G standards, engages a different kind of radio interface. Here, OFDMA or SC-FDMA are used instead of CDMA, and more importantly LTE is a comprehensive IP based network that backs both IPv6 and IPv4. In the conspicuous absence of any provision for voice, VoIP can be resorted to as a potential compensation.
