Fully packet-oriented mobile broadband network providing:
– Peak data rates of 100 Mbps (DL) and 50 Mbps (UL)
– Very low latency
– Seamless and lossless handover
– Sophisticated QoS to support important real time applications such as voice, video and interactive gaming
– Support for terminal speeds of 150-500 Km/h and cell ranges of up to 100 Km.
Reduced cost per bit:
LTE/EPC deploys a simplified architecture and open interfaces. It is full IP-based and uses IP transport. In this way it utilizes low-cost equipment and infrastructure.
Additionally this contributes to reduction of operational costs. Further sophisticated features like self-configuration / self-optimization capabilities are beneficial in this context.
Maximized exploitation of frequency resources:
LTE provides high throughput per cell and supports flexible frequency bandwidths and in particular allows for re-farming of existing and deployment of new frequency bands. Furthermore by means of OFDM, MIMO, HARQ etc. an outstanding spectrum efficiency can be achieved.
Extended interworking functionality:
LTE/EPC provides seamless mobility with other 3GPP access systems (UMTS, GPRS), with 3GPP2/cdma2000 and where possible with non-3GPP (e.g. WLAN).
Reduced terminal complexity:
Due to the specific transmission schemes the complexity of the terminals is kept reasonable. Also the power consumption shall be minimized. Both contributes to cost reduction and makes it attractive for mass market deployment.