What is LTE?

LTE is an abbreviation for long term evolution. It started after specification in the third generation partnership project (3GPP) release 8. It falls under the category of 4G wireless mobile telecommunication technology. According to 3GPP, the standardization of LTE was in order to have a technology which can provide data rates of 100 Mbps in the Downlink (DL) and at least 50 Mbps in the UpLink (UL) for a 20 MHz bandwidth.

1. LTE uses Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDMA) in the downlink, while it uses Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) in the Uplink.
2. It provides flexible combination of spectrum allocation ranging from 1.4 MHz up to 20 MHz. It allows good power efficiency which in turn allows longer battery life of mobile terminals (user handset phones) also known as user equipment (UE).
3. If we deploy LTE on wide bandwidth carriers such as 10 – 20 MHz, a very high data rate can be provided, enhancing the user experience for services such as Mobile broadband, Mobile TV etc.