2. (GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, LTE and…)
GSM
Global System for Mobile communications
(GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, LTE and…)

3. GSM History Year Events 1982
CEPT establishes a GSM group in order to develop the standards for a pan-European cellular mobile system
1985
Adoption of a list of recommendations to be generated by the group
1986
Field tests were performed in order to test the different radio techniques proposed for the air interface
1987
TDMA is chosen as access method (in fact, it will be used with FDMA) Initial Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by telecommunication operators (representing 12 countries)
1988
Validation of the GSM system
1989
The responsibility of the GSM specifications is passed to the ETSI
1990
Appearance of the phase 1 of the GSM specifications
1991
Commercial launch of the GSM service
1992
Enlargement of the countries that signed the GSM- MoU> Coverage of larger cities/airports
1993
Coverage of main roads GSM services start outside Europe
1995
Phase 2 of the GSM specifications Coverage of rural areas
The GSM system can be considered as the first digital cellular system.

4. GSM world coverage map

6. Differences Between First and Second Generation Systems
Digital traffic channels – first-generation systems are almost purely analog; second-generation systems are digital
Encryption – all second generation systems provide encryption to prevent eavesdropping
Error detection and correction – second-generation digital traffic allows for detection and correction, giving clear voice reception
Channel access – second-generation systems allow channels to be dynamically shared by a number of users

8. GSM network The GSM network can be divided into four subsystems:
The Mobile Station (MS).
The Base Station Subsystem (BSS).
The Network and Switching Subsystem (NSS).
The Operation and Support Subsystem (OSS).

9. GSM Network Architecture

10. Mobile Station
Mobile station communicates across Um interface (air interface) with base station transceiver in same cell as mobile unit
Mobile equipment (ME) – physical terminal, such as a telephone or PCS
ME includes radio transceiver, digital signal processors and subscriber identity module (SIM)
GSM subscriber units are generic until SIM is inserted
SIMs roam, not necessarily the subscriber devices

11. Base Station Subsystem (BSS)
BSS consists of base station controller and one or more base transceiver stations (BTS)
Each BTS defines a single cell
Includes radio antenna, radio transceiver and a link to a base station controller (BSC)
BSC reserves radio frequencies, manages handoff of mobile unit from one cell to another within BSS, and controls paging
The BSC (Base Station Controller) controls a group of BTS and manages their radio ressources. A BSC is principally in charge of handovers, frequency hopping, exchange functions and control of the radio frequency power levels of the BTSs.

12. Network Subsystem (NS)
NS provides link between cellular network and public switched telecommunications networks
Controls handoffs between cells in different BSSs
Authenticates users and validates accounts
Enables worldwide roaming of mobile users
Central element of NS is the mobile switching center (MSC)

13. Mobile Switching Center (MSC) Databases
Home location register (HLR) database – stores information about each subscriber that belongs to it
Visitor location register (VLR) database – maintains information about subscribers currently physically in the region
Authentication center database (AuC) – used for authentication activities, holds encryption keys
Equipment identity register database (EIR) – keeps track of the type of equipment that exists at the mobile station

14. The Operation and Support Subsystem (OSS)
The OSS is connected to the different components of the NSS and to the BSC, in order to control and monitor the GSM system. It is also in charge of controlling the traffic load of the BSS.
However, the increasing number of base stations, due to the development of cellular radio networks, has provoked that some of the maintenance tasks are transferred to the BTS. This transfer decreases considerably the costs of the maintenance of the system.

15. GSM Channel Types Traffic channels (TCHs)
carry digitally encoded user speech or user data and have identical functions and formats on both the forward and reverse link.
Control channels (CCHs)
carry signaling and synchronizing commands between the base station and the mobile station. Certain types of control channels are defined for just the forward or reverse link.
There are six different types of 'TCHs provided for in GSM, and an even larger number of CCHs, both of which are now described.

