1

(GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, LTE

and)
Global System for Mobile communications
2
GSM History
Year Events
1982
CEPT establishes a GSM group in order to develop the standards for a pan-European
cellular mobile system
1985 Adoption of a list of recommendations to be generated by the group
1986
Field tests were performed in order to test the different radio techniques proposed for the
air interface
1987
TDMA is chosen as access method (in fact, it will be used with FDMA) Initial
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by telecommunication operators
(representing 12 countries)
1988 Validation of the GSM system
1989 The responsibility of the GSM specifications is passed to the ETSI
1990 Appearance of the phase 1 of the GSM specifications
1991 Commercial launch of the GSM service
1992
Enlargement of the countries that signed the GSM- MoU> Coverage of larger
cities/airports
1993 Coverage of main roads GSM services start outside Europe
1995 Phase 2 of the GSM specifications Coverage of rural areas
3
GSM world coverage map
4
5
Differences Between First and Second
Generation Systems
Digital traffic channels first-generation systems are
almost purely analog; second-generation systems are
digital
Encryption all second generation systems provide
encryption to prevent eavesdropping
Error detection and correction second-generation digital
traffic allows for detection and correction, giving clear
voice reception
Channel access second-generation systems allow
channels to be dynamically shared by a number of users
6
7
GSM network
The GSM network can be divided into four subsystems:
The Mobile Station (MS).
The Base Station Subsystem (BSS).
The Network and Switching Subsystem (NSS).
The Operation and Support Subsystem (OSS).
GSM Network Architecture
9
Mobile Station
Mobile station communicates across Um interface (air
interface) with base station transceiver in same cell as
mobile unit
Mobile equipment (ME) physical terminal, such as a
telephone or PCS
ME includes radio transceiver, digital signal
processors and subscriber identity module (SIM)
GSM subscriber units are generic until SIM is inserted
SIMs roam, not necessarily the subscriber devices
10
Base Station Subsystem (BSS)
BSS consists of base station controller and one or more base
transceiver stations (BTS)
Each BTS defines a single cell
Includes radio antenna, radio transceiver and a link to a base
station controller (BSC)
BSC reserves radio frequencies, manages handoff of mobile unit
from one cell to another within BSS, and controls paging
The BSC (Base Station Controller) controls a group of BTS and
manages their radio ressources. A BSC is principally in charge of
handovers, frequency hopping, exchange functions and control of
the radio frequency power levels of the BTSs.
11
Network Subsystem (NS)
NS provides link between cellular network and public
switched telecommunications networks
Controls handoffs between cells in different BSSs
Authenticates users and validates accounts
Enables worldwide roaming of mobile users
Central element of NS is the mobile switching center
(MSC)
12
Mobile Switching Center (MSC)
Databases
Home location register (HLR) database stores
information about each subscriber that belongs to it
Visitor location register (VLR) database maintains
information about subscribers currently physically in the
region
Authentication center database (AuC) used for
authentication activities, holds encryption keys
Equipment identity register database (EIR) keeps track of
the type of equipment that exists at the mobile station
13
The Operation and Support Subsystem (OSS)

The OSS is connected to the different components of the
NSS and to the BSC, in order to control and monitor the
GSM system. It is also in charge of controlling the traffic
load of the BSS.
However, the increasing number of base stations, due to
the development of cellular radio networks, has provoked
that some of the maintenance tasks are transferred to the
BTS. This transfer decreases considerably the costs of the
maintenance of the system.
14
GSM Channel Types
Traffic channels (TCHs)
carry digitally encoded user speech or user data and have
identical functions and formats on both the forward and
reverse link.
Control channels (CCHs)
carry signaling and synchronizing commands between
the base station and the mobile station. Certain types of
control channels are defined for just the forward or
reverse link.
15
How a Cellular Telephone Call is Made
All base stations continuously send out identification
signals (ID) of equal, fixed strength. When a mobile unit
is picked up and goes off-hook, it senses these
identification signals and identifies the strongest. This
tells the phone which cell it is in and should he associated
with. The phone then signals to that cell's base station
with its ID code, and the base station passes this to the
MSC, which keeps track of this phone and its present cell
in its database. The phone is told what channel to use for
talking, is given a dial tone, and the call activity proceeds
just like a regular call. All the nontalking activity is done
on a setup channel with digital codes.
16
Mobile unit initialisation
Mobile-originated call
Paging
Call accepted
Ongoing call
Handoff
17
GSM Radio interface
Frequency allocation
Two frequency bands, of 25 Mhz each one, have been
allocated for the GSM system:
The band 890-915 Mhz has been allocated for the uplink
direction (transmitting from the mobile station to the base
station).
The band 935-960 Mhz has been allocated for the
downlink direction (transmitting from the base station to
the mobile station).

