Comparing 3G Wireless to 4G LTE



Comparing 3G Wireless to 4G LTE

Introduction

With the passage of time, there have been various advancements in communication technology; especially wireless communication and mobile phone technology have resulted in fast technological developments in past few years. These developments have been observed with the collaboration between different telecommunication groups that resulted in forming the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), which developed the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) (3GPP, 2013). 3GPP developed Long-Term Evolution (LTE) standard for wireless communications technology. It set a standard for mobile communication technology under the global system for GSM, the Universal Mobile Telecommunications Systems (UMTS), and other communication systems. LTE is the effective and fastest wireless communication technology that is based on DSP (digital signal processing) techniques. It resulted in advancement of smart phone technology. After first and second generation of mobile technology, there is more advancement with, 3G and 4G technology. 'G' stands for generation, with the development of 3GPP, it resulted in introducing third generation mobile 3G and later faster and more advanced technology of 4G LTE. Both 3G and 4G LTE technologies are in use, but there are various differences in the 3G and 4G technologies. The competition among the carriers to support 4G LTE networks has been very fierce as evidenced by TV commercials targeting Smartphone users, because many smartphones still run on 3G networks.

1. Compare and contrast 3G wireless networks to 4G networks in terms of: 1.Services and application

There are various differences between service and application of 3G and 4G technology, 3G technology offer many services and applications that are still in use, as compared to 4G technology. Services and applications such as CDMA2000 (IMT MultiCarrier (IMTMC), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), and EDGE are still based on the 3G technology. One the other hand 4G technology use more advance and complex technological systems such as Microwave Access (Wimax2) and Long-Term Evolution (LTE- Advance).

2. Network architecture

There are also many differences between architecture of 3G and 4G, in 3G Wide Are Cell based technology is used. Circuits consist of switch system and satellite contentions are used with its connection to telecommunication towers. This provides frequency modulations for internet and mobile connections. Data sent to towers and then to the other connected terminal through 3G tower antennas. On the other hand, 4G technology sis based on connecting through LAN, Wide Area, through internet protocol system. This system is based on circuit switching and telephonic technology. 4G also follow internet protocol IP system.

3. Data throughput

Every new technology generation in mobile telecommunication is better than previous technology. There are major differences between the speed and data throughput of third and fourth generation mobile technology. Data throughput of 3G is up to 3.1Mbps, with an average speed range between 0.5 to 1.5 Mbps (Garg 2010). On the other hand, 4G technology has data throughput of about 2 to 12 Mbps at the speed range between 100 to 300 Mbps.

4. User perceptions

There are also differences in the user perception of 3G and 4G ...