About standard
LTE actually stands for “long term evolution”, and its full name is 3GPP LTE, with the 3GPP standing for the 3rd Generation Partnership Project, which has been developing the technology's release documents. Often, LTE is marketed as 4G technology by companies that package it as part of their wireless or mobile service, but the standard is better thought of as “3.9G” as it does not yet meet the requirements set out by the ITU-R for 4G, which includes minimum upload and download rates for networks and defines how connections must be established. A new version of LTE technology, LTE Advanced, does satisfy the requirements of a true 4G network and is expected within the next year.
This technology got its start in 2004, proposed by NTT DoCoMo of Japan. Studies began officially in 2005 and by 2008 the first standard has been finalized. It went live in Oslo and Stockholm in 2009 as a form of data connection with a USB modem, supported by carrier TeliaSonera. In 2011, MetroPCS and Verizon migrated to this technology in North America. Initially, providers such as Sprint, Bell, Verizon and even MetroPCS, which run on CDMA networks had plans to upgrade to a rival standard known as UMB, but have now decided to throw their support behind LTE and LTE Advanced.
So, what exactly is LTE? It's based on GSM/EDGE and UMTS/HSPA network technologies, and provides an increase to both capacity and speed using new techniques for modulation. It provides peak download rates of 300 megabits per second, upload rates of 75 megabits per second and a transfer latency of less than five milliseconds. It can also manage multi-cast and broadcast streams and handle quick-moving mobile phones. Its Evolved Packet Core (EPC), IP-based network architecture, allows for seamless handovers for voice and data to older model cell towers that use GSM, UMTS or CDMA2000 technology. In addition, it can scale from 1.4 MHz to 20 MHz carrier bandwidths and supports both time-division and frequency division duplexing. Overall, the new architecture of LTE technology means lower operating costs along with greater overall data and voice capacity.
BROADBAND IS THE NEW REALITY
High-speed data is driving the communication landscape and penetrating every part of the world. One third of the global population has active mobile broadband subscriptions with a 3G or 4G connection, up 40 percent in just three years.1 Whether streaming video or uploading photos, most citizens carry a more powerful, data-enabled device than first responders. If public safety agencies don’t level the playing field with real-time multimedia data, they’ll get left behind. As criminals become more cunning and terrorists more tech-savvy, sharing mission critical data is imperative. Public safety communities around the world are seeing the need for more complex data that land mobile radio (LMR) networks can’t support by themselves. A growing number of countries are enhancing their communications platform to advance the intelligent edge with the formidable power of wireless long term evolution (LTE) broadband.
DATA IS THE CRITICAL CHOICE BEYOND VOICE
Real-time surveillance video. High-resolution photos. Bi-directional vehicular video. Dynamic mapping and routing. Remote medical records. All this data is mission critical for public safety to carry out everyday and emergency operations – from the detective on a covert operation to the officer pursuing a stolen vehicle.
In many incidents, voice communication is not enough. The right data can be more concise while telling a more complete story. Converged with mission critical voice, secure, streaming multimedia broadband empowers first responders with the real-time information they need to improve situational awareness and better prepare for the incident.
IMPROVE RESPONSE WITH AN OPTIMIZED NETWORK, DESIGNED FOR PUBLIC SAFETY
First responders need a reliable, resilient, optimized wireless broadband network to carry out their mission. Not only must they communicate instantly without interruption, but agencies must collect and filter through all the information streaming in from the community. All while citizens consume more bandwidth.
What’s more, interoperability among agencies and secure transmissions are critical to an effective coordinated response. Given the rise in cellular traffic and data consumption by citizens, an optimized Public Safety LTE network is needed to assure priority communications the moment they’re needed. An optimized network also provides end-to-end encryption, safeguarding sensitive information transmitted over the air wirelessly.
Benefits
- COVERAGE WITHOUT COMPROMISE
Public Safety LTE networks handle peak usage and prioritize system traffic to the end of coverage. Extend network coverage during disaster recovery situations and optimize coverage at the edge with LTE deployable trailers.Because first responders can instantly access video, photos, maps and more, they're better prepared to arrive at a dangerous crime scene or search patient medial records from a moving ambulance.
- CAPACITY FOR IT ALL
Capacity isn’t only critical for emergencies, it’s essential for day-to-day operations.When thousands of people converge at sports venues, concerts, festivals and rallies, mobile capacity must be sufficient and robust to keep everyone safe.
- CAPABILITES TO IMPROVE SITUATIONAL AWARENESS
When public safety personnel have a unified picture of what’s unfolding, they are better equipped to respond. High-speed data, location information, photos and streaming video can significantly improve collaboration and outcomes.
- COST SAVINGS ON A LARGE SCALE
An optimized Public Safety LTE network that saves money via economies of scale on devices and infrastructure partnership where needed.
- CONTROL OF YOUR COMMUNICATIONS
An optimized Public Safety LTE network gives you greater control over your system, software and devices. You decide who accesses the system, what changes need to be made and when, what the status of all users is, and how priority gets dynamically assigned to users.