16. How a Cellular Telephone Call is Made
All base stations continuously send out identification signals (ID) of equal, fixed strength. When a mobile unit is picked up and goes off-hook, it senses these identification signals and identifies the strongest. This tells the phone which cell it is in and should he associated with. The phone then signals to that cell's base station with its ID code, and the base station passes this to the MSC, which keeps track of this phone and its present cell in its database. The phone is told what channel to use for talking, is given a dial tone, and the call activity proceeds just like a regular call. All the nontalking activity is done on a setup channel with digital codes.
When a cellular phone is tuned on, but is not yet engaged in a call, it first scans the group of for-ward control channels to determine the one with the strongest signal, and then monitors that control channel until the signal drops below a usable level. At this point, it again scans the control channels in search of the strongest base station signal. For each cellular system described in Tables 1.1 through 1.3, the control channels are defined and standardized over the entire geographic area covered and typically make up about 5% of the total number of channels available in the system (the other 95%c are dedicated to voice and data traffic for the end-users). Since the control channels are standardized and are identical throughout different markets within the country or continent, every phone scans the same channels while idle. When a telephone call is placed to a mobile user, the MSC dispatches the request to all base stations in the cellular system. The mobile identification number (MIN), which is the subscriber's telephone number, is then broadcast as a paging message over all of the forward control channels throughout the cellular system. The mobile receives the paging message sent by the base station which it monitors, and responds by identifying itself over the reverse control channel. The base station relays the acknowledgment sent by the mobile and informs the MSC of the handshake. Then, the MSC instructs the base station to move the call to an unused voice channel within the cell (typically, between ten to sixty voice channels and just one control channel are used in each cell's base station). At this point, the base station signals the mobile to change frequencies to an unused forward and reverse voice channel pair, at which point another data message (called an alert) is transmitted over the forward voice channel to instruct the mobile telephone to ring., thereby instructing the mobile user to answer the phone. Figure 1.6 shows the sequence of events involved with connecting a call to a mobile user in a cellular telephone system. All of these events occur within a few seconds and are not noticeable by the user.
Once a call is in progress, the MSC adjusts the transmitted power of the mobile and changes the channel of the mobile unit and base stations in order to maintain call quality as the subscriber moves in and out of range of each base station. This is called a handoff. Special control signaling is applied to the voice channels so that the mobile unit may be controlled by the base station and the MSC while a call is in progress.
All base stations continuously send out identification signals (ID) of equal, fixed strength. When a mobile unit—the cellular phone itself is picked up and goes off-hook, it senses these identification signals and identifies the strongest. This tells the phone which cell it is in and should he associated with, since a cellular phone may pick up more than one base station signal. The phone then signals to that cell's base station with its ID code, and the base station passes this to the MSC, which keeps track of this phone and its present cell in its database. The phone is told what channel to use for talking, is given a dial tone, and the call activity proceeds just like a regular call. All the nontalking activity is done on a setup channel with digital codes.

17. Mobile unit initialisation Mobile-originated call Paging Call accepted
Ongoing call
Handoff
Mobile unit initialisation
Mobile-originated call
Paging
Call accepted
Ongoing call
Handoff

18. GSM Radio interface Frequency allocation
Two frequency bands, of 25 Mhz each one, have been allocated for the GSM system:
The band Mhz has been allocated for the uplink direction (transmitting from the mobile station to the base station).
The band Mhz has been allocated for the downlink direction (transmitting from the base station to the mobile station).

19. Multiple access scheme
In GSM, a 25 MHz frequency band is divided, using a FDMA, into 124 carrier frequencies spaced one from each other by a 200 kHz frequency band.
Each carrier frequency is then divided in time using a TDMA. This scheme splits the radio channel into 8 bursts.
A burst is the unit of time in a TDMA system, and it lasts approximately ms.
A TDMA frame is formed with 8 bursts and lasts, consequently, ms.
Each of the eight bursts, that form a TDMA frame, are then assigned to a single user.
Normally a 25 Mhz frequency band can provide 125 carrier frequencies but the first carrier frequency is used as a guard band between GSM and other services working on lower frequencies.

