In
telecommunications
Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than tha ...
, long-term evolution (LTE) is a
standard for
wireless broadband communication for
mobile device
A mobile device (or handheld computer) is a computer small enough to hold and operate in the hand. Mobile devices typically have a flat LCD or OLED screen, a touchscreen interface, and digital or physical buttons. They may also have a physical ...
s and data terminals, based on the
GSM/
EDGE and
UMTS
The Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is a third generation mobile cellular system for networks based on the GSM standard. Developed and maintained by the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project), UMTS is a component of the In ...
/
HSPA
HSPA may refer to:
* High Speed Packet Access, a mobile broadband technology
* Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association
Education
* High School Proficiency Assessment
* Humphrey School of Public Affairs, an American public policy school
* Hunter Sch ...
standards. It improves on those standards' capacity and speed by using a different radio interface and core network improvements. LTE is the upgrade path for carriers with both GSM/UMTS networks and
CDMA2000 networks. Because
LTE frequencies and bands differ from country to country, only multi-band phones can use LTE in all countries where it is supported.
The standard is developed by the
3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) and is specified in its Release 8 document series, with minor enhancements described in Release 9. LTE is also called 3.95G and has been marketed as "4G LTE" and "Advanced 4G"; but it does not meet the technical criteria of a
4G wireless service, as specified in the 3GPP Release 8 and 9 document series for
LTE Advanced. The requirements were set forth by the
ITU-R
The ITU Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) is one of the three sectors (divisions or units) of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and is responsible for radio communications.
Its role is to manage the international radio-frequency sp ...
organisation in the
IMT Advanced specification; but, because of market pressure and the significant advances that
WiMAX
Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) is a family of wireless broadband communication standards based on the IEEE 802.16 set of standards, which provide physical layer (PHY) and media access control (MAC) options.
The WiMA ...
,
Evolved High Speed Packet Access, and LTE bring to the original 3G technologies,
ITU later decided that LTE and the aforementioned technologies can be called 4G technologies. The LTE Advanced standard formally satisfies the
ITU-R
The ITU Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) is one of the three sectors (divisions or units) of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and is responsible for radio communications.
Its role is to manage the international radio-frequency sp ...
requirements for being considered
IMT-Advanced. To differentiate LTE Advanced and
WiMAX-Advanced from current 4G technologies, ITU has defined the latter as "True 4G".
Overview

LTE stands for Long-Term Evolution and is a registered trademark owned by
ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute) for the wireless data communications technology and a development of the GSM/UMTS standards. However, other nations and companies do play an active role in the LTE project. The goal of LTE was to increase the capacity and speed of wireless data networks using new
DSP (digital signal processing) techniques and modulations that were developed around the turn of the millennium. A further goal was the redesign and simplification of the
network architecture to an
IP-based system with significantly reduced transfer
latency compared with the
3G architecture. The LTE wireless interface is incompatible with
2G and 3G networks, so that it must be operated on a separate
radio spectrum
The radio spectrum is the part of the electromagnetic spectrum with frequencies from 0 Hz to 3,000 GHz (3 THz). Electromagnetic waves in this frequency range, called radio waves, are widely used in modern technology, particul ...
.
The idea of base of LTE was first proposed in 1998 , with the use of the COFDM radio access technique to replace the CDMA and studying its Terrestrial use in the L band at 1428 MHz (TE)
In 2004 by Japan's
NTT Docomo, with studies on the standard officially commenced in 2005.
In May 2007, the LTE/
SAE
SAE or Sae may refer to:
Science and technology
:
* Selective area epitaxy, local growth of epitaxial layer through a patterned dielectric mask deposited on a semiconductor substrate
* Serious adverse event, in a clinical trial
* Simultaneous Auth ...
Trial Initiative (LSTI) alliance was founded as a global collaboration between vendors and operators with the goal of verifying and promoting the new standard in order to ensure the global introduction of the technology as quickly as possible.
