LTE (Long Term Evolution)

LTE is the first technology designed explicitly for Next Generation Networking (NGN) and is set
to become the de-facto NGN mobile access network standard. It takes advantage of NGN
capabilities to provide an always-on mobile data experience comparable to wired networks.

LTE supports peak data rates of more than 100 Mbps on the downlink when using 20
MHz channel bandwidth, two transmit antennas at the base station and two receive
antennas at the User Equipment (UE). LTE also supports peak data rates of more than
50 Mbps on the uplink when using a 20 MHz channel bandwidth; and single transmit
antennas at the UE and base station.
LTE generates ten to twelve times the throughput on the downlink and eight to ten times
the throughput on the uplink relative to 3GPP Release 6.
LTE improves spectrum efficiency as defined relative to Release 6. The uplink and
downlink capabilities are two to four times the spectral efficiency of High-Speed Packet
Access (HSPA).
LTE has flexible duplex methods. Both Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) and Time
Division Duplex (TDD) are valid spectrum allocations and allow LTE to accommodate
various channel bandwidths in the available spectrum.
LTE interoperates with W-CDMA, GSM, and CDMA2000 systems. Multimode UEs will
support handover to and from these other systems.
Legacy technologies such as HSPA+ and Enhanced EDGE will continue to operate
within the new network architecture.

Downlink Key Features

Uplink Key Features

OFDM based, 15 kHz sub-carrier spacing

QPSK, 16QAM, 64QAM modulation
Variable RF bandwidth, 1.4 - 20 MHz
MIMO in the form of transmit diversity or
spatial multiplexing

Scheduling, link adaptation, HARQ and

measurements similar to 3.5G

Single Carrier FDMA, 15 kHz sub-carrier

spacing
QPSK, 16QAM, 64QAM modulation
Variable RF bandwidth, 1.4 - 20 MHz
Scheduling, link adaptation, HARQ and
measurements similar to 3.5G
Random access procedures

TDD/FDD Access - LTE standards support the use of both TDD (Time Domain Duplex) and FDD
(Frequency Domain Duplex) from the same set of standards, and with the same air interface
characteristics.
Multiple Input Multiple Out (MIMO) - MIMO is an antenna technology that, together with signal
processing, can either increase capacity (spatial multiplexing) or signal-to-noise ratio (transmit
diversity) in a radio link.
In LTE using 2x2 MIMO with spatial multiplexing, the user data is separated into two data sets each
fed to two transmit antennas and received by two receive antennas. Because of multi-path, each
data set travels a distinct RF path with different propagation characteristics. The algorithm used to
split and recombine the data allows the system to make use of the independence of these two paths
in order to improve throughput. The two data streams occupy the same RF channel at the same
time. This doubles the data rate possible on the air interface link.