18
Multiple access scheme
In GSM, a 25 MHz frequency band is divided, using a
FDMA, into 124 carrier frequencies spaced one from
each other by a 200 kHz frequency band.
Each carrier frequency is then divided in time using a
TDMA. This scheme splits the radio channel into 8
bursts.
A burst is the unit of time in a TDMA system, and it lasts
approximately 0.577 ms.
A TDMA frame is formed with 8 bursts and lasts,
consequently, 4.615 ms.
Each of the eight bursts, that form a TDMA frame, are
then assigned to a single user.
19
GSM bands
20
21
Maximum number of
simultaneous calls =
[(124) 8] / N = 330
(if N=3)
22
Multiframe components
23
GSM frame format
24
TDMS format
Trail bits: synchronisation between mobile and BS.
Encrypted bits: data is encrypted in blocks, Two 57-bit fields
Stealing bit: indicate data or stolen for urgent control signaling
Training sequence: a known sequence that differs for different
adjacent cells. It indicates the received signal is from the correct
transmitter and not a strong interfering transmitter. It is also used for
multipath equalisation. 26 bits.
Guide bits: avoid overlapping, 8.25 bits
25
26
Data rate
channel data rate in GSM
(1/120 ms) 26 8 156.25 = 270.8 33Kbps
User data rate
Each user channel receives one slot per frame

kbps 8 . 22
am ms/multifr 120
iframe slots/mult 24 bits/slot 114

kbps 13
am ms/multifr 120
iframe slots/mult 24 bits/slot data 65

With error control

Traffic Channels
27
full rate channels offer a data rate of 22.8 kBit/s:
speech data: used as 13 kBit/s voice data plus FEC data
packet data: used as 12, 6, or 3.6 kBit/s plus FEC data
half rate channels offer 11.4 kBit/s:
speech data: improved codecs have rates of 6.5 kBit/s,
plus FEC
packet data: can be transmitted at 3 or 6 kBit/s
Two half rate channels can share one physical channel
Consequence: to achieve higher packet data rates, multiple
logical channels have to be allocated =) this is what GPRS
does
28
Speech coding
There are 260 bits coming out of a voice coder every 20 ms.
260 bits/20ms = 13 kbps
These 260 bits are divided into three classes:
Class Ia having 50 bits and are most sensitive to errors
3-bit CRC error detection code 53, then protected by a
Convolutional (2,1,5) error correcting code.
Class Ib contains 132 bits which are reasonably sensitive
to bit errors--protected by a Convolutional (2,1,5) error
correcting code.
Class II contains 78 bits which are slightly affected by bit
errors unprotected
After channel coding: 260 bits 456bits
29
Channel coding: block coding Then Convolutional coding
30
31
32
Signal Processing in GSM
33
34
35
Global Wireless Frequency Bands
GSM frequency allocations
36
Mobile phone
transmit frequency MHz
Base station transmit
frequency MHz
Vodafone GSM 900 890 - 894.6 -23 chs 935 - 939.6
O2 (BT) GMS 900 894.8 - 902 939.8 - 947
Vodafone GSM 900 902 - 910 947 - 955
O2 (BT) GMS 900 910 - 915 955 - 960
Vodafone GSM 1800
& O2 GSM 1800:
1710 - 1721.5 1805 - 1816.5
T Mobile GSM 1800 1721.5 - 1751.5 1816.5 - 1846.5
Orange GSM 1800: 1751.5 - 1781.5 1846.5 - 1876.5
Evolution from 2G
IS-95
IS-136 & PDC
GSM-
EDGE
GPRS
HSCSD
IS-95B
Cdma2000-1xRTT
Cdma2000-1xEV,DV,DO
Cdma2000-3xRTT
W-CDMA
EDGE
TD-SCDMA
2G
3G
2.5G
3GPP 3GPP2
38
Newer versions of the standard were backward-compatible with
the original GSM phones.
Release 97 of the standard added packet data capabilities, by
means of General Packet Radio Service (GPRS). GPRS provides
data transfer rates from 56 up to 114 kbit/s.
Release 99 introduced higher speed data transmission using
Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), Enhanced
GPRS (EGPRS), IMT Single Carrier (IMT-SC), four times as
much traffic as standard GPRS. accepted by the ITU as part of the
IMT-2000 family of 3G standards
Evolved EDGE standard providing reduced latency and more than
doubled performance e.g. to complement High-Speed Packet
Access (HSPA). Peak bit-rates of up to 1Mbit/s and typical bit-
rates of 400kbit/s can be expected.
39
GSM-GPRS
40
the Base Station Subsystem (the base stations and their
controllers).

