4G (other)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

4G refers to the fourth generation of
cellular network A cellular network or mobile network is a telecommunications network where the link to and from end nodes is wireless network, wireless and the network is distributed over land areas called ''cells'', each served by at least one fixed-locatio ...
technology, first introduced in the late 2000s and early 2010s. Compared to preceding third-generation ( 3G) technologies, 4G has been designed to support all-IP communications and
broadband In telecommunications, broadband or high speed is the wide-bandwidth (signal processing), bandwidth data transmission that exploits signals at a wide spread of frequencies or several different simultaneous frequencies, and is used in fast Inter ...
services, and eliminates
circuit switching Circuit switching is a method of implementing a telecommunications network in which two network nodes establish a dedicated communications channel ( circuit) through the network before the nodes may communicate. The circuit guarantees the full ...
in voice telephony. It also has considerably higher data bandwidth compared to 3G, enabling a variety of data-intensive applications such as high-definition
media streaming Streaming media refers to multimedia delivered through a network for playback using a media player. Media is transferred in a ''stream'' of packets from a server to a client and is rendered in real-time; this contrasts with file downl ...
and the expansion of
Internet of Things Internet of things (IoT) describes devices with sensors, processing ability, software and other technologies that connect and exchange data with other devices and systems over the Internet or other communication networks. The IoT encompasse ...
(IoT) applications. The earliest deployed technologies marketed as "4G" were
Long Term Evolution In telecommunications, long-term evolution (LTE) is a standard for wireless broadband communication for cellular mobile devices and data terminals. It is considered to be a "transitional" 4G technology, and is therefore also referred to as 3.9 ...
(LTE), developed by the
3GPP The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is an umbrella term for a number of standards organizations which develop protocols for mobile telecommunications. Its best known work is the development and maintenance of: * GSM and related 2G and ...
group, and Mobile Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (Mobile WiMAX), based on
IEEE The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is an American 501(c)(3) organization, 501(c)(3) public charity professional organization for electrical engineering, electronics engineering, and other related disciplines. The IEEE ...
specifications. These provided significant enhancements over previous 3G and 2G.


Technical overview

In November 2008, the International Telecommunication Union-Radio communications sector (ITU-R) specified a set of requirements for 4G standards, named the International Mobile Telecommunications Advanced (IMT-Advanced) specification, setting peak speed requirements for 4G service at 100
megabits per second In telecommunications, data transfer rate is the average number of bits (bitrate), characters or symbols ( baudrate), or data blocks per unit time passing through a communication link in a data-transmission system. Common data rate units are mul ...
(Mbit/s)(=12.5 megabytes per second) for high mobility communication (such as from trains and cars) and 1
gigabit per second In telecommunications, data transfer rate is the average number of bits (bitrate), characters or symbols ( baudrate), or data blocks per unit time passing through a communication link in a data-transmission system. Common data rate units are mult ...
(Gbit/s) for low mobility communication (such as pedestrians and stationary users).
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-frequenc ...

Report M.2134, Requirements related to technical performance for IMT-Advanced radio interface(s)
Approved in November 2008
Since the first-release versions of
Mobile 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 WiMAX ...
and
LTE LTE may refer to: Science and technology * LTE (telecommunication) (Long-Term Evolution), a mobile telephony standard ** LTE Advanced, an enhancement ** LTE Advanced Pro, a further enhancement * Compaq LTE, a line of laptop computers * Leukotrie ...
support much less than 1 Gbit/s peak bit rate, they are not fully IMT-Advanced compliant, but are often branded 4G by service providers. According to operators, a generation of the network refers to the deployment of a new non-backward-compatible technology. On December 6, 2010, ITU-R recognized that these two technologies, as well as other beyond-3G technologies that do not fulfill the IMT-Advanced requirements, could nevertheless be considered "4G", provided they represent forerunners to IMT-Advanced compliant versions and "a substantial level of improvement in performance and capabilities with respect to the initial third generation systems now deployed". Both the original LTE and WiMAX standards had previously sometimes been referred to as 3.9G/3.95G. The ITU's new definition for 4G also included
Evolved High Speed Packet Access Evolved High Speed Packet Access, HSPA+, HSPA (Plus) or HSPAP, is a technical standard for wireless broadband telecommunication, and extends the original HSPA. The 3GPP standard organisation specified the original HSPA in release 7. HSPA+ c ...
(HSPA+).
Mobile WiMAX Release 2 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 WiMAX ...
(also known as ''WirelessMAN-Advanced'' or ''IEEE 802.16m'') and
LTE Advanced LTE Advanced, also named or recognized as LTE+, LTE-A or 4G+, is a 4G mobile Cellular network, cellular communication standard developed by 3GPP as a major enhancement of the LTE (telecommunication), Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard. Three tec ...
(LTE-A) are IMT-Advanced compliant backwards compatible versions of the above two systems, standardized during the spring 2011, and promising speeds in the order of 1 Gbit/s. In January 2012, the ITU backtracked on its previous definition for 4G, claiming that Mobile WiMAX 2 and LTE Advanced are "true 4G" while their predecessors are "transitional" 3G-4G. As opposed to earlier generations, a 4G system does not support traditional
circuit-switched Circuit switching is a method of implementing a telecommunications network in which two network nodes establish a dedicated communications channel ( circuit) through the network before the nodes may communicate. The circuit guarantees the full ...
telephony service, but instead relies on all-
Internet Protocol The Internet Protocol (IP) is the network layer communications protocol in the Internet protocol suite for relaying datagrams across network boundaries. Its routing function enables internetworking, and essentially establishes the Internet. IP ...
(IP) based communication such as
IP telephony Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), also known as IP telephony, is a set of technologies used primarily for voice communication sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. VoIP enables voice calls to be transmitted as ...
. As seen below, the
spread spectrum In telecommunications, especially radio communication, spread spectrum are techniques by which a signal (electrical engineering), signal (e.g., an electrical, electromagnetic, or acoustic) generated with a particular Bandwidth (signal processi ...
radio technology used in 3G systems is abandoned in all 4G candidate systems and replaced by
OFDMA Orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) is a multi-user version of the popular orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) digital modulation scheme. Multiple access is achieved in OFDMA by assigning subsets of subcarriers t ...
multi-carrier transmission and other
frequency-domain equalization Single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) is a frequency-division multiple access scheme. Originally known as Carrier Interferometry, it is also called linearly precoded OFDMA (LP-OFDMA). Like other multiple access schemes (TDMA, FDMA, CDMA, OFDMA), it deals ...
(FDE) schemes, making it possible to transfer very high bit rates despite extensive multi-path radio propagation (echoes). The peak bit rate is further improved by
smart antenna Smart antennas (also known as adaptive array antennas, digital antenna arrays, multiple antennas and, recently, Multiple-input multiple-output communications, MIMO) are antenna arrays with smart signal processing algorithms used to identify spatial ...
arrays for
multiple-input multiple-output In radio, multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) () is a method for multiplying the capacity of a radio link using multiple transmission and receiving antennas to exploit multipath propagation. MIMO has become an essential element of wirele ...
(MIMO) communications.


