3G

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3G is the third generation of telecommunication hardware standards and general technology for
mobile networking, superseding 2.5G. It is based on the International Telecommunication Union
(ITU) family of standards under the IMT-2000.[1]
In theory, 3G wireless networks are capable of throughput up to 384Kbps, which still puts them at
the bottom end of 802.11b's range.[2] 3G networks enable network operators to offer users a wider
range of more advanced services while achieving greater network capacity through improved
spectral efficiency. Services include wide-area wireless voice telephone, video calls, and
broadband wireless data, all in a mobile environment. Additional features also include HSPA data
transmission capabilities able to deliver data rates up to 14.4 Mbit/s on the downlink and 5.8
Mbit/s on the uplink.
Unlike IEEE 802.11 networks, which are commonly called Wi-Fi or WLAN networks, 3G networks
are wide-area cellular telephone networks that evolved to incorporate high-speed Internet access
and video telephony. IEEE 802.11 networks are short range, high-bandwidth networks primarily
developed for data.

Contents
[hide]

1 Implementation and history

o 1.1 Data rates
o 1.2 Network standardization
1.2.1 IMT-2000 standards and radio interfaces
1.2.2 Advantages of a layered network architecture
o 1.3 3G evolution (pre-4G)
2 Evolution from 2G to 3G
o 2.1 From 2G to 2.5G (GPRS)
o 2.2 From 2.5G to 2.75G
o 2.3 From 2.75G to 3G
o 2.4 Migrating from GPRS to UMTS
3 Security
4 Issues
5 See also
6 Further reading

7 References

[edit] Implementation and history

The first pre-commercial 3G network was launched by NTT DoCoMo in Japan branded FOMA, in
May 2001 on a pre-release of W-CDMA technology.[3] The first commercial launch of 3G was also
by NTT DoCoMo in Japan on October 1, 2001, although it was initially somewhat limited in scope;
[4][5]
broader availability was delayed by apparent concerns over reliability.[6] The second network
to go commercially live was by SK Telecom in South Korea on the 1xEV-DO technology in
January 2002. By May 2002 the second South Korean 3G network was by KTF on EV-DO and
thus the Koreans were the first to see competition among 3G operators.
The first European pre-commercial network was at the Isle of Man by Manx Telecom, the operator
then owned by British Telecom, and the first commercial network in Europe was opened for
business by Telenor in December 2001 with no commercial handsets and thus no paying
customers. These were both on the W-CDMA technology.
The first commercial United States 3G network was by Monet Mobile Networks, on CDMA2000
1x EV-DO technology, but this network provider later shut down operations. The second 3G
network operator in the USA was Verizon Wireless in October 2003 also on CDMA2000 1x EVDO, and this network has grown strongly since then.
The first pre-commercial demonstration network in the southern hemisphere was built in
Adelaide, South Australia by m.Net Corporation in February 2002 using UMTS on 2100 MHz.
This was a demonstration network for the 2002 IT World Congress. The first commercial 3G
network was launched by Hutchison Telecommunications branded as Three in April 2003.
In December 2007, 190 3G networks were operating in 40 countries and 154 HSDPA networks
were operating in 71 countries, according to the Global Mobile Suppliers Association (GSA). In
Asia, Europe, Canada and the USA, telecommunication companies use W-CDMA technology
with the support of around 100 terminal designs to operate 3G mobile networks.
In Europe, mass market commercial 3G services were introduced starting in March 2003 by 3
(Part of Hutchison Whampoa) in the UK and Italy. The European Union Council suggested that
the 3G operators should cover 80% of the European national populations by the end of 2005.
Roll-out of 3G networks was delayed in some countries by the enormous costs of additional
spectrum licensing fees. (See Telecoms crash.) In many countries, 3G networks do not use the
same radio frequencies as 2G, so mobile operators must build entirely new networks and license
entirely new frequencies; an exception is the United States where carriers operate 3G service in
the same frequencies as other services. The license fees in some European countries were
particularly high, bolstered by government auctions of a limited number of licenses and sealed bid
auctions, and initial excitement over 3G's potential. Other delays were due to the expenses of
upgrading equipment for the new systems.
By June 2007 the 200 millionth 3G subscriber had been connected. Out of 3 billion mobile phone
subscriptions worldwide this is only 6.7%. In the countries where 3G was launched first - Japan
and South Korea - 3G penetration is over 70%[7]. In Europe the leading country is Italy with a third
of its subscribers migrated to 3G. Other leading countries by 3G migration include UK, Austria,
Australia and Singapore at the 20% migration level. A confusing statistic is counting CDMA 2000
1x RTT customers as if they were 3G customers. If using this definition, then the total 3G
subscriber base would be 475 million at June 2007 and 15.8% of all subscribers worldwide.
Still several major countries such as Indonesia have not awarded 3G licenses and customers
await 3G services. China delayed its decisions on 3G for many years. China announced in May

2008, that the telecoms sector was re-organized and three 3G networks would be allocated so
that the largest mobile operator, China Mobile, would retain its GSM customer base. China
Unicom would retain its GSM customer base but relinquish its CDMA2000 customer base, and
launch 3G on the globally leading WCDMA (UMTS) standard. The CDMA2000 customers of
China Unicom would go to China Telecom, which would then launch 3G on the CDMA 1x EV-DO
standard. This meant that China would have all three main cellular technology 3G standards in
commercial use. Finally in January 2009, Ministry of industry and Information Technology of
China has awarded licenses of all three standardsTD-SCDMA to China Mobile, WCDMA to
China Unicom and CDMA2000 to China Telecom.
In November 2008, Turkey has auctioned four IMT 2000/UMTS standard 3G licenses with 45, 40,
35 and 25 MHz top frequencies. Turkcell has won the 45MHz band with its 358 million offer
followed by Vodafone and Avea leasing the 40 and 35MHz frequencies respectively for 20 years.
The 25MHz top frequency license remains to be auctioned.
The first African use of 3G technology was a 3G videocall made in Johannesburg on the
Vodacom network in November 2004. The first commercial launch of 3G in Africa was by EMTEL
in Mauritius on the W-CDMA standard. In north African Morocco in late March 2006, a 3G service
was provided by the new company Wana.
Rogers Wireless began implementing 3G HSDPA services in eastern Canada early 2007 in the
form of Rogers Vision. Fido Solutions and Rogers Wireless now offer 3G service in most urban
centres.

[edit] Data rates

The ITU has not provided a clear definition of the data rate users can expect from 3G equipment
or providers. Thus users sold 3G service may not be able to point to a standard and say that the
rates it specifies are not being met. While stating in commentary that "it is expected that IMT-2000
will provide higher transmission rates: a minimum speed of 2Mbit/s and maximum of 14.4Mbit/s
for stationary users, and 348 kbit/s in a moving vehicle," [8] the ITU does not actually clearly
specify minimum or average rates or what modes of the interfaces qualify as 3G, so various rates
are sold as 3G intended to meet customers expectations of broadband speed. It is often
suggested by industry sources that 3G can be expected to provide 384 kbit/s at or below
pedestrian speeds, but only 128 kbit/s in a moving car. While EDGE is part of the 3G standard,
some phones report EDGE and 3G network availability as separate things.

[edit] Network standardization

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) defined the demands for 3G mobile networks
with the IMT-2000 standard. An organization called 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP)
has continued that work by defining a mobile system that fulfills the IMT-2000 standard. This
system is called Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS).

[edit] IMT-2000 standards and radio interfaces

Main article: IMT-2000
International Telecommunications Union (ITU): IMT-2000 consists of six radio interfaces

W-CDMA also known as UMTS

CDMA2000

TD-CDMA / TD-SCDMA
UWC (often implemented with EDGE)
DECT
Mobile WiMAX[9]

[edit] Advantages of a layered network architecture

Unlike GSM, UMTS is based on layered services. At the top is the services layer, which provides
fast deployment of services and centralized location. In the middle is the control layer, which
helps upgrading procedures and allows the capacity of the network to be dynamically allocated.
At the bottom is the connectivity layer where any transmission technology can be used and the
voice traffic will transfer over ATM/AAL2 or IP/RTP.

[edit] 3G evolution (pre-4G)

This section may require
cleanup to meet Wikipedia's
quality standards.

The standardization of 3G evolution is progressing in both 3GPP and 3GPP2. The corresponding
specifications of 3GPP and 3GPP2 evolutions are named as LTE and UMB, respectively.
Development on UMB has been cancelled by Qualcomm as of November 2008. 3G evolution
uses partly beyond 3G technologies to enhance the performance and to make a smooth
migration path.
There are several different paths from 2G to 3G. In Europe the main path starts from GSM when
GPRS is added to a system. From this point it is possible to go to the UMTS system. In North
America the system evolution will start from Time division multiple access (TDMA), change to
Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) and then to UMTS.
In Japan, two 3G standards are used: W-CDMA used by NTT DoCoMo (FOMA, compatible with
UMTS) and SoftBank Mobile (UMTS), and CDMA2000, used by KDDI. Transition for market
purposes to 3G was completed in Japan in 2006.
The first introduction of 3G (UMTS/HSDPA) technology in the Caribbean (2007) was done by
SETAR in Aruba in December 2007. The Implementation phase of this network was carried out by
Alcatel-Lucent. SETAR had also implemented a 3G network based on CDMA 1X EV-DO in April
2007.
Not just broadband internet can be exploited from multi-megabit speeds. Video calling and VOIP.
HSDPA (High Speed Data Packet Access) has capabilities of bringing 14.4 Mbit/s downstream,
this is faster than most standard lines, and even some in cities in well developed areas. Not to
mention capabilities of 5.8Mbit/s uplink that is more than ten times standard ADSL, And almost
seven times the leading cable provider; Virgin Media.
There are now around 400 3G and HSDPA networks around the world in a quarter of the worlds
countries. The migration of global subscribers to 3G has passed 15%, and in countries where 3G
has been launched, the migration rate is over 35% by the end of 2008. Many operators have
launched low cost or fixed rate data plans for 3G data use which has increased usage and
lowered costs. At the launch of 3.5G HSDPA, in many markets this technology is provided as a
portable "broadband" modem connection for laptop and even desktop computer users and priced

at the low end of broadband pricing. 3G data is however expensive when roaming, with the
average cost per megabyte is still in the 5.00/mb range. It would be hard to use many
megabytes due to the undeveloped speeds that many networks provide.
In the UK the mobile network 3 (Three) boasts that 90% of the UKs population is covered with
3G, and 99% with the standard talk and text network (2G/2.5G/EDGE)
As anticipated, if stationary, or walking slowly you can expect a minimum of 2Mbit/s. but if in a car
doing average city speeds, this falls to 348kbit/s. 3G networks in Britain offer a variety of
packages. Going up from 1.8Mbit/s on networks such as T-Mobile and right up as far as
7.2Mbit/s; the same speed as a fixed line within a few hundred metres from its exchange is
possible in urban areas of London taking the whole concept of fast easy mobile broadband up to
a whole new level. The packages they offer however cannot give you that sustained 7.2Mbit/s, a
typical 3GB (3072megabytes) plan costs between 15 and 20 a month. Three is offering 15GB
for a record breaking 30 a month, or 15 if you have a contract with them already. Three
however does not give such headline speeds as Vodafone.
3G is still in its early years, high prices are to be anticipated because of high fees for frequency
licencing and the sheer cost of employing dozens and dozens of teams of engineers to implement
a nationwide network and then to maintain it. Canada, for example, boasts some of the highest
data access fees in the world for subscribers. Without a data contract 1KB of data is charged at
$0.05, translating to $50 per megabyte used on Canada's GSM providers Rogers and Fido.
A 4g network is in the pipe line, capable of speeds of 100Mbit/s while moving and 1Gbit/s
stationary.