The LTE standard was finalized in December 2008, and the first publicly available LTE service was launched by
TeliaSonera in
Oslo
Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...
and
Stockholm on December 14, 2009, as a data connection with a USB modem. The LTE services were launched by major North American carriers as well, with the Samsung SCH-r900 being the world's first LTE Mobile phone starting on September 21, 2010, and Samsung Galaxy Indulge being the world's first LTE smartphone starting on February 10, 2011, both offered by
MetroPCS, and the
HTC ThunderBolt offered by Verizon starting on March 17 being the second LTE smartphone to be sold commercially. In Canada,
Rogers Wireless
Rogers Wireless Inc. is a Canadian wireless telephone company headquartered in Toronto, providing service nationally throughout Canada. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The company had revenues of just under $15.1 billio ...
was the first to launch LTE network on July 7, 2011, offering the Sierra Wireless AirCard 313U USB mobile broadband modem, known as the "LTE Rocket stick" then followed closely by mobile devices from both HTC and Samsung. Initially, CDMA operators planned to upgrade to rival standards called
UMB and
WiMAX
Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) is a family of wireless broadband communication standards based on the IEEE 802.16 set of standards, which provide physical layer (PHY) and media access control (MAC) options.
The WiMA ...
, but major CDMA operators (such as
Verizon
Verizon Communications Inc., commonly known as Verizon, is an American multinational telecommunications conglomerate and a corporate component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is headquartered at 1095 Avenue of the Americas in ...
,
Sprint
Sprint may refer to:
Aerospace
*Spring WS202 Sprint, a Canadian aircraft design
*Sprint (missile), an anti-ballistic missile
Automotive and motorcycle
*Alfa Romeo Sprint, automobile produced by Alfa Romeo between 1976 and 1989
*Chevrolet Sprint, ...
and
MetroPCS in the United States,
Bell
A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inte ...
and
Telus in Canada,
au by KDDI in Japan,
SK Telecom
SK Telecom Co., Ltd. ( or ) is a South Korean wireless telecommunications operator and former film distributor and is part of the SK Group, one of the country's largest chaebols. It leads the local market with 50.5 percent share as of 2008. ...
in South Korea and
China Telecom/
China Unicom
China United Network Communications Group Co., Ltd. () or China Unicom () (CUniq in short) is a Chinese state-owned telecommunications operator. Started as a wireless paging and GSM mobile operator, it currently provides a range of services ...
in China) have announced instead they intend to migrate to LTE. The next version of LTE is
LTE Advanced, which was standardized in March 2011.
Services commenced in 2013. Additional evolution known as
LTE Advanced Pro have been approved in year 2015.
The LTE specification provides downlink peak rates of 300 Mbit/s, uplink peak rates of 75 Mbit/s and
QoS provisions permitting a transfer
latency of less than 5
ms in the
radio access network
A radio access network (RAN) is part of a mobile telecommunication system. It implements a radio access technology. Conceptually, it resides between a device such as a mobile phone, a computer, or any remotely controlled machine and provides co ...
. LTE has the ability to manage fast-moving mobiles and supports multi-cast and broadcast streams. LTE supports scalable carrier
bandwidths, from 1.4
MHz to 20 MHz and supports both
frequency division duplexing (FDD) and
time-division duplex
A duplex communication system is a point-to-point system composed of two or more connected parties or devices that can communicate with one another in both directions. Duplex systems are employed in many communications networks, either to allow ...
ing (TDD). The IP-based network architecture, called the
Evolved Packet Core (EPC) designed to replace the
GPRS Core Network, supports seamless
handovers for both voice and data to cell towers with older network technology such as
GSM,
UMTS
The Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is a third generation mobile cellular system for networks based on the GSM standard. Developed and maintained by the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project), UMTS is a component of the In ...
and
CDMA2000.
The simpler architecture results in lower operating costs (for example, each
E-UTRA
E-UTRA is the air interface of 3rd Generation Partnership Project ( 3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE) upgrade path for mobile networks. It is an acronym for Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System ( UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access, als ...
cell will support up to four times the data and voice capacity supported by HSPA
).
History
3GPP standard development timeline

* In 2004,
NTT Docomo of
Japan proposes LTE as the international standard.
* In September 2006, Siemens Networks (today
Nokia Networks) showed in collaboration with Nomor Research the first live emulation of an LTE network to the media and investors. As live applications two users streaming an
HDTV
High-definition television (HD or HDTV) describes a television system which provides a substantially higher image resolution than the previous generation of technologies. The term has been used since 1936; in more recent times, it refers to the ...
video in the downlink and playing an interactive game in the uplink have been demonstrated.