Background

In the field of mobile communications, a "generation" generally refers to a change in the fundamental nature of the service, non-backwards-compatible transmission technology, higher peak bit rates, new frequency bands, wider channel frequency bandwidth in Hertz, and higher capacity for many simultaneous data transfers (higher
system spectral efficiency Spectral efficiency, spectrum efficiency or bandwidth efficiency refers to the information rate that can be transmitted over a given bandwidth in a specific communication system. It is a measure of how efficiently a limited frequency spectrum is ...
in
bit The bit is the most basic unit of information in computing and digital communication. The name is a portmanteau of binary digit. The bit represents a logical state with one of two possible values. These values are most commonly represented as ...
/second/Hertz/site). New mobile generations have appeared about every ten years since the first move from 1981 analog (1G) to digital (2G) transmission in 1992. This was followed, in 2001, by 3G multi-media support,
spread spectrum In telecommunications, especially radio communication, spread spectrum are techniques by which a signal (electrical engineering), signal (e.g., an electrical, electromagnetic, or acoustic) generated with a particular Bandwidth (signal processi ...
transmission and a minimum peak bit rate of 200
kbit/s In telecommunications, data transfer rate is the average number of bits ( bitrate), characters or symbols ( baudrate), or data blocks per unit time passing through a communication link in a data-transmission system. Common data rate units are mu ...
, in 2011/2012 to be followed by "real" 4G, which refers to all-IP
packet-switched In telecommunications, packet switching is a method of grouping data into short messages in fixed format, i.e. '' packets,'' that are transmitted over a digital network. Packets consist of a header and a payload. Data in the header is used b ...
networks giving mobile ultra-broadband (gigabit speed) access. While the ITU has adopted recommendations for technologies that would be used for future global communications, they do not actually perform the standardization or development work themselves, instead relying on the work of other standard bodies such as IEEE, WiMAX Forum, and 3GPP. In the mid-1990s, 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-frequenc ...
standardization organization released the
IMT-2000 IMT-2000 (International Mobile Telecommunications-2000) is the global standard for third generation ( 3G) wireless communications as defined by the International Telecommunication Union. In 1999 ITU approved five radio interfaces for IMT-2000 as a ...
requirements as a framework for what standards should be considered 3G systems, requiring 2000 kbit/s peak bit rate. The fastest 3G-based standard in the
UMTS The Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is a 3G mobile cellular system for networks based on the GSM standard. UMTS uses Wideband Code Division Multiple Access, wideband code-division multiple access (W-CDMA) radio access technolog ...
family is the
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 * Hunte ...
standard, which has been commercially available since 2009 and offers 21 Mbit/s downstream (11 Mbit/s upstream) without
MIMO In radio, multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) () is a method for multiplying the capacity of a radio link using multiple transmission and receiving antennas to exploit multipath propagation. MIMO has become an essential element of wirel ...
, i.e. with only one antenna, and in 2011 accelerated up to 42 Mbit/s peak bit rate downstream using either
DC-HSPA+ Evolved High Speed Packet Access, HSPA+, HSPA (Plus) or HSPAP, is a technical standard for wireless broadband telecommunication, and extends the original HSPA. The 3GPP standard organisation specified the original HSPA in release 7. HSPA+ can ...
(simultaneous use of two 5 MHz UMTS carriers)62 commercial networks support DC-HSPA+, drives HSPA investments
LteWorld February 7, 2012
or 2x2 MIMO. In theory speeds up to 672 Mbit/s are possible, but have not been deployed yet. The fastest 3G-based standard in the
CDMA2000 CDMA2000 (also known as C2K or IMT Multi‑Carrier (IMT‑MC)) is a family of 3G mobile technology standards for sending voice, data, and signaling data between mobile phones and cell sites. It is developed by 3GPP2 as a backwards-compatib ...
family is the EV-DO Rev. B, which is available since 2010 and offers 15.67 Mbit/s downstream. In 2008, ITU-R specified the
IMT Advanced International Mobile Telecommunications-Advanced (IMT-Advanced Standard) are the requirements issued by the ITU Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in 2008 for what is marketed as 4G (or in Turke ...
(International Mobile Telecommunications Advanced) requirements for 4G systems.


Frequencies for 4G+ LTE networks


IMT-Advanced requirements

This article refers to 4G using IMT-Advanced (''International Mobile Telecommunications Advanced''), as defined by
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-frequenc ...
. An IMT-Advanced cellular system must fulfill the following requirements: * Be based on an all-IP packet switched network. * Have peak data rates of up to approximately 100Mbit/s for high mobility such as mobile access and up to approximately 1Gbit/s for low mobility such as nomadic/local wireless access. * Be able to dynamically share and use the network resources to support more simultaneous users per cell. * Use scalable channel bandwidths of 5–20 MHz, optionally up to 40 MHz. * Have peak link spectral efficiency of 15bit/s·Hz in the downlink, and 6.75bit/s·Hz in the up link (meaning that 1Gbit/s in the downlink should be possible over less than 67 MHz bandwidth). *
System spectral efficiency Spectral efficiency, spectrum efficiency or bandwidth efficiency refers to the information rate that can be transmitted over a given bandwidth in a specific communication system. It is a measure of how efficiently a limited frequency spectrum is ...
is, in indoor cases, 3bit/s·Hz·cell for downlink and 2.25bit/s·Hz·cell for up link. * Smooth handovers across heterogeneous networks. In September 2009, the technology proposals were submitted to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) as 4G candidates. Basically all proposals are based on two technologies: *
LTE Advanced LTE Advanced, also named or recognized as LTE+, LTE-A or 4G+, is a 4G mobile Cellular network, cellular communication standard developed by 3GPP as a major enhancement of the LTE (telecommunication), Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard. Three tec ...
standardized by the
3GPP The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is an umbrella term for a number of standards organizations which develop protocols for mobile telecommunications. Its best known work is the development and maintenance of: * GSM and related 2G and ...
*
802.16m IEEE 802.16 is a series of wireless broadband standards written by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). The IEEE Standards Board established a working group in 1999 to develop standards for broadband for wireless metropo ...
standardized by the
IEEE The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is an American 501(c)(3) organization, 501(c)(3) public charity professional organization for electrical engineering, electronics engineering, and other related disciplines. The IEEE ...
Implementations of Mobile WiMAX and first-release LTE were largely considered a stopgap solution that would offer a considerable boost until WiMAX 2 (based on the 802.16m specification) and LTE Advanced was deployed. The latter's standard versions were ratified in spring 2011. The first set of 3GPP requirements on LTE Advanced was approved in June 2008. LTE Advanced was standardized in 2010 as part of Release 10 of the 3GPP specification. Some sources consider first-release LTE and Mobile WiMAX implementations as pre-4G or near-4G, as they do not fully comply with the planned requirements of 1Gbit/s for stationary reception and 100Mbit/s for mobile. Confusion has been caused by some mobile carriers who have launched products advertised as 4G but which according to some sources are pre-4G versions, commonly referred to as 3.9G, which do not follow the ITU-R defined principles for 4G standards, but today can be called 4G according to ITU-R.
Vodafone Netherlands Vodafone Libertel B.V. is the third largest mobile phone company in the Netherlands, and was previously called Libertel. It is part of VodafoneZiggo, a joint venture between Ziggo and Vodafone Group. It offers 2G GSM, 2.5G GPRS on the 900  ...
for example, advertised LTE as 4G, while advertising LTE Advanced as their '4G+' service. A common argument for branding 3.9G systems as new-generation is that they use different frequency bands from 3G technologies; that they are based on a new radio-interface paradigm; and that the standards are not backwards compatible with 3G, whilst some of the standards are forwards compatible with IMT-2000 compliant versions of the same standards.