[edit] Evolution from 2G to 3G

2G networks were built mainly for voice data and slow transmission. Due to rapid changes in user
expectation, they do not meet today's wireless needs. Evolution from 2G to 3G can be subdivided into following phases:

2G to 2.5G
2.5G to 2.75G
2.75G to 3G

[edit] From 2G to 2.5G (GPRS)

The first major step in the evolution to 3G occurred with the introduction of General Packet Radio
Service (GPRS). So the cellular services combined with GPRS became' 2.5G.'
GPRS could provide data rates from 56 kbit/s up to 114 kbit/s. It can be used for services such as
Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) access, Short Message Service (SMS), Multimedia
Messaging Service (MMS), and for Internet communication services such as email and World
Wide Web access. GPRS data transfer is typically charged per megabyte of traffic transferred,
while data communication via traditional circuit switching is billed per minute of connection time,
independent of whether the user actually is utilizing the capacity or is in an idle state.
GPRS is a best-effort packet switched service, as opposed to circuit switching, where a certain
Quality of Service (QoS) is guaranteed during the connection for non-mobile users. It provides
moderate speed data transfer, by using unused Time division multiple access (TDMA) channels.
Originally there was some thought to extend GPRS to cover other standards, but instead those

networks are being converted to use the GSM standard, so that GSM is and newer releases. It
was originally standardized by European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), but now
by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).,.m

[edit] From 2.5G to 2.75G

GPRS networks evolved to EDGE networks with the introduction of 8PSK encoding. Enhanced
Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), Enhanced GPRS (EGPRS), or IMT Single Carrier (IMTSC) is a backward-compatible digital mobile phone technology that allows improved data
transmission rates, as an extension on top of standard GSM. EDGE can be considered a 3G
radio technology and is part of ITU's 3G definition, but is most frequently referred to as 2.75G.
EDGE was deployed on GSM networks beginning in 2003initially by Cingular (now AT&T) in the
United States.
EDGE is standardized by 3GPP as part of the GSM family, and it is an upgrade that provides a
potential three-fold increase in capacity of GSM/GPRS networks. The specification achieves
higher data-rates by switching to more sophisticated methods of coding (8PSK), within existing
GSM timeslots.
EDGE can be used for any packet switched application, such as an Internet, video and other
multimedia.

[edit] From 2.75G to 3G

From EDGE networks the introduction of UMTS networks and technology is called pure 3G. 3G
Bandwidth 5 MHz

[edit] Migrating from GPRS to UMTS

From GPRS network, the following network elements can be reused:

Home location register (HLR)

Visitor location register (VLR)
Equipment identity register (EIR)
Mobile switching centre (MSC) (vendor dependent)
Authentication centre (AUC)
Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) (vendor dependent)
Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN)

From Global Service for Mobile (GSM) communication radio network, the following elements
cannot be reused

Base station controller (BSC)

Base transceiver station (BTS)

They can remain in the network and be used in dual network operation where 2G and 3G
networks co-exist while network migration and new 3G terminals become available for use in the
network.
The UMTS network introduces new network elements that function as specified by 3GPP:

Node B (base station)

Radio Network Controller (RNC)
Media Gateway (MGW)

The functionality of MSC and SGSN changes when going to UMTS. In a GSM system the MSC
handles all the circuit switched operations like connecting A- and B-subscriber through the
network. SGSN handles all the packet switched operations and transfers all the data in the
network. In UMTS the Media gateway (MGW) take care of all data transfer in both circuit and
packet switched networks. MSC and SGSN control MGW operations. The nodes are renamed to
MSC-server and GSN-server.

[edit] Security
3G networks offer a greater degree of security than 2G predecessors. By allowing the UE to
authenticate the network it is attaching to, the user can be sure the network is the intended one
and not an impersonator. 3G networks use the KASUMI block crypto instead of the older A5/1
stream cipher. However, a number of serious weaknesses in the KASUMI cipher have been
identified.
In addition to the 3G network infrastructure security, end to end security is offered when
application frameworks such as IMS are accessed, although this is not strictly a 3G property.

[edit] Issues
Although 3G was successfully introduced to users across the world, some issues are debated by
3G providers and users:

Expensive input fees for the 3G service licenses & agreements

Numerous differences in the licensing terms
Large amount of debt currently sustained by many telecommunication companies, which
makes it a challenge to build the necessary infrastructure for 3G
Lack of member state support for financially troubled operators
Expense of 3G phones
Lack of buy-in by 2G mobile users for the new 3G wireless services
Lack of coverage, because it is still a new service
High prices of 3G mobile services in some countries, including Internet access (see flat
rate)
Current lack of user need for 3G voice and data services in a hand-held device

[edit] See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: 3G

3GP
4G
DigRF V3
IP Multimedia Subsystem

Spectral efficiency
WiBro
Wireless modem

[edit] Further reading

Ahonen, M-Profits Making Money with 3G (Wiley, 2002), first business book about 3G,
ISBN 978-0470847756
Ahonen, Kasper and Melkko, 3G Marketing (Wiley, 2004), first marketing book for 3G,
ISBN 978-0470851005
Ahonen and Barrett (editors), Services for UMTS (Wiley, 2002) first book on the services
for 3G, ISBN 978-0471485506
Holma and Toskala (editors), WCDMA for UMTS, (Wiley, 2000) first book dedicated to 3G
technology, ISBN 978-0471720515
Kreher and Ruedebusch, UMTS Signaling: UMTS Interfaces, Protocols, Message Flows
and Procedures Analyzed and Explained (Wiley 2007), ISBN 978-0470065334
Laiho, Wacker and Novosad, Radio Network Planning and Optimization for UMTS (Wiley,
2002) first book on radio network planning for 3G, ISBN 978-0470015759

[edit] References
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

^ Clint Smith, Daniel Collins. "3G Wireless Networks", page 136. 2000.
^ "802.11 vs. 3G". http://techviewz.org/2007/10/80211-vs-3g.html.
^ "The history of UMTS and 3G development". http://www.umtsworld.com/umts/history.htm.
^ "World's first 3G launch on 1st October severely restricted (hktdc.com)".
http://info.hktdc.com/imn/01100401/info14.htm.
^ "broadbandmag.co.uk/3G grinds to a start".
http://www.broadbandmag.co.uk/analysis/3G/3G.html.
^ "DoCoMo Delays 3G Launch". http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/news/2001/04/43253.
^ http://www.plus8star.com/?p=123 Plus 8 Star presentation, "Is 3G a Dog or a Demon - Hints from
7 years of 3G Hype in Asia"
^ "Cellular Standards for the Third Generation". ITU. 2005-12-01. http://www.itu.int/osg/spu/imt2000/technology.html#Cellular%20Standards%20for%20the%20Third%20Generation.
^ ITU Radiocommunication Assembly approves new developments for its 3G standards

4G
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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A major contributor to this article appears to have a conflict of interest with its
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This article is about the mobile telecommunications standard. For other uses, see 4G
(disambiguation).
4G (also known as Beyond 3G), an abbreviation for Fourth-Generation, is a term used to
describe the next complete evolution in wireless communications. A 4G system will be a complete
replacement for current networks and be able to provide a comprehensive and secure IP solution
where voice, data, and streamed multimedia can be given to users on an "Anytime, Anywhere"
basis, and at much higher data rates than previous generations. [1]

Contents
[hide]

1 Objective and approach

o 1.1 Objectives
o 1.2 Approaches
1.2.1 Consideration points
1.2.2 Principal technologies
2 4G features
3 Components
o 3.1 Access schemes
o 3.2 IPv6
o 3.3 Advanced Antenna Systems
o 3.4 Software-Defined Radio (SDR)
4 Developments
5 Applications
6 4G wireless standards
7 References
o 7.1 Citations
o

7.2 Additional resources

[edit] Objective and approach

[edit] Objectives
4G is being developed to accommodate the quality of service (QoS) and rate requirements set by
forthcoming applications like wireless broadband access, Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS),
video chat, mobile TV, HDTV content, Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB), minimal service like
voice and data, and other streaming services for "anytime-anywhere". The 4G working group has
defined the following as objectives of the 4G wireless communication standard:

A spectrally efficient system (in bits/s/Hz and bits/s/Hz/site), [2]

High network capacity: more simultaneous users per cell, [3]
A nominal data rate of 100 Mbit/s while the client physically moves at high speeds relative
to the station, and 1 Gbit/s while client and station are in relatively fixed positions as
defined by the ITU-R,[1]
A data rate of at least 100 Mbit/s between any two points in the world, [1]
Smooth handoff across heterogeneous networks,[4]
Seamless connectivity and global roaming across multiple networks,[5]
High quality of service for next generation multimedia support (real time audio, high
speed data, HDTV video content, mobile TV, etc) [5]
Interoperability with existing wireless standards,[6] and
An all IP, packet switched network.[5]

In summary, the 4G system should dynamically share and utilize network resources to meet the
minimal requirements of all the 4G enabled users.

[edit] Approaches
As described in 4G consortia including WINNER, WINNER - Towards Ubiquitous Wireless
Access, and WWRF, a key technology based approach is summarized as follows, where
Wireless-World-Initiative-New-Radio (WINNER) is a consortium to enhance mobile
communication systems.[7][8]

[edit] Consideration points

Coverage, radio environment, spectrum, services, business models and deployment

types, users

[edit] Principal technologies

Baseband techniques[9]
o OFDM: To exploit the frequency selective channel property
o MIMO: To attain ultra high spectral efficiency
o Turbo principle: To minimize the required SNR at the reception side
Adaptive radio interface
Modulation, spatial processing including multi-antenna and multi-user MIMO
Relaying, including fixed relay networks (FRNs), and the cooperative relaying concept,
known as multi-mode protocol

10

[edit] 4G features
According to the 4G working groups, the infrastructure and the terminals of 4G will have almost
all the standards from 2G to 4G implemented. Although legacy systems are in place to adopt
existing users, the infrastructure for 4G will be only packet-based (all-IP). Some proposals
suggest having an open internet platform. Technologies considered to be early 4G include FlashOFDM, the 802.16e mobile version of WiMax (also known as WiBro in South Korea), and HCSDMA (see iBurst). 3GPP Long Term Evolution may reach the market 1-2 years after Mobile
WiMax.
An even higher speed version of WiMax is the IEEE 802.16m specification. LTE Advanced will be
the later evolution of the 3GPP LTE standard. [10].

