Technical solutions for the 3G long-term evolution

• Published in: IEEE communications magazine Vol. 44; no. 3; pp. 38 - 45
• Main Authors: Ekstrom, H., Furuskar, A., Karlsson, J., Meyer, M., Parkvall, S., Torsner, J., Wahlqvist, M.
• Format: Magazine Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01.03.2006; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Access protocols; Architecture; Costs; Delay; Evolution; Investments; Links; Meetings; Mobile radio mobility management; Operators; Performance evaluation; Provisioning; Quality of service; Radio access networks; Radio control; Radio network; Testing
• ISSN: 0163-6804; 1558-1896
• DOI: 10.1109/MCOM.2006.1607864

Work has started in the 3GPP to define a long-term evolution for 3G, sometimes referred to as super-3G, which will stretch the performance of 3G technology, thereby meeting user expectations in a 10-year perspective and beyond. The fundamental targets of this evolution - to further reduce user and operator costs and to improve service provisioning - will be met through improved coverage and system capacity as well as increased data rates and reduced latency. This article presents promising technologies to fulfil these targets, including OFDM, multi-antenna solutions, evolved QoS and link layer concepts, and an evolved architecture. Furthermore, the results of a performance evaluation are presented, indicating that the requirements can indeed be reached using the proposed technologies.