20. GSM bands

21. GMSK: Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying

22. Maximum number of simultaneous calls = [(124) × 8] / N = 330 (if N=3)

23. Multiframe components

24. GSM frame format

25. TDMS format Trail bits: synchronisation between mobile and BS.
Encrypted bits: data is encrypted in blocks, Two 57-bit fields
Stealing bit: indicate data or stolen for urgent control signaling
Training sequence: a known sequence that differs for different adjacent cells. It indicates the received signal is from the correct transmitter and not a strong interfering transmitter. It is also used for multipath equalisation. 26 bits.
Guide bits: avoid overlapping, 8.25 bits

26. Fig. 2.5

27. Data rate channel data rate in GSM
(1/120 ms) × 26 × 8 × = Kbps
User data rate
Each user channel receives one slot per frame
With error control

28. Traffic Channels full rate channels offer a data rate of 22.8 kBit/s:
speech data: used as 13 kBit/s voice data plus FEC data
packet data: used as 12, 6, or 3.6 kBit/s plus FEC data
half rate channels offer 11.4 kBit/s:
speech data: improved codecs have rates of 6.5 kBit/s, plus FEC
packet data: can be transmitted at 3 or 6 kBit/s
Two half rate channels can share one physical channel
Consequence: to achieve higher packet data rates, multiple logical channels have to be allocated =) this is what GPRS does

29. Speech coding
There are 260 bits coming out of a voice coder every 20 ms.
260 bits/20ms = 13 kbps
These 260 bits are divided into three classes:
Class Ia having 50 bits and are most sensitive to errors
3-bit CRC error detection code 53, then protected by a Convolutional (2,1,5) error correcting code.
Class Ib contains 132 bits which are reasonably sensitive to bit errors--protected by a Convolutional (2,1,5) error correcting code.
Class II contains 78 bits which are slightly affected by bit errors– unprotected
After channel coding: 260 bits bits

30. Channel coding: block coding Then Convolutional coding

34. Evolution from 2G IS-95 GSM- EDGE GPRS HSCSD IS-95B Cdma2000-1xRTT
IS-136 & PDC
GSM-
EDGE
GPRS
HSCSD
IS-95B
Cdma2000-1xRTT
Cdma2000-1xEV,DV,DO
Cdma2000-3xRTT
W-CDMA
TD-SCDMA 2G 3G
2.5G
3GPP
3GPP2

35. Newer versions of the standard were backward-compatible with the original GSM phones.
Release ‘97 of the standard added packet data capabilities, by means of General Packet Radio Service (GPRS). GPRS provides data transfer rates from 56 up to 114 kbit/s.
Release ‘99 introduced higher speed data transmission using Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), Enhanced GPRS (EGPRS), IMT Single Carrier (IMT-SC), four times as much traffic as standard GPRS. accepted by the ITU as part of the IMT-2000 family of 3G standards
Evolved EDGE standard providing reduced latency and more than doubled performance e.g. to complement High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA). Peak bit-rates of up to 1Mbit/s and typical bit-rates of 400kbit/s can be expected.

36. GSM-GPRS

37. the Base Station Subsystem (the base stations and their controllers).
the Network and Switching Subsystem (the part of the network most similar to a fixed network). This is sometimes also just called the core network.
the GPRS Core Network (the optional part which allows packet based Internet connections). all of the elements in the system combine to produce many GSM services such as voice calls and SMS.

38. ITU’s View of Third-Generation Capabilities
Voice quality comparable to the public switched telephone network
High data rate. 144 kbps data rate available to users in high-speed motor vehicles over large areas; 384 kbps available to pedestrians standing or moving slowly over small areas; Support for Mbps for office use
Symmetrical / asymmetrical data transmission rates
Support for both packet switched and circuit switched data services
An adaptive interface to the Internet to reflect efficiently the common asymmetry between inbound and outbound traffic
More efficient use of the available spectrum in general
Support for a wide variety of mobile equipment
Flexibility to allow the introduction of new services and technologies

39. Third Generation Systems (3G)
The dream of 3G is to unify the world's mobile computing devices through a single, worldwide radio transmission standard. However,
3 main air interface standards:
W-CDMA(UMTS) for Europe
CDMA2000 for North America
TD-SCDMA for China (the biggest market)

41. UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System ) Services
UMTS offers teleservices (like speech or SMS) and bearer services, which provide the capability for information transfer between access points. It is possible to negotiate and renegotiate the characteristics of a bearer service at session or connection establishment and during ongoing session or connection. Both connection oriented and connectionless services are offered for Point-to-Point and Point-to-Multipoint communication.
Bearer services have different QoS parameters for maximum transfer delay, delay variation and bit error rate. Offered data rate targets are: 144 kbits/s satellite and rural outdoor 384 kbits/s urban outdoor 2048 kbits/s indoor and low range outdoor

42. UMTS Architecture
A UMTS network consist of three interacting domains; Core Network (CN), UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN) and User Equipment (UE). The main function of the core network is to provide switching, routing and transit for user traffic. Core network also contains the databases and network management functions. The basic Core Network architecture for UMTS is based on GSM network with GPRS. All equipment has to be modified for UMTS operation and services. The UTRAN provides the air interface access method for User Equipment. Base Station is referred as Node-B and control equipment for Node-B's is called Radio Network Controller (RNC). UMTS system page has an example, how UMTS network could be build. It is necessary for a network to know the approximate location in order to be able to page user equipment. Here is the list of system areas from largest to smallest. UMTS systems (including satellite) Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) MSC/VLR or SGSN Location Area Routing Area (PS domain) UTRAN Registration Area (PS domain) Cell Sub cell

43. Core Network
The Core Network is divided in circuit switched and packet switched domains. Some of the circuit switched elements are Mobile services Switching Centre (MSC), Visitor location register (VLR) and Gateway MSC. Packet switched elements are Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) and Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN). Some network elements, like EIR, HLR, VLR and AUC are shared by both domains. The Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) is defined for UMTS core transmission. ATM Adaptation Layer type 2 (AAL2) handles circuit switched connection and packet connection protocol AAL5 is designed for data delivery.

44. W-CDMA Parameters

45. Summary of UMTS frequencies:
Universal Mobile Telephone System (UMTS)
and MHz Frequency Division Duplex (FDD, W-CDMA) Paired uplink and downlink, channel spacing is 5 MHz and raster is 200 kHz. An Operator needs channels (2x15 MHz or 2x20 MHz) to be able to build a high-speed, high-capacity network and MHz Time Division Duplex (TDD, TD/CDMA) Unpaired, channel spacing is 5 MHz and raster is 200 kHz. Tx and Rx are not separated in frequency and MHz Satellite uplink and downlink.

46. OFCOM: The Office of Communications www.ofcom.org.uk

48. Global Wireless Frequency Bands
Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT)

49. Base station finder: http://www.sitefinder.ofcom.org.uk/

50. Frequency Spectrum in UK(Sep 2007)
900MHz
1800MHz
2100MHz ( 3G )
Vodafone O2
Restricted to 2G services only
T-Mobile
Orange
Three
Restricted to 3G services only

51. GSM frequency allocations
Mobile phone transmit  frequency MHz
Base station transmit frequency MHz
Vodafone GSM 900
  -23 chs    
O2 (BT) GMS 900
Vodafone GSM 1800 &      O2 GSM 1800:
T Mobile GSM 1800
Orange GSM 1800:

52. The UMTS/3G frequency allocations
Frequency (MHz)
Bandwidth (MHz)
licence
holder
Guard band
4.9
licence D
T-Mobile
licence E
Orange
licence C O2
licence A 3
14.6 10
14.8
licence B
Vodafone

53. 3G downlink Signal level measured at T701
Vodafone
T-Mobile
Orange EE

54. 3G download Signal level measured at T714

55. 3G Uplink signal level Uplink signal monitoring without 3G calls
Uplink signal monitoring with an Vodafone 3G call

56. MVNO
A mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) is a mobile phone operator that provides services directly to their own customers but does not own key network assets such as a licensed frequency allocation of radio spectrum and the cell tower infrastructure.
The UK mobile market has 5 main mobile network operators and has a total of more than 20 MVNOs (virgin, tesco, asda, lyca…).