[edit] Components
[edit] Access schemes
As the wireless standards evolved, the access techniques used also exhibited increase in
efficiency, capacity and scalability. The first generation wireless standards used plain TDMA and
FDMA. In the wireless channels, TDMA proved to be less efficient in handling the high data rate
channels as it requires large guard periods to alleviate the multipath impact. Similarly, FDMA
consumed more bandwidth for guard to avoid inter carrier interference. So in second generation
systems, one set of standard used the combination of FDMA and TDMA and the other set
introduced a new access scheme called CDMA. Usage of CDMA increased the system capacity
and also placed a soft limit on it rather than the hard limit. Data rate is also increased as this
access scheme is efficient enough to handle the multipath channel. This enabled the third
generation systems to used CDMA as the access scheme IS-2000, UMTS, HSXPA, 1xEV-DO,
TD-CDMA and TD-SCDMA. The only issue with CDMA is that it suffers from poor spectrum
flexibility and scalability.
Recently, new access schemes like Orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), Single Carrier FDMA (SCFDMA), Interleaved FDMA and Multi-carrier code division multiple access (MC-CDMA) are
gaining more importance for the next generation systems. WiMax is using OFDMA in the
downlink and in the uplink. For the next generation UMTS, OFDMA is being considered for the
downlink. By contrast, IFDMA is being considered for the uplink since OFDMA contributes more
to the PAPR related issues and results in nonlinear operation of amplifiers. IFDMA provides less
power fluctuation and thus avoids amplifier issues. Similarly, MC-CDMA is in the proposal for the
IEEE 802.20 standard. These access schemes offer the same efficiencies as older technologies
like CDMA. Apart from this, scalability and higher data rates can be achieved.
The other important advantage of the above mentioned access techniques is that they require
less complexity for equalization at the receiver. This is an added advantage especially in the
MIMO environments since the spatial multiplexing transmission of MIMO systems inherently
requires high complexity equalization at the receiver.
In addition to improvements in these multiplexing systems, improved modulation techniques are
being used. Whereas earlier standards largely used Phase-shift keying, more efficient systems
such as 64QAM are being proposed for use with the 3GPP Long Term Evolution standards.

[edit] IPv6

11

Main articles: Network layer, Internet protocol, and IPv6

Unlike 3G, which is based on two parallel infrastructures consisting of circuit switched and packet
switched network nodes respectively, 4G will be based on packet switching only. This will require
low-latency data transmission.
By the time that 4G is deployed, the process of IPv4 address exhaustion is expected to be in its
final stages. Therefore, in the context of 4G, IPv6 support is essential in order to support a large
number of wireless-enabled devices. By increasing the number of IP addresses, IPv6 removes
the need for Network Address Translation (NAT), a method of sharing a limited number of
addresses among a larger group of devices, although NAT will still be required to communicate
with devices that are on existing IPv4 networks.
In the context of 4G, IPv6 also enables a number of applications with better multicast, security,
and route optimization capabilities. With the available address space and number of addressing
bits in IPv6, many innovative coding schemes can be developed for 4G devices and applications
that could aid deployment of 4G networks and services.

[edit] Advanced Antenna Systems

Main articles: MIMO and MU-MIMO
The performance of radio communications obviously depends on the advances of an antenna
system, refer to smart or intelligent antenna. Recently, multiple antenna technologies are
emerging to achieve the goal of 4G systems such as high rate, high reliability, and long range
communications. In the early 90s, to cater the growing data rate needs of data communication,
many transmission schemes were proposed. One technology, spatial multiplexing, gained
importance for its bandwidth conservation and power efficiency. Spatial multiplexing involves
deploying multiple antennas at the transmitter and at the receiver. Independent streams can then
be transmitted simultaneously from all the antennas. This increases the data rate into multiple
folds with the number equal to minimum of the number of transmit and receive antennas. This is
called MIMO (as a branch of intelligent antenna). Apart from this, the reliability in transmitting high
speed data in the fading channel can be improved by using more antennas at the transmitter or at
the receiver. This is called transmit or receive diversity. Both transmit/receive diversity and
transmit spatial multiplexing are categorized into the space-time coding techniques, which does
not necessarily require the channel knowledge at the transmit. The other category is closed-loop
multiple antenna technologies which use the channel knowledge at the transmitter.

[edit] Software-Defined Radio (SDR)

SDR is one form of open wireless architecture (OWA). Since 4G is a collection of wireless
standards, the final form of a 4G device will constitute various standards. This can be efficiently
realized using SDR technology, which is categorized to the area of the radio convergence.

[edit] Developments
The Japanese company NTT DoCoMo has been testing a 4G communication system prototype
with 4x4 MIMO called VSF-OFCDM at 100 Mbit/s while moving, and 1 Gbit/s while stationary. In
February 2007, NTT DoCoMo completed a trial in which they reached a maximum packet
transmission rate of approximately 5 Gbit/s in the downlink with 12x12 MIMO using a 100MHz
frequency bandwidth while moving at 10 km/h,[11] and is planning on releasing the first commercial
network in 2010.

12

Digiweb, an Irish fixed and wireless broadband company, has announced that they have received
a mobile communications license from the Irish Telecoms regulator, ComReg. This service will be
issued the mobile code 088 in Ireland and will be used for the provision of 4G Mobile
communications.[12][13]. Digiweb launched a mobile broadband network using FLASH-OFDM
technology at 872 MHz.
Pervasive networks are an amorphous and at present entirely hypothetical concept where the
user can be simultaneously connected to several wireless access technologies and can
seamlessly move between them (See vertical handoff, IEEE 802.21). These access technologies
can be Wi-Fi, UMTS, EDGE, or any other future access technology. Included in this concept is
also smart-radio (also known as cognitive radio technology) to efficiently manage spectrum use
and transmission power as well as the use of mesh routing protocols to create a pervasive
network.

Verizon Wireless announced on September 20, 2007 that it plans a joint effort with the Vodafone
Group to transition its networks to the 4G standard LTE. The time of this transition has yet to be
announced.
Telus and Bell Canada have announced that they will be cooperating towards building a fourth
generation (4G) wireless broadband network in Canada. It is expected to be complete by early
2010. [14]

[edit] Applications
At the present rates of 15-30 Mbit/s, 4G is capable of providing users with streaming highdefinition television. At rates of 100 Mbit/s, the content of a DVD-5 (for example a movie), can be
downloaded within about 5 minutes for offline access.

[edit] 4G wireless standards

3GPP is currently standardizing LTE Advanced as future 4G standard. A first set of 3GPP
requirements on LTE Advanced has been approved in June 2008 [15]. The working groups are
currently evaluating various proposals for standardization. LTE Advanced will be standardized as
part of the Release 10 of the 3GPP specification.

[edit] References
[edit] Citations
1. ^ a b c Young Kyun, Kim; Prasad, Ramjee (2006). 4G Roadmap and Emerging
Communication Technologies. Artech House 2006. pp. 1213. ISBN 1-58053-931-9.
2. ^ "4G - Beyond 2.5G and 3G Wireless Networks". MobileInfo.cm.
http://www.mobileinfo.com/3G/4GVision&Technologies.htm. Retrieved on 2007-03-26.
3. ^ Jawad Ibrahim (December 2002). "4G Features" (PDF). Bechtel Telecommunications
Technical Journal. http://www.bechteltelecoms.com/docs/bttj_v1/Article2.pdf. Retrieved
on 2007-03-26.
4. ^ "Mobility Management Challenges and Issues in 4G Heterogeneous Networks". ACM
Proceedings of the first international conference on Integrated internet ad hoc and sensor
networks. May 30 - 31, 2006. http://delivery.acm.org/10.1145/1150000/1142698/a14-

13

5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.

hussain.pdf?
key1=1142698&key2=8898704611&coll=GUIDE&dl=&CFID=15151515&CFTOKEN=6184
618. Retrieved on 2007-03-26.
^ a b c Werner Mohr (2002). "Mobile Communications Beyond 3G in the Global Context"
(PDF). Siemens mobile. http://www.cu.ipv6tf.org/pdf/werner_mohr.pdf. Retrieved on
2007-03-26.
^ Noah Schmitz (March 2005). "The Path To 4G Will Take Many Turns". Wireless
Systems Design. http://www.wsdmag.com/Articles/ArticleID/10001/10001.html. Retrieved
on 2007-03-26.
^ "WINNER - Towards Ubiquitous Wireless Access". WINNER. 2007.
http://www.comnets.rwth-aachen.de/typo3conf/ext/cn_download/pi1/passdownload.php?
downloaddata=860%7C1.
^ "WINNER II - Public Deliverable". WINNER II. 2006-07. https://www.istwinner.org/deliverables.html.
^ G. Fettweis, E. Zimmermann, H. Bonneville, W. Schott, K. Gosse, M. de Courville
(2004). "High Throughput WLAN/WPAN" (PDF). WWRF. http://www.wireless-worldresearch.org/fileadmin/sites/default/files/about_the_forum/WG/WG5/Briefings/WG5-br2High_Throughput_WLAN_WPAN-V2004.pdf.
^ Nomor Research: White Paper on LTE Advance
^ "DoCoMo Achieves 5 Gbit/s Data Speed". NTT DoCoMo Press. 2007-02-09.
http://www.nttdocomo.com/pr/2007/001319.html.
^ Press Release: Digiweb Mobile Takes 088
^ RT News article: Ireland gets new mobile phone provider
^ TELUS (2008-10-10). "Next Generation Network Evolution". TELUS.
http://www.telusmobility.com/network/.
^ 3GPP specification: Requirements for further advancements for E-UTRA (LTEAdvanced)

[edit] Additional resources

Nomor Research: White Paper on LTE Advance the new 4G standard

Brian Woerner (June 20-22, 2001). "Research Directions for Fourth Generation Wireless"
(PDF). Proceedings of the 10th International Workshops on Enabling Technologies:
Infrastructure for Collaborative Enterprises (WET ICE 01). (118kb)
Suk Yu Hui; Kai Hau Yeung (December 2003). "Challenges in the migration to 4G mobile
systems". Communications Magazine, IEEE (City Univ. of Hong Kong, China) 41: 54.
doi:10.1109/MCOM.2003.1252799. http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpls/abs_all.jsp?
arnumber=1252799&isnumber=28028.
"4G Mobile". Alcatel-Lucent. 2005-06-13.
http://www.alcatel.com/publications/abstract.jhtml?repositoryItem=tcm%3A172262211635.
Will Knight (2005-09-02). "4G prototype testing". New Scientist.
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7943.
"Caribbean telecoms to invest in 4G wireless networks". Caribbean Net News. 2006-0627. http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/cgi-script/csArticles/articles/000021/002142.htm.

14

3GPP Long Term Evolution

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

This article is written like an advertisement. Please help rewrite this article from a
neutral point of view. For blatant advertising that would require a fundamental rewrite to
become encyclopedic, use {{db-spam}} to mark for speedy deletion. (April 2009)
LTE (Long Term Evolution) is the next major step in mobile radio communications, and it will be
introduced in 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Release 8.
The aim of this 3GPP project is to improve the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System
(UMTS) mobile phone standard and provide an enhanced user experience and simplified
technology for next generation mobile broadband. Researchers and development engineers
worldwide representing more than 60 operators, vendors and research institutes are
participating in the joint LTE radio access standardization effort.
While 3GPP Release 8 has yet to be ratified as a standard, much of the standard will be oriented
around upgrading UMTS towards a 4G mobile communications technology, and an all-IP flat
architecture system, however LTE is not as many believe 4G.