System standards


IMT-2000 compliant 4G standards

As of October 2010, ITU-R Working Party 5D approved two industry-developed technologies (LTE Advanced and WirelessMAN-Advanced) for inclusion in the ITU's International Mobile Telecommunications Advanced program (
IMT-Advanced International Mobile Telecommunications-Advanced (IMT-Advanced Standard) are the requirements issued by the ITU-R, ITU Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in 2008 for what is marketed as 4G (or in ...
program), which is focused on global communication systems that will be available several years from now.


LTE Advanced

LTE Advanced LTE Advanced, also named or recognized as LTE+, LTE-A or 4G+, is a 4G mobile Cellular network, cellular communication standard developed by 3GPP as a major enhancement of the LTE (telecommunication), Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard. Three tec ...
(Long Term Evolution Advanced) is a candidate for
IMT-Advanced International Mobile Telecommunications-Advanced (IMT-Advanced Standard) are the requirements issued by the ITU-R, ITU Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in 2008 for what is marketed as 4G (or in ...
standard, formally submitted by the
3GPP The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is an umbrella term for a number of standards organizations which develop protocols for mobile telecommunications. Its best known work is the development and maintenance of: * GSM and related 2G and ...
organization to ITU-T in the fall 2009, and as of 2013 has been released to the public.The target of 3GPP LTE Advanced is to reach and surpass the ITU requirements. LTE Advanced is essentially an enhancement to LTE. It is not a new technology, but rather an improvement on the existing LTE network. This upgrade path makes it more cost effective for vendors to offer LTE and then upgrade to LTE Advanced which is similar to the upgrade from WCDMA to HSPA. LTE and LTE Advanced will also make use of additional spectrums and multiplexing to allow it to achieve higher data speeds. Coordinated Multi-point Transmission will also allow more system capacity to help handle the enhanced data speeds.


IEEE 802.16m or WirelessMAN-Advanced

The IEEE 802.16m or WirelessMAN-Advanced (WiMAX 2) evolution of 802.16e is under development, with the objective to fulfill the IMT-Advanced criteria of 1 Gbit/s for stationary reception and 100 Mbit/s for mobile reception.


Forerunner versions


Long Term Evolution (LTE)

The pre-4G
3GPP Long Term Evolution In telecommunications, long-term evolution (LTE) is a standard for wireless broadband communication for cellular mobile devices and data terminals. It is considered to be a "transitional" 4G technology, and is therefore also referred to as 3 ...
(LTE) technology is often branded "4G – LTE", but the first LTE release does not fully comply with the IMT-Advanced requirements. LTE has a theoretical
net bit rate In telecommunications and computing, bit rate (bitrate or as a variable ''R'') is the number of bits that are conveyed or processed per unit of time. The bit rate is expressed in the unit bit per second (symbol: bit/s), often in conjunction ...
capacity of up to 100 Mbit/s in the downlink and 50 Mbit/s in the uplink if a 20 MHz channel is used — and more if
multiple-input multiple-output In radio, multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) () is a method for multiplying the capacity of a radio link using multiple transmission and receiving antennas to exploit multipath propagation. MIMO has become an essential element of wirele ...
(MIMO), i.e. antenna arrays, are used. The physical radio interface was at an early stage named ''High Speed
OFDM In telecommunications, orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) is a type of digital transmission used in digital modulation for encoding digital (binary) data on multiple carrier frequencies. OFDM has developed into a popular scheme for ...
Packet Access'' (HSOPA), now named
Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access 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 UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access, also known as the Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio ...
(E-UTRA). The first
LTE LTE may refer to: Science and technology * LTE (telecommunication) (Long-Term Evolution), a mobile telephony standard ** LTE Advanced, an enhancement ** LTE Advanced Pro, a further enhancement * Compaq LTE, a line of laptop computers * Leukotrie ...
USB dongles do not support any other radio interface. The world's first publicly available LTE service was opened in the two Scandinavian capitals,
Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...
(
Ericsson (), commonly known as Ericsson (), is a Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. Ericsson has been a major contributor to the development of the telecommunications industry and is one ...
and
Nokia Siemens Networks Nokia Networks (formerly Nokia Solutions and Networks (NSN) and Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN)) is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational data networking and telecommunications equipment company headquartered in Espoo, Finland, and who ...
systems) and
Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) 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 1,064,235 in 2022 ...
(a
Huawei Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. ("Huawei" sometimes stylized as "HUAWEI"; ; zh, c=华为, p= ) is a Chinese multinational corporationtechnology company in Longgang, Shenzhen, Longgang, Shenzhen, Guangdong. Its main product lines include teleco ...
system) on December 14, 2009, and branded 4G. The user terminals were manufactured by Samsung. As of November 2012, the five publicly available LTE services in the United States are provided by
MetroPCS Metro by T-Mobile, formerly known as MetroPCS, and simply known as Metro, is an American prepaid mobile phone, prepaid Wireless, wireless service provider and brand owned by T-Mobile US. It previously operated the fifth largest mobile telecommun ...
,
Verizon Wireless Verizon is an American wireless network operator that previously operated as a separate division of Verizon Communications under the name Verizon Wireless. In a 2019 reorganization, Verizon moved the wireless products and services into the div ...
,
AT&T Mobility AT&T Mobility, LLC, also known as AT&T Wireless and Trade name, marketed as simply AT&T, is an American telecommunications company. Formed in April 2000 as Cingular Wireless LLC, It is a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T, AT&T Inc. and provide ...
,
U.S. Cellular United States Cellular Corporation (doing business as UScellular and formerly known as U.S. Cellular) is an American mobile network operator. Its stock is publicly traded, but Telephone and Data Systems Inc. owns a controlling stake (83% econo ...
,
Sprint Sprint may refer to: Aerospace * Spring WS202 Sprint, a Canadian aircraft design *Sprint (missile), an anti-ballistic missile Automobiles *Alfa Romeo Sprint, automobile produced by Alfa Romeo between 1976 and 1989 *Chevrolet Sprint, a rebadged v ...
, and
T-Mobile US T-Mobile US, Inc. is an American wireless network operator headquartered in Bellevue, Washington. Its majority shareholder and namesake is the German telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom. T-Mobile is the second largest wireless carrie ...
. T-Mobile Hungary launched a public beta test (called ''friendly user test'') on 7 October 2011, and has offered commercial 4G LTE services since 1 January 2012. In South Korea, SK Telecom and LG U+ have enabled access to LTE service since 1 July 2011 for data devices, slated to go nationwide by 2012. KT Telecom closed its 2G service by March 2012 and completed nationwide LTE service in the same frequency around 1.8 GHz by June 2012. In the United Kingdom, LTE services were launched by EE in October 2012, by O2 and
Vodafone Vodafone Group Public Limited Company () is a British Multinational company, multinational telecommunications company. Its registered office and global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It predominantly operates Service (economic ...
in August 2013, and by
Three 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious and cultural significance in many societies ...
in December 2013.