* In February 2007,
Ericsson
(lit. "Telephone Stock Company of LM Ericsson"), commonly known as Ericsson, is a Sweden, Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company headquartered in Stockholm. The company sells infrastructure, software, and services in ...
demonstrated for the first time in the world, LTE with bit rates up to 144 Mbit/s
* In September 2007,
NTT Docomo demonstrated LTE data rates of 200 Mbit/s with power level below 100 mW during the test.
* In November 2007,
Infineon presented the world's first RF transceiver named SMARTi LTE supporting LTE functionality in a single-chip RF silicon processed in CMOS
* In early 2008, LTE test equipment began shipping from several vendors and, at the
Mobile World Congress
MWC Barcelona (formerly but still commonly referred to as Mobile World Congress) is an annual trade show organised by GSMA, dedicated primarily to the mobile communications industry.
The event is held in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain at the ...
2008 in
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ...
,
Ericsson
(lit. "Telephone Stock Company of LM Ericsson"), commonly known as Ericsson, is a Sweden, Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company headquartered in Stockholm. The company sells infrastructure, software, and services in ...
demonstrated the world's first end-to-end mobile call enabled by LTE on a small handheld device.
Motorola
Motorola, Inc. () was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, United States. After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, the company split into two independent public companies, Motorola ...
demonstrated an LTE RAN standard compliant
eNodeB and LTE
chipset at the same event.
* At the February 2008
Mobile World Congress
MWC Barcelona (formerly but still commonly referred to as Mobile World Congress) is an annual trade show organised by GSMA, dedicated primarily to the mobile communications industry.
The event is held in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain at the ...
:
**
Motorola
Motorola, Inc. () was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, United States. After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, the company split into two independent public companies, Motorola ...
demonstrated how LTE can accelerate the delivery of personal media experience with HD video demo streaming, HD video blogging, Online gaming and VoIP over LTE running a RAN standard compliant LTE network & LTE chipset.
**
Ericsson
(lit. "Telephone Stock Company of LM Ericsson"), commonly known as Ericsson, is a Sweden, Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company headquartered in Stockholm. The company sells infrastructure, software, and services in ...
EMP (now
ST-Ericsson
ST-Ericsson was a multinational manufacturer of wireless products and semiconductors, supplying to mobile device manufacturers. ST-Ericsson was a 50/50 joint venture of Ericsson and STMicroelectronics established on 3 February 2009 and dissolved ...
) demonstrated the world's first end-to-end LTE call on handheld
Ericsson demonstrated LTE FDD and TDD mode on the same base station platform.
**
Freescale Semiconductor
Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. was an American semiconductor manufacturer. It was created by the divestiture of the Semiconductor Products Sector of Motorola in 2004. Freescale focused their integrated circuit products on the automotive, embe ...
demonstrated streaming HD video with peak data rates of 96 Mbit/s downlink and 86 Mbit/s uplink.
**
NXP Semiconductors
NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NXP) is a Dutch semiconductor designer and manufacturer with headquarters in Eindhoven, Netherlands. The company employs approximately 31,000 people in more than 30 countries. NXP reported revenue of $11.06 billion in 2 ...
(now a part of
ST-Ericsson
ST-Ericsson was a multinational manufacturer of wireless products and semiconductors, supplying to mobile device manufacturers. ST-Ericsson was a 50/50 joint venture of Ericsson and STMicroelectronics established on 3 February 2009 and dissolved ...
) demonstrated a multi-mode LTE modem as the basis for a
software-defined radio
Software-defined radio (SDR) is a radio communication system where components that have been traditionally implemented in analog hardware (e.g. mixers, filters, amplifiers, modulators/ demodulators, detectors, etc.) are instead implemented b ...
system for use in cellphones.
**
picoChip Picochip was a venture-backed fabless semiconductor company based in Bath, England, founded in 2000. In January 2012 Picochip was acquired by Mindspeed Technologies, Inc and subsequently by Intel.
