4G has been causing quite a stir lately and this is to be expected, given many carries have already revealed plans to embark on 4G in the coming months, not to mention some of them have a head start, having deployed the necessary infrastructure. Actually, do we know what 4G offers?
Let’s take a closer look at the most important aspects of 4G and delve deeper into the specifics of its two representatives, WiMAX and LTE. We are not planning to use words like megahertz, gigahertz, channels and architecture or elaborate on technical details, because we bet most customers are far more interested in what they will be getting in real life, rather than the technical details behind it.
Before we get to down to brass tacks, however, let’s first talk about…
3G networks today
The third generation mobile telecommunication networks (UMTS, CDMA EV-DO) first took off back in 2001 in Japan (2003 in the USA). All instructed, they permit for a lot sooner knowledge transfers and made possible the huge adoption of services and products like video calls (in Europe), video sharing (on AT&T) as well as VoIP.
4G and faster speeds
For the sake of accuracy, we have to point out that neither WiMAX, nor LTE, as they exist today, meet the full requirements of the 4G standard. Still, they offer quite a bit more than contemporary 3G networks. Of route, an important aspect here is data switch and we’re talking approximately download and upload speed that is 2-3 and much more times faster along of threeG at its very best. In other phrases, you can do extra things on a 4G device, say, watch HD videos on-line, have top quality calls over the internet, use a handset as a wi-fi modem, and so forth. moreover, the enhanced throughput permits for relaxed use of 1 and the same network cellphone through up to ten times extra other people, so service screw ups are much less more likely to occur even in height utilization scenarios.The good thing about 4G with this respect is if you happen to be in area with overlapping coverage provided by several cells, you will get higher download and upload speeds.
So, that’s about all when it comes to the fundamentals of 4G. Now, let’s delve deeper into…
WiMAX
If you think there is something in common between WiMAX and Wi-Fi… well, you are right to an extent. They both allow for wireless connectivity, but WiMAX is functional over much greater distance (miles) and is based on IEEE 802.16, while Wi-Fi utilizes a different standard – IEEE 802.11. Theoretically, the former allows for download speeds of up to 40Mbps, although the peak throughput has been found to be around 6Mbps in real life (according to data by Clearwire). One of the greatest advantages of WiMAX is that the necessary infrastructure is already in place in a few countries.
At the time being, the era is usable until your relative velocity exceeds 75mph. this is not much of a stumbling block in point of fact, since you’re going to hardly ever want to use the internet at the same time as flying at the highway, but nonetheless, LTE networks are loose from this kind of issue. some other disadvantage of WiMAX is its quite top latency at knowledge transfers and this is dangerous news for avid avid gamers wanting to taking part in fast paced online video games in real time.
LTE
The technology is actually quite similar to the existing 3G networks and will probably manage to outrival WiMAX… in the future. It’s taking its first steps and even though the vast majority of vendors around the globe are cause to cast their lot in with LTE, there is nonetheless no longer even one finished project, to not mention so much carriers are still on the initial level of the infrastructure deployment procedure.
LTE seems to have turned the tide in its favor since it offers certain advantages over WiMAX. In theory, the technology is capable of delivering download speeds in the order of 70Mbps (Nokia-Siemens), although we highly doubt it that we will see something better than 5-12Mbps in real life, depending on the number of cells and particular region. Still, lab tests indicate the overall network latency is about five times lower, plus LTE remains fully usable even for people moving at a speed of 220mph. The technology seems better suited for phone calls as well, since it allows for algorithms that are similar to those used with 3G networks today, while WiMAX relies on data transfer based on standard that resembles VoIP.
Handsets of the future
It’s only logical that with WiMAX networks already deployed in certain countries, we get to see more and more handsets that support the technology. The HTC EVO 4G makes for an illustrative example – the cell phone is rolling out on Sprint in the US this summer. However, there are nonetheless only a handful of gadgets able to using the generation and such a lot of them are constructed into modems and laptops.
It kind of feels we are a couple of yr clear of getting our palms at the first armsets to enhance LTE.Most major companies in the sector have already joined the LTE camp, so it seems certain that we will see a great number of thrilling devices in the near future.