Mobile WiMAX (IEEE 802.16e)

The
Mobile 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 WiMAX ...
(IEEE 802.16e-2005) mobile wireless broadband access (MWBA) standard (also known as
WiBro WiBro (''wireless broadband'') was a wireless broadband Internet technology developed by the South Korean telecoms industry. WiBro is the South Korean service name for IEEE 802.16e (mobile WiMAX) international standard. Usage of the service ...
in South Korea) is sometimes branded 4G, and offers peak data rates of 128 Mbit/s downlink and 56 Mbit/s uplink over 20 MHz wide channels. In June 2006, the world's first commercial mobile WiMAX service was opened by KT in
Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...
,
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...
.
Sprint Sprint may refer to: Aerospace * Spring WS202 Sprint, a Canadian aircraft design *Sprint (missile), an anti-ballistic missile Automobiles *Alfa Romeo Sprint, automobile produced by Alfa Romeo between 1976 and 1989 *Chevrolet Sprint, a rebadged v ...
has begun using Mobile WiMAX, as of 29 September 2008, branding it as a "4G" network even though the current version does not fulfill the IMT Advanced requirements on 4G systems. In Russia, Belarus and Nicaragua WiMax broadband internet access were offered by a Russian company
Scartel Yota () is a Russian mobile virtual network operator. Formerly, Yota was a Russian mobile phone brand and mobile broadband manufacturer. Yota was a trademark of Skartel LLC. Yota later suffered bankruptcy due to a lawsuit. Garsdale Services I ...
, and was also branded 4G,
Yota Yota () is a Russian mobile virtual network operator. Formerly, Yota was a Russian mobile phone brand and mobile broadband manufacturer. Yota was a trademark of Skartel LLC. Yota later suffered bankruptcy due to a lawsuit. Garsdale Services I ...
. In the latest version of the standard, WiMax 2.1, the standard has been updated to be not compatible with earlier WiMax standard, and is instead interchangeable with LTE-TDD system, effectively merging WiMax standard with LTE.


TD-LTE for China market

Just as
Long-Term Evolution In telecommunications, long-term evolution (LTE) is a standard for wireless broadband communication for cellular mobile devices and data terminals. It is considered to be a "transitional" 4G technology, and is therefore also referred to as 3 ...
(LTE) and WiMAX are being vigorously promoted in the global telecommunications industry, the former (LTE) is also the most powerful 4G mobile communications leading technology and has quickly occupied the Chinese market.
TD-LTE In telecommunications, long-term evolution (LTE) is a standard for wireless broadband communication for cellular mobile devices and data terminals. It is considered to be a "transitional" 4G technology, and is therefore also referred to as 3 ...
, one of the two variants of the LTE air interface technologies, is not yet mature, but many domestic and international wireless carriers are, one after the other turning to TD-LTE. IBM's data shows that 67% of the operators are considering LTE because this is the main source of their future market. The above news also confirms IBM's statement that while only 8% of the operators are considering the use of WiMAX, WiMAX can provide the fastest network transmission to its customers on the market and could challenge LTE. TD-LTE is not the first 4G wireless mobile broadband network data standard, but it is China's 4G standard that was amended and published by China's largest telecom operator –
China Mobile China Mobile is the trade name of both China Mobile Limited and its ultimate controlling shareholder, China Mobile Communications Group Co., Ltd., a Chinese State-owned enterprises of China, state-owned telecommunicationsStrait deals ''The Econ ...
. After a series of field trials, is expected to be released into the commercial phase in the next two years. Ulf Ewaldsson, Ericsson's vice president said: "the Chinese Ministry of Industry and China Mobile in the fourth quarter of this year will hold a large-scale field test, by then, Ericsson will help the hand." But viewing from the current development trend, whether this standard advocated by China Mobile will be widely recognized by the international market is still debatable.


Discontinued candidate systems


UMB (formerly EV-DO Rev. C)

UMB (
Ultra Mobile Broadband Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO, EVDO, etc.) is a telecommunications standard for the wireless transmission of data through radio signals, typically for broadband Internet access. EV-DO is an evolution of the CDMA2000 (IS-2000) standard which s ...
) was the brand name for a discontinued 4G project within the
3GPP2 The 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2) was a collaboration between telecommunications associations to make a globally applicable third generation (3G) mobile phone system specification within the scope of the ITU's IMT-2000 project. ...
standardization group to improve the
CDMA2000 CDMA2000 (also known as C2K or IMT Multi‑Carrier (IMT‑MC)) is a family of 3G mobile technology standards for sending voice, data, and signaling data between mobile phones and cell sites. It is developed by 3GPP2 as a backwards-compatib ...
mobile phone standard for next generation applications and requirements. In November 2008,
Qualcomm Qualcomm Incorporated () is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Diego, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. It creates semiconductors, software and services related to wireless techn ...
, UMB's lead sponsor, announced it was ending development of the technology, favoring LTE instead. The objective was to achieve data speeds over 275 Mbit/s downstream and over 75 Mbit/s upstream.


Flash-OFDM

At an early stage the
Flash-OFDM In telecommunications, orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) is a type of digital transmission used in digital modulation for encoding digital (binary) data on multiple carrier frequencies. OFDM has developed into a popular scheme for ...
system was expected to be further developed into a 4G standard.


iBurst and MBWA (IEEE 802.20) systems

The
iBurst IEEE 802.20 or Mobile Broadband Wireless Access (MBWA) was a specification by the standard association of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) for mobile broadband networks. The main standard was published in 2008. MBWA ...
system (or HC-SDMA, High Capacity Spatial Division Multiple Access) was at an early stage considered to be a 4G predecessor. It was later further developed into the Mobile Broadband Wireless Access (MBWA) system, also known as IEEE 802.20.


Principal technologies in all candidate systems


Key features

The following key features can be observed in all suggested 4G technologies: * Physical layer transmission techniques are as follows: **
MIMO In radio, multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) () is a method for multiplying the capacity of a radio link using multiple transmission and receiving antennas to exploit multipath propagation. MIMO has become an essential element of wirel ...
: To attain ultra high spectral efficiency by means of spatial processing including multi-antenna and multi-user MIMO ** Frequency-domain-equalization, for example ''multi-carrier modulation'' (
OFDM In telecommunications, orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) is a type of digital transmission used in digital modulation for encoding digital (binary) data on multiple carrier frequencies. OFDM has developed into a popular scheme for ...
) in the downlink or ''single-carrier frequency-domain-equalization'' (SC-FDE) in the uplink: To exploit the frequency selective channel property without complex equalization ** Frequency-domain statistical multiplexing, for example (
OFDMA Orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) is a multi-user version of the popular orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) digital modulation scheme. Multiple access is achieved in OFDMA by assigning subsets of subcarriers t ...
) or (single-carrier FDMA) (SC-FDMA, a.k.a. linearly precoded OFDMA, LP-OFDMA) in the uplink: Variable bit rate by assigning different sub-channels to different users based on the channel conditions. ** Turbo principle
error-correcting code In computing, telecommunication, information theory, and coding theory, forward error correction (FEC) or channel coding is a technique used for controlling errors in data transmission over unreliable or noisy communication channels. The centra ...
s: To minimize the required
SNR The initialism SNR may refer to: * Signal-to-noise ratio Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR or S/N) is a measure used in science and engineering that compares the level of a desired signal to the level of background noise. SNR is defined as the ratio ...
at the reception side *
Channel-dependent scheduling In computing, scheduling is the action of assigning resources to perform tasks. The resources may be processors, network links or expansion cards. The tasks may be threads, processes or data flows. The scheduling activity is carried out by ...
: To use the time-varying channel *
Link adaptation Link adaptation, comprising adaptive coding and modulation (ACM) and others (such as Power Control), is a term used in wireless communications to denote the matching of the modulation, coding and other signal and protocol parameters to the conditi ...
: Adaptive modulation and error-correcting codes *
Mobile IP Mobile IP (or MIP) is an Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) standard communications protocol that is designed to allow mobile device users to move from one network to another while maintaining a permanent IP address. Mobile IP for IPv4 is descr ...
utilized for mobility * IP-based
femtocell In telecommunications, a femtocell is a small, low-power cellular base station, typically designed for use in a home or small business. A broader term which is more widespread in the industry is ''small cell'', with ''femtocell'' as a subset. It t ...
s (home nodes connected to fixed Internet broadband infrastructure) As opposed to earlier generations, 4G systems do not support circuit switched telephony. IEEE 802.20, UMB and OFDM standards lack soft-handover support, also known as cooperative relaying.