the Network and Switching Subsystem (the part of the
network most similar to a fixed network). This is
sometimes also just called the core network.

the GPRS Core Network (the optional part which allows
packet based Internet connections).
all of the elements in the system combine to produce
many GSM services such as voice calls and SMS.
41
ITUs View of Third-Generation Capabilities
Voice quality comparable to the public switched telephone
network
High data rate. 144 kbps data rate available to users in high-
speed motor vehicles over large areas; 384 kbps available to
pedestrians standing or moving slowly over small areas; Support
for 2.048 Mbps for office use
Symmetrical / asymmetrical data transmission rates
Support for both packet switched and circuit switched data
services
An adaptive interface to the Internet to reflect efficiently the
common asymmetry between inbound and outbound traffic
More efficient use of the available spectrum in general
Support for a wide variety of mobile equipment
Flexibility to allow the introduction of new services and
technologies
42
Third Generation Systems (3G)
The dream of 3G is to unify the world's mobile computing
devices through a single, worldwide radio transmission
standard. However,
3 main air interface standards:
W-CDMA(UMTS) for Europe
CDMA2000 for North America
TD-SCDMA for China (the biggest market)
43
UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications
System ) Services
44
UMTS offers teleservices (like speech or SMS) and bearer services,
which provide the capability for information transfer between access
points. It is possible to negotiate and renegotiate the characteristics of
a bearer service at session or connection establishment and during
ongoing session or connection. Both connection oriented and
connectionless services are offered for Point-to-Point and Point-to-
Multipoint communication.
Bearer services have different QoS parameters for maximum transfer
delay, delay variation and bit error rate. Offered data rate targets are:

144 kbits/s satellite and rural outdoor
384 kbits/s urban outdoor
2048 kbits/s indoor and low range outdoor
UMTS Architecture
45
Core Network
46
The Core Network is divided in circuit switched and packet
switched domains. Some of the circuit switched elements are
Mobile services Switching Centre (MSC), Visitor location
register (VLR) and Gateway MSC. Packet switched elements
are Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) and Gateway GPRS
Support Node (GGSN). Some network elements, like EIR,
HLR, VLR and AUC are shared by both domains.

The Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) is defined for
UMTS core transmission. ATM Adaptation Layer type 2
(AAL2) handles circuit switched connection and packet
connection protocol AAL5 is designed for data delivery.

47
W-CDMA Parameters
48
Summary of UMTS frequencies:
1920-1980 and 2110-2170 MHz Frequency Division
Duplex (FDD, W-CDMA) Paired uplink and downlink,
channel spacing is 5 MHz and raster is 200 kHz. An
Operator needs 3 - 4 channels (2x15 MHz or 2x20 MHz)
to be able to build a high-speed, high-capacity network.
1900-1920 and 2010-2025 MHz Time Division Duplex
(TDD, TD/CDMA) Unpaired, channel spacing is 5 MHz
and raster is 200 kHz. Tx and Rx are not separated in
frequency.
1980-2010 and 2170-2200 MHz Satellite uplink and
downlink.
Universal Mobile Telephone System (UMTS)
49
Base station finder: http://www.sitefinder.ofcom.org.uk/

Frequency Spectrum in UK(Sep 2007)
50
900MHz 1800MHz 2100MHz ( 3G )
Vodafone Vodafone Vodafone
O2 O2 O2
Restricted to 2G
services only
T-Mobile T-Mobile
Orange Orange
Three

