Description

The recent increase of mobile data usage and emergence of new applications have motivated the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) to work on the Long-Term Evolution (LTE). LTE is the latest standard in the mobile network technology tree. LTE is expected to substantially improve end-user throughputs, sector capacity and reduce user plane latency, bringing significantly improved user experience with full mobility. LTE is scheduled to provide support for IP-based traffic with end-to-end Quality of service (QoS). LTE has been set aggressive performance requirements that rely on physical layer technologies, such as, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) systems, and Smart Antennas to achieve these targets. First part of the workshop looks at how to upgrade the current mobile network to a data network that uses LTE technology. Then the MIMO technologies and their applications in LTE and LTE-Advanced systems will be discussed. WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) on the other hand evolved from a Wi-Fi, IP-based background. WiMAX went through several stages of development, yet always used the IEEE 802.16 standard established by the IEEE Standards Board in 1999 for the global deployment of wireless broadband networks. From 802.16, the standard was amended many times and changed to 802.16a, 802.16c, 802.16d, and 802.16e the most popularly used standard for WiMAX today. Revisions of the standard have gone up the alphabet all the way to 802.16m, with the most advanced version expected to be completed by December 2009 and approved by March 2010. Each amended version of the WiMAX standard which increases coverage capacity and service performance will be discussed.