4G vs lte - Difference between 4G and lte

This page 4G vs lte covers difference between 4G and lte. It mentions links on difference between 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G and 6G.

4G stands for fourth generation wireless technologies. LTE standard based technology falls under 4G family. Hence term 4G can be used for LTE but reverse can not be used. As under 4G other wireless technologies also exist such as Mobile WiMAX, LTE, LTE advanced, IMT-Advanced and others.

4G

Prior to 4G there were 3G technologies such as WCDMA, CDMA2000 were developed. Following concepts are essential for the development of 4G based technologies.
• OFDMA- Orthogonal Division Multiple Access
• SDR- Software Defined Ratio
• MIMO- Multiple Input Multiple Output

Above concepts have pioneered the success of 4G technologies.

LTE

The standard for LTE has been published in 3GPP release 8. The LTE is the short form of Long Term Evoution. Refer LTE article which mentions LTE features and much more.

Following table compares 4G vs LTE technologies and mentions difference between 4G and LTE wireless technologies. This table will help us understand what does 4g mean and what does lte mean and help us understand comparison between these wireless terminologies.


Specifications 4G technologies LTE
Full form Fourth Generation Long Term Evolution
standards IEEE 802.16, 3GPP Rel.8, 3GPP Rel.10, Rel.11, Rel.12 3GPP Rel.8
Data rate <200Mbps > 200Mbps

Difference between 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, 6G

4G   3G   Difference between 3G and 4G
Difference between 4G and 5G and 6G   Difference between 2G and 3G


What is Difference between

difference between FDM and OFDM
Difference between SC-FDMA and OFDM
Difference between SISO and MIMO
Difference between TDD and FDD
Difference between 802.11 standards viz.11-a,11-b,11-g and 11-n
OFDM vs OFDMA
CDMA vs GSM
Bluetooth vs zigbee

RF and Wireless Terminologies