View source for 3GPP Long Term Evolution

'''LTE (Long Term Evolution)''' is the project name of a new high performance air interface for cellular mobile communication systems.  It is the last step toward the 4th generation ([[4G]]) of radio technologies designed to increase the capacity and speed of mobile telephone networks. Where the current generation of mobile telecommunication networks are collectively known as [[3G]] (for "third generation"), LTE is marketed as 4G. However, it does not fully comply with the [[IMT Advanced]] 4G requirements. Most major mobile carriers in the United States and several worldwide carriers have announced plans to convert their networks to LTE beginning in 2009. The world's first publicly available LTE-service was opened by [[TeliaSonera]] in the two Scandinavian capitals [[Stockholm]] and [[Oslo]] on the 14th of December 2009. LTE is a set of enhancements to the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System ([[UMTS]]) which will be introduced in 3rd Generation Partnership Project ([[3GPP]]) Release 8. Much of 3GPP Release 8 will focus on adopting 4G mobile communications technology, including an all-[[Internet Protocol|IP]] flat networking architecture. On August 18, 2009, the [[European Commission]] announced it will invest a total of €18 million into researching the deployment of LTE and 4G candidate system [[LTE Advanced]].

While it is commonly seen as a mobile telephone or common carrier development, public safety agencies in the US<> have also endorsed LTE as the preferred technology for the new 700&nbsp;MHz public-safety radio band. Agencies in some areas have filed for waivers hoping to use the 700&nbsp;MHz spectrum with other technologies in advance of the adoption of a nationwide standard.

==Overview==
The LTE specification provides downlink peak rates of at least 100&nbsp;Mbps, an uplink of at least 50&nbsp;Mbps and [[Radio Access Network|RAN]] [[round-trip time]]s of less than 10&nbsp;[[millisecond|ms]]. LTE supports scalable carrier [[bandwidth (signal processing)|bandwidth]]s, from 20&nbsp;MHz down to 1.4&nbsp;MHz and supports both [[Duplex (telecommunications)#Frequency-Division_Duplexing|frequency division duplexing]] (FDD) and [[Time-division duplex|time division duplex]]ing (TDD).

Part of the LTE standard is the [[System Architecture Evolution]], a flat [[Internet Protocol|IP]]-based [[network architecture]] designed to replace the [[GPRS Core Network]] and ensure support for, and mobility between, some legacy or non-[[3GPP]] systems, for example [[GPRS]] and [[WiMax]] respectively.

The main advantages with LTE are high throughput, low latency, plug and play, [[Duplex_telecommunications#Frequency-Division_Duplexing|FDD]] and [[Time-division duplex|TDD]] in the same platform, improved end-user experience and simple architecture resulting in low operating costs. LTE will also support seamless passing to cell towers with older network technology such as [[GSM]], [[cdmaOne]], [[W-CDMA (UMTS)]], and [[CDMA2000]].

==Current state==
While 3GPP Release 8 is an unratified, formative standard, much of the Release addresses upgrading 3G UMTS to 4G mobile communications technology, which is essentially a mobile broadband system with enhanced multimedia services built on top.

The standard includes:

* For every 20&nbsp;MHz of spectrum, peak download rates of 326.4 Mbit/s for 4x4 antennas,  and 172.8 Mbit/s for 2x2 antennas.
* Peak upload rates of 86.4 Mbit/s for every 20&nbsp;MHz of spectrum using a single antenna.
* Five different terminal classes have been defined from a voice centric class up to a high end terminal that supports the peak data rates. All terminals will be able to process 20&nbsp;MHz bandwidth. 
* At least 200 active users in every 5&nbsp;MHz cell. (Specifically, 200 active data clients)
* Sub-5ms latency for small IP packets
* Increased spectrum flexibility, with spectrum slices as small as 1.5&nbsp;MHz (and as large as 20&nbsp;MHz) supported ([[W-CDMA]] requires 5&nbsp;MHz slices, leading to some problems with roll-outs of the technology in countries where 5&nbsp;MHz is a commonly allocated amount of spectrum, and is frequently already in use with legacy standards such as [[GSM|2G GSM]] and [[IS-95|cdmaOne]].) Limiting sizes to 5&nbsp;MHz also limited the amount of bandwidth per handset
* Optimal cell size of 5&nbsp;km, 30&nbsp;km sizes with reasonable performance, and up to 100&nbsp;km cell sizes supported with acceptable performance. This statement should be treated with caution. Comment: Without considering the radio propagation environment and the frequency used (looks like it will be 2.6&nbsp;GHz in EU), it is meaningless to talk about cell size. For a given power budget, the higher the frequency, the more challenging range becomes in a mobile cellular system.
* Co-existence with legacy standards (users can transparently start a call or transfer of data in an area using an LTE standard, and, should coverage be unavailable, continue the operation without any action on their part using GSM/[[GPRS]] or W-CDMA-based UMTS or even [[3GPP2]] networks such as [[cdmaOne]] or [[CDMA2000]])
* Support for MBSFN (Multicast Broadcast Single Frequency Network). This feature can deliver services such as Mobile TV using the LTE infrastructure, and is a competitor for [[DVB-H]]-based TV broadcast.
* [[PU2RC|PU<sup>2</sup>RC]] as a practical solution for MU-MIMO. The detailed procedure for the general [[MU-MIMO]] operation is handed to the next release, e.g., LTE-Advanced, where further discussions will be held.