Multiplexing and access schemes

Recently, new access schemes like Orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), Single Carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), Interleaved FDMA, and Multi-carrier CDMA (MC-CDMA) are gaining more importance for the next generation systems. These are based on efficient
FFT A fast Fourier transform (FFT) is an algorithm that computes the discrete Fourier transform (DFT) of a sequence, or its inverse (IDFT). A Fourier transform converts a signal from its original domain (often time or space) to a representation in ...
algorithms and frequency domain equalization, resulting in a lower number of multiplications per second. They also make it possible to control the bandwidth and form the spectrum in a flexible way. However, they require advanced dynamic channel allocation and adaptive traffic scheduling.
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 ...
is using OFDMA in the downlink and in the uplink. For the
LTE (telecommunication) In telecommunications, long-term evolution (LTE) is a standard for wireless broadband communication for cellular mobile devices and data terminals. It is considered to be a "transitional" 4G technology, and is therefore also referred to as 3 ...
, OFDMA is used for the downlink; by contrast,
Single-carrier FDMA Single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) is a frequency-division multiple access scheme. Originally known as Carrier Interferometry, it is also called linearly precoded OFDMA (LP-OFDMA). Like other multiple access schemes (TDMA, FDMA, CDMA, OFDMA), it deals ...
is used for the uplink since OFDMA contributes more to the PAPR related issues and results in nonlinear operation of amplifiers. IFDMA provides less power fluctuation and thus requires energy-inefficient linear amplifiers. Similarly, MC-CDMA is in the proposal for the
IEEE 802.20 IEEE 802.20 or Mobile Broadband Wireless Access (MBWA) was a specification by the standard association of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) for mobile broadband networks. The main standard was published in 2008. MBW ...
standard. These access schemes offer the same efficiencies as older technologies like CDMA. Apart from this, scalability and higher data rates can be achieved. The other important advantage of the above-mentioned access techniques is that they require less complexity for equalization at the receiver. This is an added advantage especially in the
MIMO In radio, multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) () is a method for multiplying the capacity of a radio link using multiple transmission and receiving antennas to exploit multipath propagation. MIMO has become an essential element of wirel ...
environments since the
spatial multiplexing Spatial multiplexing or space-division multiplexing (SM, SDM or SMX) is a multiplexing technique in MIMO wireless communication, fiber-optic communication and other communications technologies used to transmit independent channels separated in ...
transmission of MIMO systems inherently require high complexity equalization at the receiver. In addition to improvements in these multiplexing systems, improved
modulation Signal modulation is the process of varying one or more properties of a periodic waveform in electronics and telecommunication for the purpose of transmitting information. The process encodes information in form of the modulation or message ...
techniques are being used. Whereas earlier standards largely used
Phase-shift keying Phase-shift keying (PSK) is a digital modulation process which conveys data by changing (modulating) the phase of a constant frequency carrier wave. The modulation is accomplished by varying the sine and cosine inputs at a precise time. I ...
, more efficient systems such as 64
QAM Quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) is the name of a family of digital modulation methods and a related family of analog modulation methods widely used in modern telecommunications to transmit information. It conveys two analog message sign ...
are being proposed for use with the
3GPP Long Term Evolution In telecommunications, long-term evolution (LTE) is a standard for wireless broadband communication for cellular mobile devices and data terminals. It is considered to be a "transitional" 4G technology, and is therefore also referred to as 3 ...
standards.


IPv6 support

Unlike 3G, which is based on two parallel infrastructures consisting of
circuit switched Circuit switching is a method of implementing a telecommunications network in which two network nodes establish a dedicated communications channel ( circuit) through the network before the nodes may communicate. The circuit guarantees the full ...
and
packet switched In telecommunications, packet switching is a method of grouping data into short messages in fixed format, i.e. '' packets,'' that are transmitted over a digital network. Packets consist of a header and a payload. Data in the header is used b ...
network nodes, 4G is based on packet switching ''only''. This requires
low-latency Latency, from a general point of view, is a time delay between the cause and the effect of some physical change in the system being observed. Lag, as it is known in gaming circles, refers to the latency between the input to a simulation and t ...
data transmission. As IPv4 addresses are (nearly)
exhausted Fatigue is a state of tiredness (which is not sleepiness), exhaustion or loss of energy. It is a symptom of any of various diseases; it is not a disease in itself. Fatigue (in the medical sense) is sometimes associated with medical conditions ...
,The exact exhaustion status is difficult to determine, as it is unknown how many unused addresses exist at ISPs, and how many of the addresses that are permanently unused by their owners can still be freed and transferred to others.
IPv6 Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) is the most recent version of the Internet Protocol (IP), the communication protocol, communications protocol that provides an identification and location system for computers on networks and routes traffic ...
is essential to support the large number of wireless-enabled devices that communicate using IP. By increasing the number of
IP address An Internet Protocol address (IP address) is a numerical label such as that is assigned to a device connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. IP addresses serve two main functions: network interface i ...
es available, IPv6 removes the need for
network address translation Network address translation (NAT) is a method of mapping an IP address space into another by modifying network address information in the IP header of packets while they are in transit across a traffic Router (computing), routing device. The te ...
(NAT), a method of sharing a limited number of addresses among a larger group of devices, which has a number of problems and limitations. When using IPv6, some kind of NAT is still required for communication with legacy IPv4 devices that are not also IPv6-connected. ,
Verizon Verizon Communications Inc. ( ), is an American telecommunications company headquartered in New York City. It is the world's second-largest telecommunications company by revenue and its mobile network is the largest wireless carrier in the ...
has posted specifications that require any 4G devices on its network to support IPv6.


