UMTS vs LTE | difference between UMTS and LTE
UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) and LTE (Long-Term Evolution) are cellular mobile communication technologies developed to provide voice and data services to consumers. UMTS was designed to offer faster data speeds and improved voice quality where as LTE offers significantly higher data speeds, low latency and better spectral efficiency. UMTS Release 99 or 3GPP Release 99 was the initial version of UMTS standard published in 1999. 3GPP Release 8 was the first official version of LTE standard published in 2008. Let us compare UMTS vs LTE to understand difference between UMTS and LTE cellular technologies with respect to various parameters and their respective features.
| Parameters | UMTS | LTE |
|---|---|---|
| Full form | Universal Mobile Telecommunications System | Long Term Evolution |
| Operating Frequency Bands (typical) | 850 MHz, 900 MHz, 2100 MHz | 700 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2600 MHz |
| Channel Bandwidth | 5MHz, 10MHz with 2 carrier (HSDPA), 10MHz with 2 carrier(HSUPA) , 20MHz with 4 carrier HSDPA | Supports 1.4MHz, 3MHz, 5MHz, 10MHz, 15MHz, 20MHz |
| Release year | 1999 | 2000 |
| Technology evolution | 3.5G (Followed by HSPA) | 4G |
| Access scheme | It supports WCDMA | Supports OFDMA in the downlink and SC-FDMA in the uplink |
| Carrier aggregation | Not widely supported | Supported |
| IoT support | Limited (Not optimized) | Optimized for IoT applications |
| Spectrum flexibility | Less flexible | More flexible |
| Spectrum efficiency | Lower | Higher |
| Latency | Higher | Lower |
| Capacity | Limited | Higher capacity |
| Flat Architecture | No, includes RNC | Yes |
| Antenna technology | Diversity reception antennas | MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) |
| Soft Handover Support | Yes for DCH and HSUPA, No for HSDPA | No |
| Fast Power Control Support | Yes, for DCH and HSUPA, No for HSDPA | No, slower power control used for the uplink |
| Channel number | UMTS Channel number is referred as UARFCN | LTE channel number is referred as EARFCN |
| Adaptive modulation | yes for HSDPA and HSUPA | yes |
| Hybrid ARQ Support | No for DCH , Yes for HSDPA and HSUPA | Yes |
| BTS Scheduling | No for DCH, Yes for HSDPA and HSUPA |
Yes |
| Neighbour Planning | Yes | No, if Automatic Neighbour Relations(ANR) capability is supported |
| Scrambling code planning | Yes | No |
| Physical layer cell identity planning | No | Yes |
| MIMO Support | Not supported in the uplink, Downlink MIMO: 2x2 for HSDPA in 3GPP R7 | Not supported in the uplink, downlink MIMO: 2x2, 4x4, LTE advanced supports 8x8, multi user and cooperative MIMO |
| Peak download speed | Up to 14.4 Mbps (HSDPA) | Up to 1 Gbps (LTE Advanced) |
| Peak Upload speed | Up to 5.76 Mbps (HSUPA) | Up to 500 Mbps (LTE Advanced) |
| Standard evolutions | 3GPP (UMTS) R99, R4, R5, R6 and R7. | LTE Release-8, R9, R10 (LTE-advanced), R11, R12, R13 (LTE-advanced pro), R14 (LTE-M, MB-IoT), Release 15 (5G NR NSA), Release 16 (5G NR SA), R17 |
Conclusion: Overall, while LTE and UMTS have competed in terms of technology evolution and data services, they have also complemented each other in terms of network coverage, backward compatibility, voice services and spectrum flexibility. While UMTS brought faster data speeds and multimedia capabilities in the 3G era, LTE has revolutionized the mobile landscape with its ultra-high data speeds, low latency, and enhanced network efficiency. Currently LTE continues to mature and its coverage expands where as UMTS is gradually being phased out in favor of more advanced cellular mobile communication technologies such as 5G NR and 6G.