A large amount of the work is aimed at simplifying the architecture of the system, as it transits from the existing UMTS circuit + packet switching combined network, to an all-IP flat architecture system.

==Timetable==
* In early 2008, LTE test equipment began shipping from several vendors, and at the [[Mobile World Congress]] 2008 in Barcelona [[Ericsson]] demonstrated the world’s first end-to-end mobile call enabled by LTE on a small handheld device. [[Motorola]] demonstrated a LTE RAN standard compliant eNodeB and LTE chipset at the same event.
* In December 2008, the Rel-8 specification was frozen for new features meaning only essential clarifications and corrections were permitted.
* In January 2009, the ASN.1 code was frozen. The Rel-8 standard was complete enough that hardware designers had been designing chipsets, test equipment and base stations for some time. LTE standards development continues with 3GPP Release 9 which was frozen in December 2009. Updates to all 3GPP specifications are made every quarter and can be found at the 3GPP web site. 
* On December 14, 2009, the world's first publicly available LTE-service was opened by [[TeliaSonera]] in the two Scandinavian capitals [[Stockholm]] and [[Oslo]].

==An "All IP Network" (AIPN)==
Next generation networks are based upon [[Internet Protocol]] (IP). See, for example, the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance (NGMN) http://www.ngmn.org

In 2004, 3GPP proposed IP as the future for next generation networks and began feasibility studies into All IP Networks (AIPN). Proposals developed included recommendations for 3GPP Release 7(2005), which are the foundation of higher level protocols such as LTE. These recommendations are part of the 3GPP System Architecture Evolution (SAE). Some aspects of All-IP networks, however, were already defined as early as release 4.

==E-UTRAN Air Interface==
Release 8's air interface, [[E-UTRA]] (Evolved [[UTRAN]], the E- prefix being common to the evolved equivalents of older [[UMTS]] components) would be used by UMTS operators deploying their own wireless networks. It's important to note that Release 8 is intended not just for use over E-UTRA, but is also intended for use over any other [[Internet Protocol|IP]] network, including [[WiMAX]] and [[WiFi]], and even wired networks.

The proposed E-UTRAN system uses [[OFDMA]] for the downlink (tower to handset) and [[Single Carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA)]] for the uplink and employs [[MIMO]] with up to four antennas per station. The channel coding scheme for transport blocks is [[turbo coding]] and a contention-free quadratic [[permutation polynomial]] (QPP) turbo code internal interleaver.

The use of Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing ([[OFDM]]), a system where the available spectrum is divided into many thin carriers, each on a different frequency, each carrying a part of the signal, enables E-UTRAN to be much more flexible in its use of spectrum than the older [[Code Division Multiple Access|CDMA]] based systems that dominated [[3G]]. CDMA networks require large blocks of spectrum to be allocated to each carrier, to maintain high chip rates, and thus maximize efficiency. Building radios capable of coping with different chip rates (and spectrum bandwidths) is more complex than creating radios that only send and receive one size of carrier, so generally CDMA based systems standardize both. Standardizing on a fixed spectrum slice has consequences for the operators deploying the system: too narrow a spectrum slice would mean the efficiency and maximum bandwidth per handset suffers; too wide a spectrum slice, and there are deployment issues for operators short on spectrum. This became a major issue with the US roll-out of UMTS over [[W-CDMA]], where W-CDMA's 5&nbsp;MHz requirement often left no room in some markets for operators to co-deploy it with existing GSM standards.