Contents
[hide]

1 Overview
2 Current State
3 Timetable
4 An "All IP Network" (AIPN)
5 E-UTRAN Air Interface
o 5.1 Downlink
o 5.2 Uplink
6 Technology Demos
7 Carrier adoption
8 See also
9 References
10 Further reading
11 External links for more information
o 11.1 3GPP Projects and Presentations
o 11.2 Specifications
o 11.3 Industry reaction
o

11.4 Whitepapers and other information

[edit] Overview

15

LTE meets the requirements of next generation networks including downlink peak rates of at least
100Mbit/s, 50 Mbit/s[1] in the uplink and RAN (Radio Access Network) round-trip times of less than
10ms. LTE supports flexible carrier bandwidths, from 1.4MHz up to 20MHz as well as both FDD
(Frequency Division Duplex) and TDD (Time Division Duplex).
The goals for LTE include improving spectral efficiency, lowering costs, improving services,
making use of new spectrum and refarmed spectrum opportunities, [1] and better integration with
other open standards. The architecture that will result from this work is called EPS (Evolved
Packet System) and comprises E-UTRAN (Evolved UTRAN) on the access side and EPC
(Evolved Packet Core) on the core side. EPC is also known as SAE (System Architecture
Evolution) and E-UTRAN is also known as LTE.
The main advantages with LTE are high throughput, low latency, plug and play from day one,
FDD and TDD in the same platform, improved end-user experience and simple architecture
resulting in low Operating Expenditures (OPEX). LTE will also support seamless connection to
existing networks, such as GSM, CDMA and WCDMA.[1]

[edit] Current State

While 3GPP Release 8 has yet to be ratified as a standard, much of the standard will be oriented
around upgrading UMTS to 4G mobile communications technology, which is essentially a mobile
broadband system with enhanced multimedia services built on top.
The standard includes:

Peak download rates of 326.4 Mbit/s for 4x4 antennas, 172.8 Mbit/s for 2x2 antennas for
every 20 MHz of spectrum. [2]
Peak upload rates of 86.4 Mbit/s for every 20 MHz of spectrum.[2]
5 different terminal classes have been defined from a voice centric class up to a high end
terminal that supports the peak data rates. All terminal will be able to process 20 MHz
bandwidth.
At least 200 active users in every 5 MHz cell. (i.e., 200 active data clients)
Sub-5ms latency for small IP packets
Increased spectrum flexibility, with spectrum slices as small as 1.5 MHz (and as large as
20 MHz) supported (W-CDMA requires 5 MHz slices, leading to some problems with rollouts of the technology in countries where 5 MHz is a commonly allocated amount of
spectrum, and is frequently already in use with legacy standards such as 2G GSM and
cdmaOne.) Limiting sizes to 5 MHz also limited the amount of bandwidth per handset
Optimal cell size of 5 km, 30 km sizes with reasonable performance, and up to 100 km
cell sizes supported with acceptable performance
Co-existence with legacy standards (users can transparently start a call or transfer of
data in an area using an LTE standard, and, should coverage be unavailable, continue
the operation without any action on their part using GSM/GPRS or W-CDMA-based
UMTS or even 3GPP2 networks such as cdmaOne or CDMA2000)
Supports MBSFN (Multicast Broadcast Single Frequency Network). This feature can
deliver services such as Mobile TV using the LTE infrastructure, and is a competitor for
DVB-H-based TV broadcast.
PU2RC as a practical solution for MU-MIMO has been adopted to use in 3GPP LTE
standard. The detailed procedure for the general MU-MIMO operation is handed to the
next release, e.g, LTE-Advanced, where further discussions will be held.

16

A large amount of the work is aimed at simplifying the architecture of the system, as it transits
from the existing UMTS circuit + packet switching combined network, to an all-IP flat architecture
system.

[edit] Timetable
In December 2008, Rel-8 specification was frozen and in March 2009, the ASN.1 code was ready
and frozen and by that backwards compatibility is secured. The standard has been complete
enough that hardware designers have been designing chipsets, test equipment and base stations
for some time. LTE test equipment has been shipping from several vendors since early 2008 and
at the Mobile World Congress 2008 in Barcelona Ericsson demonstrated the worlds first end-toend mobile call enabled by LTE on a small handheld device. [3] Motorola demonstrated a LTE RAN
standard compliant eNodeB and LTE chipset at the same event.

[edit] An "All IP Network" (AIPN)

A characteristic of next generation networks are that they are based upon core internet protocol
TCP/IP. This provides users with richer communications experience including enhanced voice,
video, and messaging services and advanced multimedia solutions.
In 2004, 3GPP proposed Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) as the future
for next generation networks and began feasibility studies into All IP Networks (AIPN). Proposals
developed included recommendations for 3GPP Release 7(2005), [4] which are the foundation of
higher level protocols such as LTE. These recommendations are part of the 3GPP System
Architecture Evolution (SAE). Some aspects of All-IP networks, however, were already defined as
early as release 4.[5]
The 3GPP is defining IP-based, flat network architecture as part of the System Architecture
Evolution (SAE) effort. LTESAE architecture and concepts have been designed for efficient
support of mass-market usage of any IP-based service. The architecture is based on an evolution
of the existing GSM/WCDMA core network, with simplified operations and smooth, cost-efficient
deployment.

[edit] E-UTRAN Air Interface

Release 8's air interface, E-UTRA (Evolved UTRAN, the E- prefix being common to the evolved
equivalents of older UMTS components) would be used by UMTS operators deploying their own
wireless networks. It's important to note that Release 8 is intended for use over any IP network,
including WiMAX and WiFi, and even wired networks.[6]
The proposed E-UTRAN system uses OFDMA for the downlink (tower to handset) and Single
Carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) for the uplink and employs MIMO with up to four antennas per station.
The channel coding scheme for transport blocks is turbo coding and a contention-free quadratic
permutation polynomial (QPP) turbo code internal interleaver.[7]
The use of OFDM, a system where the available spectrum is divided into many thin carriers, each
on a different frequency, each carrying a part of the signal, enables E-UTRAN to be much more
flexible in its use of spectrum than the older CDMA based systems that dominated 3G. CDMA
networks require large blocks of spectrum to be allocated to each carrier, to maintain high chip
rates, and thus maximize efficiency. Building radios capable of coping with different chip rates
(and spectrum bandwidths) is more complex than creating radios that only send and receive one

17

size of carrier, so generally CDMA based systems standardize both. Standardizing on a fixed
spectrum slice has consequences for the operators deploying the system: too narrow a spectrum
slice would mean the efficiency and maximum bandwidth per handset suffers; too wide a
spectrum slice, and there are deployment issues for operators short on spectrum. This became a
major issue with the US roll-out of UMTS over W-CDMA, where W-CDMA's 5 MHz requirement
often left no room in some markets for operators to co-deploy it with existing GSM standards.
LTE supports both FDD and TDD mode. While FDD makes use of paired spectra for UL and DL
transmission separated by a duplex frequency gap, TDD is alternating using the same spectral
resources used for UL and DL, separated by guard time [8]. Each mode has its own frame structure
within LTE and these are aligned with each other meaning that similar hardware can be used in
the base stations and terminals to allow for economy of scale. The TDD mode in LTE is aligned
with TD-SCDMA as well allowing for coexistence. Ericsson demonstrated at the MWC 2008 in
Barcelona for the first time in the world both LTE FDD and TDD mode on the same base station
platform.

[edit] Downlink
LTE uses OFDM for the downlink that is, from the base station to the terminal. OFDM meets the
LTE requirement for spectrum flexibility and enables cost-efficient solutions for very wide carriers
with high peak rates. It is a well-established technology, for example in standards such as IEEE
802.11a/b/g, 802.16, HIPERLAN-2, DVB and DAB.
In the time domain you have a radio frame that is 10 ms long and consists of 10 sub frames of 1
ms each. Every sub frame consists of 2 slots where each slot is 0.5 ms. The subcarrier spacing in
the frequency domain is 15 kHz. Twelve of these subcarriers together (per slot) is called a
resource block so one resource block is 180 kHz. 6 Resource blocks fit in a carrier of 1.4 MHz
and 100 resource blocks fit in a carrier of 20 MHz.
In the downlink there are three different physical channels. The Physical Downlink Shared
Channel (PDSCH) is used for all the data transmission, the Physical Multicast Channel (PMCH) is
used for broadcast transmission using a Single Frequency Network and the Physical Broadcast
Channel (PBCH) is used to send most important system information within the cell [9]. Supported
modulation formats on the PDSCH are QPSK, 16QAM and 64QAM.
For MIMO operation, a distinction is made between single user MIMO, for enhancing one user's
data throughput, and multi user MIMO for enhancing the cell throughput.

[edit] Uplink
In the uplink, LTE uses a pre-coded version of OFDM called Single Carrier Frequency Division
Multiple Access (SC-FDMA). This is to compensate for a drawback with normal OFDM, which has
a very high Peak to Average Power Ratio (PAPR). High PAPR requires expensive and inefficient
power amplifiers with high requirements on linearity, which increases the cost of the terminal and
drains the battery faster. SC-FDMA solves this problem by grouping together the resource blocks
in such a way that reduces the need for linearity, and so power consumption, in the power
amplifier. A low PAPR also improves coverage and the cell-edge performance.
In the uplink there are two physical channels. While the Physical Random Access Channel
(PRACH) is only used for initial access and when the UE is not uplink synchronized [10], all the data
is being send on the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH). Supported modulation formats
on the uplink data channel are QPSK, 16QAM and 64QAM.

18

If virtual MIMO / Spatial division multiple access (SDMA) is introduced the data rate in the uplink
direction can be increased depending on the number of antennas at the base station. With this
technology more than one mobile can reuse the same resources. [11]

[edit] Technology Demos

In September 2006, Siemens Networks (today Nokia Siemens Networks) showed in

collaboration with Nomor Research the first live emulation of a LTE network to the media
and investors. As live applications two users streaming an HD-TV video in the downlink
and playing an interactive game in the uplink have been demonstrated. [12]

The first presentation of an LTE demonstrator with HDTV streaming (>30 Mbit/s), video
supervision and Mobile IP-based handover between the LTE radio demonstrator and the
commercially available HSDPA radio system was shown during the ITU trade fair in Hong
Kong in December 2006 by Siemens Communication Department.