60. International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) Advanced
Key features of ´IMT-Advanced´
a high degree of commonality of functionality worldwide while retaining the flexibility to support a wide range of services and applications in a cost efficient manner;
compatibility of services within IMT and with fixed networks;
capability of interworking with other radio access systems;
high quality mobile services;
user equipment suitable for worldwide use;
user-friendly applications, services and equipment;
worldwide roaming capability; and,
enhanced peak data rates to support advanced services and applications (100 Mbit/s for high and 1 Gbit/s for low mobility were established as targets for research)*.
In GPP held two workshops on IMT Advanced, where the “Requirements for Further Advancements for E-UTRA” were gathered. The resulting Technical Report is now published (June 08) and a liaison was sent to ITU-R covering the work in 3GPP RAN on LTE-Advanced towards IMT-Advanced.
IMT-Advanced systems support low to high mobility applications and a wide range of data rates in accordance with user and service demands in multiple user environments. IMT Advanced also has capabilities for high quality multimedia applications within a wide range of services and platforms, providing a significant improvement in performance and quality of service.

61. 3.5G (HSPA)
High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) is an amalgamation of two mobile telephony protocols, High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) and High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), that extends and improves the performance of existing WCDMA protocols 3.5G introduces many new features that will enhance the UMTS technology in future. 1xEV-DV already supports most of the features that will be provided in 3.5G. These include: - Adaptive Modulation and Coding - Fast Scheduling - Backward compatibility with 3G - Enhanced Air Interface

62. What is 4G 4th Generation of Mobile communications
First Gen Analog, AMPS
2G, Digital, IncreaseVoice Capacity- TDMA, GSM & 1xRTT
3G High Speed Data; EVDO, UMTS, HSPA
ITU defines 4G as 100 Mbps mobile, 1 Gbps stationary
LTE-Advanced & WiMax 2.0 4G certified, theoretically capable
Realistic? Nokia lab demo w/ 8 antennas, 60 MHz & 1 user
Market 4G defined as ~10X 3G or Mbps
Current gen WiMax, LTE & HSPA+

63. 4G (LTE) LTE stands for Long Term Evolution
Promises data transfer rates of 100 Mbps
Based on UMTS 3G technology
Optimized for All-IP traffic

64. LTE Link Budget Comparison
Uplink
Budget Comparison
LTE Encyclopedia

65. LTE Link Budget Comparison
Downlink
Budget Comparison

66. Mapping of Path Losses to Cell Sizes

67. Advantages of LTE

68. Comparison of LTE Speed

69. Major LTE Radio Technogies
Uses Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) for downlink
Uses Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) for uplink
Uses Multi-input Multi-output(MIMO) for enhanced throughput
Reduced power consumption
Higher RF power amplifier efficiency (less battery power used by handsets)

70. LTE Physical Channels
Physical Channels used in Long Term Evolution (LTE) downlink and in uplink
Downlink Channels：
Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH)
Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH)  
Common Control Physical Channel (CCPCH)
Uplink Channels：
Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH)
Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH)

71. Key LTE radio access features
LTE the next generation of mobile internet
Key LTE radio access features
Israel Internet Association 2012
SC-FDMA
OFDMA
LTE radio access
Downlink: OFDM
Uplink: SC-FDMA TX
Advanced antenna solutions
Diversity
Beam-forming
Multi-layer transmission (MIMO)
20 MHz
1.4 MHz
Spectrum flexibility
Flexible bandwidth
New and existing bands
Duplex flexibility: FDD and TDD

72. Commercial LTE Speed evolution
LTE the next generation of mobile internet
Commercial LTE Speed evolution
Israel Internet Association 2012
LTE Advanced Radio Systems
Peak rate
~50 Mbps
~150 Mbps
~1000 Mbps
Typical user rate downlink
5-30 Mbps
Mbps
Operator dependent
Typical user rate uplink Bandwidths
1-10 Mbps
5-50 Mbps
LTE brings excellent user and network experience

