Talk:IMT Advanced

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IMT-Advanced is the goal post for both 802.16/WiMAX and ETSI-LTE efforts to target for the next generation of wireless systems. This can be viewed as '4G' but remains a definition in a state of flux and may not be clearly defined for a few years yet. Among the goals for IMT-Advanced are support for multiple services within the same system, use of IP protocols, and high degree of scalability and use of from narrow to very wide frequency bands. That evolving standard also indicates that aggregation of spectrum will be pursued: simultaneous use of multiple bands will be made an option. That could be extended to the use of both high and low frequency bands in order to gain desirable characteristics from each: long range and penetration of lower frequencies plus higher bandwidth and frequency reuse of higher frequency spectrum.

The bandwidth goals for IMT-A are 1 Gbps fixed and 300 Mbps mobile with grades of operation in between. That seems very aggressive - how can any system achieve such high bandwidths? Similar to the way Wi-Fi finesses bandwidth per user in a local network - small local cells and MIMO. There will be much more to it than that but the basic methods will be use of smart antennas and granular cell topologies.

This topic should grow over the next few years. It is now a goal that standards are being crafted to meet for acceptance by ITU but we won't see IMT-Advanced system become available until 2015 or so.

-Robert Syputa