In February 2007, Ericsson demonstrated for the first time in the world LTE with bit rates
up to 144 Mbit/s[13]

In September 2007, NTT docomo demonstrated LTE data rates of 200 Mbit/s with power
consumption below 100mW during the test.[14]

At the February 2008 Mobile World Congress:

o Motorola demonstrated how LTE can accelerate the delivery of personal media
experience with HD video demo streaming, HD video blogging, Online gaming
and VoIP over LTE running a RAN standard compliant LTE network & LTE
chipset.[15]
o Ericsson demonstrated the worlds first end-to-end LTE call on handheld [16]
Ericsson demonstrated LTE FDD and TDD mode on the same base station
platform.
o Freescale Semiconductor demonstrated streaming HD video with peak data
rates of 96 Mbit/s downlink and 86 Mbit/s uplink . [17]
o NXP Semiconductors demonstrated a multi-mode LTE modem as the basis for a
software-defined radio system for use in cellphones. [18]
o picoChip and Mimoon demonstrated a base station reference design. This runs
on a common hardware platform (multi-mode / software defined radio) with their
WiMAX architecture. [19]

In April 2008, Motorola demonstrated the first EV-DO to LTE hand-off - handing over a
streaming video from LTE to a commercial EV-DO network and back to LTE. [20]

In April 2008, LG Electronics and Nortel demonstrated LTE data rates of 50 Mbit/s while
travelling at 110 km/h. [21]

In April 2008 Ericsson unveiled its M700 mobile platform, the worlds first commercially
available LTE-capable platform, with peak data rates of up to 100 Mbit/s in the downlink
and up to 50 Mbit/s in the uplink. The first products based on M700 will be data devices
such as laptop modems, Expresscards and USB modems for notebooks, as well other
small-form modems suitable for consumer electronic devices. Commercial release is set
for 2009, with products based on the platform expected in 2010.

19

Researchers at Nokia Siemens Networks and Heinrich Hertz Institut have demonstrated
LTE with 100 Mbit/s Uplink transfer speeds.[11]

[edit] Carrier adoption

Most carriers supporting GSM or HSPA networks can be expected to upgrade their networks to
LTE at some stage:

Rogers Wireless has stated that they intend on initially launching their LTE network in
Vancouver by February 2010, just in time for the Winter Olympics. [22]
AT&T Mobility has stated that they intend on upgrading to LTE as their 4G technology, but
will introduce HSUPA and HSPA+ as bridge standards. [23]
Telia Sonera has started network built up in Stockholm and Oslo, and will follow up in
Copenhagen when a license in Denmark has been bought/granted. The networks are still
only for testing. There are no indication of a public live date.
T-Mobile, Vodafone, France Tlcom and Telecom Italia Mobile have also announced or
talked publicly about their commitment to LTE.

Despite initial development of a the rival UMB standard designed as an upgrade path for CDMA
networks, most operators of networks based upon the latter system have also announced their
intent to migrate to LTE, resulting in discontinuation of UMB development.

Verizon Wireless is presently testing its LTE network[24] and Selects Ericsson and AlcatelLucent as Primary Network Vendors for LTE Network.
Bell Mobility plans to start LTE deployment in 2009-2010[25]
Telus Mobility has announced that it will adopt LTE as its 4G wireless standard. [26]
MetroPCS recently announced that it would be using LTE for its upcoming 4G network. [27]
The newly formed China Telecom/Unicom[28] and Japan's KDDI[29] have announced they
have chosen LTE as their 4G network technology.
On Dec 2008 Telia Sonera has signed a contract for world's first commercial LTE network
construction with chinese Huawei Technologies.
In January 2009 Ericsson and TeliaSonera announced the signing of a commercial LTE
network. The roll-out of the 4G mobile broadband network will offer the highest data rates
ever realized, with the best interactivity and quality. This network will cover Swedens
capital Stockholm and the contract is Ericssons first for commercial deployment of LTE.

[edit] See also

E-UTRA
System Architecture Evolution

[edit] References
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

^ a b c A Primer on LTE
^ a b http://cp.literature.agilent.com/litweb/pdf/5989-7898EN.pdf
^ [1]
^ 3GPP TR 22.978 All-IP network (AIPN) feasibility study
^ 3GPP Work Item 31067
^ 3GPP LTE - See System Architecture Evolution
^ 3GPP LTE presentation Kyoto May 22rd 2007

20

8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.

^ Nomor Research Newsletter: Overview LTE Time Division Duplex

^ Nomor Research Newsletter: LTE Physical Layer Signals and Channels
^ Nomor Research Newsletter: LTE Random Access Channel
^ a b Researchers demo 100 Mbit/s MIMO with SDMA / virtual MIMO technology
^ Nomor Research: World's first LTE demonstration
^ [2]
^ NTT DoCoMo develops low power chip for 3G LTE handsets
^ http://www.motorola.com/mediacenter/news/detailpf.jsp?globalObjectId=9249_9178_23
^ [3]
^ Gardner, W. David. "Freescale Semiconductor To Demo LTE In Mobile Handsets", Information
Week, February 8 2008.
^ Walko, John "NXP powers ahead with programmable LTE modem", EETimes, January 30 2008.
^ Walko, John "PicoChip, MimoOn team for LTE ref design", EETimes, February 4 2008.
^ http://www.motorola.com/mediacenter/news/detailpf.jsp?globalObjectId=9422_9351_23
^ Nortel and LG Electronics Demo LTE at CTIA and with High Vehicle Speeds :: Wireless-Watch
Community
^ "Rogers LTE launch details revealed; 4G in Vancouver by February 2010".
http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2009/02/19/rogers-lte-launch-details-revealed/.
^ "AT&T develops wireless broadband plans".
http://www.telecoms.com/itmgcontent/tcoms/news/articles/20017502859.html. Retrieved on 200808-25.
^ Verizon Wireless Tests 4G Mobile Wireless Network
^ Bell announces strategic 3G wireless network investment, maximizing consumer choice in mobile
data and confirming its path forward to 4G LTE wireless
^ reportonbusiness.com: Wireless sales propel Telus results
^ MetroPCS Chooses LTE For 4G Wireless Network
^ CDMA operators will choose LTE, says ZTE
^ Japan's KDDI Selects LTE Core as Next-Generation Mobile Broadband Solution from Hitachi and
Nortel

[edit] Further reading

M. Ergen, "Mobile Broadband - Including WiMAX and LTE", Springer, NY, 2009
H. Ekstrm, A. Furuskr, J. Karlsson, M. Meyer, S. Parkvall, J. Torsner, and M. Wahlqvist,
"Technical Solutions for the 3G Long-Term Evolution," IEEE Commun. Mag., vol. 44, no.
3, March 2006, pp. 3845
E. Dahlman, H. Ekstrm, A. Furuskr, Y. Jading, J. Karlsson, M. Lundevall, and S.
Parkvall, "The 3G Long-Term Evolution - Radio Interface Concepts and Performance
Evaluation," IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference (VTC) 2006 Spring, Melbourne,
Australia, May 2006
K. Fazel and S. Kaiser, Multi-Carrier and Spread Spectrum Systems: From OFDM and
MC-CDMA to LTE and WiMAX, 2nd Edition, John Wiley & Sons, 2008, ISBN 978-0-47099821-2

[edit] External links for more information

3GPP LTE homepage

Public LTE Discussion Forum

[edit] 3GPP Projects and Presentations

3GPP TS 36.300 Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) and Evolved
Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN); Overall description
3GPP AIPN Workitem

21

"3GPP Evolution: LTE and SAE" by Francois Courau at Alcatel (Chairman of 3GPP TSG
RAN)

[edit] Specifications

3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP); Requirements for Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA)
and Evolved UTRAN (E-UTRAN)
3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP); Technical Specification Group Radio Access
Network; Physical Layer Aspects for Evolved UTRA

[edit] Industry reaction

"Mobile Broadband: The Global Evolution of UMTS/HSPA - 3GPP Release 7 and

Beyond" by 3G Americas
Experience LTE by Motorola
Verizon Wireless Global LTE Deployment Plans

[edit] Whitepapers and other information

"LTE performance for initial deployments" by Nokia Siemens Networks

Long Term Evolution (LTE): An Introduction Ericsson White Paper "The Long Term
Evolution of 3G" on Ericsson Review, no. 2, 2005
"3G Long-Term Evolution" by Dr. Erik Dahlman at Ericsson Research
"Long-Term 3G Evolution - Radio Access" by Dr. Stefan Parkvall at Ericsson Research
"3GPP Long-Term Evolution / System Architecture Evolution: Overview" by Ulrich Barth at
Alcatel
Dahlman, Parkvall, Skold and Beming, 3G Evolution: HSPA and LTE for Mobile
Broadband, Academic Press, Oxford, UK, 2007
H. Ekstrm, A. Furuskr, J. Karlsson, M. Meyer, S. Parkvall, J. Torsner, and M. Wahlqvist,
"Technical Solutions for the 3G Long-Term Evolution," IEEE Commun. Mag., vol. 44, no.
3, March 2006, pp. 3845
"3GPP LTE & 3GPP2 LTE Standardization" by Dr. Lee, HyeonWoo at Samsung
Electronics
Nomor Research Newsletter: Overview LTE Time Division Duplex
"Trends in Mobile Network Architectures" by Dr. Michael Schopp at Siemens Networks
"Overview of the 3GPP LTE Physical Layer" by James Zyren and Dr. Wes McCoy,
Freescale Semiconductor
Growing momentum brings LTE closer to becoming a commercial reality

[show]
vde

Mobile telecommunications standards

GSM (2G)GPRS EDGE (EGPRS) EDGE Evolution CSD HSCSD
HSPA HSDPA HSUPA HSPA+ UMTS-TDD UTRA-TDD HCR
UMTS/FOMA (3G)
UTRA-TDD LCR UMTS-FDD Super-Charged

22

3GPP Rel. 8 (Pre-4G)E-UTRA

LTE Advanced (4G)
cdmaOne (2G)
CDMA2000 (3G)EV-DO UMB
AMPS (1G)TACS/ETACS
D-AMPS (2G)
Pre Cellular (0G)PTT MTS IMTS AMTS OLT MTD Autotel/PALM ARP
1GNMT Hicap CDPD Mobitex DataTAC
2GiDEN PDC CSD PHS WiDEN
Pre-4GiBurst HiperMAN WiMAX WiBro GAN (UMA)
[show]
vde

Wireless system generations

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3GPP_Long_Term_Evolution"

Categories: Mobile telecommunications standards | Universal Mobile Telecommunications
System | Internet Protocol
Hidden categories: Wikipedia articles needing style editing from April 2009 | All articles needing
style editing

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

802.11 vs. 3G
Once upon a time, you could hardly open a business magazine without finding a feature that praised third generation
(AKA 3G) (define) wireless telephony as the answer to mobile Internet needs. That was venture capital then. This is
fiscally strapped now.
In theory, 3G wireless networks are capable of throughput up to 384Kbps, which still puts them at the bottom end of
802.11b's range. In practice, though, 3G isn't available in the United States at all except in experimental deployments.

