Long Term Evolution

Analog Communications
0G Radio Telephone (Mid 1940s) 1G Modem Era (Early 1980s)

Digital Communications
2G Circuit switching (Early 1990s) 3G Circuit Switching/Packet Switching (Late 1990s)

Digital Communication Evolution

 Need for higher data rates and greater spectral efficiency Need for high QoS Need for cheaper infrastructure

 Operator
Increase peak data rates Linear scale according to spectrum allocation Fast deployment Cost reduction Better integration with other open standards

Customer
Speed Low latencies Long distance service

 Data rate
Instantaneous downlink peak data rate of 100Mbit/s in a 20MHz downlink spectrum (i.e. 5 bit/s/Hz) Instantaneous uplink peak data rate of 50Mbit/s in a 20MHz uplink spectrum (i.e. 2.5 bit/s/Hz)

Mobility
Optimized for mobility

Latency
user plane < 5ms control plane < 50ms

Cell capacity
up to 800 active users

 Cell range

100 Km

Cell

5 Km

5 Km Optimal performance 30 Km - reasonable performance 100 Km - acceptable performance

30 Km

3G

LTE

 Multiple Antenna (MIMO) technology Multiple access scheme

Downlink: OFDMA Uplink: Single Carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA)

Support for both FDD and TDD

 Multiple connections between transmitter and receiver Connections can be made by

Multiple antennas Radio spectrum

Benefits of MIMO
Stable communication Reduces latency Increases total throughput of the communication

 Two types of air interfaces

Downlink (tower to device) - OFDMA Uplink (device to tower) SCFDMA

Separation has benefits

Better optimized network Better battery life on LTE devices

 Divided in two sets of elements

Control plane responsible for signaling + Mobility Management Entity (MME) + Home Subscriber Server (HSS) User plane responsible for sending data + Serving Gateway (SGW) + Packet Data Network Gateway (PGW)

Benefits
Better usage of recourses Provides independent scaling Easy to adapt and expand the network

 Mobility Management Entity (MME)

Idle mode user tracking Allocates recourses in SGW User authentication through HSS Allocates recourses during intra-LTE handover

Home Subscriber Server (HSS)

Stores user data Provides user subscription information Offers call and session establishment support User authentication and session authorization

 Serving Gateway
Routes and forwards data packets Stores internal routing paths Acts like anchor during handover + Only between LTE and other 3GPP networks! Manages downlink state on LTE device

Packet Data Network Gateway

Provides connection to external data networks + Most commonly to the internet + Capable to connect to non-3GPP networks Packet filtering and screening

 Three approaches
Simultaneous Voice and LTE (SVLTE) Circuit Switching Fallback (CSFB) Voice over LTE via IMS (VoLTE)

 Allways in dual mode

LTE and 2G/3G LTE delivers data services 2G/3G delivers voice services

Advantages
Does not require architectural upgrade Solution based exclusively on handset

Disadvantages
High power consumption

 Gap measure while VoLTE is in development Device falls back to 2G/3G during call reception Advantages
Less power consumption in comparison with SVLTE

Disadvantages
Long delays during mode switching Requires architectural upgrades

 Allows to discard legacy network Requires specialized version of generic IP

Best-effort delivery mechanism is inappropriate

Requires development of entirely new network

IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS)

Technical Requirement for supporting VoLTE

Session Initiation Protocol (SID) Session Description Protocol (SDP) Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) RTP Control Protocol (RTCP) Real Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP)

 Probably but we have to wait and see