Higher data rates: Obviously this is a general requirement requested from any new system.
Quality of service, Lower delay: To enable true convergence between real-time and non-real-time services quality of service awareness is of absolute importance. This must already be paid attention to during the design of the physical layer. So LTE/EPC will be QoS aware from the very beginning on and not have QoS as an add-on, which is usually not very efficient.
Expected New Spectrum allocation: It is expected to get some new frequency bands assigned to 3G. LTE should be ready to use these bands.
Flexible Bandwidth usage: LTE should be able to deal with frequency bands of different size. So a fixed bandwidth ultra-wideband system is not of big use. Rather LTE should be able to scale the frequency requirements dependent on the operator’s choice.
Reduced Terminal Complexity: 3G terminals are very complex and thus suffer often from poor performance due to hardware limitations and very often also software limitations (or bugs). LTE terminals should have essentially lower
complexity. This would also offer the possibility to implement other performance enhancement techniques later on.
These points result in a long list of requirements for LTE/EPC. So 3GPP/ETSI demand to have downlink bit rates of greater than 100 Mbps and uplink bit rates of 50 Mbps. Of high importance is also to increase the cell edge bit rates compared to HSPA.
Why LTE is Required in Telecom?
- Higher Data Speeds: LTE provides much higher download and upload speeds compared to 3G, meeting the increasing demand for data-intensive applications like video streaming, social media, and cloud services.
- Low Latency: LTE ensures low latency, which is essential for real-time communication services such as VoLTE (Voice over LTE), video conferencing, and online gaming.
- Increased Network Capacity: LTE supports more users and higher traffic volumes, helping telecom operators handle the growing number of connected devices and the explosion of data usage.
- Improved User Experience: With higher speeds, reduced delays, and seamless mobility, LTE offers a better overall user experience, attracting more subscribers and retaining existing ones.
- Efficient Spectrum Utilization: LTE uses advanced technologies like MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) and OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing), which allow more efficient use of available spectrum and improved network performance.
- Support for Future Technologies: LTE is a foundation for future telecom services such as 5G, enabling a smooth transition to even faster and more reliable networks.