23

Instead, we have telecomms using the "3G" name for what's actually, at best, 2.5G. This is a middle step between what
we currently have, 2G, basic digital service, and the science fiction speeds of 3G. With 2.5G networks, you can transfer
data at rates of up to 114Kbps generally using General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) (define).
So how good is GPRS, really? David Ferris, CEO and analyst for Ferris Research, has "been testing out GPRS
connections with mobile phones in major metropolitan areas in the UK and US. These are now being brought on-stream
by a wide variety of mobile carriers. In a nutshell, GPRS provides an always-on connection to the Internet. To be precise,
GPRS enables per-handset data rates of 9.05-107.2 Kbit/sec depending upon the coding scheme employed and time
slots (from 1-8) allocated to a data packet. In practice, we're finding that transfer speeds of 400 to 1000 bytes/sec are the
norm."
Translated, what this means is that 2.5G is is in no way competition for 802.11 for moving data. As Ferris explains,
performance like this "means that communications need to be kept short, and that, in turn, means most of them will be
text-based. E-mails with attachments will usually take much too long to transfer."
Still, he thinks, that "applications like instant messaging, or distributing appointment information, can be run successfully."
However, instant messaging or Web browsing on 2.5G or 3G phones isn't what 802.11-enabled laptops users think of as
IM or the Web.
On digital phones you must use Short Messaging Service (SMS) (define) or Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS)
(define). Without a special gateway between the SMS/MMS servers and consumer IM clients like AOL Instant Messenger
(AIM), or business-class IM clients such as Lotus Sametime or NetLert, you can't send messages from IM to someone
using MMS or SMS on a digital phone.
On the Web side, for a Web page to be viewed effectively on a digital phone, the signal must be sent in Wireless
Application Protocol (WAP) (define) and the page should be written, not in the usual HyperText Makrup Language (HTML)
(define) used for most Web pages , but in Wireless Markup Language (WML) (define). In short, viewing Web pages with
on 2.5G and 3G is inherently more problematic.
3G is also much more troublesome for telecom carriers to install. To deploy it you must overhaul your wireless
infrastructure and replace it. Of course, you must do the same thing with 802.11 hotspots, but while hotspots have far less
range, a business class hotspot with advanced antennas also can be deployed for about $1500, while all but the smallest
(pico range) 3G base stations start around six figures and move up from there. Anyone can set up a hotspot; only a
telephone carrier or corporation can afford 3G base station.
Expert Opinion
What do the analysts think? It depends. Everyone acknowledges that there was a 22% decline in wireless and mobile
network infrastructure spending in 2002. Research house IDC, for one, in its Worldwide Wireless and Mobile Network
Infrastructure Forecast and Analysis, 2002-2007 study, says that the demand for 2.5 and 3G remains strong. Indeed, IDC
expects annual spending on 2.5 and 3G network infrastructure to grow from $38.3 billion in 2002 to nearly $49 billion in
2007. Wireless phone infrastructure providers like Ericsson, Nokia, and Nortel no doubt hope that IDC is right.
"The essential rationale for deployment of 3G networks -- gaining spectrum efficiencies, easing network capacity
constraints, lowering operating costs, and expanding revenue opportunities through provisioning of data services -remains intact," says Dr. Shiv K. Bakhshi, research manager for the IDC's Wireless and Mobile Network Infrastructure
program. He believes that the rising popularity of MMS and picture messaging will "legitimize the culture of data
consumption in a mobile environment and spur deployment of network infrastructure." But, he notes, it's not just 3G
driving these developments; "public WLANs and hotspots" will also help in this development.
"The WLAN industry will continue to experience stellar growth as deployments in several key markets take place,"
predicts Allied Business Intelligence (ABI) analyst John W. Chang, senior analyst, and some of that growth will come at
3G's expense.
ABI reports in its Worldwide Deployments, Drivers, Players and Forecasts for 802.11x, that "Some of the leading wireless
carriers worldwide, including T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon, have made announcements of deploying WLAN services as
their 3G plans are delayed. WLAN is easier to install and costs far less than setting up a 3G network. In addition, 3G's
data rate of 144 kbps, a portable data rate of 384 kbps, and an in-building fixed rate of 2 Mbps are slow, compared to that
of WLAN. As WLAN moves toward 54 Mbps, it is apparent that 3G cannot compete with the data rate of WLAN. Though
3G will be deployed worldwide due to its voice capacity benefits, telecom carriers are seeing WLAN hotspots as the
immediate revenue generator for data services."
This view is not just that of an analyst looking at plans. On January 29, British Telecomm (BT) announced that it would be
deploying 802.11b--and 802.11a soon--hotspots with three business partners. BT plans to have 4,000 hotspots in place by
the summer of 2005.
According to David Hughes, BT director of mobility, its BT Openzone hotspot customers will pay 10% of the price to
download 1MB of data compared to a 3G user at four times the speed. In short, he declares, "At the moment, it looks like
Wi-Fi is one-tenth of the price of 3G, and four times as fast." Even with 3G's much better range, which would you rather
have?

24

Some analysts, like ABI's director of automotive electronics Frank Viquez, think that, "802.11 promises to have the most
potential, given its minimum raw bandwidth of 10 Mbps and dramatic growth outside the vehicle industry," even when a
wireless data user is traveling at speed.
Can the two technologies get along? Some experts think they can, but given the stalled economy and 802.11's lower
price, deployment costs alone may cause 3G to flounder. Who knows? Instead of 3G laptops in 2007, perhaps we'll have
802.11 mobile phones.

4G - Beyond 2.5G and 3G Wireless Networks

What is 4G?
4G takes on a number of equally true definitions, depending on who you are talking to. In simplest
terms, 4G is the next generation of wireless networks that will replace 3G networks sometimes in
future. In another context, 4G is simply an initiative by academic R&D labs to move beyond the
limitations and problems of 3G which is having trouble getting deployed and meeting its promised
performance and throughput. In reality, as of first half of 2002, 4G is a conceptual framework for
or a discussion point to address future needs of a universal high speed wireless network that will
interface with wireline backbone network seamlessly. 4G is also represents the hope and ideas of
a group of researchers in Motorola, Qualcomm, Nokia, Ericsson, Sun, HP, NTT DoCoMo and
other infrastructure vendors who must respond to the needs of MMS, multimedia and video
applications if 3G never materializes in its full glory.
Motivation for 4G Research Before 3G Has Not Been Deployed?

3G performance may not be sufficient to meet needs of future high-performance

applications like multi-media, full-motion video, wireless teleconferencing. We need a
network technology that extends 3G capacity by an order of magnitude.
There are multiple standards for 3G making it difficult to roam and interoperate across
networks. we need global mobility and service portability

3G is based on primarily a wide-area concept. We need hybrid networks that utilize both
wireless LAN (hot spot) concept and cell or base-station wide area network design.

We need wider bandwidth

Researchers have come up with spectrally more efficient modulation schemes that can
not be retrofitted into 3G infrastructure

We need all digital packet network that utilizes IP in its fullest form with converged voice
and data capability.

Comparing Key Parameters of 4G with 3G

3G (including 2.5G,
sub3G)
Major
Requirement

4G

Predominantly voice driven Converged data and voice

25

Driving
Architecture

- data was always add on

Network
Architecture

Wide area cell-based

Speeds

384 Kbps to 2 Mbps

over IP

Hybrid - Integration of
Wireless LAN (WiFi,
Bluetooth) and wide area
20 to 100 Mbps in mobile
mode

Dependent on country or
Higher frequency bands
continent (1800-2400
(2-8 GHz)
MHz)
Bandwidth
5-20 MHz
100 MHz (or more)
Switching Design
All digital with
Circuit and Packet
Basis
packetized voice
Access
OFDM and MC-CDMA
W-CDMA, 1xRTT, Edge
Technologies
(Multi Carrier CDMA)
Forward Error
Convolutional rate 1/2,
Concatenated coding
Correction
1/3
scheme
Optimized antenna
Smarter Antennas,
Component
design, multi-band
software multiband and
Design
adapters
wideband radios
A number of air link
IP
protocols, including IP
All IP (IP6.0)
5.0
Frequency Band

What is needed to Build 4G Networks of Future?

A number of spectrum allocation decisions, spectrum standardization decisions, spectrum
availability decisions, technology innovations, component development, signal processing and
switching enhancements and inter-vendor cooperation have to take place before the vision of 4G
will materialize. We think that 3G experiences - good or bad, technological or business - will be
useful in guiding the industry in this effort. We are bringing to the attention of professionals in
telecommunications industry following issues and problems that must be analyzed and resolved:

Lower Price Points Only Slightly Higher than Alternatives - The business visionaries
should do some economic modeling before they start 4G hype on the same lines as 3G
hype. They should understand that 4G data applications like streaming video must
compete with very low cost wireline applications. The users would pay only a delta
premium (not a multiple) for most wireless applications.
More Coordination Among Spectrum Regulators Around the World - Spectrum
regulation bodies must get involved in guiding the researchers by indicating which
frequency band might be used for 4G. FCC in USA must cooperate more actively with
International bodies like ITU and perhaps modify its hands-off policy in guiding the
industry. When public interest, national security interest and economic interest (interindustry a la TV versus Telecommunications) are at stake, leadership must come from
regulators. At appropriate time, industry builds its own self-regulation mechanisms.
More Academic Research: Universities must spend more effort in solving fundamental
problems in radio communications (especially multiband and wideband radios, intelligent
antennas and signal processing.

26

Standardization of wireless networks in terms of modulation techniques, switching

schemes and roaming is an absolute necessity for 4G.

A Voice-independent Business Justification Thinking: Business development and

technology executives should not bias their business models by using voice channels as
economic determinant for data applications. Voice has a built-in demand limit - data
applications do not.

Integration Across Different Network Topologies: Network architects must base their
architecture on hybrid network concepts that integrates wireless wide area networks,
wireless LANS (IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.15 and IEEE
802.16, Bluetooth with fiber-based Internet backbone. Broadband wireless networks must
be a part of this integrated network architecture.

Non-disruptive Implementation: 4G must allow us to move from 3G to 4G.

Industry Initiatives

WWRF (Wireless World Research Forum)- consisting of Alcatel, Ericsson, Nokia and
Siemens have started a research forum for 4G
NTT DoCoMo has started conceptual (we mean paper) design of a 4G network.

For More Information - Go to the following resources on this site and cached papers published
elsewhere:

Do a keyword search on our website using 4G Wireless as keywords. You will find more
than 10 references.
A technical paper published in Communications Systems Design Magazine (a CMP
publication) during July 2001 - Fundamental Changes Required in Modulation and Signal
Processing for 4G

All IP Wireless All the Way - Sun's vision of Mobile IP for 4G

Wireless Platforms for the Future: Integrating B-to-C Data Transmission & 4G
Where will it take us? url= http://www.mitforum.com/wireless-forum.htm

4G Wireless Systems in Virtex-II by James A. Watson -- Manager, Applications

Engineering, Xilinx, Inc. (7/1/01 -- Issue 40) jim.watson@xilinx.com

Advanced Networks Beyond 3G - Ultra Wideband

Advanced Networks Beyond 3G - ArrayComm's I-Burst

Advanced Networks Beyond 3G - Flarion's Flash OFDM

4G Topics of Interest - From the Net

(MobileInfo acknowledges and thanks the source. Cached on this site for viewer's
convenience.)