73. Release schedule & RAN features
1999
2001
2003
2005
2007
2009
2011
2013
2015
3GPP work is structured in releases (REL) of 1-3 years duration
each release consists of several work items (WI) and study items (SI)
even if a REL is completed corrections are possible later
existing features of one REL can be enhanced in a future REL
Release 99
W-CDMA
ITU-R M.1457
IMT-2000 Recommendation
Release 4
LCR TDD
Release 5
HSDPA
Release 6
HSUPA, MBMS
IMT: International Mobile Telecommunications
R99 freeze: March 2000
REL-4 freeze: March 2001
REL-5 freeze: June 2002
REL-6 freeze: March 2005
REL-7 stage 3 freeze: Dec (ASN.1 March 2008)
REL-8 stage 3 freeze: Dec.2008 (ASN.1 March 2009)
REL-9 stage 3 freeze: Dec.2009 (ASN.1 March 2010)
REL-10 stage 3 freeze: March 2011 (ASN.1 June 2011)
REL-11 stage 3 freeze: Sep (March 2013)
REL-12 stage 3 freeze: June 2014
only main RAN WI listed
Release 7
HSPA+ (MIMO, etc.)
Release 8
LTE
3GPP aligned to ITU-R IMT process
3GPP Releases evolve to meet:
Future Requirements for IMT
Future operator and end-user requirements
Release 9
LTE enhancements
Release 10
LTE-Advanced
Release 11
Further LTE enhancements
ITU-R M.2012 [IMT.RSPEC]
IMT-Advanced Recommendation
Release 12
???
Dr. Joern Krause

74. Main Features in LTE-A Release 10
100 MHz f CC
Support of wider bandwidth (Carrier Aggregation)
Use of multiple component carriers (CC) to extend bandwidth up to 100 MHz
Common L1 parameters between component carrier and LTE Rel-8 carrier
Improvement of peak data rate, backward compatibility with LTE Rel-8
Advanced MIMO techniques
Extension to up to 8-layer transmission in downlink (REL-8: 4-layer in downlink)
Introduction of single-user MIMO with up to 4-layer transmission in uplink
Enhancements of multi-user MIMO
Improvement of peak data rate and capacity
Heterogeneous network and eICIC (enhanced Inter-Cell Interference Coordination)
Interference coordination for overlay deployment of cells with different Tx power
Improvement of cell-edge throughput and coverage
Relay
Relay Node supports radio backhaul and creates a separate cell and appears as Rel. 8 LTE eNB to Rel. 8 LTE UEs
Improvement of coverage and flexibility of service area extension
Minimization of Drive Tests
replacing drive tests for network optimization by collected UE measurements
Reduced network planning/optimization costs UE
eNB
macro eNB
micro/pico eNB
Relay Node
Donor eNB UE
Dr. Joern Krause

75. LTE/LTE-A REL-11 features
Coordinated Multi-Point Operation (DL/UL) (CoMP):
cooperative MIMO of multiple cells to improve spectral efficiency, esp. at cell edge
Enhanced physical downlink control channel (E-PDCCH): new Ctrl channel with higher capacity
Further enhancements for
Minimization of Drive Tests (MDT): QoS measurements (throughput, data volume)
Self Optimizing Networks (SON): inter RAT Mobility Robustness Optimisation (MRO)
Carrier Aggregation (CA): multiple timing advance in UL, UL/DL config. in inter-band CA TDD
Machine-Type Communications (MTC): EAB mechanism against overload due to MTC
Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS): Service continuity in mobility case
Network Energy Saving for E-UTRAN: savings for interworking with UTRAN/GERAN
Inter-cell interference coordination (ICIC): assistance to UE for CRS interference reduction
Location Services (LCS): Network-based positioning (U-TDOA)
Home eNode B (HeNB): mobility enhancements, X2 Gateway
RAN Enhancements for Diverse Data Applications (eDDA):
Power Preference Indicator (PPI): informs NW of mobile’s power saving preference
Interference avoidance for in-device coexistence (IDC):
FDM/DRX ideas to improved coexistence of LTE, WiFi, Bluetooth transceivers, GNSS receivers in UE
High Power (+33dBm) vehicular UE for 700MHz band for America for Public Safety
Additional special subframe configuration for LTE TDD: for TD-SCDMA interworking
In addition: larger number of spectrum related work items: new bands/band combinations
Optical fiber
Coordination
EAB: Extended access barring
Dr. Joern Krause