Restricted to 3G
services only
The UMTS/3G frequency allocations
51
Frequency (MHz) Bandwidth (MHz) licence holder
1900 - 1900.3 Guard band
1900.3 - 1905.2 4.9 licence D T-Mobile
1905.2 - 1910.1 4.9 licence E Orange
1910.1 - 1915.0 4.9 licence C O2
1915.0 - 1919.9 4.9 licence A 3
1919.9 - 1920.3 Guard band
1920.3 - 1934.9 14.6 licence A 3
1934.9 - 1944.9 10 licence C O2
1944.9 - 1959.7 14.8 licence B Vodafone
1959.7 - 1969.7 10 licence D T-Mobile
1969.7 - 1979.7 10 licence E Orange
2110 - 2110.3 Guard band
2110.3 - 2124.9 14.6 licence A 3
2124.9 - 2134.9 10 licence C O2
2134.9 - 2149.7 14.8 licence B Vodafone
2149.7 - 2159.7 10 licence D T-Mobile
2159.7 - 2169 10 licence E Orange
2169.7 - 2170 Guard band
3G downlink Signal level measured at T701
52
3 Vodafone

O2
T-Mobile Orange
EE
3G download Signal level measured at T714
53
3G Uplink signal level
54
Uplink signal monitoring without 3G calls
Uplink signal monitoring with an Vodafone 3G call
MVNO
55
A mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) is a
mobile phone operator that provides services
directly to their own customers but does not own
key network assets such as a licensed frequency
allocation of radio spectrum and the cell tower
infrastructure.

The UK mobile market has 5 main mobile network operators and
has a total of more than 20 MVNOs (virgin, tesco, asda, lyca).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_Kingdom_mobile_virt
ual_network_operators

56
57
58
59
International Mobile Telecommunications
(IMT) Advanced
Key features of IMT-Advanced
a high degree of commonality of functionality worldwide while
retaining the flexibility to support a wide range of services and
applications in a cost efficient manner;
compatibility of services within IMT and with fixed networks;
capability of interworking with other radio access systems;
high quality mobile services;
user equipment suitable for worldwide use;
user-friendly applications, services and equipment;
worldwide roaming capability; and,
enhanced peak data rates to support advanced services and
applications (100 Mbit/s for high and 1 Gbit/s for low mobility
were established as targets for research)*.






3.5G (HSPA)
High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) is an amalgamation of two
mobile telephony protocols, High Speed Downlink Packet Access
(HSDPA) and High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), that
extends and improves the performance of existing WCDMA
protocols
3.5G introduces many new features that will enhance the UMTS
technology in future. 1xEV-DV already supports most of the
features that will be provided in 3.5G. These include:
- Adaptive Modulation and Coding
- Fast Scheduling
- Backward compatibility with 3G
- Enhanced Air Interface
What is 4G
61
4
th
Generation of Mobile communications
First Gen Analog, AMPS
2G, Digital, IncreaseVoice Capacity- TDMA, GSM & 1xRTT
3G High Speed Data; EVDO, UMTS, HSPA
ITU defines 4G as 100 Mbps mobile, 1 Gbps stationary
LTE-Advanced & WiMax 2.0 4G certified, theoretically
capable
Realistic? Nokia lab demo w/ 8 antennas, 60 MHz & 1 user
Market 4G defined as ~10X 3G or 5-10+ Mbps
Current gen WiMax, LTE & HSPA+
4G (LTE)
LTE stands for Long Term Evolution
Promises data transfer rates of 100 Mbps
Based on UMTS 3G technology
Optimized for All-IP traffic
LTE Link Budget Comparison
63
Uplink
Budget Comparison

LTE Encyclopedia
https://sites.google.com/site
/lteencyclopedia/lte-radio-
link-budgeting-and-rf-
planning/lte-link-budget-
comparison
LTE Link Budget Comparison
64
Downlink
Budget Comparison
Mapping of Path Losses to Cell Sizes
65
https://sites.google.com/site/lteencyclopedia/lte-radio-link-budgeting-
and-rf-planning
Advantages of LTE
Comparison of LTE Speed
Major LTE Radio Technogies
Uses Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing
(OFDM) for downlink
Uses Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access
(SC-FDMA) for uplink
Uses Multi-input Multi-output(MIMO) for enhanced
throughput
Reduced power consumption
Higher RF power amplifier efficiency (less battery power
used by handsets)
LTE Physical Channels
69
Physical Channels used in Long Term Evolution (LTE) downlink and
in uplink

Downlink Channels
Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH)
Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH)
Common Control Physical Channel (CCPCH)

Uplink Channels
Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH)
Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH)



