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UMTS is a 3G wireless network that provides high-bandwidth voice and data services globally. It evolved from the 3GSM system and uses WCDMA and HSPA. UMTS is packet switched, has higher bandwidth, and offers different QoS target data rates and classes of service. LTE and WiMAX are 4G networks that developed from UMTS.
UMTS is the acronym for Universal Mobile Telecommunication System. The UMTS network is a 3G (third generation) wireless network that provides high-bandwidth voice and data services to mobile device users. 3G is a category of digital cellular radio systems developed according to the IMT-2000 (International Mobile Telecommunications-2000) standard.
3G systems were created with the intention of enabling users to have global mobility with services including internet, data, messaging, paging and telephony. The idea was to provide consistent service to roaming mobile customers anywhere in the world. A combination of terrestrial wireless services and satellite broadcasts has been designed to provide this availability.
The UMTS network is also called 3GSM (Global System for Mobile communication) because it evolved from that system. The air interface to the UMTS network is based on Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) and includes the High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) specification. The Internet protocol was based on GPRS (General-Packet Radio Service), which evolved into EDGE (Enhanced Data rate for Global Evolution, aka GSM Evolution), both of which were considered 2.5G standards.
There are several ways in which the UMTS network differs from previous systems. One way is that earlier, cellular systems were mainly circuit switched, while UMTS is packet switched. It also has higher bandwidth than previous systems.
Services provided by UMTS have three different Quality of Service (QoS) target data rates. These are 144 kbps (kilobytes per second) for satellite use and rural outdoor use; 384 kbps for use outdoors in urban environments; and 2048 kbps for indoor use and low range outdoor use. There are four specified classes of service. The conversation class includes voice services, video games and video telephony. The streaming class includes multimedia content, webcasts and video on demand. The interactive class includes web browsing, database access, and network gaming, while the background class includes e-mail, downloading, and Short Message Service (SMS) messaging.
LTE (Long Term Evolution) developed from UMTS. LTE and WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave ACCeSs) are the two developments of 4G wireless networks, starting from 2010. While LTE started with the IMT-2000 standard which underpins UMTS network and is sometimes referred to as UMTS LTE, while WiMAX is based on other standards.