LTE supports both FDD and TDD mode. While FDD makes use of paired spectra for UL and DL transmission separated by a duplex frequency gap, TDD is alternating using the same spectral resources used for UL and DL, separated by guard time. Each mode has its own frame structure within LTE and these are aligned with each other meaning that similar hardware can be used in the base stations and terminals to allow for economy of scale. The TDD mode in LTE is aligned with TD-SCDMA as well allowing for coexistence. Ericsson demonstrated at the MWC 2008 in Barcelona for the first time in the world both LTE FDD and TDD mode on the same base station platform.

===Downlink===
LTE uses OFDM for the downlink – that is, from the base station to the terminal. OFDM meets the LTE requirement for spectrum flexibility and enables cost-efficient solutions for very wide carriers with high peak rates. It is a well-established technology, for example in standards such as IEEE 802.11a/g, 802.16, HIPERLAN-2, DVB and DAB.

In the time domain there is a radio frame that is 10 ms long and consists of 10 sub frames of 1 ms each. Every sub frame consists of 2 slots where each slot is 0.5 ms. The subcarrier spacing in the frequency domain is 15&nbsp;kHz. Twelve of these subcarriers together (per slot) is called a resource block so one resource block is 180&nbsp;kHz. 6 Resource blocks fit in a carrier of 1.4&nbsp;MHz and 100 resource blocks fit in a carrier of 20&nbsp;MHz.  

In the downlink there are three main physical channels. The Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) is used for all the data transmission, the Physical Multicast Channel (PMCH) is used for broadcast transmission using a Single Frequency Network, and the Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) is used to send most important system information within the cell. Supported modulation formats on the PDSCH are [[QPSK]], [[16QAM]] and [[64QAM]].

For [[MIMO]] operation, a distinction is made between single user MIMO, for enhancing one user's data throughput, and multi user [[MIMO]] for enhancing the cell throughput.

===Uplink===
In the uplink, for the Physical Uplink Shared channel (PUSCH) only, LTE uses a pre-coded version of OFDM called [[SC-FDMA|Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA)]]. This is to compensate for a drawback with normal OFDM, which has a very high [[crest factor|peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR)]]. High PAPR requires expensive and inefficient power amplifiers with high requirements on linearity, which increases the cost of the terminal and drains the battery faster. SC-FDMA solves this problem by grouping together the resource blocks in a way that reduces the need for linearity, and so power consumption, in the power amplifier. A low PAPR also improves coverage and the cell-edge performance.

In the uplink there are two physical channels. While the Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) is only used for initial access and when the UE is not uplink synchronized, all the data is sent on the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH). Supported modulation formats on the uplink data channel are QPSK, 16QAM and 64QAM.

If virtual MIMO / Spatial division multiple access (SDMA) is introduced the data rate in the uplink direction can be increased depending on the number of antennas at the base station. With this technology more than one mobile can reuse the same resources.

== Frequency bands and channel bandwidths ==
From Tables 5.5-1 "E-UTRA Operating Bands" and 5.6.1-1 "E-UTRA Channel Bandwidth" of 3GPP TS 36.101 (Release 8.4.0), the following table lists the specified frequency bands of LTE and the channel bandwidths each listed band supports:


{| border="1" cellpadding=2 style="border-collapse: collapse"
|-
! E-UTRA <br /> Operating Band
! Uplink (UL) <br /> Operating Band <br /> BS Receive <br /> UE Transmit
! Downlink (DL) <br /> Operating Band <br /> BS Transmit <br /> UE Receive
! Duplex Mode
!class="unsortable"|Channel <br /> Bandwidths (MHz)
! Alias
! Region(s)
|- align=center
| <span style="display:none">001 </span><span id="LTE_Band_I">I</span> (1)
| <span style="display:none">017 </span>1920&nbsp;MHz to 1980&nbsp;MHz
| <span style="display:none">017 </span>2110&nbsp;MHz to 2170&nbsp;MHz
| FDD
| 5, 10, 15, 20
| UMTS IMT, "2100"
| Japan, Europe, Asia
|- align=center
| <span style="display:none">002 </span><span id="LTE_Band_II">II</span> (2)
| <span style="display:none">012 </span>1850&nbsp;MHz to 1910&nbsp;MHz
| <span style="display:none">012 </span>1930&nbsp;MHz to 1990&nbsp;MHz
| FDD
| 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20
| [[Personal Communications Service|PCS]], "1900"
| Canada, United States, Latin America
|- align=center
| <span style="display:none">003 </span><span id="LTE_Band_III">III</span> (3)
| <span style="display:none">010 </span>1710&nbsp;MHz to 1785&nbsp;MHz
| <span style="display:none">010 </span>1805&nbsp;MHz to 1880&nbsp;MHz
| FDD
| 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20
| [[Digital Cellular System|DCS 1800]], "1800"
| Finland, Hong Kong
|- align=center
| <span style="display:none">004 </span><span id="LTE_Band_IV">IV</span> (4)
| <span style="display:none">009 </span>1710&nbsp;MHz to 1755&nbsp;MHz
| <span style="display:none">013 </span>2110&nbsp;MHz to 2155&nbsp;MHz
| FDD
| 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20
| [[Advanced Wireless Services|AWS]], "1.7/2.1 GHz"
| Canada, US, Latin America
|- align=center
| <span style="display:none">005 </span><span id="LTE_Band_V">V</span> (5)
| <span style="display:none">005 </span>824&nbsp;MHz to 849&nbsp;MHz
| <span style="display:none">005 </span>869&nbsp;MHz to 894&nbsp;MHz
| FDD
| 1.4, 3, 5, 10
| Cellular 850, UMTS850
| Canada, US, Australia
|- align=center
| <span style="display:none">006 </span><span id="LTE_Band_VI>VI</span> (6)
| <span style="display:none">006 </span>830&nbsp;MHz to 840&nbsp;MHz
| <span style="display:none">006 </span>875&nbsp;MHz to 885&nbsp;MHz
| FDD
| 5, 10
| UMTS800
| Japan
|- align=center
| <span style="display:none">007 </span><span id="LTE_Band_VII">VII</span> (7)
| <span style="display:none">021 </span>2500&nbsp;MHz to 2570&nbsp;MHz
| <span style="display:none">021 </span>2620&nbsp;MHz to 2690&nbsp;MHz
| FDD
| 5, 10, 15, 20
| IMT-E, "2.5 GHz"
| EU
|- align=center
| <span style="display:none">008 </span><span id="LTE_Band_VIII">VIII</span> (8)
| <span style="display:none">007</span>880&nbsp;MHz to 915&nbsp;MHz
| <span style="display:none">007</span>925&nbsp;MHz to 960&nbsp;MHz
| FDD
| 1.4, 3, 5, 10
| [[GSM]], UMTS900, EGSM900
| EU, Latin America
|- align=center
| <span style="display:none">009 </span><span id="LTE_Band_IX">IX</span> (9)
| <span style="display:none">012 </span>1749.9&nbsp;MHz to 1784.9&nbsp;MHz
| <span style="display:none">011 </span>1844.9&nbsp;MHz to 1879.9&nbsp;MHz
| FDD
| 5, 10, 15, 20
| UMTS1700
| Canada, US, Japan
|- align=center
| <span style="display:none">010 </span><span id="LTE_Band_X">X</span> (10)
| <span style="display:none">011 </span>1710&nbsp;MHz to 1770&nbsp;MHz
| <span style="display:none">013 </span>2110&nbsp;MHz to 2170&nbsp;MHz
| FDD
| 5, 10, 15, 20
| [[UMTS]],[[IMT 2000]]
| Brazil, Uruguay, Ecuador, Peru
|- align=center
| <span style="display:none">011 </span><span id="LTE_Band_XI">XI</span> (11)
| <span style="display:none">008 </span>1427.9&nbsp;MHz to 1452.9&nbsp;MHz
| <span style="display:none">008 </span>1475.9&nbsp;MHz to 1500.9&nbsp;MHz
| FDD
| 5, 10, 15, 20
| [[Personal Digital Cellular|PDC]]
| Japan (Softbank, KDDI, DoCoMo)
|- align=center
| <span style="display:none">012 </span><span id="LTE_Band_XII">XII</span> (12)
| <span style="display:none">001 </span>698&nbsp;MHz to 716&nbsp;MHz
| <span style="display:none">001 </span>728&nbsp;MHz to 746&nbsp;MHz
| FDD
| 1.4, 3, 5, 10
|
|
|- align=center
| <span style="display:none">013 </span><span id="LTE_Band_XIII">XIII</span> (13)
| <span style="display:none">003 </span>777&nbsp;MHz to 787&nbsp;MHz
| <span style="display:none">003 </span>746&nbsp;MHz to 756&nbsp;MHz
| FDD
| 1.4, 3, 5, 10
| Verizon's [[United_States_2008_wireless_spectrum_auction#Auction|700 MHz Block C]]
|
|- align=center
| <span style="display:none">014 </span><span id="LTE_Band_XIV">XIV</span> (14)
| <span style="display:none">004 </span>788&nbsp;MHz to 798&nbsp;MHz
| <span style="display:none">004 </span>758&nbsp;MHz to 768&nbsp;MHz
| FDD
| 1.4, 3, 5, 10
| [[United_States_2008_wireless_spectrum_auction#Auction|700 MHz Block D]]
|
|- align=center
| <span style="display:none">017 </span><span id="LTE_Band_XVII">XVII</span> (17)
| <span style="display:none">002 </span>704&nbsp;MHz to 716&nbsp;MHz
| <span style="display:none">002 </span>734&nbsp;MHz to 746&nbsp;MHz
| FDD
| 1.4, 3, 5, 10
| AT&T's [[United_States_2008_wireless_spectrum_auction#Auction|700 MHz Block B]]
|
|- align=center
| <span style="display:none">033 </span><span id="LTE_Band_XXXIII">XXXIII</span> (33)
| colspan="2" | <span style="display:none">016 </span>1900&nbsp;MHz to 1920&nbsp;MHz
| TDD
| 5, 10, 15, 20
|
|
|- align=center
| <span style="display:none">034 </span><span id="LTE_Band_XXXIV">XXXIV</span> (34)
| colspan="2" | <span style="display:none">020 </span>2010&nbsp;MHz to 2025&nbsp;MHz
| TDD
| 5, 10, 15
|
|
|- align=center
| <span style="display:none">035 </span><span id="LTE_Band_XXXV">XXXV</span> (35)
| colspan="2" | <span style="display:none">014 </span>1850&nbsp;MHz to 1910&nbsp;MHz
| TDD
| 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20
|
|
|- align=center
| <span style="display:none">036 </span><span id="LTE_Band_XXXVI">XXXVI</span> (36)
| colspan="2" | <span style="display:none">019 </span>1930&nbsp;MHz to 1990&nbsp;MHz
| TDD
| 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20
|
|
|- align=center
| <span style="display:none">037 </span><span id="LTE_Band_XXXVII">XXXVII</span> (37)
| colspan="2" | <span style="display:none">017 </span>1910&nbsp;MHz to 1930&nbsp;MHz
| TDD
| 5, 10, 15, 20
|
|
|- align=center
| <span style="display:none">038 </span><span id="LTE_Band_XXXVIII">XXXVIII</span> (38)
| colspan="2" | <span style="display:none">023 </span>2570&nbsp;MHz to 2620&nbsp;MHz
| TDD
| 5, 10
|
| EU
|- align=center
| <span style="display:none">039 </span><span id="LTE_Band_XXXIX">XXXIX</span> (39)
| colspan="2" | <span style="display:none">015 </span>1880&nbsp;MHz to 1920&nbsp;MHz
| TDD
| 5, 10, 15, 20
|
|
|- align=center
| <span style="display:none">040 </span><span id="LTE_Band_XL">XL</span> (40)
| colspan="2" | <span style="display:none">021 </span>2300&nbsp;MHz to 2400&nbsp;MHz
| TDD
| 10, 15, 20
| IMT-2000
| China
|}