76. Generations of Mobile Communication Systems
1G: analogue systems from 1980s (e.g. NMT, AMPS, TACS, C-Netz)
2G: first digital systems of 1990s (e.g. GSM, CDMAone, PDC, D-AMPS)
3G: IMT-2000 family defined by ITU-R (e.g. UMTS, CDMA2000)
4G: fulfilling requirements of IMT-Advanced defined by ITU-R (e.g. LTE-A, WiMAX)
5G: ?
too early to be a topic in standardization, further 4G enhancements expected before
driven by requirements from customers & network operators
restricted by spectrum limitations
often influenced by new technologies/applications
Dr. Joern Krause

77. Ofcom (The Office of Communications) awards 4G licences in £2
Ofcom (The Office of Communications) awards 4G licences in £2.34 billion auction Feb 2013
Everything Everywhere, Hutchison 3G UK, Telefonica (O2), Vodafone (VOD) and BT (BT.A)'s Niche Spectrum Ventures secured the 4G licences. Vodafone was the highest bidder at £791 million, securing five chunks of 4G spectrum.
When mobile operator EE, a joint venture between T-Mobile and Orange, became the first to launch a 4G service in October 2012 in a brief monopoly, it struggled to attract users. It was forced to cut its prices in January, lowering its entry price to £31 from £36 a month.
Ofcom: Independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries.

78. Ofcom announces winners of the 4G mobile auction February 20,
Winning bidder
Spectrum won
Base price
Everything Everywhere Ltd
2 x 5 MHz of 800 MHz ( ; MHz) and 2 x 35 MHz of 2.6 GHz ( ; MHz)
£588,876,000
Hutchison 3G UK Ltd
2 x 5 MHz of 800 MHz ( ; MHz)
£225,000,000
Niche Spectrum Ventures Ltd (a subsidiary of BT Group plc)
2 x 15 MHz of 2.6 GHz ( ; MHz) and 1 x 25 MHz of 2.6 GHz (unpaired) ( MHz)
£186,476,000
Telefónica UK Ltd (O2)
2 x 10 MHz of 800 MHz ( ; MHz) (coverage obligation lot)
£550,000,000
Vodafone Ltd
2 x 10 MHz of 800 MHz, ( ; MHz) 2 x 20 MHz of 2.6 GHz ( ; MHz) and 1 x 25 MHz of 2.6 GHz (unpaired) ( MHz)
£790,761,000
Total
£2,341,113,000

79. Frequencies are in use for LTE in the UK
Three different frequency bands are used for 4G LTE in the UK.
800MHz,
1.8GHz ,
2.6GHz band.
It’s clear from the chart that EE is the only network that’s covering all its bases. It’s also worth bearing in mind that the more MHz of each spectrum a network has the better and more consistent the connection can be and the more future-proofed it is.
With that in mind EE is well prepared for future data demands, with a whole lot of 1.8GHz spectrum, which covers an ideal middle ground, as well as quite a lot of 2.6GHz spectrum and a bit of 800MHz spectrum.
O2 is on paper in the worst position, as while it has more 800MHz spectrum than any network other than Vodafone that’s all it has. So its 4G network should be good at covering rural areas and providing indoor coverage, but it’s not likely to have the same capacity as it rivals. On the other hand O2 has a large network of Wi-Fi hotspots to help out in city centres.
Vodafone has an identical amount of 800MHz spectrum but also has a lot of 2.6GHz spectrum, so while the network is currently struggling it should be quite well served to cover data requirements in the future, as well as being better positioned to provide reliable coverage to rural areas than EE or Three.
Three meanwhile only has a little 800MHz spectrum and no 2.6GHz spectrum, but with 2 x 15MHz of 1.8GHz spectrum if should be fairly well equipped to provide both indoor and outdoor coverage.
Conclusion
Going purely on the frequencies and amounts of spectrum that each network has EE is in by far the best position, while O2 may struggle the most to keep up with data demands, particularly in urban areas.
Neither Three nor Vodafone can quite match EE but they should be fairly well served, especially Vodafone, which has the extremes of both the 800MHz and 2.6GHz bands covered quite well, even if it has no spectrum in between.

