Whether you're looking for a new smartphone or following mobile device trends, you've probably heard about 4G and LTE.

LTE stands for Long-Term Evolution, but what does it mean exactly?

A wireless communication standard for high-speed data transmission, LTE is the fastest wireless network for smartphones and mobile devices.

What is LTE?

LTE Architecture

LTE's high-level network architecture consists of 3 main components.

1. User Equipment (UE) UE is identical to UMTS and GSM equipment i.e., Mobile Equipment (ME). ME is comprised of 3 key components; Mobile Termination (MT), Terminal Equipment (TE), and UICC.

2. Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) It handles radio communication between mobiles & evolved packet cores. It is made up of one component, an evolved base station called eNodeB or eNB.

Check out other LTE components and their pros and cons.