UTMS WCMDA vs. LTE – Comparing different generations of access technologies

3G and 4G networking technologies represent an important phase in the evolution of cellular communications technologies. It is during this time that advancements including WCDMA and LTE were developed and incorporated into networks. Here is our comparison review with more.

Over the years, the telecommunications industry has seen drastic changes in networking technologies, all driven to provide faster and more reliable cellular connections. With these, carriers can meet our ever increasing connectivity demands. The result has been multiple technological upgrades and evolution to the 3G network architecture.

In fact, many of the high speed internet access technologies utilized today are descended from previous 3G technologies. We will take this chance to expound on two of the more popular networking developments made on both 3G and 4G networks.

What are the differences between UTMS WCMDA and LTE?

UTMS WCMDA vs. LTE – Comparing the two

Speed

WCDMA was incorporated onto 3G UTMS networking technologies to help improve overall performance on the network by maximizing 3G network potential. With this improvement in access technologies, 3G networks were able to reach around 384Kbps upload/download speeds. While these speeds gradually improved with the evolution of 3G, 4G LTE networks feature even faster data and performance rates. In fact, the 3G technologies are yet to raise the bar as high as LTE technologies have in terms of networking speeds.

Since LTE based networks feature better upload and download speeds, in addition to improved data rates, they are by far better than the slower 3G WCDMA networks which are designed to meet only 384Kbps performance speeds.

Latency

One of the main areas developers seek to improve on as networking technologies evolve is the network’s latency. This is basically a measure of responsiveness on networks. This feature affects the rates at which pages load and even VOIP. LTE technology incorporates improvement in latency on networks, as does 3G’s WCDMA tech. According to various studies and provided specifications, 4G LTE based networks feature effectively reduced latency with ping measurements of 98ms. This is unlike 3G networks that feature around 212ms ping.

LTE based networks are better than WCDMA ones since they offer better response times, allowing for real time responses over various activities.

UTMS WCMDA vs. LTE – A comparison review

UTMS WCMDA

WC DMA or Wideband Code Division Multiplexing Access technology is the primary radio access technology deployed over early 3G networks. This access tech was developed based off the successful CDMA tech used on 2G networking.

As the primary radio interface for 3G UTMS networks, this technology introduces many advantages to 3G networking including higher transfer rates with improved system capacity and quality of communication.

Using the Direct Sequence CDMA, Wideband CDMA on 5MHz width channels provides higher speeds with improved space allocation compared to older multiplexing access technologies. WCDMA is an improvement on the traditional CDMA which operates on 1.25MHz channels. With this as the primary transmission technology, 3G networks were able to achieve even better download and upload speeds. Initially, these were at 384Kbps and 128Kbps, but 3G UMTS since evolved to ensure even faster speeds.

Notably, WCDMA powered networks are highly responsive with reduced networking responsiveness and an approximate 150ms roundtrip time.

Apart from a wider bandwidth, WCDMA operates over channelization and scrambling techniques to deliver separated transmissions on shared bandwidths. Over this technology, data is encoded with a spreading code, allowing multiple users to operate on the network with minimal interference issues. Essentially, the code assigned to every user is unique to them, and decoded only by the desired recipient.

One of the major advantages 3G WCDMA networks brought to the telecommunications table is the improved capacity with multiple user access. WCDMA is not only an improvement on older networking technologies, but a stepping stone for newer, faster and more spectrally efficient ones.

LTE

Long Term Evolution technology is among the most advanced improvements on 3G networking technology: so much so that it is considered 4G technology, or 4G LTE, like many users know it. Unlike earlier 3G UTMS networks that are based on the WCDMA radio access technologies, 4G LTE networks are Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing systems that allow for subdivision of a single bandwidth among multiple sub carriers.  With it, multiple users can access higher data rates and wireless communication systems. Some of the benefits OFDM brings to the 4G LTE network include resilience within the network to selective fading, interference and other effects. Ideally, this technology allows even greater spectral efficiency over the wider bandwidths.

Additional features on the 4G LTE based networking including MIMO capabilities allow such networks improved signal performance with integrated system complexity. These are among the many inclusions on the LTE networks which help deliver spectral efficiency on the network.

Technically, LTE is not the true 4G. It is slower than the actual 4G technology but features substantially faster speeds and overall better performance compared to 3G. This technology was developed as a stopover while carriers and operators set up the right infrastructure to deliver True 4G access. Regardless, this technology is responsible for the evolution of not just other internet access technologies, but also cellular applications over said access.

In fact, 4G LTE is the reason users can deploy multiple bandwidth hungry operations like online gaming, live streaming or HD streaming on different 4G LTE enabled devices.

Conclusion

LTE technology is clearly the better piece of technology compared to WCDMA and understandably so, considering LTE is meant to replace even more advanced 3G networking technologies. The information above should provide more than enough information to not only understand these technologies further, but also differentiate them from one another.

Verdict, So which one is better: UTMS WCMDA or LTE?

Since LTE is based on more advanced technologies, and offers faster data rater, better spectral efficiency, and overall better performance, it is the better upgrade compared to the older WCDMA tech.

Frequently asked Questions

What is LTE WCDMA GSM?

These are different networking technologies used within various generations of cellular networks to improve performance.

Which is better CDMA or LTE?

CDMA is a 2G-3G technology while LTE is a 4G network technology. One of the bigger differences between these two technologies is the data type on either, CDMA supports cellular and data while LTE is an all IP based network.