==Technology Demos==
* In September 2006, Siemens Networks (today [[Nokia Siemens Networks]]) showed in collaboration with Nomor Research the first live emulation of a LTE network to the media and investors. As live applications two users streaming an HD-TV video in the downlink and playing an interactive game in the uplink have been demonstrated.
* The first presentation of an LTE demonstrator with [[HDTV]] streaming (>30 Mbit/s), video supervision and Mobile [[Internet Protocol|IP]]-based handover between the LTE radio demonstrator and the commercially available [[HSDPA]] radio system was shown during the [[International Telecommunication Union|ITU]] trade fair in [[Hong Kong]] in December 2006 by [[Siemens]] Communication Department.
* In February 2007, [[Ericsson]] 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 consumption below 100&nbsp;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
* At the February 2008 [[Mobile World Congress]]:
**[[Huawei]] demonstrated Long Term Evolution ("LTE") applications by means of multiplex HDTV services and mutual gaming that has transmission speeds of 100 Mbps. 
**[[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]] (now a part of [[ST-Ericsson]]) 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]] demonstrated streaming HD video with peak data rates of 96 Mbit/s downlink and 86 Mbit/s uplink.
**[[NXP Semiconductors]] (now a part of [[ST-Ericsson]]) demonstrated a multi-mode LTE modem as the basis for a [[software-defined radio]] system for use in cellphones.
**[[picoChip]] and [[Mimoon]] demonstrated a base station reference design. This runs on a common hardware platform (multi-mode / [[software defined radio]]) 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&nbsp;km/h.
* In April 2008 Ericsson unveiled its M700 mobile platform, the world’s first commercially available LTE-capable platform, with peak data rates of up to 100 Mbit/s in the downlink and up to 50 Mbit/s in the uplink. The first products based on M700 will be data devices such as laptop modems, Expresscards and USB modems for notebooks, as well other small-form modems suitable for consumer electronic devices. Commercial release is set for 2009, with products based on the platform expected in 2010. 
* In November 2008 [[Motorola]] demonstrated industry first over-the-air LTE session in 700&nbsp;MHz spectrum
* Researchers at [[Nokia Siemens Networks]] and [[Fraunhofer Society|Heinrich Hertz Institut]] have demonstrated LTE with 100 Mbit/s Uplink transfer speeds.
* At the February 2009 [[Mobile World Congress]]:
**[[Huawei]] demonstrated the world' s first unified frequency-division duplex and time-division duplex (FDD/TDD) long-term evolution (LTE) solution.
**[[Aricent]] gave a demonstration of LTE eNodeB layer2 stacks.
**[[Setcom]] Streaming a Video 
**[[Infineon]] demonstrated a single-chip 65&nbsp;nm [[CMOS]] RF transceiver providing 2G/3G/LTE functionality
**Launch of ng Connect program, a multi-industry consortium founded by [[Alcatel-Lucent]] to identify and develop wireless broadband applications.
**[[Motorola]] provided LTE drive tour on the streets of Barcelona to demonstrate LTE system performance in a real-life metropolitan RF environment 
* In May 2009 [[Setcom]] Streaming HD Video at GSMA MWC and LTE World Summit
* In July 2009 [[Nujira]] demonstrated efficiencies of more than 60% for an 880&nbsp;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]] receives FCC certification for LTE base stations for the 700&nbsp;MHz spectrum band.
* In September 2009, [[Nokia Siemens Networks]] demonstrated world's first LTE call on standards-compliant commercial software.
* In October 2009, [[Ericsson]] and [[Samsung]] demonstrated interoperability between the first ever commercial LTE device and the live network in Stockholm, Sweden.
* In October 2009, [[Alcatel-Lucent]]'s Bell Labs, Deutsche Telekom 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 Long Term Evolution (LTE) and 3G networks.
* In November 2009, [[Alcatel-Lucent]] completed first live LTE call using 800&nbsp;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 opened in [[Stockholm]] and [[Oslo]] by the Swedish-Finnish network operator [[TeliaSonera]] and its Norweigan brandname [[NetCom (Norway)]]. The offered modem device was manufactured by [[Samsung]] (dongle GT-B3710), and the network infrastructure by [[Huawei]] (in Oslo) and [[Ericsson]] (in Stockholm). TeliaSonera incorrectly branded the service "[[4G]]". An introductory test showed a [[TCP]] [[goodput]] of 42.8 Mbit/s downstreams and 5.3 Mbit/s upstreams in the Stockholm network.

