The fourth generation of mobile communications, to nobody’s surprise, offers extremely high downlink rates and in the case of Long Term Evolution (LTE), this can theoretically reach 100 MB per second. The question is; what is LTE technology all about?

Enter 4G with LTE

LTE is a bundle of improvements to the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) being worked on by the third Generation Mobile Communications standards, one notch higher than the second generation (2G) of mobile communications. Usually, it is speed that determines the generation any technology falls in. Hence, one of the main benefits of HMTS is its speed.

What makes LTE faster than other mobile communications technologies? The answer lies within the access technique employed by LTE. One the fastest access technique in use for LTE is orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) which increases the amount of information that can be carried over a wireless network.

In frequency-division multiplexing (FDM), multiple signals, or carriers, are sent simultaneously over different frequencies between two points. In OFDM, a mathematical formula is used to ensure that multiple carriers sent out are orthogonal (separated by an angel, so they do not overlap) to each other. Another tool used by LTE is a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna. These are adaptive antennas that can select the best coverage path in real time and accordingly propagate signals.

Transfer seamlessly with NFC

Near field communication (NFC) is a form of high-frequency, wireless communication in which two devices – within 10 centimeters of each other – can exchange data. Some of us may recall electromagnetic induction from our high school physics course. The communication in NFC is carried out through magnetic induction between two loop antennas that interact with each other’s fields, forming an air-core transformer. The rate of communication is up to 848 KB per second.

The main difference between NFC and Bluetooth communication is simply that the latter requires authentication and a series of steps before a connection is established. Hence, it takes time. NFC, which does not need to authenticate, can established a connection within one-tenth of a second.

Bluetooth 3.0 – yes you can!

Bluetooth is a wireless technology that was developed by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG). The first version of Bluetooth (Bluetooth 1.0) was extremely slow and not very efficient. Later versions like Bluetooth 1.2 incorporated adaptive frequency hopping, which reduced interferences issues. Now with Bluetooth 3.0, consumers can expect a speed of 24 Mbps (crazy fast for Bluetooth!).

Upcoming Apple iPhone 5 and iPad 4

Apple is bringing some of the latest and fastest communication technologies in the form of iPhone 5 and iPad 4. Every time they are trying to bring something interesting and new in front of their fans. There is a lot of buzz around the release dates of both these Apple’s products, want to know further! Checkout the Apple’s iPad 4 release date and features.

Conclusion

Starting with the 2G standards that made services like short messaging service (SMS) extremely popular and the rollout of 3G services with faster downlink speeds, research has paved the way for further innovations and improvements. 4G is not far off from becoming a popular world standard. Technologies like LTE and NFC will only serve to augment changes in the ways we use our mobile phones today. From mobile payments and downloading full-length movies, to transferring huge files via Bluetooth 3.0, the mobile world is drastically evolving.