Are you curious about the LTE symbol on your smartphone? It is one of the many wireless standards that allow you to communicate on the go. But what does LTE mean and how does it differ from 5G?
A 4G standard
LTE or Long Term Evolution is a 4G wireless broadband standard used by mobile carriers to offer data and voice services on your phone. It provides faster internet speeds and lower latency than 3G. As a result, you can stream videos, play games, and make high-speed data transfers right in the palm of your hand.
LTE is used primarily on smartphones and mobile hotspots. But you will also find the technology on some smartwatches, tablets, laptops and other devices.
While LTE is often marketed as 4G LTE, it technically does not meet the criteria for a 4G wireless service set by the ITU Radiocommunications Sector (ITU-R). The ITU-R is a unit of the International Telecommunication Union and is responsible for developing communications standards, such as 4G. According to ITU-R, a true 4G network delivers maximum data transmission speeds of at least 100 Mbps in motion and at least 1 Gbps while stationary.
However, as mobile carriers could not achieve these speeds, ITU-R relaxed the requirements so that LTE could be marketed as a 4G technology. The ITU-R said that any wireless technology that provides “a significant level of performance and capability improvement” over the original 3G network could also be considered 4G.
What are LTE Advanced and LTE Advanced Pro?
LTE Advanced and LTE Advanced Pro are enhanced versions of the LTE standard and are capable of delivering even faster Internet speeds. Theoretically, LTE Advanced can deliver a maximum data transfer rate of 1 Gbps, and Advanced Pro can reach up to 3 Gbps. As a result, both LTE Advanced and Advanced Pro meet the technical requirements of true 4G.
Fortunately, both LTE Advanced and LTE Advanced Pro are backward compatible, and standard LTE devices can work with these networks. But unfortunately you do not get the enhanced benefits.
Many LTE networks around the world have already been upgraded to LTE Advanced. And it is represented by LTE +, 4G + or LTE-A symbols on your phone instead of the usual LTE or 4G.
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How does LTE work?
Cellular standards have traditionally used both circuit-switched and packet-switched networks to provide voice and data services to their consumers. While a circuit-switched network establishes a dedicated connection to the person at the other end and maintains the connection until a call is completed, a packet-switching network, on the other hand, uses data packets to transfer information from one device to another over a digital network. These data packets are free to take the least resistance path to reach their destination and do not need a dedicated line.
Unlike 2G and 3G technologies, LTE uses a completely packet-switched network. As a result, there is no circuit switching to make voice calls. Instead, VoLTE or voice-over LTE is used to handle voice calls. That said, LTE supports the circuit-switched fallback (CSFB) option to allow voice calls over existing 3G and 2G networks when a phone does not support VoLTE or LTE is not available. In fact, providers often used CSFB during the early LTE implementations. But VoLTE is pretty common now.
LTE makes efficient use of existing network bandwidth to provide faster Internet speeds and low latency. This is possible thanks to technologies like MIMO or Multiple Input Multiple Output, Carrier Aggregation, multi-carrier modulation and more.
LTE vs. 5G
Although LTE is still a dominant mobile technology standard worldwide, 5G or fifth-generation wireless broadband technologies are rapidly gaining ground. A number of wireless providers around the world, including in North America, are rolling out their 5G network, which promises faster Internet speed, reliability and bandwidth.
So with a 5G network you can expect to upload or download data at a much higher speed than LTE. It will also allow you to enjoy data- and bandwidth-intensive applications and services like cloud gaming, high definition streaming, etc.
Fifth generation networks are theoretically capable of delivering download speeds of up to 10 Gbps. However, these top data speeds are only possible with high frequency mmWave 5G bands. 5G can also use the sub-6GHz frequency bands, but the internet speeds in these frequency bands will not be as high as mmWave 5G, however still more than LTE speeds.
And since 5G networks are still in their growth phase, it will take time to mature as LTE has matured over the years. In addition, since 5G is a new technology and it is not backward compatible, like any other previous network generation, you need a 5G compatible device to experience it. So for example, your LTE phone will not be able to connect to a 5G network.
All in all, while 5G offers several advantages over LTE, it is not quite ready to replace LTE yet. So in the next few years, we will at least see 5G and LTE coexist and complement each other.
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