==Carrier adoption==
Most carriers supporting GSM or HSUPA networks can be expected to upgrade their networks to LTE at some stage:
* [[AT&T Mobility]] has stated that they intend on upgrading to LTE as their 4G technology in 2011, but will introduce [[HSUPA]] and [[HSPA+]] as bridge standards.
* [[TeliaSonera]] has started network built up in Stockholm and Oslo, and will follow up in Copenhagen when a license in Denmark has been bought/granted. The networks are still only for testing. There are no indications of a public live date.
* In January 2009 [[TeliaSonera]] signed a contract for an LTE network with [[Huawei]] covering Oslo, Norway. Under the agreement, Huawei will provide an end-to-end LTE solution including LTE base stations, core network and OSS (Operating Support System). 
* In January 2009 Ericsson and TeliaSonera announced the signing of a commercial LTE network. The roll-out of the 4G mobile broadband network will offer the highest data rates ever realized, with the best interactivity and quality. This network will cover Sweden’s capital Stockholm and the contract is Ericsson’s first for commercial deployment of LTE.
* [[T-Mobile]], [[Vodafone]], [[France Télécom]] and [[Telecom Italia Mobile]] have also announced or talked publicly about their commitment to LTE.
* In August 2009 Telefónica selected six countries to field-test LTE in the succeeding months: Spain, the United Kingdom, Germany and the Czech Republic in Europe, and Brazil and Argentina in Latin America.
* On [[November 24th]], [[2009]] [[Telecom Italia]] announced the first outdoor pre-commercial experimentation in the world, deployed in [[Torino]] and totally integrated into the [[2G]]/[[3G]] network currently in service.