The company was active in two areas, with two disti ...
and Mimoon demonstrated a base station reference design. This runs on a common hardware platform (multi-mode /
software-defined radio
Software-defined radio (SDR) is a radio communication system where components that have been traditionally implemented in analog hardware (e.g. mixers, filters, amplifiers, modulators/ demodulators, detectors, etc.) are instead implemented b ...
) with their WiMAX architecture.
* In April 2008, Motorola demonstrated the first EV-DO to LTE hand-off handing over a streaming video from LTE to a commercial EV-DO network and back to LTE.
* In April 2008,
LG Electronics and
Nortel demonstrated LTE data rates of 50 Mbit/s while travelling at 110 km/h (68 mph).
* In November 2008,
Motorola
Motorola, Inc. () was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, United States. After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, the company split into two independent public companies, Motorola ...
demonstrated industry first over-the-air LTE session in 700 MHz spectrum.
* Researchers at
Nokia Siemens Networks and
Heinrich Hertz Institut have demonstrated LTE with 100 Mbit/s Uplink transfer speeds.
* At the February 2009
Mobile World Congress
MWC Barcelona (formerly but still commonly referred to as Mobile World Congress) is an annual trade show organised by GSMA, dedicated primarily to the mobile communications industry.
The event is held in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain at the ...
:
**
Infineon demonstrated a single-chip 65 nm
CMOS RF transceiver providing 2G/3G/LTE functionality
** Launch of ng Connect program, a multi-industry consortium founded by
Alcatel-Lucent
Alcatel–Lucent S.A. () was a French–American global telecommunications equipment company, headquartered in Boulogne-Billancourt, France. It was formed in 2006 by the merger of France-based Alcatel and U.S.-based Lucent, the latter being a su ...
to identify and develop wireless broadband applications.
**
Motorola
Motorola, Inc. () was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, United States. After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, the company split into two independent public companies, Motorola ...
provided LTE drive tour on the streets of Barcelona to demonstrate LTE system performance in a real-life metropolitan RF environment
* In July 2009, Nujira demonstrated efficiencies of more than 60% for an 880 MHz LTE Power Amplifier
* In August 2009,
Nortel and
LG Electronics demonstrated the first successful handoff between CDMA and LTE networks in a standards-compliant manner
* In August 2009,
Alcatel-Lucent
Alcatel–Lucent S.A. () was a French–American global telecommunications equipment company, headquartered in Boulogne-Billancourt, France. It was formed in 2006 by the merger of France-based Alcatel and U.S.-based Lucent, the latter being a su ...
receives FCC certification for LTE base stations for the 700 MHz spectrum band.
* In September 2009,
Nokia Siemens Networks demonstrated world's first LTE call on standards-compliant commercial software.
* In October 2009,
Ericsson
(lit. "Telephone Stock Company of LM Ericsson"), commonly known as Ericsson, is a Sweden, Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company headquartered in Stockholm. The company sells infrastructure, software, and services in ...
and
Samsung
The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...
demonstrated interoperability between the first ever commercial LTE device and the live network in Stockholm, Sweden.
* In October 2009,
Alcatel-Lucent
Alcatel–Lucent S.A. () was a French–American global telecommunications equipment company, headquartered in Boulogne-Billancourt, France. It was formed in 2006 by the merger of France-based Alcatel and U.S.-based Lucent, the latter being a su ...
's Bell Labs, Deutsche
Telekom Innovation Laboratories, the Fraunhofer Heinrich-Hertz Institut and antenna supplier Kathrein conducted live field tests of a technology called Coordinated Multipoint Transmission (CoMP) aimed at increasing the data transmission speeds of LTE and 3G networks.
* In November 2009,
Alcatel-Lucent
Alcatel–Lucent S.A. () was a French–American global telecommunications equipment company, headquartered in Boulogne-Billancourt, France. It was formed in 2006 by the merger of France-based Alcatel and U.S.-based Lucent, the latter being a su ...
completed first live LTE call using 800 MHz spectrum band set aside as part of the European
Digital Dividend (EDD).
* In November 2009,
Nokia Siemens Networks and
LG completed first end-to-end interoperability testing of LTE.