27

All IP Wireless All the Way

(published at Sun's website: http://research.sun.com/features/4g_wireless/)
January 8, 2002 -- Engineers at Sun Microsystems Laboratories are building wireless
technologies that promise to integrate voice and web data in an IP-based mobile communications
system known as the Fourth Generation (4G) wireless network. They are also bringing their
expertise to standards bodies to make sure that 4G protocols are based on open system
solutions. The challenges are considerable, but so is the payoff. It's the difference between truly
mobile, versus merely portable, computing.
Jackson Wong leads a team of engineers who are designing and implementing mobile IP-based
tools and protocols. They are literally helping to set the standard in secure, versatile, and
responsive wireless communication technologies. Some of the tools are bundled in the
Solaris[tm] 8 Operating Environment. Others are in advanced development. The tools and
protocols anticipate an integrated wireless communications core layer based on open systems
solutions also known as "4G" -- the Fourth Generation IP-based wireless network. According to
Wong, Sun Labs engineers "are playing a leading role" on the standards bodies that will define
the 4G universe.
Building a Better Tunnel
Sun Microsystems Laboratories engineers James Kempf and Jonathan Wood design tunnels, but
not the kind that require hard hats to build. Kempf's and Wood's tunnels burrow through the air.
You can't see or touch them, but they are substantial enough to make all the difference in the
world if you happen to be roaming with a cell phone or wireless Internet device.
As we commute, stroll, and otherwise move about, our mobile phone calls and wirelss device
connections get handed off from cell to cell and from network to network. Kempf's and Wood's
tunnels could make possible uninterrupted, mobile cell phone conversations and Internet data
access.
Glitch-free cell phone calls and instant mobile web access loom large as demands of consumers
and the workplace. Mobile consumers want responsive and reliable cell calls, email paging, and
web access. It's the difference between truly mobile, as opposed to merely portable, computing,
and it's a difference that's been underscored since the September 11 attacks on lower Manhattan
that left tens of thousands of workers officeless. (see "Mobile or Portable?" sidebar)
Unfortunately, a maze of outdated and competing standards, proprietary technologies, and
related technical problems is holding back an otherwise promising mobile communications future.
Connection hiccups, echo chamber effects, and dropped calls are so common -- and so
frustrating -- that they actually discourage use. Studies suggest that any delay may stop a mobile
web user from even trying to access the net. Research also suggests that users with reliable,
instant access use the Internet as much as three times more than those who must dial in for each
access.
Help is on the way. The work that Kempf and Wood are doing is part of the Mobile IP (Internet
Protocol) initiative. Mobile IP refers to a group of protocols and implementations that keep cell
phones and mobile Internet devices functioning smoothly as users physically travel through
different network topologies. Mobile IP, together with SCTP, SLP, Diameter, and IP RAN describe
protocols and technologies that Kempf, Wood, Dave Frascone, their colleagues, and team leader
Jackson Wong are pioneering in behalf of a quest: the fourth-generation IP-based wireless
communications network.
According to Kempf, 4G is all about an integrated, global network that's based on an open
systems approach. The goal of 4G is to "replace the current proliferation of core cellular networks
with a single worldwide cellular core network standard based on IP for control, video, packet data,

28

and VoIP," says Kempf. And this, he told an audience at the University of California, Berkeley,
would "provide uniform video, voice, and data services to the cellular handset or handheld
Internet appliance, based entirely on IP." The advantages are as considerable as the challenges.
On Deck: 3G or 4G?
The current and previous generations of wireless communications present an alphabet soup of
acronyms, standards, and technologies with a sprinkling of digital-analog amalgams thrown in for
good measure. These ingredients, as it turns out, reflect the very problems that an all IP-based
core layer might solve.
We are well beyond 1G, which supported the first generation of analog cell phones. Vestiges of
1G survive, though. They include a signaling protocol known as SS7 (Signaling System 7). SS7,
"a crusty signaling technology developed by Ma Bell in the 1960s," according to Kempf, has only
recently become obsolete and remains in wide use.
At the moment, wireless network technologies are somewhere between 2G and 2.5G. The
second generation of mobile communications technology was all about digital PCS. The problem,
however, is that much of the digital network was implemented for, or overlaid onto, proprietary
networking equipment.
Taken together, the 2G/2.5G technologies are far from seamless. They range from spreadspectrum CDMA (Code-Division Multiple Access) in North America to narrow spectrum TDMA
(Time Division Multiple Access) and GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), the de
facto standards in Europe and Asia. In addition to these incompatibilities, both systems feature
relatively slow-speed digital voice with very little bandwidth left over for data.
Expectations for 3G, an ITU specification, run high. They include increased bandwidth: up to 384
Kbps when a device is moving at pedestrian speed, 128 Kbps in a car, and 2 Mbps in fixed
applications. In theory, 3G would work over North American as well as European and Asian
wireless air interfaces. A new air interface, EDGE (Enhanced Data GSM Environment), has been
developed specifically to meet the bandwidth needs of 3G. (EDGE is a faster version of GSM
wireless service.)
In fact, the outlook for 3G is neither clear nor certain. Part of the problem is that network providers
in Europe and North America currently maintain separate standards bodies (3GPP for Europe
and Asia; 3GPP2 for North America). The standards bodies mirror differences in air interface
technologies.
In addition to 3G's technical challenges there are financial questions. Not the least of these is the
expense of building out systems based on less-than-compatible 2G technologies.
These technological and financial issues cast a shadow over 3G's desirability. "There is some
concern that 3G will never happen," says Kempf. That concern is grounded, in part, in the
growing attraction of 4G wireless technologies.
IP in the Sky
An all IP-based 4G wireless network has intrinsic advantages over its predecessors. For starters,
IP is compatible with, and independent of, the actual radio access technology. "With IP, you
basically get rid of the lock-in between the core networking protocol and the link layer, the radio
protocol," says Kempf.
"IP tolerates a variety of radio protocols. It lets you design a core network that gives you complete
flexibility as to what the access network is," observes Kempf. "You could be a core network
provider that supports many different access technologies, 802.11, WCDMA, Bluetooth,
HyperLAN, and some that we haven't even invented yet, such as some new CDMA protocols." An
all IP network's technology tolerance means unimpeded innovation all around. "The core [IP]
network can evolve independently from the access network. That's the key for using all IP," says
Kempf.

29

A 4G IP wireless network enjoys a financial adantage over 3G as well. According to Kempf, 4G

"equipment costs are four to ten times cheaper than equivalent circuit-switched equipment for 2G
and 3G wireless infrastructure." An open systems IP wireless environment would probably further
reduce costs for service providers by ushering in an era of real equipment interoperability.
Wireless service providers would no longer be bound by single-system vendors of proprietary
equipment.
An IP wireless network would replace the old SS7 (Signaling System 7) telecommunications
protocol, a task that many believe to be long overdue. "The SS7 network is massively redundent,"
says Kempf. That's because SS7 signal transmission uses a heartbeat that consumes a large
part of the network bandwidth even when there is no signaling traffic. IP networks use other less
bandwidth-expensive mechanisms to achieve reliability.
Last but not least, an all-IP wireless core network would enable services that are sufficiently
varied for consumers. That means improved data access for mobile Internet devices. Today,
wireless communications are heavily biased toward voice, even though studies indicate that
growth in wireless data traffic is rising exponentially relative to demand for voice traffic. (In
response, the 802.11 data transfer protocol, a wireless LAN standard developed by IEEE, has
attracted much interest as a distinct data access technology that can work on a variety radio of
spectrums, including infrared.) Because an all IP core layer is easily scalable, it is ideally suited to
meet this challenge. "The goal," says Kempf, "is a merged data/voice/multimedia network."
The inherent advantages of 4G have some people thinking that we may leapfrog from 2.5G to
4G. As team leader Jackson Wong puts it, "we are not working on the next (3G) generation of
telco communications, but two generations out." This, says Wong, means proceeding on two
fronts: working the standards organizations to advance international acceptance of 4G protocols,
and developing technology to support IP wireless solutions.
At Sun Microsystems, work is proceeding on a variety of 4G technologies and protocols

30

Comparison of wireless data

standards
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

The neutrality of this article is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page.
Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. (January 2009)
The following is a comparison of various wireless data access standards and their performance
by several different measures.

Contents
[hide]

1 Introduction
2 Standards
o 2.1 Wide Area
o 2.2 Local Area
o 2.3 Personal Area
3 Overview
4 Throughput
5 Latency
6 Spectral use and efficiency
o 6.1 Frequency
o 6.2 Notes
7 Deployment size
8 References
9 See also

10 Reference list

[edit] Introduction
A wide variety of different wireless data technologies now exist, some in direct competition with
one another, others designed to be optimal for specific applications. Wireless technologies can be
evaluated by a variety of different metrics described below.

31

Of the standards evaluated, these can be grouped as follows:

UWB, Bluetooth, ZigBee, and Wireless USB are intended for use as so called Wireless PAN
systems. They are intended for short range communication between devices typically controlled
by a single person. A keyboard might communicate with a computer, or a mobile phone with a
handsfree kit, using any of these technologies.
WiFi is the most successful system intended for use as a WLAN system. A WLAN is an
implementation of a LAN over a microcellular wireless system. Such systems are used to provide
wireless Internet access (and access to other systems on the local network such as other
computers, shared printers, and other such devices) throughout a private property. Typically a
WLAN offers much better bandwidth and latency than the user's Internet connection, being
designed as much for local communication as for access to the Internet, and while WiFi may be
offered in many places as an Internet access system, access speeds are usually more limited by
the shared Internet connection and number of users than the technology itself. Other systems
that provide WLAN functionality include DECT and HIPERLAN.
GPRS, EDGE and 1xRTT are bolt-ons to existing 2G cellular systems, providing Internet access
to users of existing 2G networks (it should be noted that technically both EDGE and 1xRTT are
3G standards, as defined by the ITU, but are generally deployed on existing networks.) 3G
systems such as EV-DO, W-CDMA (including HSDPA and HSUPA) provide combined circuit
switched and packet switched data and voice services as standard, usually at better data rates
than the 2G extensions. All of these services can be used to provide combined mobile phone
access and Internet access at remote locations. Typically GPRS and 1xRTT are used to provide
stripped down, mobile phone oriented, Internet access, such as WAP, multimedia messaging,
and the downloading of ring-tones, whereas EV-DO and HSDPA's higher speeds make them
suitable for use as a broadband replacement.
Pure packet-switched only systems can be created using 3G network technologies, and UMTSTDD is one example of this. Alternatively, next generation systems such as WiMAX also provide
pure packet switched services with no need to support the circuit switching services required for
voice systems. WiMAX is available in multiple configurations, including both NLOS and LOS
variants. UMTS-TDD, WiMAX, and proprietary systems such as Canopy are used by Wireless
ISPs to provide broadband access without the need for direct cable access to the end user.
Some systems are designed for point-to-point line-of-sight communications, such as RONJA and
IrDA; once 2 such nodes get too far apart to directly communicate, they can no longer
communicate. Other systems are designed to form a wireless mesh network using one of a
variety of routing protocols. In a mesh network, when 2 nodes get too far apart to directly
communicate, they can still indirectly communicate through intermediate nodes.

[edit] Standards
The following standards are included in this comparison.

[edit] Wide Area

iBurst:
Flash-OFDM: FLASH(Fast Low-latency Access with Seamless Handoff)-OFDM
(Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing)
Wi-Fi: 802.11 standard
WiMAX: 802.16 standard

32

UMTS over W-CDMA

UMTS-TDD
EV-DO x1 Rev 0, Rev A, Rev B and x3 standards.
HSPA D and U standards.
RTT
GPRS
EDGE

[edit] Local Area

WiFi: 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n standards.