Advanced antenna systems

The performance of radio communications depends on an antenna system, termed
smart ''SMart'' was a British CBBC television programme based on art, which began in 1994 and ended in 2009. The programme was recorded at BBC Television Centre in London. Previously it had been recorded in Studio A at Pebble Mill Studios in Birmingha ...
or
intelligent antenna Smart antennas (also known as adaptive array antennas, digital antenna arrays, multiple antennas and, recently, MIMO) are antenna arrays with smart signal processing algorithms used to identify spatial signal signatures such as the direction of ar ...
. Recently, multiple antenna technologies are emerging to achieve the goal of 4G systems such as high rate, high reliability, and long range communications. In the early 1990s, to cater for the growing data rate needs of data communication, many transmission schemes were proposed. One technology,
spatial multiplexing Spatial multiplexing or space-division multiplexing (SM, SDM or SMX) is a multiplexing technique in MIMO wireless communication, fiber-optic communication and other communications technologies used to transmit independent channels separated in ...
, gained importance for its bandwidth conservation and power efficiency. Spatial multiplexing involves deploying multiple antennas at the transmitter and at the receiver. Independent streams can then be transmitted simultaneously from all the antennas. This technology, called
MIMO In radio, multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) () is a method for multiplying the capacity of a radio link using multiple transmission and receiving antennas to exploit multipath propagation. MIMO has become an essential element of wirel ...
(as a branch of
intelligent antenna Smart antennas (also known as adaptive array antennas, digital antenna arrays, multiple antennas and, recently, MIMO) are antenna arrays with smart signal processing algorithms used to identify spatial signal signatures such as the direction of ar ...
), multiplies the base data rate by (the smaller of) the number of transmit antennas or the number of receive antennas. Apart from this, the reliability in transmitting high speed data in the fading channel can be improved by using more antennas at the transmitter or at the receiver. This is called ''transmit'' or ''receive diversity''. Both transmit/receive diversity and transmit spatial multiplexing are categorized into the space-time coding techniques, which does not necessarily require the channel knowledge at the transmitter. The other category is closed-loop multiple antenna technologies, which require channel knowledge at the transmitter.


Open-wireless Architecture and Software-defined radio (SDR)

One of the key technologies for 4G and beyond is called Open Wireless Architecture (OWA), supporting multiple wireless air interfaces in an
open architecture Open architecture is a type of computer architecture or software architecture intended to make adding, upgrading, and swapping components with other computers easy. For example, the IBM PC, Amiga 2000 and Apple IIe have an open architecture supp ...
platform. SDR is one form of open wireless architecture (OWA). Since 4G is a collection of wireless standards, the final form of a 4G device will constitute various standards. This can be efficiently realized using SDR technology, which is categorized to the area of the radio convergence.