Commercial LTE Speed evolution
Peak rate ~50 Mbps ~150 Mbps ~1000 Mbps
Typical user rate downlink 5-30 Mbps 10-100 Mbps Operator dependent
Typical user rate uplink
Bandwidths
1-10 Mbps 5-50 Mbps Operator dependent
LTE Advanced
Radio Systems
2009
2010
2015
>20 MHz 20 MHz 10 MHz
5-50 Mbps
10-100 Mbps
~150 Mbps
3-10 Mbps
8-30 Mbps
~50 Mbps
Operator dependent
Operator dependent
~1000 Mbps
50 Mbps
150 Mbps
1000
Mbps
LTE brings excellent user and network experience
1999
Release99
Release4
Release5
Release6
LCR TDD
HSDPA
W-CDMA
HSUPA, MBMS
Release7
HSPA+ (MIMO, etc.)
Release8
LTE
Release9
Release10
LTE
enhancements
Release12
ITU-R M.1457
IMT-2000 Recommendation
ITU-R M.2012 [IMT.RSPEC]
IMT-Advanced
Recommendation
Release schedule & RAN features
LTE-Advanced
3GPP work is structured in releases
(REL) of 1-3 years duration
each release consists of several work
items (WI) and study items (SI)
even if a REL is completed corrections
are possible later
existing features of one REL can be
enhanced in a future REL
Further LTE
enhancements
2001
2003 2005
2007
2009 2011
2013
???
Release11
3GPP aligned to ITU-R IMT process
3GPP Releases evolve to meet:
Future Requirements for IMT
Future operator and end-user
requirements
only
main
RAN
WI
listed
2015
Dr. Joern Krause
Main Features in LTE-A Release
10
Support of wider bandwidth (Carrier Aggregation)
Use of multiple component carriers (CC) to extend bandwidth up to 100 MHz
Common L1 parameters between component carrier and LTE Rel-8 carrier
Improvement of peak data rate, backward compatibility with LTE Rel-8
Advanced MIMO techniques
Extension to up to 8-layer transmission in downlink (REL-8: 4-layer in downlink)
Introduction of single-user MIMO with up to 4-layer transmission in uplink
Enhancements of multi-user MIMO
Improvement of peak data rate and capacity
Heterogeneous network and eICIC (enhanced Inter-Cell Interference
Coordination)
Interference coordination for overlay deployment of cells with different Tx power
Improvement of cell-edge throughput and coverage
Relay
Relay Node supports radio backhaul and creates a separate cell and appears
as Rel. 8 LTE eNB to Rel. 8 LTE UEs
Improvement of coverage and flexibility of service area extension
Minimization of Drive Tests
replacing drive tests for network optimization by collected UE measurements
Reduced network planning/optimization costs
100 MHz
f
CC
Relay Node
Donor eNB
UE
UE
eNB
macro eNB
micro/pico eNB
Dr. Joern Krause
LTE/LTE-A REL-11 features
Coordinated Multi-Point Operation (DL/UL) (CoMP):
cooperative MIMO of multiple cells to improve spectral efficiency, esp. at cell edge
Enhanced physical downlink control channel (E-PDCCH): new Ctrl channel
with higher capacity
Further enhancements for
Minimization of Drive Tests (MDT): QoS measurements (throughput, data volume)
Self Optimizing Networks (SON): inter RAT Mobility Robustness Optimisation (MRO)
Carrier Aggregation (CA): multiple timing advance in UL, UL/DL config. in inter-band CA TDD
Machine-Type Communications (MTC): EAB mechanism against overload due to MTC
Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS): Service continuity in mobility case
Network Energy Saving for E-UTRAN: savings for interworking with UTRAN/GERAN
Inter-cell interference coordination (ICIC): assistance to UE for CRS interference reduction
Location Services (LCS): Network-based positioning (U-TDOA)
Home eNode B (HeNB): mobility enhancements, X2 Gateway
RAN Enhancements for Diverse Data Applications (eDDA):
Power Preference Indicator (PPI): informs NW of mobiles power saving preference
Interference avoidance for in-device coexistence (IDC):
FDM/DRX ideas to improved coexistence of LTE, WiFi, Bluetooth transceivers, GNSS receivers in
UE
High Power (+33dBm) vehicular UE for 700MHz band for America for Public Safety
Additional special subframe configuration for LTE TDD: for TD-SCDMA interworking
In addition: larger number of spectrum related work items: new bands/band combinations
Optical fiber
Coordination
Dr. Joern Krause
Generations of
Mobile Communication Systems
1G: analogue systems from 1980s
(e.g. NMT, AMPS, TACS, C-Netz)
2G: first digital systems of 1990s
(e.g. GSM, CDMAone, PDC, D-AMPS)
3G: IMT-2000 family defined by ITU-R
(e.g. UMTS, CDMA2000)
4G: fulfilling requirements of
IMT-Advanced defined by ITU-R
(e.g. LTE-A, WiMAX)
5G: ?
too early to be a topic in standardization,
further 4G enhancements expected before
driven by requirements from customers &
network operators
restricted by spectrum limitations
often influenced by new
technologies/applications
Dr. Joern Krause
Ofcom (The Office of Communications) awards 4G
licences in 2.34 billion auction Feb 2013
76
Everything Everywhere, Hutchison 3G UK, Telefonica
(O2), Vodafone (VOD) and BT (BT.A)'s Niche Spectrum
Ventures secured the 4G licences. Vodafone was the highest bidder
at 791 million, securing five chunks of 4G spectrum.
When mobile operator EE, a joint venture between T-Mobile and
Orange, became the first to launch a 4G service in October 2012 in
a brief monopoly, it struggled to attract users. It was forced to cut
its prices in January, lowering its entry price to 31 from 36 a
month.

