Long Term Evolution (LTE) is the basis of the fourth generation of the cellular communication. LTE and 4G are often said in conjunction or interchangeably. However, inside the evolution there are several levels of advancement. LTE was defined in 3GPP release 8. Then LTE-Advanced, which is a step up in speed and band support, was defined in 3GPP release 10. Finally, LTE-ADV-Pro features are outlined in 3GPP release 13 and 14.
LTE | LTE-A | LTE-A Pro | 5G | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
3GPP | Rel 8-9 | Rel 10-12 | Rel 13-14 | Rel 15-16 |
LTE Category | Category 1-5 | Category 6-16 | Category 17-19 | Category 20 |
Max Download | 150 Mbs | 300-600 Mbs | 1.2 Gbs | 7.53 Gbs |
Max Upload | 51 Mbs | 51 Mbs | 150 Mbs | 1.6 Gbs |
Latency | 100 ms | 10 ms | 2 ms | < 1 ms |
QAM | 64 | 64 | 256 | 256 |