History of 4G and pre-4G technologies

In 1991, WiLAN founders Hatim Zaghloul and Michel Fattouche invented
wideband In communications, a system is wideband when the message bandwidth significantly exceeds the coherence bandwidth of the channel. Some communication links have such a high data rate that they are forced to use a wide bandwidth; other links ma ...
orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing In telecommunications, orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) is a type of digital transmission used in digital modulation for encoding digital (binary) data on multiple carrier frequencies. OFDM has developed into a popular scheme for ...
(WOFDM), the basis for wideband
wireless communication Wireless communication (or just wireless, when the context allows) is the transfer of information (''telecommunication'') between two or more points without the use of an electrical conductor, optical fiber or other continuous guided med ...
applications, including 4G mobile communications. The 4G system was originally envisioned by the
DARPA The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is a research and development agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of emerging technologies for use by the military. Originally known as the Adva ...
, the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. DARPA selected the distributed architecture and end-to-end Internet protocol (IP), and believed at an early stage in peer-to-peer networking in which every mobile device would be both a transceiver and a router for other devices in the network, eliminating the spoke-and-hub weakness of 2G and 3G cellular systems. Since the 2.5G GPRS system, cellular systems have provided dual infrastructures: packet switched nodes for data services, and circuit switched nodes for voice calls. In 4G systems, the circuit-switched infrastructure is abandoned and only a
packet-switched network In telecommunications, packet switching is a method of grouping data into short messages in fixed format, i.e. '' packets,'' that are transmitted over a digital network. Packets consist of a header and a payload. Data in the header is used b ...
is provided, while 2.5G and 3G systems require both packet-switched and circuit-switched
network node In networking, a node (, ‘knot’) is either a redistribution point or a communication endpoint within telecommunication networks. A physical network node is an electronic device that is attached to a network, and is capable of creating, rec ...
s, i.e. two infrastructures in parallel. This means that in 4G traditional voice calls are replaced by IP telephony. * In 2002, the strategic vision for 4G—which
ITU The International Telecommunication Union (ITU)In the other common languages of the ITU: * * is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for many matters related to information and communication technologies. It was established ...
designated as
IMT Advanced International Mobile Telecommunications-Advanced (IMT-Advanced Standard) are the requirements issued by the ITU Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in 2008 for what is marketed as 4G (or in Turke ...
—was laid out. * In 2004,
LTE LTE may refer to: Science and technology * LTE (telecommunication) (Long-Term Evolution), a mobile telephony standard ** LTE Advanced, an enhancement ** LTE Advanced Pro, a further enhancement * Compaq LTE, a line of laptop computers * Leukotrie ...
was first proposed by NTT DoCoMo of Japan. * In 2005,
OFDMA Orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) is a multi-user version of the popular orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) digital modulation scheme. Multiple access is achieved in OFDMA by assigning subsets of subcarriers t ...
transmission technology is chosen as candidate for the HSOPA downlink, later renamed 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) air interface
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 UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access, also known as the Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radi ...
. * In November 2005,
KT Corporation KT Corporation (Hangul: 주식회사 케이티), formerly Korea Telecom, is a South Korean telecommunications company, mobile network operator (MNO) and List of mobile virtual network operators in South Korea, mobile virtual network operator (M ...
demonstrated mobile WiMAX service in
Busan Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second list of cities in South Korea by population, most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economi ...
,
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...
. * In April 2006,
KT Corporation KT Corporation (Hangul: 주식회사 케이티), formerly Korea Telecom, is a South Korean telecommunications company, mobile network operator (MNO) and List of mobile virtual network operators in South Korea, mobile virtual network operator (M ...
started the world's first commercial mobile WiMAX service in Seoul,
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...
. * In mid-2006,
Sprint Sprint may refer to: Aerospace * Spring WS202 Sprint, a Canadian aircraft design *Sprint (missile), an anti-ballistic missile Automobiles *Alfa Romeo Sprint, automobile produced by Alfa Romeo between 1976 and 1989 *Chevrolet Sprint, a rebadged v ...
announced that it would invest about US$5 billion in a
WiMAX Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) is a family of wireless broadband communication standards based on the IEEE 802.16 set of standards, which provide physical layer (PHY) and media access control (MAC) options. The WiMA ...
technology buildout over the next few years ($ in
real Real may refer to: Currencies * Argentine real * Brazilian real (R$) * Central American Republic real * Mexican real * Portuguese real * Spanish real * Spanish colonial real Nature and science * Reality, the state of things as they exist, rathe ...
terms). Since that time Sprint has faced many setbacks that have resulted in steep quarterly losses. On 7 May 2008,
Sprint Sprint may refer to: Aerospace * Spring WS202 Sprint, a Canadian aircraft design *Sprint (missile), an anti-ballistic missile Automobiles *Alfa Romeo Sprint, automobile produced by Alfa Romeo between 1976 and 1989 *Chevrolet Sprint, a rebadged v ...
,
Imagine Imagine may refer to: * Imagination Music Albums * ''Imagine'' (Armin van Buuren album), 2008 * ''Imagine'' (Eva Cassidy album), 2002 * ''Imagine'' (Janice Vidal album), 2012 * ''Imagine'' (John Lennon album), 1971 ** ''Imagine: John Lennon' ...
,
Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...
,
Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo ...
,
Comcast Comcast Corporation, formerly known as Comcast Holdings,Before the AT&T Broadband, AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation, not th ...
, Bright House, and
Time Warner Warner Media, LLC ( doing business as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned by AT&T. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City. It was established as Time Warne ...
announced a pooling of an average of 120 MHz of spectrum; Sprint merged its
Xohm XOHM was the brand name Sprint Nextel Corporation was using to promote its WiMAX services, currently labelled by Sprint Corporation simply as 4G. Sprint was the first service provider in the United States, with its partner Clearwire, to announce th ...
WiMAX division with
Clearwire Clearwire Corporation (stylized as clearw˙re) was a telecommunications operator which provided mobile and fixed wireless broadband communications services to retail and wholesale customers in the United States, Belgium, Republic of Ireland, Ir ...
to form a company which will take the name "Clear". * In February 2007, the
Japanese company Location of Japan This is a list of notable companies based in Japan. For further information on the types of business entities in this country and their abbreviations, see " Business entities in Japan". Note that 株式会社 can be (and frequ ...
NTT DoCoMo tested a 4G communication system prototype with 4×4
MIMO In radio, multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) () is a method for multiplying the capacity of a radio link using multiple transmission and receiving antennas to exploit multipath propagation. MIMO has become an essential element of wirel ...
called VSF-OFCDM at 100
Mbit The bit is the most basic unit of information in computing and digital communication. The name is a portmanteau of binary digit. The bit represents a logical state with one of two possible values. These values are most commonly represented as ...
/s while moving, and 1
Gbit The bit is the most basic unit of information in computing and digital communication. The name is a portmanteau of binary digit. The bit represents a logical state with one of two possible values. These values are most commonly represented as ...
/s while stationary. NTT DoCoMo completed a trial in which they reached a maximum packet transmission rate of approximately 5 Gbit/s in the downlink with 12×12 MIMO using a 100 MHz frequency bandwidth while moving at 10 km/h, and is planning on releasing the first commercial network in 2010. * In September 2007, NTT Docomo demonstrated e-UTRA data rates of 200 Mbit/s with power consumption below 100 mW during the test. * In January 2008, a U.S.
Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...
(FCC)
spectrum auction A spectrum auction is a process whereby a government uses an auction system to sell the rights to transmit signals over specific bands of the electromagnetic spectrum and to assign scarce spectrum resources. Depending on the specific auction for ...
for the 700 MHz former analog TV frequencies began. As a result, the biggest share of the spectrum went to Verizon Wireless and the next biggest to AT&T. Both of these companies have stated their intention of supporting
LTE LTE may refer to: Science and technology * LTE (telecommunication) (Long-Term Evolution), a mobile telephony standard ** LTE Advanced, an enhancement ** LTE Advanced Pro, a further enhancement * Compaq LTE, a line of laptop computers * Leukotrie ...
. * In January 2008, EU commissioner
Viviane Reding Viviane Adélaïde Reding (born 27 April 1951) is a Luxembourgish politician and a former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Luxembourg. She is a member of the Christian Social People's Party, part of the European People's Party. She ...
suggested re-allocation of 500–800 MHz spectrum for wireless communication, including WiMAX. * On 15 February 2008, Skyworks Solutions released a front-end module for e-UTRAN. * In November 2008,
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-frequenc ...
established the detailed performance requirements of IMT-Advanced, by issuing a Circular Letter calling for candidate Radio Access Technologies (RATs) for IMT-Advanced. * In April 2008, just after receiving the circular letter, the 3GPP organized a workshop on IMT-Advanced where it was decided that LTE Advanced, an evolution of current LTE standard, will meet or even exceed IMT-Advanced requirements following the ITU-R agenda. * In April 2008, LG and Nortel demonstrated e-UTRA data rates of 50 Mbit/s while travelling at 110 km/h. * On 12 November 2008,
HTC HTC Corporation ( zh, t=宏達國際電子股份有限公司, p=Hóngdá Guójì Diànzǐ Gǔfèn Yǒuxiàn Gōngsī, first=t), or High Tech Computer Corporation (abbreviated and trading as HTC), is a Taiwanese consumer electronics corporatio ...
announced the first WiMAX-enabled mobile phone, the Max 4G * On 15 December 2008,
San Miguel Corporation San Miguel Corporation (), abbreviated as SMC, is a Philippine multinational conglomerate with headquarters in Mandaluyong, Metro Manila. The company is one of the largest and most diversified conglomerates in the Philippines. Originally fo ...
, the largest food and beverage conglomerate in southeast Asia, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Qatar Telecom QSC ( Qtel) to build wireless broadband and mobile communications projects in the Philippines. The joint-venture formed wi-tribe Philippines, which offers 4G in the country. Around the same time
Globe Telecom Globe Telecom, Inc., commonly shortened as Globe, is a major provider of telecommunications services in the Philippines. The company operates one of the largest mobile, fixed-line and broadband networks in the Philippines. As of November 2023, ...
rolled out the first WiMAX service in the Philippines. * On 3 March 2009, Lithuania's LRTC announcing the first operational "4G"
mobile 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 WiMAX ...
network in Baltic states. * In December 2009, Sprint began advertising "4G" service in selected cities in the United States, despite average download speeds of only 3–6 Mbit/s with peak speeds of 10 Mbit/s (not available in all markets). * On 14 December 2009, the first commercial LTE deployment was in the Scandinavian capitals
Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...
and
Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) 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 1,064,235 in 2022 ...
by the Swedish-Finnish network operator
TeliaSonera Telia Company AB is a Swedish Multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications company and mobile network operator present in Sweden, Finland, Norway, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Telia also owns TV4 Media which includes TV4 in S ...
and its Norwegian brandname NetCom (Norway). TeliaSonera branded the network "4G". The modem devices on offer were manufactured by
Samsung Samsung Group (; stylised as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational manufacturing Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in the Samsung Town office complex in Seoul. The group consists of numerous a ...
(dongle GT-B3710), and the network infrastructure created by
Huawei Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. ("Huawei" sometimes stylized as "HUAWEI"; ; zh, c=华为, p= ) is a Chinese multinational corporationtechnology company in Longgang, Shenzhen, Longgang, Shenzhen, Guangdong. Its main product lines include teleco ...
(in Oslo) and
Ericsson (), commonly known as Ericsson (), is a Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. Ericsson has been a major contributor to the development of the telecommunications industry and is one ...
(in Stockholm). TeliaSonera plans to roll out nationwide LTE across Sweden, Norway and Finland. TeliaSonera used spectral bandwidth of 10 MHz, and single-in-single-out, which should provide physical layer
net bit rate In telecommunications and computing, bit rate (bitrate or as a variable ''R'') is the number of bits that are conveyed or processed per unit of time. The bit rate is expressed in the unit bit per second (symbol: bit/s), often in conjunction ...
s of up to 50 Mbit/s downlink and 25 Mbit/s in the uplink. Introductory tests showed a TCP
throughput Network throughput (or just throughput, when in context) refers to the rate of message delivery over a communication channel in a communication network, such as Ethernet or packet radio. The data that these messages contain may be delivered ov ...
of 42.8 Mbit/s downlink and 5.3 Mbit/s uplink in Stockholm. * On 4 June 2010,
Sprint Sprint may refer to: Aerospace * Spring WS202 Sprint, a Canadian aircraft design *Sprint (missile), an anti-ballistic missile Automobiles *Alfa Romeo Sprint, automobile produced by Alfa Romeo between 1976 and 1989 *Chevrolet Sprint, a rebadged v ...
released the first WiMAX smartphone in the US, the
HTC Evo 4G The HTC Evo 4G (trademarked in capitals as EVO 4G, also marketed as HTC EVO WiMAX ISW11HT in Japan) is a smartphone developed by HTC Corporation and marketed as Sprint's flagship Android smartphone, running on its WiMAX network. The smartphone ...
. * On November 4, 2010, the
Samsung Samsung Group (; stylised as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational manufacturing Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in the Samsung Town office complex in Seoul. The group consists of numerous a ...
Craft offered by
MetroPCS Metro by T-Mobile, formerly known as MetroPCS, and simply known as Metro, is an American prepaid mobile phone, prepaid Wireless, wireless service provider and brand owned by T-Mobile US. It previously operated the fifth largest mobile telecommun ...
is the first commercially available LTE smartphone * On 6 December 2010, at the ITU World Radiocommunication Seminar 2010, the
ITU The International Telecommunication Union (ITU)In the other common languages of the ITU: * * is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for many matters related to information and communication technologies. It was established ...
stated that
LTE LTE may refer to: Science and technology * LTE (telecommunication) (Long-Term Evolution), a mobile telephony standard ** LTE Advanced, an enhancement ** LTE Advanced Pro, a further enhancement * Compaq LTE, a line of laptop computers * Leukotrie ...
,
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 ...
and similar "evolved 3G technologies" could be considered "4G". * In 2011,
Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
's Claro launched a pre-4G HSPA+ network in the country. * In 2011,
Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
's Truemove-H launched a pre-4G HSPA+ network with nationwide availability. * On March 17, 2011, the HTC Thunderbolt offered by Verizon in the U.S. was the second LTE smartphone to be sold commercially. * In February 2012,
Ericsson (), commonly known as Ericsson (), is a Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. Ericsson has been a major contributor to the development of the telecommunications industry and is one ...
demonstrate
mobile-TV
over LTE, utilizing the new eMBMS service (enhanced
Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Services (MBMS) is a point-to-multipoint interface specification for existing 3GPP cellular networks, which is designed to provide efficient delivery of broadcast and multicast service (economics), services, both wi ...
). Since 2009, the LTE-Standard has strongly evolved over the years, resulting in many deployments by various operators across the globe. For an overview of commercial LTE networks and their respective historic development see:
List of LTE networks This is a list of commercial Long-Term Evolution (LTE) networks around the world, grouped by their frequency bands. Some operators use multiple bands and are therefore listed multiple times in respective sections. General information * For t ...
. Among the vast range of deployments, many operators are considering the deployment and operation of LTE networks. A compilation of planned LTE deployments can be found at: List of planned LTE networks.


