LTE, LTE-Advanced and WiMAX

Book excerpt: A concise introduction to IMT-Advanced Systems, including LTE-Advanced and WiMAX There exists a strong demand for fully extending emerging Internet services, including collaborative applications and social networking, to the mobile and wireless domain. Delivering such services can be possible only through realizing broadband in the wireless. Two candidate technologies are currently competing in fulfilling the requirements for wireless broadband networks, WiMAX and LTE. At the moment, LTE and its future evolution LTE-Advanced are already gaining ground in terms of vendor and operator support. Whilst both technologies share certain attributes (utilizing Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) in downlink, accommodating smart antennas and full support for IP-switching, for example), they differ in others (including uplink technology, scheduling, frame structure and mobility support). Beyond technological merits, factors such as deployment readiness, ecosystem maturity and migration feasibility come to light when comparing the aptitude of the two technologies. LTE, LTE-Advanced and WiMAX: Towards IMT-Advanced Networks provides a concise, no-nonsense introduction to the two technologies, covering both interface and networking considerations. More critically, the book gives a multi-faceted comparison, carefully analyzing and distinguishing the characteristics of each technology and spanning both technical and economic merits. A “big picture” understanding of the market strategies and forecasts is also offered. Discusses and critically evaluates LTE, LTE-Advanced and WiMAX (Legacy and Advanced) Gives an overview of the principles and advances of each enabling technology Offers a feature-by-feature comparison between the candidate technologies Includes information which appeals to both industry practitioners and academics Provides an up-to-date report on market and industry status