Difference between LTE and GSM


Wireless technology has completely altered the ways in which we communicate with one another and share information. Mobile radio is put into use for a wide variety of purposes, including navigation, broadcasting, transportation, space exploration, military applications, and a whole lot more. Each mobile radio application is designed to fulfil a unique set of requirements.

The fundamental ideas behind mobile communications continue to be applicable across a wide variety of contexts. The Global System for Mobile Communications, or GSM for short, is the cellular technology that was widely used across the globe until it was replaced by the more efficient LTE.

Towards the tail end of the 1990s, the number of mobile subscribers expanded significantly. This expansion has been made possible by reasonably priced mobile phones and extensive network coverage. As a result, the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) came to the conclusion that the radio network as well as the core network needed to be redesigned. The end consequence of this process is what is now popularly known as "Long-Term Evolution," or LTE for short.

What is LTE?

Long Term Evolution is what "LTE" stands for. It is utilised in the transmission of all wireless broadband communications in mobiles and other devices that are associated. It is a communication standard that has grown and improved over the course of time, with the goal of ensuring great performance for all mobile communication systems.

LTE is constructed in such a way that guarantees services that are ten times better and faster than the conventional third-generation (3G). LTE, which belongs to the fourth generation of mobile network technology known as 4G, is the final stage in the progression of radio technology. Its purpose is to boost both the speed and the capacity of mobile networks.

LTE belongs to the category of 4G, whereas all of the generations of mobile telecommunications that came before it was classified as either 2G or 3G technologies. LTE is essentially an upgrade that is available to all operators that use GSM networks.

LTE is responsible for both an increase in capacity and speed, thanks to the utilisation of a different radio interface in addition to significant network enhancements. LTE enables IP-based connectivity for voice in addition to multimedia transmissions. There is an algorithm that makes it possible for LTE to transport significant amounts of data via IP. It helps to simplify the flow, which in turn minimizes any form of latency that may be generated.

Since LTE uses numerous frequencies and bands, it is only compatible with mobile devices that have multiple bands. This means that in order to use LTE, a phone must have multiple bands.

What is GSM?

Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) offers wireless technology to explain the protocols for second-generation cellular networks, which are utilised by a variety of mobile devices. These networks are used by people all over the world.

GSM was conceptualized in the 1970s and it wasn't until 2010 that it had gained widespread acceptance across the entire world and accounted for 90 percent of the market share. GSM is supported by more than one billion mobile customers across about 210 nations across the world as of now.

GSM is the most widely adopted standard in the field of telecommunication and is utilised for the transmission of mobile voice and data services. It offers a wide range of services, from the most fundamental voice and data services to the most complex ones. In addition to that, it offers roaming services, which means that a GSM phone number can be used in any other network that supports the GSM standard.

Digitization and data compression are both utilised in the GSM system. After that, it sends it across a channel together with two other streams of user data, each of which has a separate timeslot and is operating at a rate that ranges from 64 kbps to 120 kbps.

GSM can operate on the 900 megahertz or the 1800-megahertz frequency range, depending on which one is available. Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) is the method of data transmission that is utilised by the GSM technology.

Difference between LTE and GSM

The following table highlights the major differences between LTE and GSM −

Basis of ComparisonLTEGSM
Full FormLTE stands for Long Term Evolution.GSM stands for Global System for Mobile Communications
Communication StandardFourth-generation (4G)Both second-generation (2G) and third-generation (3G)
TransmissionIn addition to other methods such as Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) and Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA), it uses Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) as the signal bearer.Utilizes both Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) as well as Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA).
Channel Number ReferenceLTE channel number is referred as EARFCNGSM Channel number is referred as ARFCN
FeaturesMIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output), Carrier Aggregation, beamforming, and other features are supported.MROS, VAMOS, SAIC, and MSRD are supported features.
ApplicationsIt is primarily used for data calls.Voice calls and low-speed data services are the most common applications.

Conclusion

LTE and GSM are fundamentally the kinds of technologies that are utilised the most frequently in mobile devices such as phones, tablets, and other similar devices.

GSM is the classic radio communication system in mobiles, whereas LTE is primarily the next generation of wireless technology for the system of cellular mobile communication. LTE and high-speed data transmission go hand in hand.

LTE supports only data transmission, whereas GSM supports both data and voice. People have a tendency to trust LTE when they need highspeed Internet, but they tend to trust GSM when they primarily need to make phone call.

LTE has the capability to offer personal broadband services that areindependent of the location of the user. However, GSM does not support this kind of functionality.

Updated on: 22-Jul-2022

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