Disadvantages

4G introduces a potential inconvenience for those who travel internationally or wish to switch carriers. In order to make and receive 4G voice calls (
VoLTE Voice over Long-Term Evolution (acronym VoLTE) is an LTE high-speed wireless communication standard for voice calls and SMS using mobile phones and data terminals. VoLTE has up to three times more voice and data capacity than older 3G UMTS an ...
), the subscriber handset must not only have a matching
frequency band Spectral bands are regions of a given spectrum, having a specific range of wavelengths or frequencies. Most often, it refers to electromagnetic bands, regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. More generally, spectral bands may also be means in ...
(and in some cases require unlocking), it must also have the matching enablement settings for the local carrier and/or country. While a phone purchased from a given carrier can be expected to work with that carrier, making 4G voice calls on another carrier's network (including international roaming) may be impossible without a software update specific to the local carrier and the phone model in question, which may or may not be available (although fallback to 2G/3G for voice calling may still be possible if a 2G/3G network is available with a matching frequency band).


Beyond 4G research

A major issue in 4G systems is to make the high bit rates available in a larger portion of the cell, especially to users in an exposed position in between several base stations. In current research, this issue is addressed by
macro-diversity In the field of wireless communication, ''macrodiversity''D. Gesbert, S. Hanly, H. Huang, S. Shamai, O. Simeone, W. YuMulti-cell MIMO cooperative networks: A new look at interferenceIEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications, vol. 28, no. 9, p ...
techniques, also known as group cooperative relay, and also by Beam-Division Multiple Access (BDMA).IT R&D program of MKE/IITA: 2008-F-004-01 "5G mobile communication systems based on beam-division multiple access and relays with group cooperation".
Pervasive network Ubiquitous computing (or "ubicomp") is a concept in software engineering, hardware engineering and computer science where computing is made to appear seamlessly anytime and everywhere. In contrast to desktop computing, ubiquitous computing impli ...
s are an amorphous and at present entirely hypothetical concept where the user can be simultaneously connected to several wireless access technologies and can seamlessly move between them (See
vertical handoff Vertical handover or vertical handoff refers to a network node changing the type of connectivity it uses to access a supporting infrastructure, usually to support node mobility. For example, a suitably equipped laptop might be able to use both high- ...
, IEEE 802.21). These access technologies can be
Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for Wireless LAN, local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by ...
,
UMTS The Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is a 3G mobile cellular system for networks based on the GSM standard. UMTS uses Wideband Code Division Multiple Access, wideband code-division multiple access (W-CDMA) radio access technolog ...
,
EDGE Edge or EDGE may refer to: Technology Computing * Edge computing, a network load-balancing system * Edge device, an entry point to a computer network * Adobe Edge, a graphical development application * Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed by ...
, or any other future access technology. Included in this concept is also smart-radio (also known as
cognitive radio A cognitive radio (CR) is a radio that can be programmed and configured dynamically to use the best channels in its vicinity to avoid user interference and congestion. Such a radio automatically detects available channels, then accordingly change ...
) technology to efficiently manage spectrum use and transmission power as well as the use of mesh routing protocols to create a pervasive network.


The future of 4G

As of 2023, many countries and regions have started the transition from 4G to 5G, the next generation of cellular technology. 5G promises even faster speeds, lower latency, and the ability to connect a vast number of devices simultaneously. 4G networks are expected to coexist with 5G networks for several years, providing coverage in areas where 5G is not available.


Past 4G networks


See also

* 1G * 2G * 3G * 5G * 6G *
4G-LTE filter A 4G-LTE filter is a low-pass filter or notch filter, to be used in terrestrial television (over-the-air/OTA) TV antennas (both collective and individual), to prevent cellular transmissions from interfering with television reception. These filters ...
*
Comparison of mobile phone standards This is a comparison of standards of wireless networking technologies for devices such as mobile phones. A new generation of cellular standards has appeared approximately every tenth year since 1G systems were introduced in 1979 and the early t ...
*
Comparison of wireless data standards A wide variety of different wireless data technologies exist, some in direct competition with one another, others designed for specific applications. Wireless technologies can be evaluated by a variety of different metrics of which some are descri ...
*
Wireless device radiation and health The antennas contained in mobile phones, including smartphones, emit radiofrequency (RF) radiation ( non-ionizing "radio waves" such as microwaves); the parts of the head or body nearest to the antenna can absorb this energy and convert it t ...


Notes


References


External links


3GPP LTE EncyclopediaNomor Research: Progress on "LTE Advanced" – the new 4G standard
* (118kb)
Information on 4G mobile services in the UK – Ofcom

The Scope of 4G Technology: A Review
– OM Institute of Technology & Management {{Mobile telecommunications standards Audiovisual introductions in 2007 Computer-related introductions in 2007 Telecommunications-related introductions in 2007 Internet of things Mobile telecommunications Software-defined radio Videotelephony Wireless communication systems