GPP Approval Advances LTE Technology

With the recent approval of Long-Term Evolution (LTE) technology specifications, LTE is on track to become the next phase in the development of the GSM family of technologies, according to industry association 3G Americas. The specifications were approved by 3GPP (3rd-Generation Partnership Project), the global wireless standards organization. 3GPP LTE is the evolution of UMTS/HSPA and will use Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) technology, also used in technologies such as UMB (Ultra Mobile Broadband) and mobile WiMAX. LTE also uses advanced antenna techniques such as Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO). "3G Americas has consistently supported the 3GPP standards for the GSM family of technologies and we applaud the progress of the LTE standard," Chris Pearson, president of 3G Americas, said in a statement. "LTE is a dynamic OFDM-based next-generation technology with a great future." Pearson said that the approval means the LTE Terrestrial Radio Access Network technology specs will be under change control, and will be included in the 3GPP Release 8.