[edit] Personal Area

Bluetooth
Wibree
ZigBee
Z-Wave
Wireless USB
UWB
EnOcean
6loWPAN
ONE-NET

[edit] Overview
vde

Standard

LTE

802.16

Flash-OFDM

Comparison of Mobile Internet Access methods

Downlink Uplink
Primary
(Mbit/s) (Mbit/s)
Family
Radio Tech
Use
UMTS/4GS
OFDMA/MIMO/S
General 4G
326.4
M
C-FDMA

WiMAX

Mobile
Internet

FlashOFDM

Mobile
Internet
mobility up to Flash-OFDM
200mph
(350km/h)

HIPERMAN HIPERMAN
Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi

MIMO-SOFDMA

86.4

5.3
10.6
15.9

1.8
3.6
5.4

Mobile
OFDM
56.9
Internet
Mobile Intern OFDM/MIMO/CD
108
et
MA

Notes
LTE-Advanced
update to offer
over 1 Gbit/s
speeds.
WiMAX II IMTAdvanced
update to offer
over 1 Gbit/s
speeds.
Mobile range
18miles
(30km)
extended
range 34 miles
(55km)

56.9
108

Mobile range
(3km)

33

iBurst
EDGE
Evolution

iBurst
802.20
GSM

Mobile Intern HC64

et
SDMA/TDD/MIMO
Mobile Intern
TDMA/FDD
1.9
et

UMTS WCDMA/FDD
CDMA
0.384
UMTS/3GS
HSDPA+HSUP
General 3G
14.4
M
CDMA/FDD/MIM
A
42
O
HSPA+

UMTS-TDD

1xRTT

UMTS/3GS Mobile
M
Internet

CDMA2000

Mobile
phone

EV-DO 1x Rev.
0
Mobile
EV-DO 1x Rev. CDMA2000
Internet
A
EV-DO Rev.B

64
0.9

0.384
5.76
11.5

CDMA/TDD

16

16

CDMA

0.144

0.144

CDMA/FDD

2.45
3.1
4.9xN

0.15
1.8
1.8xN

312 km
3GPP Release
7
HSDPA widely
deployed.
Typical
downlink rates
today 2 Mbit/s,
~200 kbit/s
uplink; HSPA+
downlink up to
42 Mbit/s.
Reported
speeds
according to
IPWireless
using 16QAM
modulation
similar to
HSDPA+HSUP
A
Succeeded by
EV-DO
Rev B note: N
is the number
of 1.25 MHz
chunks of
spectrum used.
Not yet
deployed.

Notes: All speeds are theoretical maximums and will vary by a number of factors, including the
use of external antennae, distance from the tower and the ground speed (e.g. communications on
a train may be poorer than when standing still). Usually the bandwidth is shared between several
terminals. The performance of each technology is determined by a number of constraints,
including the spectral efficiency of the technology, the cell sizes used, and the amount of
spectrum available. For more information, see Comparison of wireless data standards.

[edit] Throughput
The throughput is the data rate of the standard. The theoretical maximum throughput is the
throughput rate available to a single connection under ideal circumstances. These speeds may
not be achieved regularly in typical usage.
For PAN and LAN standards like WiFi these levels of performance are attainable under ideal
radio conditions (that is, a complete lack of interference and at close range without obstacles).
For WAN standards, though, these figures are often impractical to achieve (for instance they
assume you are the only user in the cell) or are not implemented or provisioned by any providers
in such a way.
The typical throughput is what users have experienced most of the time when well-within the
usable range to the base station. This value is not known for the newest experimental standards.

34

Note that these figures cannot be used to predict the performance of any given standard in any
given environment, but rather as benchmarks against which actual experience might be
compared.
Throughput (Mbit/s)
Standard
Max Downlink
Max Uplink
Range
Typical Downlink
CDMA RTT 1x
0.3072
0.1536
~18 mi
0.125
CDMA EV-DO Rev. 0
2.4580
0.1536
~18 mi
0.75
CDMA EV-DO Rev. A
3.1000
1.8000
~18 mi
CDMA EV-DO Rev. B
4.9000
1.8000
~18 mi
GSM GPRS Class 10
0.0856
0.0428
~16 mi
0.014
GSM EDGE type 2
0.4736
0.4736
~16 mi
0.034
GSM EDGE Evolution
1.8944
0.9472
~16 mi
UMTS W-CDMA R99
0.3840
0.3840
~18 mi
0.195
UMTS W-CDMA HSDPA 14.400
0.3840
up to 124mi[1] 4.1 (Tre 2007)
UMTS W-CDMA HSUPA 14.400
5.7600
up to 124mi[1]
UMTS W-CDMA HSPA+ 42.000
22.000
up to 124mi[1]
UMTS-TDD
16.000[2]
16.000
LTE
326.4
86.4
iBurst: iBurst
24
8
~7.5 mi
>2
Flash-OFDM: Flash-OFDM 5.3
1.8
~18 mi
avg 2.5
WiMAX: 802.16e
70.000
70.000
~4 mi
>10
WiFi: 802.11a
54.000
54.000
WiFi: 802.11b
11.000
11.000
~30 meters 2
WiFi: 802.11g
54.000
54.000
~30 meters 10
WiFi: 802.11n
200.00
200.00
~50 meters 40
Downlink is the throughput from the base station to the user handset or computer.
Uplink is the throughput from the user handset or computer to the base station.
Range is the maximum range possible to receive data at 25% of the typical rate.

[edit] Latency
The latency is the time taken for the smallest packet to travel between the user terminal and base
station.

[edit] Spectral use and efficiency

[edit] Frequency
Allocated Frequencies

Standard

Frequencies

Spectrum Type

UMTS over W-CDMA

850 MHz, 1.9, 1.9/2.1, and 1.7/2.1

Licensed (Cellular/PCS/3G/AWS)

35

GHz

UMTS-TDD

450, 850 MHz, 1.9, 2, 2.5, and 3.5 Licensed (Cellular, 3G TDD, BRS/IMTGHz[3]
ext, FWA)
2 GHz
Unlicensed (see note)

CDMA2000 (inc. EV-DO,

1xRTT)

450, 850, 900 MHz 1.7, 1.8, 1.9,

and 2.1 GHz

Licensed (Cellular/PCS/3G/AWS)

EDGE/GPRS

850 MHz 900 MHz 1.8 GHz 1.9

GHz

Licensed (Cellular/PCS/PCN)

iBurst

1.8, 1.9 and 2.1 GHz

Licensed

Flash-OFDM

450 and 870 MHz

Licensed

802.16e

2.3, 2.5, 3.5, 3.7 and 5.8 GHz

Licensed

802.11a

5.25, 5.6 and 5.8 GHz

Unlicensed 802.11a and ISM

802.11b/g/n

2.4 GHz

Unlicensed ISM

Bluetooth

2.4 GHz

Unlicensed ISM

Wibree

2.4 GHz

Unlicensed ISM

ZigBee

868 MHz, 915 MHz, 2.4 GHz

Unlicensed ISM

Wireless USB, UWB

3.1 to 10.6 GHz

Unlicensed Ultrawideband

EnOcean

868.3 MHz

Unlicensed ISM

[edit] Notes
36

Where X/YxHz is used (eg 1.7/2.1 GHz), the first frequency is used for the uplink
channels and the second for the downlink channels.
Unlicensed frequencies vary in how they can be used. 802.11a can make use of both
802.11a-only spectrum and ISM spectrum around 5-6 GHz. A portion of the 2010 MHz
spectrum is allocated to unlicensed UMTS-TDD in Europe, but cannot be used for other
standards, whereas ISM bands can generally be used for any technology. This improved
flexibility does have the downside that ISM bands are often over-used with incompatible,
interfering, technologies.
Unlicensed bands vary from country to country. Most have a 2.4 GHz ISM band, but other
bands are only available in certain countries and non ISM bands have restrictions as
noted above.
In Europe, part of the 2 GHz 3G TDD band is designated as unlicensed, but where
available is restricted to UMTS TDD operation.[4] To date, this has been left unused and
some jurisdictions are re-allocating it to licensed use only.
AMPS/CDMA users tend to refer to 850 MHz band as 800 MHz, whereas 850 MHz is
closer and is used by the GSM/UMTS community. For consistency, it is referred to here
as 850 MHz.

[edit] Deployment size

Allocated Spectrum per Channel
(MHz)

Spectrum

Spectral efficiency
(Bits per second per Hz)

Standard Downlink Uplink

Standard
Total

iBurst

4.88

1.59

802.16e

1.91

0.84

Variable EVDO 1x A

0.85

0.36

Uplink Downlink

iBurst

802.16e

10

802.11a

20

EVDO 3x B

0.93

0.28

802.11b

20

HSDPA

0.78

0.14

802.11g

20

HSUPA

0.78

0.30

802.11n

20 or
40

Variable

37

EVDO 1x A

2.4

1.25

1.25

EVDO 3x B

10

UMTS (WCDMA)

10

UMTS-TDD

5/TDD

5/TDD

[edit] References
1. ^ a b c Ericsson, Telstra Achieve World's First 200km Cell Range Mobile Broadband
Coverage
2. ^ IPWireless
3. ^ UMTS-TDD developer's frequency notes
4. ^ ERC/DEC/(99)25 EU Recommendation on UMTS TDD, Annex 1, points 5 and 6

[edit] See also

Comparison of mobile phone standards

List of device bandwidths
OFDM system comparison table
Spectral efficiency comparison table

[edit] Reference list

iBurst - Information
Flash-OFDM - Information & Overview
Mobile WiMAX - Part I: A Technical Overview and Performance Evaluation
Mobile WiMAX Part II: A Comparative Analysis
802.11b/a - A physical medium comparison
Bluetooth: How Bluetooth technology works
Bluetooth: Compare with other technologies
Bluetooth: Specification Documents
A Comparison of Bluetooth and IEEE 802.11
IEEE 802.11 Standard Overview
The Next Generation of Wireless LAN Emerges with 802.11n
Mobile Broadband: The Global Evolution of UMTS/HSPA 3GPP Release 7 and Beyond
Mobile Broadband: EDGE, HSPA and LTE
Edge: Enhanced data rates for GSM and TDMA 136 evolution
The Challenges of Using MIMO
Using Advanced Signal Analysis to Identify Sources of WLAN Transmitter Degradations

38

Google Map showing use of Low Power Radio technologies in Smart Grid/Smart
Metering Initiatives

[hide]
vde

Mobile telecommunications standards

GPRS EDGE (EGPRS) EDGE Evolution
GSM (2G)
CSD HSCSD

3GPP Family

HSPA HSDPA HSUPA HSPA+ UMTSUMTS/FOMA (3G)TDD UTRA-TDD HCR UTRA-TDD LCR
UMTS-FDD Super-Charged
3GPP Rel. 8 (Pre-4G)E-UTRA
LTE Advanced (4G)
cdmaOne (2G)

3GPP2 Family
CDMA2000 (3G)EV-DO UMB
AMPS (1G)TACS/ETACS
AMPS Family
D-AMPS (2G)
PTT MTS IMTS AMTS OLT MTD
Pre Cellular (0G)
Autotel/PALM ARP
Other Technologies

1GNMT Hicap CDPD Mobitex DataTAC

2GiDEN PDC CSD PHS WiDEN
Pre-4GiBurst HiperMAN WiMAX WiBro GAN (UMA)

Frequency Bands Cellular GSM UMTS PCS SMR

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