LTE Advanced is the next major step in the evolution of our LTE networks. It’s a new network technology that’s expected to both help band-aid the massive increases in mobile data demand, and deliver much higher data speeds for all. That means better coverage, greater stability, and faster performance.
How did we get here?
The roll out of 4G (fourth generation) mobile networks in the U.S. was slightly complicated by the fact that some carriers decided to label what was really enhanced 3G tech as 4G. This led to the LTE (Long Term Evolution) standard being described as “true 4G” or “4G LTE” when it finally rolled out, but actually that turned out not be strictly accurate either. Check out our 4G Guide for more details on the various flavors of “4G” currently on offer. The first LTE roll-out did not meet the requirements for 4G when it came to things like peak data rates, which were defined by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
How LTE Advanced works
LTE Advanced is supposed to provide higher capacity, an enhanced user experience, and greater fairness in terms of resource allocation. It does this by combining a bunch of technologies, many of which have been around for some years, so we’re not really talking about the implementation of an entirely new system here.
According to Jeanette Wannstrom, in an article for 3GPP, “The main new functionalities introduced in LTE-Advanced are Carrier Aggregation (CA), enhanced use of multi-antenna techniques (MIMO) and support for Relay Nodes (RN).”
Carrier Aggregation enables greater speeds because it allows you to download data from multiple sources at the same time. Instead of connecting to the best signal in your vicinity, your smartphone can combine multiple signals, even on different frequencies. Up to five of these “component carriers,” each offering up to 20MHz of bandwidth, can be combined, which creates a maximum aggregated data pipe up to 100MHz.