Despite initial development of the rival [[Ultra Mobile Broadband|UMB]] standard, which was designed as an upgrade path for [[CDMA2000|CDMA]] networks, most operators of networks based upon the latter system have also announced their intent to migrate to LTE, resulting in discontinuation of UMB development.
* [[Verizon Wireless]] completed its first test LTE data calls in August 2009 and plans to deploy LTE beginning in 2010 with system-wide deployment completed in 2013.
* [[Bell Mobility]] has stated their intention to use LTE as a future upgrade to their HSDPA network.
* [[Telus Mobility]] has announced that it will adopt LTE as its 4G wireless standard.
* [[MetroPCS]] recently announced that it would be using LTE for its upcoming 4G network.
* The newly formed [[China Telecom]]/[[China Unicom]] and Japan's [[KDDI]] have announced they have chosen LTE as their 4G network technology.
* [[Cox Communications]] has its first tower for wireless LTE network build-out. Wireless services should launch late 2009.
* AlMadar Aljadeed, the biggest Libyan Mobile Phone operator, has announced adopting the LTE technology passing straight from 2G Technology to 4G.
* The Dutch telecom provider [[KPN]] announced that it will use LTE for its 4G network.
* The Irish telco [[Digiweb]] is currently operating a 4G service in the Dublin area.

==See also==
* [[E-UTRA]]
* [[System Architecture Evolution]]
* [[WiMax]]

== Further reading ==
* Erik Dahlman, Stefan Parkvall, Johan Sköld, Per Beming, "[http://www.amazon.com/3G-Evolution-Second-Mobile-Broadband/dp/0123745381 3G Evolution - HSPA and LTE for Mobile Broadband]", 2nd edition, Academic Press, 2008, ISBN 978-0-12-374538-5
* Stefania Sesia, Issam Toufik, and Matthew Baker, "[http://www.amazon.com/dp/0470697164 LTE - The UMTS Long Term Evolution - From Theory to Practice]", John Wiley & Sons, 2009, ISBN 978-0470697160 
* F. Khan,  "[http://www.amazon.com/dp/0521882214 LTE for 4G Mobile Broadband - Air Interface Technologies and Performance]", Cambridge University Press, 2009
* Mustafa Ergen,  "[http://www.amazon.com/dp/0387681892 Mobile Broadband - Including WiMAX and LTE]", Springer, NY, 2009
* H. Ekström, A. Furuskär, J. Karlsson, M. Meyer, S. Parkvall, J. Torsner, and M. Wahlqvist, "Technical Solutions for the 3G Long-Term Evolution," ''IEEE Commun. Mag.'', vol. 44, no. 3, March 2006, pp.&nbsp;38–45
* E. Dahlman, H. Ekström, A. Furuskär, Y. Jading, J. Karlsson, M. Lundevall, and S. Parkvall, "The 3G Long-Term Evolution - Radio Interface Concepts and Performance Evaluation," ''IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference (VTC) 2006 Spring'', Melbourne, Australia, May 2006
* K. Fazel and S. Kaiser, ''Multi-Carrier and Spread Spectrum Systems: From OFDM and MC-CDMA to LTE and WiMAX'', 2nd Edition, John Wiley & Sons, 2008, ISBN 978-0-470-99821-2
* Agilent Technologies, "[http://www.agilent.com/find/ltebook LTE and the Evolution to 4G Wireless: Design and Measurement Challenges]", John Wiley & Sons, 2009 ISBN 978-0-470-68261-6

==External links==
* [http://www.3gpp.org/article/lte 3GPP LTE homepage]

===3GPP Projects and Presentations===
* [http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/archive/36_series/36.300/ 3GPP TS 36.300 Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) and Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN); Overall description]
* [http://www.3gpp.org/specs/WorkItem-info/WI--31067.htm 3GPP AIPN Workitem]
* [http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/PCG/PCG_16/PCG%20Beijing%20Workshop%20Presentations/3GPP%20Beijing%20workshop%20Courau%20TSG%20RAN%20Chairman.ppt "3GPP Evolution: LTE and SAE" by Francois Courau at Alcatel (Chairman of 3GPP TSG RAN)]

