LTE is a newly introduced technology of cellular network which enables to flow the data up to 100 Mbps for downlink and 50 Mbps for uplink. The basic technology of LTE is not using WCDMA (Wide-band CDMA) that being used by GSM Provider to deploy its 3G networks, but using OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access). This OFDMA is currently known widely in the WiMAX and DVB-T. However in terms of frequency, LTE is a successor of HSPA (High Speed Packet Access), therefore it uses same UMTS/CDMA frequency and requires bandwidth up to 20MHz.
There are several advantages offered by LTE:
- Spectrum efficiency offered by OFDMA and efficient battery consumption offered by SCFDMA (Single Carrier FDMA) used by LTE uplink makes this technology is being preferred.
- MIMO (Multiple Input/Multiple Output) system of LTE can offer higher data throughput rather than conventional system as there are 2 antennas located at base station side and equipment side.
- The development of LTE is referring to EUTRA (Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access) which unify important radio network functions and has direct connectivity to access gateway through S1 interface.
- LTE provides broadband wireless connectivity enabling some broadband applications, such as: internet download, real-time on-line games, and video-on-demand.