80. Measured signal strength of LTE in 800MHz in T718 LSBU
Vodafone O2
Measured signal strength of LTE in 800MHz in T718 LSBU
Vodafone
Vodafone
Vodafone BT
Measured signal strength of LTE in 2.6 GHz in T718 LSBU

81. 4G coverage in UK, 2014

82. EE, 4G coverage in the UK, March 2015

83. The State of LTE (February 2013)
What is the difference between LTE and 4G?
4G: 100Mbp/s while on moving transport and 1Gbp/s when stationary.
While LTE is much faster than 3G, it has yet to reach the International Telecoms Union's (ITU) technical definition of 4G. LTE does represent a generational shift in cellular network speeds, but is labelled 'evolution' to show that the process is yet to be fully completed.

84. The Global Rollout 76 Countries with LTE 18 LTE scheduled
Australia (24.5Mbps) Fastest Country With LTE
Claro Brazil (27.8Mbps) Fastest Network With LTE
Japan (66% LTE improvement) Most Improved country for LTE Speed
Tele2 Sweden (93% coverage) Network With Best Coverage
South Korea (91% average coverage) Country with Best Coverage

85. Feb 2013; http://opensignal.com/reports/state-of-lte/

86. Feb 2014; http://opensignal.com/reports/state-of-lte-q1-2014/
The biggest draw of 4G LTE is that it offers greatly increased speeds to 3G technologies (and we count HSPA+ as a form of 3G technology, even though it is often marketed as 4G in the United States). Australia has the fastest average LTE speeds in the world, with the USA and the Philippines coming in the slowest of our qualifying countries. Claro Brazil are the fastest LTE network in the world, averaging an exceptionally fast 27.8Mbps – although their poor ‘Time on LTE’ performance shows that the roll-out is far from complete.  The USA networks uniformly perform poorly for speed – with Metro PCS recording the slowest speeds of all eligible networks, possibly a result of their small spectrum allocation, which uses a 5MHz band while most US carriers use 20MHz.
Feb 2014;

87. For the ‘Time on LTE’ metric, we see South Korea performing best, with the average SK user having access to LTE 91% of the time. The best performing individual network is Tele 2 Sweden, whose users have LTE access 93% of the time. Sweden perform extremely well overall, with the average user having access to LTE 88% of the time, showing the success of a rollout that began back in Claro Brazil record the third worst ‘Time on LTE’, with users having access to the network only 43% of the time. While Claro BR has the fastest global LTE speeds, their users have greatly reduced access to the network than most other networks worldwide.  Looking at coverage goes some way towards mitigating the USA’s poor speed performance. The USA performs well on our coverage metric, with the average user experiencing LTE coverage 67% of the time, with Australia, the fastest country, on 58%.

88. Mobile networks do not remain constant, with operators constantly rolling out to new areas and making improvements to their network. On the other side of the coin, increased users combat these improvements, as increased network load brings down average speeds. This is the reason that some countries have improved since our last report a year ago, while others have worsened.  Most of the country averages have stayed broadly the same, with only minor improvement or deterioration in service. Australia and Japan have made the biggest improvements, with Australia’s average speeds increasing 42% to 24.5Mbps and Japan improving 66% to 11.8Mbps. The USA suffers the biggest decline, with average speeds falling 32% to 6.5 Mbps, the second slowest global average.

89. On average LTE is the fastest wireless technology worldwide, representing a real increase in speed on both 3G and HSPA+. 4G LTE is over 5x faster than 3G and over twice as fast as HSPA+ and represents a major leap forward in wireless technology.

90. References
Dr. Joern Krause, ”Future 3GPP RAN standardization activities for LTE” ppt, Oct 2012.