Ofcom: Independent regulator and competition authority
for the UK communications industries.
Ofcom announces winners of the 4G mobile auction
February 20, 2013 http://consumers.ofcom.org.uk/4g-auction/
77
Winning
bidder
Spectrum won Base price
Everything
Everywhere Ltd
2 x 5 MHz of 800 MHz (796-801; 837-842MHz) and
2 x 35 MHz of 2.6 GHz (2535-2570; 2655-2690MHz)
588,876,000
Hutchison 3G UK
Ltd
2 x 5 MHz of 800 MHz (791-796; 832-837MHz) 225,000,000
Niche Spectrum
Ventures Ltd (a
subsidiary of BT
Group plc)
2 x 15 MHz of 2.6 GHz (2520-2535; 2640-2655MHz)
and
1 x 25 MHz of 2.6 GHz (unpaired) (2595-2620MHz)
186,476,000
Telefnica UK
Ltd (O2)
2 x 10 MHz of 800 MHz (811-821; 852-862MHz)
(coverage obligation lot)
550,000,000
Vodafone Ltd
2 x 10 MHz of 800 MHz, (801-811; 842-852MHz)
2 x 20 MHz of 2.6 GHz (2500-2520; 2620-2640MHz)
and
1 x 25 MHz of 2.6 GHz (unpaired) (2570-2595MHz)
790,761,000
Total 2,341,113,000
78
Measured signal strength of LTE in 800MHz in T718 LSBU
Measured signal strength of LTE in 2.6 GHz in T718 LSBU
Vodafone
O2
Vodafone
Vodafone
Vodafone
BT
4G coverage in UK
79
http://opensignal.com/
The State of LTE (February 2013)
80
What is the difference between LTE and 4G?
4G: 100Mbp/s while on moving transport and 1Gbp/s when
stationary.
While LTE is much faster than 3G, it has yet to reach the
International Telecoms Union's (ITU) technical definition of 4G.
LTE does represent a generational shift in cellular network speeds,
but is labelled 'evolution' to show that the process is yet to be fully
completed.
81
Feb 2013; http://opensignal.com/reports/state-of-lte/
The Global Rollout
82
76 Countries with LTE
18 LTE scheduled


Australia (24.5Mbps) Fastest Country With LTE
Claro Brazil (27.8Mbps) Fastest Network With LTE
Japan (66% LTE improvement) Most Improved country for
LTE Speed
Tele2 Sweden (93% coverage) Network With Best Coverage
South Korea (91% average coverage) Country with Best
Coverage

83
Feb 2014; http://opensignal.com/reports/state-of-lte-q1-2014/
84
85
86
On average LTE is the fastest wireless technology worldwide,
representing a real increase in speed on both 3G and HSPA+. 4G
LTE is over 5x faster than 3G and over twice as fast as HSPA+ and
represents a major leap forward in wireless technology.
References
Dr. Joern Krause, Future 3GPP RAN standardization
activities for LTE ppt, Oct 2012.
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/


87