=== Specifications ===
* 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP); [http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/html-info/25913.htm Requirements for Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA) and Evolved UTRAN (E-UTRAN)]
* 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP); Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; [http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/html-info/25814.htm Physical Layer Aspects for Evolved UTRA]

===Industry reaction===
* [http://www.3gamericas.org/English/pdfs/wp_UMTS_Rel7_Beyond_FINAL.pdf "Mobile Broadband: The Global Evolution of UMTS/HSPA - 3GPP Release 7 and Beyond" by 3G Americas]
* [http://business.motorola.com/experiencelte/lte-experience.html Experience LTE by Motorola]
* [http://news.vzw.com/LTE/Dick_Lynch_MWC_Final.pdf Verizon Wireless Global LTE Deployment Plans]

===Whitepapers and other information===
* [http://www.rysavy.com/Articles/2007_09_Rysavy_3GAmericas.pdf EDGE, HSPA, LTE: Broadband Innovation] (PDF)
* [http://www.nokiasiemensnetworks.com/NR/rdonlyres/4B75329B-3750-4BBB-8320-7113613AAB64/0/LTE_measurement_A4_1302.pdf "LTE performance for initial deployments" by Nokia Siemens Networks]
* [http://www.ericsson.com/technology/whitepapers/broadband/LTE_introduction.shtml Long Term Evolution (LTE): An Introduction – Ericsson White Paper] [http://www.ericsson.com/technology/research_papers/wireless_access/doc/the_3g_long_term_evolution_radio_interface.pdf "The Long Term Evolution of 3G" on Ericsson Review, no. 2, 2005]
* [http://www.signal.uu.se/Research/PCCWIP/Tunisia/WIP05_EAB.pdf "3G Long-Term Evolution" by Dr. Erik Dahlman at Ericsson Research]
* [http://www.calit2.net/events/pdfs/S3G_Stefan_Parkvall.pdf "Long-Term 3G Evolution - Radio Access" by Dr. Stefan Parkvall at Ericsson Research]
* [http://www.ikr.uni-stuttgart.de/Content/itg/fg524/Meetings/2006-09-29-Ulm/01-3GPP_LTE-SAE_Overview_Sep06.pdf "3GPP Long-Term Evolution / System Architecture Evolution: Overview" by Ulrich Barth at Alcatel]
* Dahlman, Parkvall, Skold and Beming, 3G Evolution: HSPA and LTE for Mobile Broadband, Academic Press, Oxford, UK, 2007
* H. Ekström, A. Furuskär, J. Karlsson, M. Meyer, S. Parkvall, J. Torsner, and M. Wahlqvist, "Technical Solutions for the 3G Long-Term Evolution," IEEE Commun. Mag., vol. 44, no. 3, March 2006, pp.&nbsp;38–45
* [http://www.krnet.or.kr/board/include/download.asp?no=30&db=program&fileno=2 "3GPP LTE & 3GPP2 LTE Standardization" by Dr. Lee, HyeonWoo at Samsung Electronics]
* [http://www.nomor-research.com/home/technology/3gpp-newsletter/2007-11--lte-time-division-duplex Nomor Research Newsletter: Overview LTE Time Division Duplex]
* [http://www.comnets.uni-bremen.de/typo3site/uploads/media/ITG-FA52-Schopp-Bremen-Nov-2006.pdf "Trends in Mobile Network Architectures" by Dr. Michael Schopp at Siemens Networks] 
* [http://www.freescale.com/files/wireless_comm/doc/white_paper/3GPPEVOLUTIONWP.pdf "Overview of the 3GPP LTE Physical Layer" by James Zyren and Dr. Wes McCoy, Freescale Semiconductor]
* [http://www.ericsson.com/broadband/facts_opinions/index_industry_news.shtml “Growing momentum brings LTE closer to becoming a commercial reality”]
* [http://www.radio-electronics.com/info/cellulartelecomms/lte-long-term-evolution/3g-lte-basics.php 3GPP LTE - series of pages looking at different aspects of 3G LTE]
* [http://www.rohde-schwarz.com/appnote/1MA111.pdf LTE technology introduction]
* [http://www2.alcatel-lucent.com/enrich/en/v3i2/ Alcatel-Lucent's online magazine on 4G/LTE]