* On December 14, 2009, the first commercial LTE deployment was in the Scandinavian capitals
Stockholm and
Oslo
Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...
by the Swedish-Finnish network operator
TeliaSonera and its Norwegian brandname
NetCom (Norway). TeliaSonera incorrectly branded the network "4G". The modem devices on offer were manufactured by
Samsung
The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...
(dongle GT-B3710), and the network infrastructure with
SingleRAN technology created by
Huawei
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. ( ; ) is a Chinese multinational technology corporation headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. It designs, develops, produces and sells telecommunications equipment, consumer electronics and various smart ...
(in Oslo) and
Ericsson
(lit. "Telephone Stock Company of LM Ericsson"), commonly known as Ericsson, is a Sweden, Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company headquartered in Stockholm. The company sells infrastructure, software, and services in ...
(in Stockholm). TeliaSonera plans to roll out nationwide LTE across Sweden, Norway and Finland. TeliaSonera used spectral bandwidth of 10 MHz (out of the maximum 20 MHz), and
Single-Input and Single-Output transmission. The deployment should have provided a physical layer
net bit rates of up to 50 Mbit/s downlink and 25 Mbit/s in the uplink. Introductory tests showed a
TCP
TCP may refer to:
Science and technology
* Transformer coupled plasma
* Tool Center Point, see Robot end effector
Computing
* Transmission Control Protocol, a fundamental Internet standard
* Telephony control protocol, a Bluetooth communication s ...
goodput of 42.8 Mbit/s downlink and 5.3 Mbit/s uplink in Stockholm.
* In December 2009,
ST-Ericsson
ST-Ericsson was a multinational manufacturer of wireless products and semiconductors, supplying to mobile device manufacturers. ST-Ericsson was a 50/50 joint venture of Ericsson and STMicroelectronics established on 3 February 2009 and dissolved ...
and
Ericsson
(lit. "Telephone Stock Company of LM Ericsson"), commonly known as Ericsson, is a Sweden, Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company headquartered in Stockholm. The company sells infrastructure, software, and services in ...
first to achieve LTE and HSPA mobility with a multimode device.
* In January 2010,
Alcatel-Lucent
Alcatel–Lucent S.A. () was a French–American global telecommunications equipment company, headquartered in Boulogne-Billancourt, France. It was formed in 2006 by the merger of France-based Alcatel and U.S.-based Lucent, the latter being a su ...
and
LG complete a live handoff of an end-to-end data call between LTE and CDMA networks.
* In February 2010,
Nokia Siemens Networks and
Movistar
Movistar () is a major telecommunications provider owned by Telefónica, operating in Spain and Hispanic American countries. It is the largest provider of landline, broadband, Mobile telephony, mobile services, and pay television (Movistar+) in ...
test the LTE in
Mobile World Congress
MWC Barcelona (formerly but still commonly referred to as Mobile World Congress) is an annual trade show organised by GSMA, dedicated primarily to the mobile communications industry.
The event is held in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain at the ...
2010 in Barcelona, Spain, with both indoor and outdoor demonstrations.
* In May 2010,
Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) and
Huawei
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. ( ; ) is a Chinese multinational technology corporation headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. It designs, develops, produces and sells telecommunications equipment, consumer electronics and various smart ...
showed an indoor LTE network at "Sviaz-Expocomm 2010" in Moscow, Russia. MTS expects to start a trial LTE service in Moscow by the beginning of 2011. Earlier, MTS has received a license to build an LTE network in Uzbekistan, and intends to commence a test LTE network in Ukraine in partnership with
Alcatel-Lucent
Alcatel–Lucent S.A. () was a French–American global telecommunications equipment company, headquartered in Boulogne-Billancourt, France. It was formed in 2006 by the merger of France-based Alcatel and U.S.-based Lucent, the latter being a su ...
.
* At the Shanghai
Expo 2010
Expo 2010, officially the Expo 2010 Shanghai China, was held on both banks of the Huangpu River in Shanghai, China, from 1 May to 31 October 2010. It was a major World Expo registered by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), in the ...
in May 2010,
Motorola
Motorola, Inc. () was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, United States. After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, the company split into two independent public companies, Motorola ...
demonstrated a live LTE in conjunction with
China Mobile
China Mobile is the trade name of both China Mobile Limited () and its ultimate controlling shareholder, China Mobile Communicati